The dagger had detected them though. He supposed he should be thankful for the dagger and what it could pick up on, especially its ability to find magic. Gavin held the dagger out from him and used its light to see. He reached the back wall and looked around, but he didn’t sense anything moving.
“Have you found anything yet?” Gaspar asked.
“Nothing of much use,” he whispered.
He swept the dagger around in an arc, and then he started using a different technique. It was one that he’d found effective when he’d faced others with power, but it was one he hadn’t had the opportunity to use in quite some time.
He searched for any feelings of resistance as he moved the dagger around him. Gavin swept the dagger from side to side, but there was nothing. The dagger continued glowing brightly, though the El’aras dagger seemed to glow more brightly around people who had more power.
Gavin remained where he stood. The boy was in the room. He was certain of it.
Why all this protection for a child they’d abducted?
His gaze settled on the bed, and he saw something he hadn’t noticed before. The child was sleeping there.
“What’s happening in there? Have you found the kid?” Gaspar whispered in his ear.
“I might have,” Gavin said.
“Might?”
He took a deep breath and slipped forward, and something struck him. Gavin was knocked back. There was a magic user here.
Power struck him in a flurry of movements, but he ignored it. It reminded him of some of the beatings he’d taken when he was still learning. Magical energy attacked him, almost as if it were trying to pummel him. He couldn’t tell the source, though there seemed to be some direction to it.
Gavin stepped forward again. He braced himself with every step and dove into his core reserves with each one, despite the danger in doing so. There were limits to that power.
He held out the El’aras dagger. Somehow, it seemed as if doing that buffered some of the blows. They didn’t strike him quite as hard. He started to sweep it away from him, carving as he took each step. That softened the blows even more. The El’aras dagger cut through whatever magical attack was striking him.
Gavin fought his way forward with the dagger. The attack on him started to ease. Another step, and he reached the bed.
There was no sign of the sorcerer responsible for the attack, though Gavin was certain it was a sorcerer. It had to be, given the strength of that attack. It was far more powerful than any enchantment would be capable of.
The child lay there, sleeping soundly. Gavin held onto the El’aras dagger, then he scooped the child up.
What were they thinking, hiring an assassin to kidnap a child?
He should have left it to Gaspar and Imogen. This kind of job seemed more up their alley. Of course, this wasn’t so much kidnapping as it was rescue.
He didn’t see anything else in the room. The pressure continued to batter him, but Gavin ignored it and tried to fight through it. This proved more difficult now that he’d picked up the child, but he still swept the El’aras dagger out in front of him with his free hand. The power that blasted into him eased with each motion, though not quite as much as it had. Holding onto the child seemed to dull the dagger’s effect.
He started toward the door. There was movement beyond.
Had the guards gotten back up?
Gavin had been careful not to kill them.
He took a deep breath and stepped out into the antechamber, bracing for an attack. The magical pummeling persisted, a physical battering with an unseen power, but something else was there too. The two guards were still down, but there was another person here: thin and tall, with a sense of power that came off of him.
The man didn’t strike him as a sorcerer, though Gavin admittedly didn’t have enough experience with sorcerers to be able to pick one out at first glance. He could feel the magical effect and knew there was a danger to what he detected now.
Is there more that I’m missing?
This newcomer had a balding head, a prominent forehead, and dark eyes that swept around the inside of the chamber. A bright gold ring adorned one hand and a massive earring hung from his left ear.
The man cocked his head, studying him. “What do you think you’re doing, taking my child?”
Gavin looked down at the boy he was carrying. He seemed to be sleeping, but Gavin couldn’t be quite sure. “Is this your child? I thought it was—”
He didn’t have a chance to finish. The man darted forward, sweeping his hand around in a quick flick. The technique was familiar, but he hadn’t expected to see a Noru pattern here. Gavin blocked it, twisting around, but as he did, the other man followed suit, changing styles. He frowned at Gavin, but there was something else in his eyes: hunger.
Crap.
Gavin had seen that look on opponents before; the kind that suggested they wanted to fight. They longed for the fight. It seemed that this mission was about more than simply recovering the child. This man wanted to use this as an opportunity to challenge Gavin, to test himself. But he wasn’t going to get that chance. Gavin wasn’t about to be someone else’s sparring partner.
“The Captain, I presume?”
The Captain smiled tightly and tipped his head in a slight nod.
He flicked his wrist and held onto the dagger, using it as an extension of himself. The other man was forced to dance back. The Captain turned and dove out of the way, driving his foot upward as he did. It was an effective move, especially with Gavin holding onto the child. He wasn’t going to be able to react on that side as quickly as he normally would.
This man seemed to know.
Gavin took a step back. He wasn’t going to have much room to maneuver in the small space of the antechamber, especially now that he was holding onto the child and expected to engage in hand-to-hand combat.
He regarded the Captain, trying to take stock of him and get a sense of who the man might be. He was more capable than Gavin had expected.
Gavin rotated to put himself between the child and the Captain, and he sprinted forward, turning the movement so that he could catch the brunt of the attack. He pushed the sudden surge of pain down, forcing his mind to shut it out. He’d known so much pain during his life, and he could ignore it now.
Gavin would be ready for the Captain to make a mistake.
Everyone made mistakes.
The Captain surged forward, driving a twisting hand down. Gavin blocked by turning his hand against it, and he brought his knee up. The Captain parried Gavin with his own knee and twisted it off to the side. It was almost enough to force Gavin to stumble. He mixed in a hint of the drunken sailor technique by teetering forward and catching himself before whipping out with his leg, which he wrapped around the Captain. He kicked, and the Captain went flailing ahead.
Gavin used that opportunity to dart forward, and he drove with a chopping motion, catching the Captain on the back of his shoulder. The man started to fall but spun again.
Gavin was forced to jump back as the magical attack struck him, punching him on the side of the head. He was dazed and shook his head to push that pain away.
It didn’t seem fair that he was under both magical and physical attack, but he found that things often weren’t fair.
He decided to focus on the magical attack. He had an idea but didn’t know if it would work. If he had magic, it would, but otherwise… He embraced the core power and then exploded it outward like he had when he’d been trapped by Tristan and needed to break free of his chains.
The relentless pummeling stopped.
The child gasped.
The Captain glared at Gavin. “What did you do to him?”
“What did I do to him?”
The magical assault suddenly made sense.
Had it been the boy? Did I have it wrong?
The woman, the request for help, even her home had all fit.
The only thing that hadn’t was the Captain’s response.
The Captain kicked, and Gavin brought his leg up to block. He rotated and followed through with the movement, stepping outward and lashing forward with his other foot.
It was a dance.
He twisted and turned, kicked and spun, drove one foot and one fist, using all of the various fighting techniques he’d mastered. It took everything in his power to combat the Captain’s moves.
Had he more space, and if he weren’t under this kind of attack while trying to hold onto a child, he might’ve had an easier time. Even that wasn’t a guarantee. The Captain was skilled.
“Where did you train?” Gavin asked.
“What?” The Captain was almost breathless.
“Your fighting style is familiar. You’re obviously well-trained. I’m just curious where.”
He was genuinely curious, but at the same time, he wanted to throw the Captain off to disrupt the flow of his attack. The man took a step back, regarding Gavin for a moment.
“I trained with Santos on the Isle of Isaw.”
“Interesting. I haven’t heard of—”
The Captain darted forward, using Gavin’s distraction against him.
Balls. He was skilled.
Gavin was tempted to set the child down, but if he did, then he gave up one advantage that he had. So far, the Captain hadn’t been willing to attack Gavin on the side where he held the child.
If the child could be used as a shield…
He hated the idea of using a child to protect himself, but he didn’t know if he had much choice in the matter. Not if the Captain was going to keep striking at him like this.
Gavin pushed the child forward, forcing the Captain to turn his attack. He relented, releasing the blow he would have lunged at Gavin with. Instead, he dipped down.
That was the opening Gavin needed. He twisted and kicked his foot out, connecting with the side of the Captain’s head. The blow would have been devastating and knocked most people unconscious. Instead, the Captain flowed with the movement, his maneuver making it so he absorbed even more of the attack than Gavin would’ve expected him to do. He shook his head and then rolled off to the side.
Gavin anticipated the roll. He stepped forward, simultaneously bringing his hand down in a hammering motion and his other foot up. One of the two would strike, but he had no idea which one it would be.
The Captain might jump up, and if he did…
His hand slammed into the back of the Captain’s neck. It hurt, like driving in iron. The Captain was thin but also wiry, filled with muscle, and the attack hurt Gavin almost as much as it seemed to be hurting the Captain.
Enchantments.
Gavin smiled to himself. That had to be what it was.
He’d fought many people over the years. Few had considerable magical power but many possessed magical enchantments. In his experience, those with enchantments were quick to use them. Against somebody with considerable training like Gavin, an enchantment might be the difference between surviving a fight and failing.
He darted back and reached for his core energy again. When the Captain turned toward him and started a new attack, Gavin twisted, pushing the child closer to the Captain.
Surprisingly, the child had not come around during the fight. If what Gavin now suspected was true, the child was the sorcerer who’d been attacking him, and Gavin had knocked him out by blasting through his assault.
The Captain ignored the next kick and turned toward him, swinging upward. His attack was off though.
With the way Gavin was fighting and how he held onto the child, the Captain didn’t have the same safe ability to continue striking him. He had to be cognizant of where the child was. Gavin started to shift his attack, changing how he faced the Captain, using the child.
Gavin landed another blow to the side of his opponent’s head. As before, the pain made it feel like he was striking iron. In any other time, he might’ve marveled at the enchantment and wanted it for himself. Having a way to withstand a fight would be incredibly valuable.
He was going to have to use some other strategy. He wasn’t going to be able to kick through the Captain; not without shattering his own leg. Gavin healed quickly and didn’t doubt he would recover, but he might not make it out of the fortress.
A different technique was needed, but it was going to involve something a bit more dangerous.
“Be ready,” he whispered to Gaspar.
“Be ready for what?”
“To run.”
He turned and shifted the boy from one arm to the other, the suddenness of the movement surprising the Captain. Gavin whipped his leg around and swung it up and over, connecting with the Captain’s head. A painful crunch rolled through Gavin. He didn’t know if anything was broken, but pain coursed through him.
The Captain cried out.
Gavin landed on his uninjured leg and tested the other. Maybe broken. Hurt and throbbing, at the very least. He didn’t know. He pushed the pain away.
He dove and collided with the Captain, slamming the man’s head against the stone. The Captain shook off the blow. Gavin turned, and his leg tried to give out. He focused on his core strength.
He’d done that too often during this attack. He needed to be more careful. Calling upon that core energy always seemed to weaken him, and at this rate, he might fail entirely before he managed to escape.
He spun, using the child’s legs as a weapon. The Captain darted out of the way and Gavin kicked, catching him in the groin. It was a cheap technique, but when fighting, cheap was often effective. The Captain grunted, crumpling to the ground.
Gavin started toward the door, and the Captain reached for him. “You aren’t going to get away.”
“I already have.”
He reached the hallway and detected movement. He pushed away the pain but struggled. There was too much agony. The Captain had hurt him, and that was after he’d been stabbed. That pain was nothing right now.
Gavin limped toward the stairs.
A guard appeared.
“A little warning would’ve been nice,” he whispered to Gaspar.
“A warning about what?”
“How many guards have you let past?”
“There haven’t been any.”
Which meant they were somewhere else.
Gavin shook his head. He focused on the guard and kicked. At least he had enough strength remaining to drive the guard back. The man bent over, and Gavin twisted, dropping his elbow down. It caught the guard on the back of his head, and he collapsed.
Gavin stepped forward, but the pain in his leg became too intense.
He called upon the core strength again, using the energy within him, and he took another step. He whipped his leg around and kicked the guard in the side of the head. It was much more rewarding to kick someone who didn’t have enchantments of stone protection.
He headed down the stairs, pausing at the landing to see if there was any sign of any movement. Gaspar hadn’t been able to give him any word of guards coming. They probably should have had him wait on one of the upper levels rather than on the lower levels. They’d made the mistake of being more concerned about somebody coming through the main level of the fortress.
There was no one around. Gavin staggered down the stairs. The pain still throbbed, but he held it at bay, keeping it at the back of his mind. When he reached the bottom level, Gaspar was waiting for him.
“You got him?”
“I got him,” Gavin said.
“What happened to you? You’re bleeding.”
Gavin looked down. He hadn’t noticed. “The Captain. Or the guard. Don’t know.”
“We were supposed to do this without stirring the Captain.”
“I didn’t stir him.” Gavin nodded toward the door. “Can we do this outside? I don’t want to stay here any longer than I need to. Besides, I’m hurting a little bit.”
“I didn’t think the great Gavin Lorren got hurt.”
“He does when he kicks people enchanted with stone.”
Gaspar frowned. They reached the door, and noise behind them picked up. Gaspar waved Gavin ahead. He didn’t argue.
He limped into the garden and reached the wall. Gaspar grabbed the boy and carried him over. Climbing took all of Gavin’s strength and concentration, and he landed on his good leg as he dropped to the other side. He bore the weight of it, but it hurt.
“What happened to you?” Gaspar said. “It’s more than just the bleeding.”
“I got attacked by a sorcerer,” he said, taking the boy back from Gaspar.
Gaspar frowned. “A sorcerer?” He looked back at the Captain’s fortress. “In Yoran? What happened to him?”
“I’m carrying him.”
Chapter Ten
The tavern was quiet, and Gavin stared straight ahead, trying to ignore the irritation within him. Pain lingered, but it wasn’t the kind of pain he would have a hard time pushing away. Rather, it was everything else that was difficult for him to ignore. He hadn’t been nearly as injured as he’d thought. The knife in his back had hurt, but even that had started to heal. Maybe not normal, but functional. That was enough.
He looked over at Gaspar. He was talking quietly to Imogen at a table nearby and had muted the enchantment. Gavin couldn’t hear much of what he said, but Gaspar stood and waved his hands in an animated way, suggesting he was irritated.
This was supposed to have been a straightforward job. Go in, grab the boy, and then return him to Erica. But a sorcerer? That added a wrinkle none of them wanted.
Wrenlow returned from the back room. His eyes were red, and he had a look of uncertainty. He shook his head, frowning at Gavin as he took a seat across from him. “You sure about this?” Wrenlow asked.
“At this point, I’m not really sure about anything.”
“But are you sure the boy is the sorcerer?”
Gaspar paused in his conversation and turned, looking over at Gavin.
Gavin ignored him and watched Wrenlow. “I know what I felt.”
“Magic takes time to manifest. It’s what I’ve always read,” Wrenlow said. “It requires training. Concentration. It requires somebody to have the time to perfect the necessary skills.”
The Chain Breaker: Books 1-3 Page 37