Arrows of Promise (Kingmakers Book 2) Read Free Page B

voice frantically screaming, “THE DOCKS!
THEY’RE AT THE DOCKS!”
    Who? Riana didn’t have time to question it, just kept
running, although she was grateful now to have a cemented direction instead of
a vague ‘over there.’ As she ran, others joined them, most of them with some
kind of tool in hands. The loggers had their saws, the others had either
hammers or shovels, but as makeshift as the weapons were, they’d do a serious
amount of damage in a fight.
    Ash kept his pace at hers—he being a slightly faster runner—and
she appreciated that as she would not have taken it well if he had raced off
ahead. Fortunately, their camp wasn’t too far from the docks, and they burst
into view to find men swarming around their supplies.
    The only real light was from the moon overhead and what few
torches the dock workers had left burning, but even that was sufficient to tell
Riana what they were up against. Bandits. She’d lived her life in these thugs’
shadows; she could identify them in a glance, even if it was just their
silhouettes. Never once had she imagined they’d travel this far in order to
raid someone, though. They were lazier than this and normally stuck to familiar
hunting grounds. What had driven them all the way out here?
    There must have been almost thirty of them, and they were
heading for the lighter, easier to carry supplies. Riana didn’t hesitate. She
unlatched her quiver, pulled out four arrows, nocked and fired.
    Ash skid to a stop beside her, snapping up his shield, and
started firing off spells in quick succession. She recognized several as they
were his normal attack spells: Wind Shear, Arrows (although they weren’t in the
normal form, being fashioned of fire), as well as his logging spell. In between
his spells, he turned his head enough to bellow to the other men, “BLOCK THEIR
PATH! DON’T LET THEM INTO THE CAMP!”
    Riana swore in her head as he gave the order. That would
have been scary, if the bandits had thought to run into the camp and snatch up
people. They were famous for kidnapping, as ransom usually paid out better for them
in the end. Her father had dealt with bandits more than a sheriff would have
for that very reason.
    She could hear the men form up a defensive line behind her,
spacing out so that no one had a chance to advance into the camp without going
through at least two of them at the same time. Reassured that there were people
guarding her back, she put that much more focus on the bandits in front of her.
    The bandits started forming their own defense, using the
stacked supplies near the docks as barriers. They dove behind them, calling out
orders to each other, and even though she saw it happening she didn’t have the
ability to stop it fast enough.
    Then the madness truly began.
    Her fingers were a blur, taking down targets left, right,
and center and yet still they swarmed her. Using an arrow like she would a
dagger, she fought two attackers off, kicking to keep one off as she stabbed at
the other.
    An arm reached out and snagged her around the waist, yanking
her in, and she didn’t fight it. Riana knew the feel of it too well to be
mistaken. Ash brought her into his magical shield, protecting them both from
being taken down, and then the spells really did come out fast and furious.
    Under normal circumstances, she would have continued to
fight, but she didn’t dare. This wasn’t his usual shield, but a weapon’s
shield, meant to protect him from cold iron and steel. She could recognize it
at a glance because it was an entirely different color from his usual shield,
being a more steel-grey and thicker. He could only fight magically and be
attacked magically. In this particular fight, it made perfect sense for him to
use it, because what kind of wizard would turn bandit? But it also meant that
she couldn’t use her own weapons as they would rebound inside the shield.
    Well, probably for the best; she was low on arrows anyway.
    Standing in the circle of Ash’s