John Lenahan - Shadowmagic

He was sitting on a rock eating a packed lunch the Fili had made for us.

‘How you doing, cuz?’ I said.

‘I wish people would stop asking me that.’

‘It’s a rule-when someone freaks out like you did yesterday, you have to ask him how he is. So how are you?’

‘I’m alright.’

I looked at him.

‘I really am,’ he said. ‘OK, when I start thinking about it I feel myself tensing up and going crazy, but then I take a few deep breaths and clear my mind, like the Imps taught me to do, then I can go on.’

‘I was worried about you. I thought you were going to do something stupid.’

‘Me?’ he said, flashing me a Fergal smile. ‘I never do anything stupid, except when I wake up and stab people-but you don’t even have to worry about that-look.’ He pointed to his Banshee blade in a scabbard on his belt. ‘I tried to get some more gold wire so I could replace my blade in my sleeve, but the Fili don’t do that kind of magic. I hate having my sword at my waist but at least I won’t kill you next time you wake me up.’

We didn’t rest long. Dad wanted to make the Hall of Knowledge before dark. We quickened our pace. Acorn was a star. I could sense he didn’t like being back in the Hazellands but he trudged on like a trooper. At one point he let loose a whinny when I started to fall asleep in the saddle. The hours on horseback, the sun, the fresh air and Acorn’s rhythm lulled me into a bit of a hypnotised state.

Late in the day, we entered the outskirts of the Hall of Knowledge’s grounds. Sorley, our guide, was in the lead when we reached a small hill. He turned when he reached the top of the rise. I think he meant to shout a warning, but all he managed was a grunt as he fell from his saddle. He had an arrow sticking out of his chest. That woke me up.

It was Big Hair and about ten other Banshees. It must have been a scouting party. We had practically stepped on them. I think we surprised them just as much as they did us, but that didn’t stop them from instantly going on the offensive. I tried to turn Acorn to get some space between us and the screaming attackers, but as I tried I saw something fly through the air, and Acorn fell over-hard. I got my foot out of the stirrup in time and hit the ground rolling.

‘You hurt my horse!’ I screamed. ‘You son of a…’ The first Banshee came at me and I ducked and rolled. When I got to my feet he came at me, holding his sword like a baseball bat. His whole left side was wide open. It was so obvious I thought that maybe it was a trick, so I decided to parry the blade instead of attacking his weak spot. I was right-the handle of the Banshee’s sword had a dagger sticking out of it. If I had attacked on his left, he would have stabbed me. Instead, I planted my back foot and put all of my weight behind my sword. He was so shocked that I had not gone for his weak side that he was completely unprepared for the impact. The Lawnmower pushed his blade back so hard, that his own sword sliced his neck right up to the bone! That’s the problem with tricky sword manoeuvres, the first time they don’t work-they can kill you.

I didn’t have time to marvel at the fact that I had just semi-decapitated a guy with a parry, there was a lot more fighting going on. I looked around-everyone seemed to be doing OK. I almost felt sorry for the guys who were attacking Nieve and Deirdre. I saw one Banshee take a swing at Nieve and bounce off her like he had hit a stone wall. Araf and Essa were using sticks against swords, but the way they used sticks meant that the swords weren’t doing very well. Dad was in a fight with two men. I was about to go and help him when I saw the Banshee with the big hair coming up behind Fergal.

‘Hey, you!’ I shouted as I ran to intercept. ‘Yeah, you with the bad perm!’ He probably didn’t know what a perm was but he understood the tone and knew it wasn’t a compliment.

He turned. The smirk on his face meant he recognised me. Well, I remembered him too. This guy didn’t make the mistake the last guy made. No mad advances, no tricks, he just pointed his sword and walked towards me. Up till now, the Banshees I had fought hadn’t impressed me. Big Hair was the exception-his swordsmanship was good. The two of us cut and parried half a dozen times, trying to size each other up. I was very impressed with his speed. His thrusts were so fast that I had trouble seeing them coming. This was a problem. Dad had taught me to cut and parry until my opponent tired, but I had a feeling his speed would get me before he flagged. I looked for a flaw in his technique and I found it. His attacks were fast but he hesitated a microsecond afterwards to see if he connected. On his next attack I shouted, ‘Ouch!’ even though he missed me. When he looked, I came at him with a quick jab to his shoulder. He saw it coming and twisted out of the way, but lost his footing and went down. I had no moral qualms about attacking this guy on the ground but I didn’t get the chance. He rolled backwards and was on his feet in a flash. I was going to have to work for this one.

And then he did it-the oldest trick in the book. His left hand slid down to the butt of his sword pommel. I thought maybe he had a dagger stashed in there, but when his hand came away seemingly empty, I thought nothing of it. That was a big mistake. He closed the distance between us, brought his sword up, as if to attack-and threw something in my eyes with his left hand. I found out later it was sand that had been soaked in lime juice. It felt like he had thrown pins in my eyes. I was completely blinded. I tried to open them, so I could defend myself, but my eyelids would not obey. I was as good as a dead man. I swung my sword wildly in front of me, while back-pedalling; amazingly the attack failed to come. The bastard was toying with me. I calmed myself and listened. Maybe if I could hear where he was I could get in a lucky stab that might catch him off guard.

I listened-nothing. Then I heard a soft footstep to my left. I didn’t move. I didn’t want him to know I could hear him. He was trying to come up from behind me. It was terrifying. I knew I had to wait until he was in striking distance, but I also knew I could get a blade between my ribs at any second. I waited for one more footfall and I made my move. I spun and sliced into the space I was sure he occupied. My sword hit steel, was parried up and then something hit my hand and I lost my grip. My sword went flying. I was blind and disarmed. I might as well have been naked too. I toyed with the idea of running but I knew that would do no good.

The last time I thought I was going to die, my life flashed before my eyes. I always have hated reruns on TV, so this time I just raised my arms and said, ‘Do your worst.’

‘I never do my worst,’ said a familiar voice. ‘I always do my best.’ I knew that voice. It definitely was not Big Hair. ‘Master Dahy?’ I asked into the darkness.

‘You were doing well until you let him throw sand in your eyes,’ Dahy said.

‘Where is the Banshee?’

‘He is quite dead,’ Dahy stated. ‘I hated to interfere-but I lost my temper when he used sand. I threw a knife into his neck.’

‘Thanks,’ I said. My knees started to buckle as relief washed over me. I sat down hard. ‘How are the others?’

‘They are all fine, don’t worry. Let us take a look at those eyes.’

He left me and came back with a water skin to rinse out my peepers. They stung like crazy but I was relieved to find that I could see again. I was afraid the Banshee had blinded me for life.

By the time I could use my sore eyes properly, all of the fighting was finished. The ground was littered with dead Banshees. Mom and Nieve were tending Sorley, and no one else seemed to be harmed. I was relieved to see Acorn on his feet. Essa was examining his front legs.