Free Tides of Faith: Travail of The Dark Mage Book Two by Brian S. Pratt Page B

gather their strength. Tinok
took an extra step back. He then turned his head until his gaze
fell full upon James.
    Could Tinok know that he was there? He
met that gaze and felt there was some underlying message the knifer
was attempting to convey. But then Akron’s blade rose and the fight
resumed.
    Tinok’s momentary glance hadn’t been
lost on Jiron either. “What was that about?
    James merely shrugged. Rubbing his
forearm, he watched as Tinok deflected Akron’s blade, causing the
larger man to overextend himself.
    “This is it,” Jiron
prophesized.
    As the big man’s blade went a touch
too far to the side, Tinok’s knife shot forward straight for
Akron’s chest. The blade struck and the crowd erupted in cheers
that quickly died off when the blade failed to inflict a killing
blow. It merely left a red trail as it slid along the ribs. Akron
quickly recovered and fended off a series of lightning flash blows,
each deflected with an agility that was astounding.
    “I can see why he has never lost,”
came a comment from behind James. Glancing over his shoulder, he
saw coins change hands.
    Again, he found himself
rubbing his arm, the skin felt irritated. A tingling
sensation… Magic! This was no natural skin aberration, but the result of magic
being actively manipulated.
    Instantly, he brought his defensive
shield into place. The events unfolding in the pit below no longer
held his attention. His eyes quickly coursed over those ringing the
pit. One of them was a mage.
    “No!”
    Tinok stumbled backward with Akron
coming on fast. Inexplicably, Tinok lost his footing altogether and
went down.
    The tingling sensation spiked. James
sent out his senses and could see the focal point of the magic was
in the pit below. Someone was attempting to influence the battle’s
outcome.
    Akron was on Tinok in a flash. Sword
raised high, he brought it down in what was certain to be a killing
blow. The crowd exploded when the sword missed Tinok by a hair’s
breadth and embedded itself in the sand.
    Magic held the sword in the ground for
a fleeting moment, just long enough for Tinok to kick the side of
the big man’s head and roll to safety. James immobilized the sword
just long enough for Tinok to regain his feet, then released
it.
    He grabbed Jiron, pulled him close and
said, “Magic!”
    “Who? Where?”
    “Not sure. Probably one of the big
man’s people.” The magic that had affected Tinok had come from
there, though he was unable to ascertain the responsible
party.
    Both turned their gaze to those
standing with the unmasked man from the Empire. Father Tullin stood
next him.
    “Get the priest out of
there.”
    Jiron nodded and hurriedly made his
way through the crowd and around the pit.
    Again came the tingling sensation.
James immediately latched onto the magic and worked to counter it.
Whatever the spell’s affect was to be, his interference easily
nullified it. If the mage hadn’t yet been aware of the presence of
another mage, he would now.
    Casting his gaze across the pit, James
saw all but one of those standing near the unmasked man and Father
Tullin with gazes locked to the battle below. The one not looking
had his features shielded by a hood and was instead staring in the
direction of James’ doppelganger. James grinned inwardly and
whispered, “Worried?”
    The crowd erupted. Tinok had landed a
telling blow deep within the big man’s side. Akron was stumbling
backward, doubled over in pain, the tip of his sword dipping to the
dirt. Without the mage’s help, he was woefully outclassed.
Backpedaling quickly, the big man tried to put space in-between
himself and Tinok’s hungry blades.
    The mage cast another spell to try and
help the fighter, but James easily thwarted it. This mage, similar
to the fighter in the pit below, was way out of his league. As
Tinok went in for the kill, James felt another spike in the
tingling sensation. The mage was going for a kill of his
own.
    James didn’t even let him