Free Knights: Book 02 - The Hand of Tharnin by Robert E. Keller Page B

hand--clearly growing tired from holding the heavy weapon in that position.
    "I'm fine," said Jace. "I removed the Centipede before it could poison me--though it was a very close call. Taris, keep moving in."
    Taris guided his horse closer--and blocked another squirming projectile that flew at his face. In spite of being blocked, this one hit with such impact it nearly threw him off his horse, but he remained in the saddle. His eyes smoldered with anger. "Vile creature!" he muttered.
    Jace stepped around his horse, but the Goblin hurled a Centipede at Vorden this time. Somehow, Vorden's spider sword rose in time to slash the projectile from the air. Vorden cried out in triumph.
    "Well done, Squire!" Jace called out, grinning. "Now, continue to hold your ground. We'll get through this."
    But Timlin wasn't listening. The attack on Vorden drove him into a panic, and he leapt from his horse and ran for a boulder. The Goblin threw at him and barely missed--though the Centipede hit Timlin's horse in the neck and stuck there. The Greywind reared up, whinnying, and then collapsed in death. The Centipede scuttled away from the horse and vanished behind a pine.
    Taris groaned in frustration. "Timlin, you cowardly wretch! Now you've lost a fine horse!"
    "Did I not say to hold your ground?" Jace called out, his voice weary. "Fleeing will do no good. We must be patient."
    Taris moved in. This time, the Goblin hurled a Centipede at Aldreya. The young Birlote sorceress had her own burning dagger in front of her. She screamed, even as the Centipede disintegrated against the blade, and toppled from her horse.
    "I've had enough of this!" Taris said.
    "Wait!" Jace insisted. "If we rush in, some of us will die!"
    But the Tower Master ignored him, clearly enraged. Taris' stone dagger burned so hot the others couldn't look at it, the green fire becoming almost white in hue. The creature shrank back, blinded. But then the Host Goblin launched a flurry of projectiles at the company, even as Taris leapt in and struck with his dagger.
    Taris drove his dagger into the Goblin three times, causing the creature to erupt into green flames. As the Host Goblin crumbled to the ground, burning, a cry of agony arose from near Lannon. One of the Blue Knights had thrown himself in front of Lannon to block a flying Centipede--and it had struck him in the throat. His howl was choked off as he lay in the mud, and soon his body went still.
    Reacting on instinct, the Knight had leapt onto Lannon's horse to shield him. But he'd been too slow in raising his sword to block the projectile. The Centipede had poisoned him on contact, and he'd died in a matter of seconds from the sorcery-infested venom--perhaps even before he hit the ground.
    Lannon stared down at the fallen Knight in shock. The Eye of Divinity revealed the Knight's spirit, departing from his body in death--like a luminous mist uncoiling into the air. Lannon looked away, not wanting to know the path of the dead. He wondered if he could have stopped the projectile with his power, if the Knight's death had been needless.
      With a cry of sorrow and anger, Lannon seized the Centipede with the Eye before it could escape and crushed it into ruin. But the damage was done, and not even the great Eye of Divinity could change that fact.
    Taris bowed his head, as he stood over the Host Goblin's remains. He didn't turn around. "Check on the fallen Knight, Jace."
    His face somber, Jace did as ordered. "Zannin Firespear is dead, Taris."
    "Wretched Goblins!" Thrake Wolfaxe bellowed.
    Willan Shadowwalker, the other Blue Knight of the company, knelt by the body and groaned. "He was my friend, and I fought with him through many battles. I thought he would live forever."
    "I should have listened to you, Jace," said Taris. "My impatience got the best of me, and now a Knight is dead."
    "Perhaps," said Jace, "but this could have happened regardless. Or even more could have died."
    "It might not have been necessary," said Lannon,