True Magics (52 page)

Thomas tried raising his arm, then moving it back and forth. It worked, but not well.
Doesn’t matter, since I don’t have a dagger anyway.

How long until the next attack, I wonder?

It came a quarter of an hour later. Below, commanders shouted and troops began dismantling the barricades on one side. Thomas leaned as far as he could but couldn’t see what was coming. In desperation he cracked open a shutter and peered out.

By the Four.
Thomas stumbled out of the room to the railing as fast as he could.

“They’ve got another ram!” he yelled. “A big one!”

“Everyone up!” shouted Graham. “Thomas, back to the window and shout out what’s happening! We’ll send someone up with a boiling kettle as soon as we can. And if you see someplace where your magic would be useful…”

“I’ll use it,” promised Thomas. “Just hold the door.” He got to the window and looked out again. “They’re moving the barricades!”

Graham’s voice rang up from down below. “How many?”

Thomas opened the shutter a crack again. This time a crossbow bolt slapped into the wood, driving its point through just above his head. Thomas swore and ducked, pulling the shutter closed. “At least a hundred!” He called. “The ram is as big as the one that nearly got through the last time!”

“Smiths to the door!” Graham ordered. “Eileen’s company stand by! Thomas, can you do anything?”

Thomas reached for the shutter and tried opening it. Three more crossbow bolts smacked into it. “Not without being skewered!”

“Right! Everyone ready!”

Thomas peered through the shutter slats. “The ram is past the barricade! They’ve got shields up to protect them from grease!” The men below moved into position and started swinging.
Here we go.

BOOM!

The first hit shook the whole building.

BOOM!

Thomas tried opening the shutter again. More crossbow bolts slapped into it.

BOOM!

I’ll go downstairs if they break through.
He peered through the slats again.

BOOM!

“The troops are on either side of the door!” Thomas yelled. “They’re waiting for the door to—”

BOOM-CRACK!

“Stand ready!” shouted Graham. “Everyone stand ready! We need to keep them out!”

I need to surrender.
The thought frightened Thomas more than the battle had.
If I don’t surrender they’ll kill them all.
“Graham! Graham!”

“Not now!” yelled Graham.

Thomas headed for the stairs. “Graham I have to…”

BOOM-CRACK!

From somewhere outside came howling.

Henry?

Thomas ran to the shutter and tried to peer out again. New sounds came from outside—men fighting and horses screaming and above it all the unearthly howl that was the battle cry of the White Wolves. Thomas’s eyes went wide. He pushed the shutter open, looked, and slammed it shut. A pair of crossbow bolts stuck into the wood but he didn’t care. He ran for the balcony. “The White Wolves are out there!”

“The Wolves?” Eileen was by the front door, weapons in hand. Her eyes were wide and her voice filled with disbelief. “What are the Wolves doing here?”

“Saving us!”

CRACK!

“CHARGE!” shouted Graham as the door split apart and the big log bracing it tumbled to the ground. “Keep them out!”

Graham and eight others rushed forward. The first two soldiers died in the doorway. The next got a step inside before he died. Then two more charged in, shields up to protect their faces. They were cut down in seconds, but it made room for the next two behind them, who were pushed in by the two after that.

“Push them back,” Graham screamed. “Don’t let them get in!”

Thomas ran down the stairs, strength surging through him at the thought of rescue and the sound of the battle. Thomas knew it wouldn’t last.
So long as it lasts enough for Henry to get here.

Six soldiers were through the door now, with others pushing them forward. The students were getting slowly driven backwards to the barricades of tables behind them.

“Now!” yelled Graham.

“The Academy!” Eileen and the Student Company charged, driving into the soldiers at the door. The soldier’s line wavered, and more of them fell, but they didn’t back up.

“Smiths!” shouted Graham. Eileen and the company ran for the barricades as George and the smiths charged forward. Instead of weapons, they had tables held out in front of them like shields, ramming them into the soldiers hard enough to send them stumbling back. The soldiers’ line broke apart. Eileen and the company ran back at them. More soldiers died, but the others rallied and once more the students were driven back.

“Fall back!” Graham yelled. “Fall back to the barricade!”

The students and smiths rushed backward, leaping over the tables and chairs. Most made it. Others fell, screaming as the soldiers cut into them.

“Hold them!” Thomas shouted, running forward and climbing over the second line of barricades. “Henry and his knights are coming for us! Just hold the line!”

More Church poured into the building. Outside, horns blared, and there was a roar of charging horses and the smashing of heavy bodies against armour and shields. The students cheered wildly, and the soldiers redoubled their attack.

The battle along the barricade grew furious as the soldiers tried to break the student lines. Students fell wounded and were pulled away to have their place taken by others. One of the smiths fell back, dead, and Eileen jumped up into his place, fighting beside her brother.

“Surrender!” shouted one of the Church soldiers.

“The Academy!” screamed Graham, and every student roared it back.

Thomas stepped forward to take the place of one of the fallen, and thrust his rapier into one soldier’s eye. The man fell and another took his place. This one used his shield to keep the point of Thomas’s rapier away and cut with long strokes that forced Thomas to stay back.

One of the Church soldiers jumped over the barricade and the body of the young man he’d killed to get there. He hacked on either side of him, forcing the students back. More soldiers jumped over, forcing the line apart.

“Retreat!” Graham yelled. “Second barricades!”

Thomas broke off his fight and jumped over the second barricade. His legs gave out halfway over and he landed badly, ending up on the floor and jarring his aching chest. He gasped in pain and scrambled to get out of the way as the others came over the barricades.

Outside the howling grew closer, and more horns blared.

Thomas staggered to his feet and stumbled back. The barricades were crowded and there wasn’t room for much more than stabbing across the tabletops. The student’s rapiers were designed for point work, but the soldiers’ shields took the brunt of it.

The soldiers pushing into the Broken Quill now outnumbered the students. Only one line of barricades remained, and there was precious little chance they could hold it if they were driven back. Thomas tried to peer past the Church soldiers to the door, but could only see more soldiers.

A score of voices rose up in howls just outside the door, and a moment later the first of Henry’s wolves fought their way inside. The Church soldiers, now caught between two enemies, fought desperately. The floor grew slippery with blood and bodies soon littered the room on all sides of the barricades. The Knights of the White Wolf kept coming, implacable and unstoppable. Henry’s voice rang over the sounds of battle. “Enough! Surrender now, and I’ll let you live!”

Some surrendered, throwing down their weapons and begging for mercy; others fought until they were surrounded, and died under a dozen blades. The students jumped the barricades and cheered the Wolves, clasping hands and thanking them. Thomas staggered through the crowd, looking for Eileen. Everywhere there were bodies and the crying, screaming wounded. Henry’s hand closed on Thomas’s shoulder, making him yell in pain.

“Sorry,” said Henry, letting go. “We need to leave. Fast.”

“Thomas!” Eileen had a cut on her cheek and another on her arm, and blood spattered over the front of her armour. She threw her arms around him, kissing him hard and squeezing him. Thomas winced and squeezed back just as hard. “Thank the Four,” she said. “I thought we were all dead.” She let him go and rounded on Henry. “And as for you…” She reached up and kissed Henry on the mouth.

Henry pushed her back. “We have to leave. Now.”

“But…” Thomas realized he was exhausted and probably not being clear. “The students…”

“Henry!” George descended on them like a blood-soaked mountain. “About time. I’d nearly given up.”

“So has the king,” said Henry. “
Everyone! Shut Up!
” Henry’s bellow reached the rafters. “We are leaving! Wounded, Healthy, everyone! Hurry up before reinforcements arrive. Sir Patrick!”

“Here, my lord!” said the big knight who had helped them all in the north.

“Take twenty Wolves and circle the Academy. As soon as you see us trying to break the line on the Academy gates, you hit them from the flank.” He surveyed the students and the barmaids, who were scrambling to get the wounded bandaged. “Go faster! We’re leaving!”

“Leave the worst ones here,” said Angeline Blossom. “We’ll take care of them and hide them from the Church. You get the rest to safety.”

“Right,” said Henry. “Anyone who can’t walk, stays! Hurry!”

Eight bloody, broken students were laid on the stage. Another ten who were almost as badly hurt insisted they could go, and leaned on their fellows to walk. Twenty more lay dead on the ground.

Fifty of us left,
Thomas thought. Graham yelled and prodded the last of the students to get in line. Fenris and Marcus began pulling bodies out of the room into the street outside.

Henry looked over the room once more then went outside to give orders to the Wolves. Thomas followed him. The sun was high and shone down on the blood-soaked streets. There were bodies everywhere. Most were Church soldiers, though here and there Thomas could see one of the White Wolves lying dead on the ground. Most of the knights were re-mounted, now, and sat in a bristling ring of steel around the entrance to the Quill.

Thomas caught Henry just before the other could mount. “How bad is it?”

Henry sighed and leaned on his horse. He looked tired and battered, which Henry never looked. “It’s very bad,” said Henry. “The King is holding the inner city. The Archbishop controls the outer city. The king’s supporters barricaded a dozen places, but none of them are able to break out. We’re the only knights left outside the walls and we’ve been playing hide-and seek with the Church cavalry all night.”

“What about the magicians?”

“What magicians?”

“I found a spell that multiplies magicians’ power,” said Thomas. “I gave it to Robert and Sir Walter. They were going to get all the magicians together and help.”

“There’s been no magic, Thomas.” Henry mounted. “We have to go.”

Why aren’t they doing anything? They’ve had a day and a night. They should have done something.

The students began filing out of the Broken Quill in two bloody, exhausted lines. The smiths followed. There were only a dozen of them left. George came up to Henry. “The smiths want to go back home. They said they’ll go on their own, but they want to get back to their families.”

“They’ll die in the streets,” said Henry. “They’re better off with us.”

“I know, but they want to go.”

“I have to reach Sir Walter,” said Thomas.

“What?” said Henry. “No.”

“We have to!” Thomas pointed at the students. “Look at them! How much longer are they going to last? How much longer is the city going to last? I need to get to Sir Walter and get the magicians together before the king has to surrender!”

“Sir Walter is inside the city walls,” said Henry.

“Do you know where?”

Henry glared down at Thomas. “Yes, I know where.”

“Can you take me there?”

Henry’s jaw clenched, and for a moment Thomas was scared he was going to refuse. “Sir Patrick!” Henry shouted. “New plan. Twenty Wolves are coming with me to deliver Thomas to the king. You use the rest and you get this lot to the Academy.”

“I want to go with Thomas,” said Eileen.

“And me,” said George.

“Of course you do. Three horses! Fast!”

Thomas looked back. Eileen and George had followed him out, the rest of his company hard on their heels.

“Where are you going, Captain?” asked William. “What’s going on?”

“He’s coming with me,” snapped Henry. “You lot get back to the Academy and wait for orders.”

“When will he be back?”

“As soon as I can,” promised Thomas. “Just get to the Academy. They need you.”

“Get on,” said Henry to Thomas. “We’ve got a ways to go.”

The knights brought three horses in bloodstained armour and White Wolf livery. Thomas tried not to think about what must have happened to the riders as they mounted. Henry shouted orders and twenty White Wolves packed together in a tight formation around Thomas and Eileen. George picked up a shield from the ground and mounted the third horse, taking his place with the other knights.