A Quest of Heroes (Book #1 in the Sorcerer's Ring)

out of the way,
as the knight swung for him, barely missing. Finally, Feithgold reached Erec
and placed the short sword into his hand. As he did, the knight charged Erec.
But Erec was too clever: he waited until the last moment, then jumped out of the
way.
    The
knight kept charging, though, and ran right into Feithgold, standing, to his
bad luck, in the place where Erec had just been. The knight, filled with rage
at missing Erec, kept charging and grabbed Feithgold with both hands by his
hair, and head-butted him hard in the face.
    There
was a cracking of bone, as blood squirted from Feithgold’s nose and he
collapsed to the ground, limp.
    Thor
stood there, mouth open in shock. He could not believe it. Neither could the
crowd, which booed and hissed.
    Erec
swung around with his sword, just missing the knight, and the two faced each
other again.
    Thor
suddenly realized: he was Erec’s only squire now. He gulped. What was he
supposed to be doing? He was not prepared for this. And the whole kingdom was
watching.
    The
two knights attacked each other viciously, going blow for blow. Clearly the
McCloud knight was much stronger than Erec—yet Erec was the better fighter,
faster and more agile. They swung and slashed and parried, neither able to gain
advantage.
    Finally,
King MacGil stood.
    “Long
spears!” he called out.
    Thor’s
heart pounded. He knew this meant him: he was on duty.
    He
spun and looked at the rack, taking down the weapon that seemed most
appropriate. As he grabbed its leather shaft, he prayed he chose correctly.
    He
burst onto the lane and could feel thousands of eyes on him. He ran and ran,
for all he was worth, wanting to reach Erec, and finally placing it into his
hand. He was proud to see he reached him first.
    Erec
took the spear and spun, prepared to face the other knight. Being the honorable
warrior that he was, Erec waited until the other knight was armed before
attacking. Thor hurried off to the side, out of the men’s way, not wanting to
repeat Feithgold’s mistake. As he did, he dragged Feithgold’s limp body out of
harm’s way.
    As
Thor watched, he sensed something was wrong. Erec’s opponent took his spear,
raised it straight up, then began bringing it down in a strange motion. As he
did, suddenly, Thor felt his world go into focus in a way he never had. He
intuited that something was wrong. His eyes locked on the knight’s spearhead,
and as he looked closely, he noticed it was loose. The knight was about to use
the tip of his spear as a throwing knife.
    As
the knight brought down his spear, the head detached and sailed through the
air, end over end, heading right for Erec’s heart. In seconds, Erec would be
dead—there was no way he could react in time. From the looks of its jagged
blade, it appeared to be armor-piercing.
    In
that moment, Thor felt his whole body warming. He felt a tingling sensation—it
was the same sensation he’d experienced back in Darkwood, when battling the
Sybold. His whole world slowed. He was able to see the tip spinning in slow
motion, was able to feel an energy, a heat, rising within him—one he didn’t
know he had.
    He
stepped forward and felt bigger than the spearhead. In his mind, he willed it
to stop. He demanded it to stop. He did not want to see Erec hurt. Especially
not this way.
    “NO!”“
Thor shrieked.
    He
took another step, and held out his palm, aimed at the spearhead.
    It
stopped and hung there, in mid-air, right before reaching Erec’s heart.
    It
then dropped harmlessly to the ground.
    The
two knights both turned and looked at Thor—as did the two kings, as did the
thousands of spectators. He felt the whole world staring down at him, and
realized they all just witnessed what he did. They all knew he was not normal,
that he had some sort of power, that he had influenced the games, had saved
Erec—and changed the fate of the kingdom.
    Thor
stood there, rooted in place, wondering what just happened.
    He
was now certain he wasn’t the same as all these people. He was different.
    But
who was he?
     
     

CHAPTER NINE
     
     
    Thor
found himself swept up, ushered through the crowd by Reece, the King’s youngest
son and his newfound sparring partner. Ever since the jousting match, it had
been a blur. Whatever he had done back there, whatever power he had used to
stop that spearhead from killing Erec, it had caught the attention of the
entire kingdom. The match had been stopped after that, called off by both
kings, and a truce