Read Online Conway's Curse by Patric Michael - Free Book Online

gonna do?” he asked as he handed the small barrels to Wylde.
     
    “Wish I was ten years younger,” the wizard said, opening the door.
     

     

     
    Torches guttered and flared as men clustered around the woof, poking and jabbing with a bewildering array of farm gear. Rakes and shovels, a sickle, and a scatter of scythes served more to enrage the beast than do any real damage.
     
    “Over here!” Wylde called as he strode toward the well at the center of the square. He set one of the casks at his feet and threw the other high into the air. “ Light ,” he commanded, gesturing at the falling cask. It froze in midair and burst into bright blue flame. The square flooded with light, and Tion groaned at the wreckage illuminated by the miniature sun.
     
    Men and a few women lay strewn like jackstraws, some moving and some not. Those who could ran toward the well and the waiting wizard.
     
    “Conway,” Wylde said, “get between them and the woof. Remember the shield draws from you!”
     
    Conway nodded, hesitating only a moment, and ran toward the approaching woof. Tion shouted for Kail and followed him. When the last of the villagers had made it to the well, Conway planted the edge of the shield against the unyielding stone and braced his shoulder against the beast’s charge. The woof roared and launched itself high into the air and came down snarling against Conway’s shield. Blue-white light flared, momentarily brighter than Wylde’s little sun, and the woof howled with pain and frustration as it crumpled against Conway’s shield.
     
    Despite the magical augmentation, Conway staggered back from the blow and fell to one knee. Tion and Kail leaned against him to lend their support as the woof charged again. More blue-white light flashed, and Conway groaned against the onslaught. “It feel like I’m being hit by a boulder,” he cried, and Tion grimaced.
     
    “Kail! You go right, I’ll go left. Aim for its gut!”
     
    Together, the sprites stepped out from behind Conway’s shield as the woof crashed against it a third time. When the flash of light faded, they jabbed in unison, and the woof howled its rage. It whirled and snapped, first left, then right, but the sprites had already retreated behind the human. The woof backed away and tried to circle around the shield, but Conway pivoted with it and gave it no quarter.
     
    Blood, as black as tar in the wizard’s blue light, splashed across the stone as Tion and Kail darted in and out of Conway’s protection, jabbing and slashing in unison each time the beast charged and struck the shield.
     
    “Guys, I can’t do this much longer!” Conway’s voice shook with exhaustion. “We aren’t killing it.”
     
    Tion heard the wizard shouting to get the wounded inside, but he didn’t dare turn around to see.
     
    “If we could just—” Conway cried out as the shield sapped more of his strength to ward off another of the woof’s thudding attack.
     
    “Tion!” Kail panted. “Like we did to the Oaf!”
     
    Tion nodded grimly, and together they dodged out and away from Conway just as the woof ran at them. They charged the woof’s flanks, but instead of stabbing, the sprites jammed their pikes between the woof’s flashing legs. The sound of snapping bone was sickeningly loud as the woof tangled in the unbreakable pikes and tumbled headfirst into Conway’s shield. Tion bounced backward to land skidding on the stone, and Kail flew in the opposite direction. Conway crumpled and fell beneath the shield, pinned beneath the weight of the crippled beast.
     
    Tion sat up and saw his partner slumped against the wheel of a honey wagon. “Kail! Can you hear me?” He struggled to his feet and limped toward Kail, but the woof scrambled up on three legs and snarled. Tion cast about for his pike and spotted it a dozen yards away. Kail moaned, and the woof turned its head in his direction.
     
    “No! Over here, ugly fucking thing. Come get me!” Tion edged