Book Two Excerpt One

Aaachew!
They all look to Cassie in disbelief as a very loud sneeze escapes her.
Immediately, the soldiers turn at the sound and see them there, partially illuminated by their torchlight. Both sides just stand and stare at one another for a brief second, then James yells, “To the tunnel! Move!”
As if that is the catalyst everyone needed, all hell breaks loose. They turn and race back towards the stairs as the soldiers give chase.
As everyone reaches the stairs, James turns and lets loose the power, attempting to slow the soldiers' advance.
Crumph!
The ground explodes upwards, tossing soldiers in the air and pelting the area with dirt and other debris. Several soldiers had been in advanced of the area that exploded and were now almost upon him.
In a panic, James pushes out with the power, literally tossing the onrushing soldiers backwards, where they collide with their comrades.
“The mage!” he can hear coming from the street as more soldiers rush towards the park, starlight reflecting off their swords.
“James! Come on!” he hears behind him. Turning, he sees that everyone has already made it inside the tunnel and Jiron is there motioning for him to come on.
James runs over and enters, climbing down the stairs. “What are we to do now?” he asks Jiron.
“We’re trapped,” Jiron says, “there’s no way out!”
When James enters the room, Cassie is there in tears. She looks to James and cries, “I’m sorry!”
“It’s okay,” he assures her, though in his own mind he’s not nearly so forgiving.
Tinok is standing at the passage entrance, listening for pursuit. He turns and says, “They’re coming.” Suddenly two knives appear in his hands as he turns and waits, ready to sell himself dearly. Jiron takes up position next to him and two knives appear like magic in his hands as well, flashing in the reflected candle light.
He looks to Tinok and says, “You ready?”
“Yeah,” Tinok replies with an evil grin, “let’s get it on!”
They stand there to either side of the doorway, James and the girls, a little ways back from them.
Suddenly, an enemy soldier comes into the room, sword out and Tinok closes with him. The soldier sees him and strikes with his sword. Tinok easily deflects the blade with one knife while following through with a thrust with the other, piercing the man’s chest and puncturing his heart. The soldier slides lifelessly off his blade to the floor as another soldier comes through the doorway, into the room.
Jiron takes this one and almost as fast as Tinok, dispatches him.
“You’re getting slow, Jiron,” Tinok says as he closes with the next one to come in. Knives flash and another body sinks to the floor.
The next soldier to come through is carrying a shield along with a sword and closes with Jiron. Jiron deflects the thrust of the sword with one knife as the shield comes and crashes into his chest, pushing him back further into the room. The soldier advances on him when all of a sudden one of his legs goes out and he crashes to the floor. Tinok had hamstrung him from behind as the soldier was closing in on Jiron. Jiron presses the soldier as he lies there on the ground, blocking a cut from the sword and avoiding the shield. He gets inside the man’s defenses and slits his throat. He looks up to see Tinok battling another one.
“Don’t need any help,” Jiron says to Tinok who just shrugs and smiles back.
“Sorry,” Tinok replies as another soldier passes into the room, “I’ll try not to save your life next time.” His knives flash and the soldier falls to the floor.
Suddenly, there’s a pause as no more soldiers come through the opening. Tinok turns to James and says, “Alright Mr. Mage, you got any ideas?”
James suddenly realizes that he'd been caught up with watching the fighting, awestruck at the relative ease in which they’ve been taking out the soldiers and not thinking about the situation at all. Red faced, he begins pondering the situation instead of wool gathering.