Defender of Magic Read Online Free PDF Page B

darting out of reach.
    “I wasn’t volunteering! Go forth and do your Champion thing. I’ll hold down the fort. Mansion. Cave. Whatever this is.” Willem rubbed his bottom even though Lugh hadn’t even managed to catch it. “No more dragon bourbon for you.”
    Lugh chuckled, returning to peruse the selection of shields and feeling rather more like his old self than he had in quite some time.

Chapter Eight

    Besides the greaves, Lugh forwent any armor. With a sword strapped to his hip, shield bound to his forearm, and spear in hand, he sprinted down the incline toward the cavern. Even yards away, the stench of festering animal waste and carrion assaulted him. Though instinct protested, he charged without hesitation into the black mouth of the goblins’ nest.
    Minimal daylight breached the cave at this hour. A weak glow from the bioluminescent growths on the rocks cast everything into a sickly green hue. Even as his stinging eyes adjusted to the darkness, the skulking movements in the shadows alerted him.
    As the first goblin raced up the tunnel Lugh slew it with a quick thrust to its gut. Jogging swiftly, Lugh located the first branch of the nest. This was his defense point. If he delved any deeper he compromised his escape route.
    He thumped his spear on his shield and bellowed a war cry that ricocheted between the stone walls. The answering screeches were an unearthly blend of a wounded cat and a deranged hawk. Dozens of the cries flowed and tumbled over each other as the warning blazed throughout the nest.
    Within seconds, a wave of goblins streamed up the right-hand passage toward him. Lugh slashed the first two with the metal spearhead. More followed. That was the dominance of the goblins— the mass of their overwhelming horde and their incomprehension of fear. Lugh sliced through goblins for at least five minutes, with reinforcements clamoring over corpses to fling themselves at him in an unending charge.
    Arrows and bolas whipped toward Lugh infrequently. He ducked or blocked them with his shield. Backing toward the entryway, he screamed to stir them into an answering frenzy. Their number surged around the tip of his spear faster than he could dispatch them. A net whipped toward him. Lugh ducked, jamming his spear into the netting. The weave tangled into a ball around the spearhead. The goblins yanked on the trailing ropes and jerked the spear from his grasp.
    Lugh drew the sword in its stead. He backed up faster now, as the cavern clogged with goblins rushing him. Each blow brought down two or three, but half a dozen filled the gap. Lugh jogged in reverse, never giving them his back. The goblins scurried around the edges of the walls, seeking to surround him.
    As he retreated from the cave, Lugh roared another outcry. The goblins returned with their own venomous screams. With that, Lugh spun and ran flat out.
    He need not glance back. Their fury clamored on his heels. If he stumbled they would swarm him. Many skilled Sidhe warriors fell before the goblin hordes in wars past. Good fighters, powerful wielders of magic, overwhelmed, butchered before they ceased to breathe.
    Loose stones troubled the narrow path leading into the hills, enough to confound even graceful fey balance. His long legs pumped with all the speed he could summon. Lingering twinges in his healing knee sharpened with exertion. The path curved with the roll of the hill, mounting into an ever steeper incline. The goblins’ screams mingled with vicious laughter. He soon discovered why.
    Lugh skidded to a halt as the path terminated abruptly in a precipice that reached out over the abyss. Loose rocks freefell toward the jagged stones below. He spun around before the goblins could slam into him and knock him from the edge. Using his shield he blocked the beasts that lunged for him. Each slice of the sword severed through flesh, but not rapidly enough to halt the onslaught. With no sign of the dragon, Lugh shouted, “Jonathan!”
    The concussion