A young woman is traveling alone on a pony along a road at night when she encounters three armed men on horses who draw their swords and threaten her. Hidden high in a tree above them is a witness - a man on the run after accidentally killing a woman in a crowd. He debates whether to intervene to help the girl, but decides against it due to the danger, feeling cowardly for choosing to stay hidden. He is torn by guilt and remorse at the impending attack on the girl that he feels responsible for by not acting to help.

2. Revolution’s Blade
Book 1
The Hound’s Prey

3. Chapter 1
Siletto
2nd April 1534
I felt the warm blood spillingoutover my hand that held the
knife. I sawthe lastlingeringlook in her eyes. She fell down to the
ground, I caught her fall.I tried to lower her gently, as the tears
began to roll down my cheeks. Before she died, she spoke to me for
the firstand only time.
“It’s okay,” she said in a whisper.“I forgive you,” and then the
lightin those eyes faded away, leavingme holdingthe dead victim
of my crime.
The crowd had surged at justthe wrong moment, pushingme,
pushingthe armand the knife, pushingitright into her chest. I had
only meant to take her purse. I didn't mean her any other harm. I
staggered to my feet, cryinglikea child,and fought my way
through the crowd of people who were still oblivious to the
murder.
Sincethat day, I sawher face when I closed my eyes. The last
words she had said,the strange, unbelievableresponseto what I
had done; ithaunted me. When I slept, it was worse; my
imagination augmented the memories into nightmares.
I tried not to sleep.
It was an accident, I only had the knife ready because of the
bodyguard, but he’d been pushed away by the throng of people.
Why did the crowd have to move as itdid? Why surge at justthat
moment? It was a million to one chance. People are killed all the
time, many on purpose, murdered in cold blood.It wasn’t the same
thing, what I had done. It was an accident,a freak occurrence, and I
was so sorry.
Desperate for some release, some escape from the torment
my mind inflicted upon itself,I ran.Maybe, if I could get far enough
away from the scene of my crime, the nightmares would begin to
fade. Maybe, if I went a longway away, I could begin to forget, and
forgive myself.

4. It hadn’t worked.
Hundreds of miles had passed,alongwith the borders of many
countries.I was beginningto think my dreams would never clear,
that I would never be ableto get over what I had done, but then
something happened to help I never would have expected.
I met Haze.
All that distance,all thattime, it had failed to have any effect,
but Haze proved to be justthe distraction my mind required. It
would never have occurred to me that another person, another
girl,would begin to set me free.
The day we met, the rain had started so suddenly that it caught
me unprepared. I’d been walkingalongin a daydream, dwellingon
my pastand not payingattention to the present. I hadn’t noticed
how latethe hour had become, or the rain clouds movingin
overhead. It was mid spring,the leaves on the trees had returned
followingthe retreat of winter, but the days were still cold and the
nights even colder. Too often, the skies were filled with spring
storms.
The clouds threw down their bounty, soakingthe earth and me
alongwith it. Cursing atmyself for not payingattention and about
the terribleweather, I looked around searchingfor cover, but there
was none to be had. Sheltering under the leaves of one of the tall
trees by the sideof the road was the only option; either that or I
would have to press on and hope to find something more
substantial.
I was in the south eastof The Continent. It had been two days
sinceI’d travelled through a small village,but sincethen I’d
wandered off the main road in a moment of paranoia.Pursuitwas
a certainty; the girl who died had clearly been from a rich family,I
feared a bounty had been placed upon me and a Hound was close
behind. Such fears had sent me off down this path, into the wilds.I
was confident the new smaller road would re-join the main one in a
day or so, but I didn’t think there was another villageany closer
than the one I’d come from.
Cursingagain,I decided that pressingon had almostno chance
of me findingany better cover from the rain.A tree offered the

5. driestnight’s sleep around and, if I sheltered in the branches,it
would providesome distancefrom any of the ghostly Revenant
that might be wanderingin this area.
There was a suitabletree right by the sideof the road.
Strugglingin the rain,my boots slippingon the wet bark,I
eventually managed to climb up. I stashed my pack in a nook and
then got into a sleepingposition,with my back againstthe trunk
and my legs stickingout alonga thick bough. I tied some rope
around my legs and threw another piece around the trunk to tie
around my chest, completing my bed for the night. You might think
it’s stupid to try sleepingup in a tree, that you’d fall out,but that’s
what the ropes are for.
It was quite comfortable, or at leastmore so than tryingto
sleep on the wet ground while being clawed at by spectral fingers.
The Revenant, the Dead Wanderers, Spooks, Ghosts,whatever you
call them, they floataround everywhere and I hate them. Most
people think they’re harmless,but I’ll bedamned if I will letthe
horrid things touch me.
The only problem with where I’d decided to sleep for the night
was the location.The tree I’d picked,a huge oak, was rightby the
edge of the road.My bough even stuck out over it, which ran me
the risk of being spotted by anyone else travellingalong,butI
didn’t fancy tramplingoff in to the bushes and the mud to try to
find another suitableplace.Besides which,it was too late. The sun
was well on its way down below the horizon and there, in the
middleof nowhere, miles from the nearest village,I could already
see the morbid presence of some Revenant off in distanttrees,
their ethereal bodies startingto take shapeas the sun’s rays left
the land.
High up on the bough and wrapped in my dark cloak I hoped
there was littlechanceof being spotted if the unlikely occurred and
someone else happened to pass by,or by the dead eyes of any
wandering spectres.I double checked my ropes to make surethey
would stop me rollingover,pulled my hood down as far as itwould
go and, with a fearful heart, but accepting there was no other
choice,I closed my eyes.

6. Like every night, I hoped that this time my dreams would be
free of nightmares. The sound of the gentle fallingrain carried me
off to sleep. My dreams were filled with nightmares, the same as
always.
At some pointlater, I awoke with a start. The rain continued to
fall and the night had closed in around me. With the clouds
blockingout most of the moon and starlight,the darkness was thick
and oppressive.I could barely see anything,justthe dark outlineof
the bough underneath my legs and the spooky black shapes of
other trees out in the night, their twisted branches juttingout like
arms of deranged scarecrows.The road was silent,runningoff
north and south, its own shadeof darkness in a dark landscape.
I tried to shakeoff the memory of being asleep. I was so used
to the nightmares they had stopped causingshock;justfamiliar
misery welcomed me when my eyes opened. Something else has
woke me.
I listened carefully for anythingstrange, but the only sound
was the quiet patter of the raindrops as they fell on the leaves of
the trees and the stone road below. There was no wind, no sounds
of animals in thewet night, and the air was dank and cold.
I looked further up and down the road.There were no signs of
any Revenant about anymore, thank the First,but in the distance
there were flickeringlights,to both sides of me and my tree. In the
direction I had come from there was a solitary pony with a small
lonely rider.The beast was trotting slowly alongand was
illuminated by a lantern that hung from a wooden pole held by the
rider.They were about eighty yards away.
In the other direction were three horsemen, about a hundred
yards up the road, two of which carried lanterns likethe pony rider.
In the darkness,I turned my head back and forth to look ateach
group, both amazed and startled by the sudden appearanceof
these unknown people. One of them, or one of their animals,must
have made a noisethat had awakened me. I had always been a
lightsleeper at the best of times, but back then, gnawed by
paranoia and tortured by my dreams, I could be awoken by an owl
hooting. Under my cloak,I tried to relax the grip my hand had

7. taken on the handleof one of my two knives;I’d instinctively seized
it the moment I’d seen the lights.Whiletellingmyself notto worry,
but stayingvery still,I watched the riders approach.
I assumed both groups had seen each other, but neither the
pony rider nor the horsemen showed any signs thatthey were atall
concerned, they justcontinued to trot their mounts alongthe road.
As I satthere hidden and silentin my tree, I prayed they would all
pass by without anythingmore than a customary hello to each
other, and with me completely unnoticed. Most people in the
world are honest and lawabidingI told myself. These people are
not necessarily bandits,murderers or wraiths in disguise.There was
definitely no need to panic.
Closer and closer they all came;I could now tell by her size that
the pony rider was a woman and that the other group were all very
probably men. She appeared to be unarmed but there was the
unmistakableshapeof scabbards under the men’s cloaks; they
each wore a sword on their belts. I swallowed nervously.
What were these bloody fools doingridinghere at night,
scaringthecrap out of me. I hoped the cold rain was getting into
their capes,soakingthem all,and pneumonia would set in and
they’d die!
When I realised they were going to pass by each other when
they were almostdirectly underneath my tree, there was no
stoppingthe panic.Insidemy gloves,my knuckles must have been
white becauseI was grippingboth my knife handles so tight. What
the hell was going on here! It was ridiculousthatall thesepeople
had turned up all of a sudden.
I watched intently, turning only my head, tryingto keep an eye
on each group. The pony continued slowly forwards,as did the
horses,the three men ridingsinglefileon one sideof the road.
Every second the distancebetween the pony and the horses
narrowed, with me in the centre, while around us all the rain
continued to fall,soakingeverything. I was holdingmy breath and
had to force myself to stop. Each time I sucked in the smallest
amount of air itsounded to me likethe loudest noisein the world.
When they reached my tree, the three riders moved slowly to

8. the sideof each other so they blocked the road and then they
stopped.
My heart sank.
Any chancethere had been of the two parties passingby each
other without incidentvanished.The three men were beneath my
bough, with the two holdingthe lanterns on either sideof the
centre figure that carried nothing.The closestone to me had
actually stopped directly beneath my legs,the firelightfromhis
lantern gave the bough I sat on a twinklingunder-glow of orange
light.
The woman stopped her pony ten yards further out. She had
her head up and appeared to be staringatthe riders,so I could
make out a littlebitof her face. I couldn’t be certain but shelooked
young, pretty, and about my age.
In my head I laughed in disbelief.Sinceleavingthe Capital I’d
been travelling south for a coupleof months with hardly any
contact with anyone else. I’d passed plenty of people of course,but
with littleor no conversation and even less incident.I would have
liked that to have continued, but now the Firstonly knew what was
about to unfold beneath me, between this young woman and three
shifty lookingarmed men. I couldn’tbelieve my luck and I cursed
myself for not headingoff the road to find a different tree to sleep
in.
The horsemen did nothing at first,justsatin their saddles
lookingatthe girl,their horses snortingin the cold,wet night. She
did nothing back in return, as did her mount. The pony juststood
still,lookingsadly atthe ground, day dreaming about a nice dry
barn and some fresh hay I imagined.
She didn’t move, the men didn’t move, I sureas hell stayed
frozen still.Timeseemed to stop. The pause was about a minute
but itfelt likean hour. Second after agonisingsecond rolled by,
each one of them an eternity for me as I satfrozen with panic in my
tree. My nerves started to make me feel sick,there wasn’t much
longer I could take it, but then the inevitablehappened.
The man in the middle moved his cloak back and drew a long
straightsword.The lightfrom the lanterns danced alongthe cool

9. silver steel of the bladeand seemed to gather at the sharp pointed
tip, highlightingits terriblethreat.My throat was dry but I dared
not even swallow.Below me, the man pointed the murderous
lookingpointof his weapon directly at the girl and,takingtheir cue,
the other two men reached down, moved back their cloaks and
drew their own blades.
As their weapons came out I drew my own, slippingboth
knives out of their sheathes on my chest, trying to time it so any
sound I made would be masked by the noiseof the men’s own
weapons slidingfromtheir scabbards.Fear gripped me, a knot of
panic and terror fillingmy stomach, but holdingmy knives drawn
made me feel a littlemore confident. I held one ready outside my
cloak,positioned to cut the rope ties holdingme to the tree.
I still had no idea what I was goingto do but my mind was in
overdrive trying to predictwhat might happen. If the three of them
fell on the girl,as was lookingmore and more likely,did I interfere?
Who was to say this girl deserved my help; or that these three men
deserved my knives in their backs;or that I deserved their swords
in my front! Could my help even save her; or would I justadd my
own murder to hers. Slashed to ribbons by the bandit’s swords.
Instead,I could justsititout up here, unnoticed.
Probably.
Maybe.
Just maybe.
I gritted my teeth and cursed my luck again.These men were
going to rob her or worse, it was stupid to pretend otherwise. My
sense of morality begged me to help, my senseof fear did the
opposite, and to back that sense up my brain was furiously
calculatingthechances of me of livingthrough a fight with three
armed men on horses.
It was not comingback with good odds.In factit was saying
quite clearly,you will die!Even though the bandits were directly
underneath me, trying to take them all would be crazy.I couldn’t
ask for a better ambush position though. They certainly were not
going to expect an attack from the tree above them; hardly
anybody looks up.

10. Even the hungry thief in me chirped in at that moment, to
point out that two of the horses could be sold for a pretty price,
and that would still leaveone spare.I’d been walkingfor months,
my feet were sore and a mount would’ve been most welcome.
There’s nothing likea bit of greed and the promiseof increased
comfort to make you consider doingthe stupid thing. As I saton my
bough, the fight or flightdebate span round and round in my head.
Back below nothing had been said for a minute. I assumed the
men were waitingfor the girl to say something. “No, please”, or
“don’t hurt me,” something likethat, but instead she remained
silentand juststared at the centre man who seemed to be the
leader. As for the men, they didn’t need to say anythingelse,
pointinga sword at someone speaks volumes.
I’d liketo say I decided to attack them, to leap out of my tree
to savethe girl.I really wish thathad been my decision,but I wasn’t
crazy.There was no chance; itwould require a miracleto take
these men in a fight. To my shame, I’ll admitmy decision was notto
get involved, but to instead stay hidden. If I tried to interfere, it was
almostcertain there was justgoing to be two dead people instead
of one.
I couldn’t help but hate myself though, as I knew that logic was
not the main reason for stayingput, itwas fear. At that moment, it
felt likeI was killingher myself, and if they went to rapeher I knew
I would be sick.I wanted to look away once my mind was made up
to stay hidden, not to witness what was goingto happen, but I
forced myself to watch. I owed her that much and cowards didn’t
deserve to keep their eyes closed.I also knew that if I did closemy
eyes, I would see the judgmental face of the girl I had accidentally
murdered, watchingme, as I did nothing to prevent another being
killed.
The middle rider,still with the point of his bladeaimed at the
girl,stood in his saddlea little;I sawthe movement and knew what
it meant - he was about to kick his horseinto a charge. I let go of
the knife outsidemy cloak,restingit in my lap,and put that hand
over my heavingstomach. It felt likethe one time I’d been on a
ship on the sea,likenausea caused by the rockingof the waves.

11. Suddenly, and to my complete shock,the girl decided to speak.
“Leave - leave me alone!” she shouted, her voicecrackingwith fear,
“or - or you will all die.”
She said itbadly,with her voice stuttering, but something was
odd about her tone. It was as if shewas scared of something other
than the horsemen. It sounded likeshe was scared shewould
actually kill them.
The lead banditwas surprised and checked his chargefor a
moment. I sawhis head turn to look atboth his companions,and
then those two started to laugh.I could imaginean evil smileon
the leader’s face.
“Think not Miss,”he said in a thick Southlands peasantaccent.
He didn’t sound schooled or intelligent,but he did sound certain.
“Think we’ll take what we want from you, and then kill you,”and
he kicked his horseto make it charge.

12. I closed my eyes, I couldn’t help it. I wanted to stick my fingers
in my ears as well.Maybe my hand moved a littlein that direction,
maybe I shifted involuntarily a tiny bit,or maybe itwas just
because the weapon was heavy and it was restingon a wet cloak.
The knife I’d put on my lap slipped and fell outof the tree.
I gasped in panic and snatched for it, but my hand wasn’t even
close.Things began to happen very quickly after that.
The lead banditcharged, his horserushingout from beneath
my bough and forward towards the girl.In the corner of my eye, I
sawher move, the lightfrom her lantern swung upwards but I
couldn’t tell what she was doing; I was mainly lookingdown, atmy
knife, which was fallingpointfirsttowards the horse that was
standingdirectly beneath me.
The bladelanded right in the horse’s backside.The beast
shrieked and kicked up, justas you’d expect itto. The horse’s
screamwas quickly joined by the cries of its startled rider,who
suddenly had to clingon desperately to his panicked and injured
mount. Across fromhim, his colleagueturned to look at what was
going on, but he only had a splitsecond to take itin before his
horse became startled;thanks to the sudden noisefrom its
wounded fellow. I watched him pull on his reins as hetried to
regain control,but the most important action was from the
chargingbanditleader.
Surprised by the commotion behind him, he jerked around in
his saddle.His horsecarried on going,perhaps even spurred on by
the noises behind it; the beast raced right pastthe girl before the
man could turn back.
Now I moved, as quickly as I could.Inevitably,thebandits
would spotme, once they regained control of their horses and
began lookingfor the cause.There would be no talkingmyself out
of this and escape seemed unlikely,with me on foot and the three
bandits all mounted.
Attack was the only defence left, and the moral partof me was
glad I was getting involved.Adrenalinesurged in my veins and
suddenly my fear was washed away. My hand with the remaining
knife shot out, severing the ropes, and I pushed up onto my feet

13. but crouched on the bough. There were three bandits to fight and I
could only count on surprisefor a littlelonger. Beneath me, the
firstone still foughtwith his injured mount, while the leader was
racingoff into the night, away from all the lantern light,cursingand
fightingto slowand turn his horsearound. That left the other, who
was on the opposite sideof the road from my tree and had by now
regained control of his startled animal.
I could see himquite clearly and hewas the one most likely to
see me first.Hopingmy boots would not slip on the wet bark, I
quickly stood and ran the few feet down the branch and leapt off,
aimingrightfor him.
An assassin would haveleapt out of that tree silently,deadly
and quiet, calmand focused. I however was no such person;
without really realisingwhatI was doing, my voice screamed out as
I jumped out of the tree, screamed due to panic and adrenaline,
fear and nerves.
The banditlooked up as he heard me shout. He had a second
to reactas I flew out of the darkness straightinto him, nowhere
near enough time to get out of the way. I went knees first,crashing
rightinto his head. I felt the jarringimpactof my knee with his face
travel right up my leg and into my hip, but the banditmust have
felt it a hell of a lotmore. Knocked from the saddlehe landed in a
lump on the ground. His horse, suddenly released of the burden of
its rider,trotted off with a snortdown the road.His sword and
lantern hit the ground with him, the glass windowof the lantern
shatteringand the firegoing out.
I went down in the same direction as my now unconscious or
dead target, but with much more momentum. I managed to extend
a leg and hitthe ground with my foot, and then I frantically brought
the other one down and raced forward to keep from falling,
thundering off into the bushes at the sideof the road. Brambles
and twigs tore at my clothes as I plunged - rather out of control -
through the bushes between the trees. My boots slipped in the
mud and I fought to remain balanced,eventually runningwith a
thud into a tree trunk that appeared suddenly out of the darkness.
It knocked a littleof the wind out of me but I was justglad that it

14. had stopped my run.
More adrenalinesurged through my veins.I felt exhilarated
and terrified at the same time, but my jump could not have gone
better and I’d even managed to keep hold of my knife. I stood there
for a moment hugging the tree with both arms,sucking in breaths
as my heart pounded in my chest. Insidemy head a voicewas
screaming;“turn around you fool, that’s one down but there’s still
two to go!”
Letting go of the truck I turned quickly to see what was going
on now. The chargingbanditleader was out of sight,off pastthe
edge of the lantern light,which had lessened a great deal now
there was one less.I could hear himthough, cursingathis mount,
out in the darkness.Itsounded likehe’d stopped the horse and was
turning itaround.
The other bandit,upon whose horseI had inadvertently
dropped my knife, had been fightinghis injured mount and had
finally managed to bringitunder control.I could see the wound on
its rear and a lineof blood down its flank and leg. It was hardly a
serious wound for such a beast, but enough to have shaken it up
badly.Whilethe rider was back in command, the animal still
snorted and stomped abouton the road,continuingto be difficult
for him.
I advanced back through the bushes towards him, target
number two. I set my remainingknifein my hand, holdingitready
to throw. The banditwas facingmy direction and he stood then, up
in his saddleand raised the lantern he held, trying to castthe light
further off the road towards where I’d disappeared.Whilefighting
to control his horsehe must have seen a littleof what I’d justdone
to his friend,but probably nothingmore than a sudden dark
shaped flyingout of the nightand his companion topplingoff his
horse. I reached the edge of the road and the lightfrom target
number two’s lantern bathed me in an orange glow. He suddenly
sawme approaching,with the knifeheld back ready to throw and
my other hand up in front of me to help with my aim.
Just at that moment, his hood moved back and the light
illuminated his face.I sawrealisation in his eyes when he took in

15. what was about to happen. He swallownervously;I hoped he
wasn’t wearing a breastplateor chain mail underneath his clothes
or I was about to waste my weapon. Prayingto the Firstunder my
breath, I hurled the knife at his heart.
I’ve thrown a lot of knives in my life,mostly as partof an act, at
boards and targets, and even at my stepsister tied to a wheel, but I
was never trying to hit her, the exact opposite actually.This was
not the firsttime I’d thrown to hitsomeone, but itwas the first
time I did more than justwound.
My aim was off. If he had armour on his body, it didn’tmatter.
The knife hit himbladefirstin the throat. He dropped both his
bladeand lantern and reached for his neck where blood suddenly
sprayed outward. For a moment, he satin his saddle,graspingat
his wound and then he toppled backwards off his horse. The beast
was still panicked and once itwas free of the control of its rider,it
darted off down the road and into the night.
I barely noticed it go as I was to intent on the horror my knife
had inflicted on the man, I even took an involuntary step
backwards in shock;the throw had worked rather better and rather
more viciously than I had intended. The man was definitely not
something that had to be worried about anymore, but
unfortunately for himhe was not dead yet.
My firstknife was stickingin the ground next to him. Itmust
have hit the horsebut continued to fall;itwas standingpointfirst
in the mud between the stones of the track road. Blessingmy luck,I
rushed over to retrieve it whiletrying not to look at the gurgling
bloodied state of the banditlyingnearby. After pickingitup, I had
to take a couple of steps away from him and the expandingred
pool that was formingon the road;then I turned to find where the
banditleader was.
I’d almostforgotten about the girl.She was still saton her
pony, ten yards away from me; the lantern she held was bathing
her in lightand providingalmostall of the remainingillumination.I
stared right at her and saw her face clearly for the firsttime; she
wore a horrified and frightened expression,probably nothelped by
witnessingthe bandittake the knife to the throat. Even so, I was

16. surprised howpretty she was and I didn't think we could be more
than a year apartin age.
I wondered if she was thankful that I’d come out of nowhere to
attack her would be robbers, or if she was as scared of me as she
was of them? I didn’t have time to think more upon itthough, as
there was one more threat to deal with.
I readied my knife and gazed pasther into the darkness,
searchingfor the lastenemy. I’d justtaken his two friends out in a
matter of seconds - I stood up tall,still covered head to toe in my
cloak,facehidden by the hood. In my hand I held my knife
threateningly. Look scary,maybe the lastone would fall to fear and
rideaway!
It was very dark; the lanterns’lightdid littleto illuminatethe
night more than a few yards from the girl.The rain still beatdown,
drumming off the top of my hood, off the woman in front of me,
off her pony and off the trees and road around us.Out there in the
darkness,itwould be fallingon the lastbandit.I heard his horse
snort. It wasn’t ridingaway.He wasn’t scared and fleeing. He was
going to come and fight.
An almostparalyzingfear crept back into my bones, pushing
the exhilaration I’d been feelingaway. The lastbanditwas probably
readyinga charge, and this time he wasn’t going to be distracted
from his target.
Worse, I would now be the target.
The girl sawmy gaze shiftand it jolted her into moving; she
hopped quickly off her pony but stayed closeto its side.She
reached into a bundle of gear strapped to the pony’s back,her
hand rummaging around tryingto find something that I prayed to
the Firstwould be a weapon. The beastremained immobile, itwas
now an obstacleto the remainingbandit;runningher down would
not be possiblefor himand if he rode past,she’d easily beableto
duck any sword swingaimed ather. However, I wasn’t worried too
much about that, I had much less cover than she did,and he was
much more likely to come at me.
My world had shrunk to a tiny circleof lightgiven off from two
lanterns,one on the ground and the other still hangingfromthe

17. pole on the pony’s saddle.On one sideof the lightstood my
sleepingtree and the dyingbanditby its base, on the oppositeedge
the other banditlay sprawled in the road, unconsciousor dead. At
the front, the girl sheltered behind her pony, and I stood at the
back,almostin the middleof the path.
Somewhere outsidethe lightwas the mounted man, ready to
invademy world and strikeme down. I couldn’t see him but I could
hear the horse’s hooves clatter on the road. I imagined his eyes,
out in the blackness;cold likemetal, the eyes of a killer.
I didn’t move. If I remained where I was,when he charged,
he’d come rightpast the girl’s lantern and I’d have the lightto help
with my aim.I swallowed nervously.Was this crazy;maybe I should
flee? Why was I even concerned about this girl? Conflicting
thoughts fought in my brain and my hand gripped the knife handle
tight - but then the time to decide was over, I heard the sounds of
the horse suddenly,ominously,intensify.
He was coming.
I raised my knife. Out of the darkness he appeared, his horse
racingtowards me, gathering speed every second. As he charged
into the light,I sawthose eyes. I could see the hate, anger and
complete concentration he had on killingme, and the orange glow
from the lantern danced alongthe shiny steel bladeof the sword
that he held ready.
The girl crouched behind her pony, her rummaging complete,
and he raced past her. Out of the corner of my eye, I think I sawher
turn as he passed,but I was too focused on himto tell what she
was doing.
My hand with the knife was about to throw; he was less than
ten yards and a few more seconds away.Just throw, and then dive
for my lifeto one side.
I never got the chance.
The banditsuddenly jerked in the saddleas if he’d been hit
hard in the back. A look of astonishmentcrossed his faceand then
he was tippingforward off his horse. Shocked by the sudden
change in events I momentarily froze, confused as to why the man
was falling,and then there was a new problem.

18. The horse continued forward,while the banditfell out to his
left, and now I had two things to dodge and not much time. Quickly
I tried to re-adjust,but I couldn’tmove fastenough.
I jumped, but the horse’s flank clipped me as it charged past,
slamminginto my shoulder justas I started to hurl myself out of
the way. The impactsent me flying,spinningmearound in the air.I
crashed down onto the cobbles and all the lights in my world went
out.