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And I’m free.

I know it’ll only be a second before the guards respond, so I race for the horse. I snatch Secret Eater, feel its horrible weight in my grasp.

And with all the strength I possess, I throw it, scabbard and all.

As soon as it leaves my fingertips, rough hands grab me, yank me back, but I watch the sword fly. It spins in a circle through the air, sailing over heads, traveling faster than the running guards.

Until it lands far to Kellyn’s left.

Doesn’t matter.

The guards have already reached him.

“Petrik!” I scream. “The sword. Get Kellyn the sword!”

Understanding, the scholar bolts for where it landed, leaving Kellyn to deal with the soldiers alone.

“Great. Just bloody helpful of you!” Kellyn screams to Petrik’s back. With two hands, the mercenary flies toward the first guard,cutting him just below the armpit, where the chain mail doesn’t extend. He goes down.

Two more reach him at the same time. Kellyn sweeps his blade back and forth in front of himself, not letting them advance. He loses his balance on the next pass, and as one of the guards takes the opening, I call out.

But it was only a feint.

Kellyn takes off the guard’s arm and spins in the same move to get behind the second one, stabbing him in the back.

The lead guard growls. “Will someone please do their job and end those two?”

All but the guards restraining Temra and me take off into the fray. The one shouting orders backs toward us. “Get them saddled.” Temra and I have our arms wrenched behind our backs, and we’re yanked toward the horses.

And then Petrik has the sword. He tosses it to Kellyn, who has to drop a hand from Lady Killer’s hilt to catch the broadsword.

“I already have a weapon, you idiot! What good is this thing?”

“Kellyn, use it!” I shriek at him as someone hauls me into a saddle. “And, Petrik, run! Get as far away from Kellyn as you can!”

To my amazement, both listen. Kellyn drops his longsword and puts Secret Eater in his good hand. With his left, he reaches up to remove the scabbard and tosses it to the ground.

I can hear the magic humming to me from here. Maybe it’s my imagination that the sword glows at being released from its confines after so long, but I swear I see it sparkle in the sunlight, and Kellyn adjusts his grip at the unexpected weight. It’s only a broadsword, after all, designed with the potential to be held in one hand.

Meanwhile, Petrik looks over his shoulder while he runs from Kellyn, waiting to see what’s about to happen.

“Start swinging!” I shriek. One of the guards slaps me up the side of the head.

“Not another word,” he says.

Kellyn looks around in confusion at the soldiers who haven’t quite reached him. “What, now?” I can only imagine what he must be thinking. How could a sword that reveals secrets be of use to him in his current situation?

“Yes, now!” Temra says.

Perhaps because he simply wants to test the weapon out, or because he wants to try to intimidate the oncoming soldiers, maybe he’s humoring Temra—I don’t know—but Kellyn starts swinging.

The first three soldiers grab at their middles before sinking to the earth, blood dripping from slashes in their stomachs. Kellyn looks at the blade before meeting my eyes. Then I notice his eyes turn inward, as the secrets of the soldiers crowd his mind.

He comes to as another guard reaches him. He holds Secret Eater high in the air and brings it down, cutting the soldier in half from head to toe. The sword continues down, cutting a heavy swath through the earth. Kellyn has to pull it out with a few tugs.

I feel my stomach turn over as I watch the destruction caused by the blade I made.

I want to close my eyes, to pretend I’m anywhere else. But I force myself to watch. I should see this. See what I’ve done.