Flinches

Jodah shook his head and prepared a counter, a few carefully chosen words, framed with enough mana, to derail whatever she was planning. As he did so, he felt comfortable, not only with the energies he pulled but also with how he would handle Jaya’s overreaction— a few wise words, backed up with magical energy, and ending in an important lesson taught.

That was Jodah’s plan, at least. In reality, there was another twanging of bow fire from the riders, now close enough that Jodah could feel the splayfooted hooves of their mounts thundering through the thick sod. Now they were firing lower, he thought, but one at least was firing too low— an arrow zipped past him, the breeze of its passing lapping against his knee, and buried its heavy iron head in the nearby flowers.

The close passage of the arrow was enough to make the archmage flinch, and in that flinching his spell was disarmed, sending it skittering from his mind and leaving only the smoking memory of its mana behind. Jodah took a step back, both mentally and physically, to regroup and prepare anew, but that took time. Time that Jaya would not grant him.

***

The Shattered Alliance, Chapter 5