Read The Giants' Dance for Free Online Page A

the figure and carried it to the ground, pinning it. Will’s strength slowly forced the blade from the fist that had wielded it. He was hit, then hit again, in the face, but the blows lacked power and he held his grip long enough to apply an immobilizing spell, which put the attacker’s limbs in struggle against one another.
    â€˜Take care not to hurt her, Will. She cannot help herself.’
    He shook the pain from his head and staggered to his feet. The furiously writhing body repulsed him. Strangled gasps came from the assailant as he picked up the blade.
    â€˜Who is she?’ He wiped his mouth where one of the woman’s blows had drawn a little blood. ‘It’s lucky you heard her coming. I had no idea.’
    â€˜I did not hear her so much as feel the approach of her magic.’
    â€˜That’s a trick I wish you’d teach me.’
    Gwydion grunted. ‘It was never easy to kill an Ogdoad wizard. And quite hard to take one by surprise.’
    Will shook his head again and brushed back his braids. Then he turned the blade over in his fingers. It was broad and double-edged and had a heavy, black handle. ‘This knife is an evil weapon,’ he said, passing the blade to Gwydion.
    The wizard would not take it. ‘It is not evil.’
    â€˜No?’
    â€˜Nor is it a weapon. Or even a knife. Did I teach you to think that way?’
    â€˜It looks like a dagger to me,’ he muttered. ‘And it would’ve made a mess of you.’
    â€˜Look again. It is made of obsidian, the same black glass which the Sightless Ones use in the windows of their chapter houses. It is a sacred object, one used in ritual and not to be lightly profaned with blood.’
    â€˜Well, the blood it was intended to spill was yours.’
    â€˜It has more in common with this.’ Gwydion drew the blade of star-iron from the sheath that always hung on a cord about his neck. He held it up. ‘An “iscian”, called by some “athame”, though strictly speaking athamen may be used only by women. It is not a dagger but a compass used to scribe the circle that becomes the border between two worlds. It is the season of Iucer, and tonight this Sister hastravelled here by magic. I do not know why she has chosen to meddle far above her knowledge, but look what it has done to her.’
    Will turned to where the woman still kicked and struggled as arm fought arm and leg fought leg.
    â€˜Release her, now. But be mindful of the powers that flow here.’
    Will rebuckled his belt over his shirt and straightened his pouch. He felt his heart hammering as he danced out the counterspell. At length the woman’s body collapsed into the grass, as if her bones had been turned to blood. Though slender, she was of middle age, with long hair, silvered in streaks now. Twenty years ago it would have been dark and she would have been a handsome woman.
    â€˜Speak to me now!’ Gwydion commanded, and made a sign above her head.
    The Sister shrieked and writhed, but then her voice became one of malice.
‘Slaughter great,
    Slaughter small!
    All slaughter now,
    No Slaughter at all!’
    â€˜Peace!’ Gwydion said, and made a second sign over her.
    Instantly she fell quiet, and seemed to sleep comfortably.
    â€˜Who is she?’ Will asked.
    â€˜She comes from one of the hamlets near…that.’ Gwydion gestured towards the last glimmerings of lilac fire in the west. ‘She invoked a spell of great magic to bring herself here. She should not have done that, nor would she have unless her life had been threatened. By rights she should not even have known how to use such magic, but curiosity is a powerful urge in some of the Sisters of theWise. This time it has saved her life, though we shall soon see if it was worth the saving.’
    â€˜What do you mean?’
    â€˜The spell was ill-wrought. It has touched her mind with madness. That is, I hope, the only reason she