War God for Hire- Gladiator by David Burke (books under 200 pages .TXT) 📕

they were both almost spitting at one another. Finally, Kyle saw the new man wave and a pair of robed men came walking out of the small office at the far end of the quarry. Kyle didn’t know who or what they were but if robes meant wizards, he wasn’t gonna stay around to find out what they could do.

It was then that it dawned on him, he was going about this all wrong.

He didn’t need to go through a bunch of spear points, not when he could go over them. Kyle squatted down and bunched up his powerful leg muscles before springing up with the most powerful leap he could muster. He figured even his accidental leap had sent him up over a roof. So, he hoped that a full-on leap would let him clear the ring of spear wielding soldiers.

Sure enough, he was flying through the air, maybe not with the greatest of ease, but he sprang more than forty feet into the air and soared right over the heads and extended spears of the soldiers to land close to the entrance of the quarry. There was no real plan in his head other than to escape. Everything else was predicated on getting away from this trap.

Good thing that, whether on Earth or Verden, Kyle Hudson was a fast runner. He pumped his legs and carried the pickaxe close to his chest. He could see the entrance to the quarry with its wooden gate. Even closed, though, the ten-foot wall really didn’t present an obstacle to him.

Then with no warning, he suddenly face planted into the rocky ground in front of him at high speed. He felt the tearing abrasion to his face, as his skin was ripped off and his teeth knocked loose. His left shoulder hit the ground hard, and he was pretty sure it separated even if it likely popped back into place right away.

There was no time for this. He had to get up and keep running. The pick had flown from his grasp, but he pushed up with his hands. The problem was that as soon as he got up, he realized his left leg was completely dead. It was like he had no control over it. For a guy who was used to treating his body as a precision instrument, that was freaky in and of itself. But for a guy running for his life, it scared the shit out of him.

He looked down and felt the shackle around his left ankle humming. Then, half a dozen guys fell on him, trying to pin him to the ground. Big mistake. He might be hindered, but he wasn’t going down without a fight. He Hulk-flexed and knocked off the guys trying to grab him while hobbling around on his one good leg.

One of the soldiers leapt back at him faster than the others. Instinctively, Kyle brought his elbow down on the back of the man’s neck while he leapt forward to try to encircle Kyle’s waist. Again, bone snapped and the man went limp. The impact from the now-dead body was enough to cause him to fall backwards off his one good leg.

A second later, Kyle felt a stabbing pain in his ribs as he got his first true introduction to melee fighting. The tip of a spear drove two inches into his side. Reflexively, he swung his arm down and snapped the haft in two, leaving the spearhead sticking out of his torso.

Surprisingly, the others didn’t push their advantage. Instead, one of the other soldiers shoved the man who had just speared him. They appeared to be arguing and Kyle didn’t know exactly what was going on, but he was determined to use it to his advantage. He scrambled to his feet and started hopping on his good leg while grabbing his pick off the ground to use as a cane.

Instead of charging forward, the soldiers all stayed back now, like they were leery of him. He wanted to laugh, but it hurt too much to breathe deeply. He could feel the blood running down his side. Then he heard a loud voice call out and the earth under him rumbled.

Rock ripped up from beneath him in the shape of a hand grasping at him with more than foot-wide fingers. They closed in on him and he felt pinched by the powerful moving rock appendage. This was a rough way to learn about magic, but like it or not, Kyle was getting an introduction.

He pushed and strained against the rock and found it wouldn’t break. The wound in his side wouldn’t allow him to push hard and his leg prevented him from getting good leverage. Kyle screamed in rage. He wasn’t going to go down like this. He started to dig deep inside for a solution. There was power there, but he just couldn’t seem to reach it. Every time he grasped at it, the essence slipped through his fingers.

It was then that he saw another of the soldiers dart forward and snap another of those shiny silver manacles on his right wrist. It was like the other band, not a narrow or crude handcuff, but more like an armored bracer. This time, he was able to see it up close and make out the shape of runes worked into the metal. Then it tingled and that arm went numb; it felt like it just disappeared.

Panic set in and Kyle felt lost. But no. He had never given into fear of defeat in his life; he had never allowed an opponent to see him sweat. Kyle felt the need for space to move. He wanted to step out of the batter’s box and regain his composure. That need swelled within him and suddenly burst out from him with devastating results.

The stone hand that imprisoned him shattered. The fragments of stone flew out, the deadly projectiles striking down three fourths of the soldiers. One of the two wizards fell to the ground on