“Bulwark Slam!”

  A young yet powerful male voice I didn’t recognize rang throughout the clearing, echoing off the trees and bushes around us.

  And then a guy I didn’t recognize jumped down in front of us, and a translucent barrier—similar to my Minor Shield spell, but taller, thicker, and green instead of blue—formed from his outstretched hand when Barlow was just inches from crashing into us.

  Slam.

  Barlow smashed headfirst into the barrier and bounced right off it like he had run straight into a brick wall. The Forest Bear growled and whined in pain, staggering backward away from the barrier that continued to protect us.

  But my eyes were drawn to the man who had saved us.

  He was a few inches taller than me with a short, buzzed haircut that reminded me of the military style my dad had once told me was common among Codexers in the Ninth Kingdom. He wore a silver chest plate that wrapped around his back, featuring an insignia that resembled six silver swords pointing their tips toward each other in a circle.

  His left hand was outstretched—the source of the barrier—but in his right hand, he held a long trident that had to be at least two feet in length, ending in three pointed tips that looked more than sharp enough to skewer human flesh. The trident gleamed under the rays of the sun overhead, as did the man’s armor.

  The man looked over his shoulder at us, revealing a very young-looking face. He couldn’t have been older than me or Ruth. “You three okay?”

  Shocked, I managed to find the words to say, “Uh, yeah. Who are you?”

  “Jonah,” said the man without missing a beat. “Jonah Uri. But let’s save the introductions for later. Those bandits are still a problem.”

  Jonah wasn’t wrong. Though Barlow had retreated a good distance from us after running into Jonah’s barrier spell, the Forest Bear was clearly still in the game. It growled and clawed at the earth but did not seem terribly eager to try rushing Jonah again.

  Behind Barlow, Wolfbrand stepped to the side, perhaps so he could see us better, and he looked even less pleased than Barlow. “What do you want, boy? This is none of your business. Move along before I have my bear rip you to shreds.”

  Jonah, to his credit, didn’t look fazed by Wolfbrand’s threats. “You’ll have to get past my barrier first, bandit, which I would like to see you try. Or maybe I’ll just drop the barrier and fight you directly. I haven’t had a real challenge since I was transferred out here. Would be nice to test my abilities against a real enemy for a change.”

  I had no idea who Jonah was or where he had transferred from, but I nonetheless spoke up, saying, “Be careful. Wolfbrand is a rogue Codexer with a Hex Field that disrupts spells.”

  Jonah looked at his barrier with an unimpressed expression. “Doesn’t seem to be affecting my spells. Interesting. Though, thanks for the tip. Hex Fields are a pain. And now I know who to target.”

  Without warning, Jonah dropped the barrier and rushed toward Barlow and Wolfbrand. Even Barlow seemed surprised by Jonah’s sudden move, but he still raised his paws to try to attack Jonah anyway.

  But Jonah slammed the tip of his trident into the ground in front of Barlow and pole-vaulted right over the Forest Bear. He spun through the air and landed behind Barlow and in front of Wolfbrand, who looked down at Jonah with genuine surprise in his eyes.

  Before Jonah could thrust his trident into Wolfbrand’s undefended chest, Wolfbrand caught it with his good hand inches before it could skewer him. A look of surprise, perhaps mixed with fear, appeared on Jonah’s face.

  Wolfbrand scowled down at Jonah in annoyance. “You are a fast one, I will admit. But you are still a boy, and I am still a man.”

  With that, Wolfbrand raised his hooked hand and slashed it at Jonah. His hook cut through Jonah’s face, making Jonah cry out in pain as he staggered away from Wolfbrand, blood leaking out of his face. Nonetheless, Jonah managed to yank his trident out of Wolfbrand’s grasp and hold it before him defensively, putting some distance between him and Wolfbrand. But even from a distance, I could see the blood from his open cheek wound flowing down his face and neck.

  Yet that didn’t seem to scare Jonah. He just took up what appeared to be a specific fighting stance, keeping the points of his trident aimed at Wolfbrand, ignoring the blood running down the side of his face. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have gotten so close to you. My uncle always chided me for not taking advantage of my trident’s reach when I could.”

  Wolfbrand raised his hooked hand, glistening with Jonah’s blood, a wolfish grin on his face. “Your uncle sounds like a wise man. Did he ever warn you also about not picking fights with Codexers who don’t follow the rules and don’t give a crap about the age of their opponents?”

  Jonah smiled. “Actually, my uncle told me that you should never be afraid to pick a fight with bullies. And you are definitely a bully.”

  I had no idea who Jonah’s uncle was, but he sounded cool. More than that, I was becoming increasingly happy that Jonah had come to our rescue.

  As for Wolfbrand, he just scowled again and snapped his fingers. A red ring of energy emitted from them, and Jonah staggered slightly, even though he had not been directly affected by whatever spell Wolfbrand had cast—at least from what I could tell.

  A look of horror spread across Jonah’s face as he looked down at his hands. “Your Hex Field … it …”

  “That’s right, boy,” Wolfbrand interrupted Jonah before he could finish speaking. He spread his arms wide. “That means that you are now included in the Hex Field’s effects! Time to die, boy. Barlow!”

  The Forest Bear spun around toward Jonah and swiped at his back. Barlow’s blow knocked Jonah onto his stomach before Barlow slammed his paw down on Jonah’s back, pinning him to the ground and making his armor crack under the impact. At least, I thought the cracking sound I heard was Jonah’s armor breaking, though it could have been his back for all I knew. Jonah certainly cried out like his back had been broken.

  Before Barlow could finish off Jonah, however, a strange humming sound emitted from the trees around us. It sounded like somebody was playing a stringed instrument—a low and eerie song that I didn’t recognize but which filled me with dread just hearing it.

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  I wasn’t the only one who heard it. Ruth and Nimbus were looking around like they were trying to identify the source of the humming noise. So were Wolfbrand, Barlow, and the other bandits. Wolfbrand, in particular, was whipping his head this way and that, eyes narrowed as he searched for the source of the mysterious music.

  “Music?” said one of the bandits. “Who’s playing the music?”

  I had no answer to that question myself, but a glance at Jonah, who was still eating dirt underneath Barlow’s paw, showed that Jonah was smiling.

  And then a bunch of things happened at once.

  First, the branches of the trees around us came to life and wrapped themselves around the limbs and bodies of the bandits. That included Wolfbrand, who cried out as the particularly thick and tall tree behind him wrapped its limbs around him in a forced hug. Some of the branches also reached for Barlow, but the Forest Bear batted at them with its free claw, though it was just barely enough to keep the branches from capturing it in the same way they had captured Wolfbrand and his minions.

  Then the air itself grew crisper and cleaner until, with a snap, this notification appeared in my view:

  Enemy Hex Field has been dispelled! All affected Codexers and Codex Beasts can now freely use their spells without limitations.

  My eyes widened in shock. That was amazing. But who had dispelled the Hex Field?

  I didn’t have time to ponder that question before I heard the sound of a man grunting and running toward us. I jerked my head to the side to see one of the bandits—who had somehow managed to avoid getting captured by the animated trees—rushing toward me, Ruth, and Nimbus with his short sword drawn. He was screaming bloody murder at the top of his lungs, clearly attempting to kill us before we could escape.

  But then something thin, silver, and sharp lanced out of the trees and slashed cleanly through his left leg at the knee. The bandit, now with one less leg, toppled to the ground and clutched his bloody stump while screaming even more curses at the top of his lungs.

  A man stepped out of the bushes and kicked the downed bandit in the head. The blow knocked out the bandit instantly, making him go silent and limp on the ground, covered in an increasingly large pool of his own blood from his bleeding stump.

  “Ugh,” said the man who had killed the bandit. He wrinkled his nose. “Blood and screaming. You couldn’t name a more disgusting duo, if you ask me.”

  I blinked at the man because he looked completely out of place in the forest.

  He was a tall, almost bone-thin man wearing loose silver robes that hung off his thin frame like a dress on a stick figure, which bore the six silver swords insignia that Jonah’s armor did. With his long, shoulder-length silver hair and purple highlights along his eyes, I might have mistaken him for a woman if I hadn’t heard him speak. His voice was surprisingly deep, and he smelled a lot like lilacs for some reason.

  In his hands, he held a harp of all things—white and silver. The frame was white, but the strings were a shiny silver that matched his robes. Yet I could tell, based on the glyphs carved into its frame, that the harp was no ordinary musical instrument, but rather a Codex weapon that the Codexer before us used to channel his spells.

  I probably should have scanned him to find out more about him, but frankly, I was a little overwhelmed at this point.

  “Sheminith!” Jonah cried, still trapped underneath Barlow’s paw. He was still grinning even though Barlow’s weight had to hurt. “What took you so long? Slowpoke.”

  The man, whose name was apparently Sheminith, wagged a disapproving finger at Jonah. “It’s not my fault you sneaked off without telling me where you were going. I swear, that is not how we do things in the Silver Swords. One of these days, that maverick attitude of yours is going to get yourself killed, along with whoever happens to be unfortunate enough to be near you at the time. What would your parents say, I wonder?”

  Jonah grunted. “Lots of things, probably, but I could use some help here. This Codex Beast is stronger than it looks.”

  Jonah, of course, was referring to Barlow. The enslaved Codex Beast had turned its attention toward Sheminith, gazing at him as if it wasn’t sure if he was a threat or not. The musical hum I had heard earlier was no longer audible, yet the trees continued to restrain the bandits regardless.

  Sheminith sighed and strummed the strings of his harp, creating a brief yet beautiful note. “Very well. Mr. Codex Beast Bear, would you be so kind as to let my ward go? It isn’t his fault that he doesn’t listen to his elders.”

  Barlow just looked more confused than anything that Sheminith was speaking to him like that. Frankly, so was I. Sheminith hadn’t even addressed me, Ruth, or Nimbus, and I wasn’t sure he had even noticed we existed. He seemed more concerned about rescuing Jonah than saving us, though if he somehow defeated Wolfbrand, he would accomplish both at once.

  Wolfbrand, still restrained by the trees, shouted at Barlow, “You stupid bear! Kill the Hymnist. Do it now!”

  Barlow hesitated for a split second before taking its paws off Jonah and turning toward Sheminith.

  But then Sheminith’s eyes glowed a divine golden color, and he whispered as he strummed the strings of his harp, “Big mistake.”

  A golden aura formed around Barlow, forcing the Forest Bear to come to a stop. It raised one of its front paws like it was trying to dispel the aura, only for it to suddenly freeze in place.

  That was when I got the following notification:

  Hymnist of the Radiant Word Sheminith has laid a Divine Order on Barlow the Forest Bear! Barlow is prevented from moving for the next 5 minutes.

  I didn’t know what a ‘Divine Order’ was, but whatever it was, it had to be a powerful spell because Barlow now stood as still as a statue right where he was. And with Wolfbrand and his fellow bandits all captured by the trees, it looked to me like this fight was over. Wolfbrand had even lowered his head onto his chest, seemingly defeated.

  Jonah rose back to his feet, dusting off his armor, ignoring his bleeding cheek as he looked over at Sheminith. “Thanks for the save, Sheminith. I mean, I obviously had the situation under control, but—”

  “But you almost got yourself and these poor, innocent Codexers here killed,” said Sheminith, finally gesturing at me and Ruth for the first time. “And that cute little rabbit, too, of course.”

  Nimbus perked his ears up when Sheminith mentioned him, perhaps hopeful that Sheminith would give him a banana, but I held up a hand and asked, “Who are you guys? I mean, we appreciate you saving us, but where did you come from and why are you here?”

  Sheminith gave Jonah a reproachful look. “Young Jonah, where are your manners? You didn’t even properly introduce yourself to the people you saved? Everyone is going to think you are a mannerless giant if you keep up that behavior of yours.”

  Jonah gave Sheminith an annoyed look. “Sorry for prioritizing saving lives over manners. Next time, I’ll make sure to ask the murderous bandits if I can try to kill them, too.”

  Though Jonah and Sheminith spoke rather harshly to each other, I got the impression they did this fairly often, and there was no actual malice or conflict behind it. That did little to answer my questions, however, and just left me feeling more confused than anything—if a bit relieved that they were strong enough to take down all of these bandits.

  Sheminith then turned his attention toward us and bowed respectfully. “Please accept my apologies. You already know Jonah’s name, but my name is Sheminith, Sheminith Hayes, that is, and we are with the Silver Swords Guild.”

  Ruth perked up when Sheminith mentioned their Guild name, even though it meant nothing to me. “The Silver Swords Guild? I thought your insignia looked familiar! No wonder you guys are so strong.”

  I bit my lower lip. “Um, who?”

  Sheminith chuckled. “We are a bit more of an exclusive guild than most and don’t advertise as much as some of the bigger guilds. You can’t even join unless you get an invitation from a member of the Guild. So it’s no surprise you haven’t heard about us, especially if you are from this area. We don’t have any outposts in Shinar. Not yet, anyway.”

  I scratched the top of my head in confusion. “If you guys don’t even have any outposts in Shinar, then what are you two doing here?”

  Sheminith opened his mouth to respond, but then harsh laughter broke the air, and we all looked over at Wolfbrand.

  Wolfbrand, despite being restrained, was laughing now. His eyes glowed red now, which couldn’t have been a good sign.

  “The Silver Swords, eh?” said Wolfbrand. “That’s what I thought when I saw the boy’s armor, but thanks for confirming your Guild. Should make it much easier to get what I want.”

  Sheminith raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. “If what you want is to be stripped of your illegal portable and shipped off to Hebron to face justice for your many crimes against innocents, then we will help you get that. Though I have the feeling you are speaking about something else.”

  Wolfbrand nodded. “Aye. I am speaking about your death.”

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