Wizard under Fire - excerpt
Ramón reached into his
backpack, handed me a flash bang grenade, and moved to the side of a window.
With two grenades in one and hand and his Glock in the other, he whispered,
"One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand." A shot from
his gun shattered the center of the window and he tossed his two grenades
inside. I lobbed mine through the hole he had created, knelt down, and covered
my ears.
The three explosions,
louder than shotgun blasts, would deafen anyone inside. The blinding light
cause visual disorientation. The brick wall shielded us from most of the
effects of the grenades.
Ramón kicked in the front
door, and I followed him inside. Two men lay on the floor, covering their ears.
A third man rose from behind a metal desk, closed his eyes, and began chanting.
A loud ringing echoed in my head. I felt dizzy, and the room spun.
Gritting
my teeth, I
thrust my right palm at the man in front of me. Nothing happened. I
hadn't
generated a blast of air and my dizziness increased as he continued
chanting. I took a deep breath, steadied my right arm with my left, and
pointed my hand at
him. This time the force of wind generated by my magic threw him
backwards into
the rear brick wall, and he fell to the ground. I grabbed my Glock,
ready to
shoot if he moved, but he lay motionless, face down on the floor. My
magic had
never failed me before. I use a gun mainly in self-defense, but if this
bastard
moved, I would shoot him.