Leander was sent flying, and for a heartbeat, everyone in the yard stood in stunned silence.

Weapons slipped from soldiers' hands and clattered to the ground, and their eyes widened in terror. Many instinctively stepped back and bumped against the wooden fence, but no one dared look down.

Nathaniel's sword gave a sharp, buzzing tremor. He tightened his grip on the hilt, holding it so hard that the red marks of his fingertips were left on the scabbard.

The child's earlier punch had been nothin