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narrowly avoiding a blow to his head. The chain was moving faster now. It looked
almost like a solid wall of metal as it careened through the air.
Cy pulled his dagger from its sheath. It was the only enchanted weapon he
owned. Flipping it over in his left hand, he clutched the tip of the blade between
two fingers, then he feigned a lunge with his scimitar. The blond man brought the
chain up in a defensive arc, striking at the hilt of the sword. Cy lowered the blade
under the flailing chain and brought the dagger up to throw. The chain-wielder
was too fast, and he changed directions, throwing Cy off balance. Just barely
able to keep to his feet, the raider held onto the dagger but had to lower his arm
to keep from falling.
The chain whistled as it came down in an overhead strike. Cy leaped
forward, pressing his body as close to his attacker's as possible. Blood spattered
his boots as his scimitar cut a deep wound into the blond man's leg. The chain
changed directions and hit Cy hard in the back, knocking him straight into the
black-robed man. The raider lost his grip on the curved sword as he bounced off
a human wall of muscles. The ground came up, and Cy found himself once more
on the rocky, hard-packed dirt in the streets of Kath.
This is starting to annoy me, he thought as he got to his feet.
He didn't have time for much more as the chain hit him again right around his
midsection. The cold, heavy links wrapped themselves around his body and
tangled with the rest of the chain as they made one full circle around Cy's
stomach. Just as the dark metal clanked into itself, the raider felt himself lift off
the ground. The blond man pulled him clear off his feet, and Cy grunted as all the
air left his lungs. Coming down in a heap at the foot of the chain-wielder, Cy
struggled to stay conscious. He felt the chain tug and begin to unravel itself from
his body. The force of the larger man pulling caused Cy to roll over onto his back
as the chain uncoiled. He looked up. The blond man glared back, a crease in his
brow, his lips pursed and hatred in his eyes.
Flinging his arm forward with all of his might, Cy hurled his enchanted
dagger at the chain-wielder. The magical metal blade sunk easily into the soft
flesh of the neck, and the hilt moved up and down as the man tried to swallow.
Blood seeped out around the edges of the wound. The blond man staggered
backward a step and raised his hands to his throat. The look of anger and spite
had left his eyes, only to be replaced by a distinct note of fear and uncertainty.
Grabbing the hilt of the dagger, the blond man pulled the blade from his neck.
Blood poured out in spurting gouts.
Cy slid away, getting slowly to his feet. The raider looked around for his
scimitar. It was lying in the dirt a few yards away. As he moved to retrieve it, the
chain-wielder fell to his knees, bright red blood covering his hands, and a look of
complete disbelief filled his eyes. Before Cy had retrieved his blade, the man was
facedown on the dirt.
Cy took a deep breath and looked around. The houses were completely
consumed by flames. The screaming and chaotic sounds of the raiders riding
through the village had stopped. His own horse was nowhere in sight, and he
cursed his bad luck for having ridden past this chain-swinging baboon. He felt
around his own body to assess the damage. The bruise on his chest where the
chain had taken him off his horse had already turned deep purple. His tailbone
and back were sore but functional. He had lost a couple of teeth, but his jaw
worked well enough for him to be able to enjoy supper around the campfire that
night, and that was all he needed to know.
Sheathing his sword, Cy walked over to the blond man. His enchanted
dagger lay just past the man's fallen fingertips. The chain-wielder lay facedown in
a good-sized puddle of his own cooling blood. Cy wiped the dagger off on the
back of the fallen man's dark robes.
The sound of horse hooves lifted over the crackling of the burning thatch
roofs. Cy spun around, his dagger in hand.
That was a nice bit of fighting, if I do say so myself."
Cy recognized the speaker-Lume, the captain of the raiding party. He rode
up on his horse and stopped just in front of the fallen man.
"Sir?" Cy looked down at his bruises and bleeding wounds.
"I saw the whole thing. Most of the rest of this scum-" He waved his arm over
his shoulder toward the forest and the raiding party-"would be dead after fighting
a man like that."
"Thank you, sir."
Cy looked down at the blade of his dagger and twirled it absently.
"If all my men could fight like that, we'd be able to take Karsus without the
rest of Olostin's raiders."
Lume dismounted and walked over to the dead man. He kicked him once in
the ribs, then rolled him over with his boot.
The man's eyes were open but unfocused. His mouth hung wide as if he
were trying to catch a last breath, and blood still trickled down his neck, but it was
already starting to harden into scabs.
Lume regarded the dead man for a moment then said, "You know, Cy, I think
I might just have a job for you. Stop by my tent in the morning, and we'll discuss
the details."
Lume put one foot in a stirrup and swung his weight into his saddle.
"In the meantime," the captain said, "head back to camp. The rest of the
party has the villagers well in hand."
Lume turned his horse back toward the village.
"And one more thing, Cy," he said over his shoulder.
"Yes, sir?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]