03 - Death's Legacy by Sandy Mitchell - (ebook by Undead) Page A

around, and hoisted
Pieter to his feet with ease. A moment later, the pair of them disappeared below
decks.
    “Friends of yours?” Busch asked acidly. Rudi shook his head.
    “Never seen them before in my life,” he replied. “Why should
they be?” Nevertheless, he’d found himself scanning the deck of the raiding
vessel for the sight of a dwarf, or a red-haired sorceress, or some other member
of Krieger’s mercenary band. Busch shrugged.
    “Never seen river rats with that kind of firepower before,
that’s all, and you did come aboard in something of a hurry.”
    “Kurt. This isn’t the time.” Shenk’s voice was hard, and the
first mate nodded.
    “Right.” He gripped the belaying pin in his right hand
convulsively, and tensed for combat. On the verge of nocking another arrow, Rudi
changed his mind and dropped the bow, drawing his sword again. The pirates had
clearly decided that there wouldn’t be time for another volley, and were
preparing to board. The raiding vessel was alongside, and with a sudden
convulsive move of the tiller it swung about, ramming into the side of the Reikmaiden.
    The sturdy little riverboat shuddered with the impact,
timbers groaning as they distorted for a moment and sprang back into shape. With
a wild yell, half a dozen armed marauders leapt the narrow gap, which was
widening already as the helmsman of the raiders moved away again, no doubt
fearful of breaching his own hull if he remained too close and gave Ansbach the
opportunity of returning the favour. There was no time to differentiate the
assailants any further, and within an instant, Rudi was fighting for his life.
    A huge fellow, bearded like a Norscan, swung a double-headed
axe at Rudi’s head with murderous intent. Rudi ducked and parried, feeling the
impact jarring up his arm as he deflected the blade with the edge of his sword,
and stepped in close, inside the axeman’s reach. He knew from his time with the
Black Caps that despite its intimidating appearance the weapon was a clumsy one,
unsuited to fighting at close quarters. It needed room to be used effectively,
and denied of it, the wielder would be at a serious disadvantage. He stamped
down on the fellow’s instep. The axeman gasped, losing his balance for a moment,
and Rudi struck upwards, taking him in the throat with the hilt of his sword.
Something gave, with a crunching sound, and the man fell heavily to the deck,
his face contorting.
    “Rudi!” Shenk called, and Rudi turned, leaving the axeman to
expire: with a crushed larynx he couldn’t last more than a moment or two. A
bright sword thrust at his kidneys, and he evaded, the clash of his own blade
against the one that had almost claimed his life, echoing across the water.
    “Thanks.” Rudi followed up the deflection with a thrust of
his own, but the swordsman evaded it easily. Shenk made a cut at the man’s back
with his cutlass, but the raider was quick, Rudi had to admit, spinning round to
engage the riverboat captain at once. Within seconds he was through Shenk’s
guard, and only a frantic leap back saved the mariner from disembowelment. Rudi
cut at the duellist’s leg, hoping to cripple him, but the man rallied again, and
Rudi found himself being driven backwards across the deck.
    Unable to look around for fear of giving his unexpectedly
skilled opponent an opening, he saw the rest of the battle in snatches from his
peripheral vision. Shenk tried to follow, but was immediately engaged by another
of the pirates, a hard-faced young woman whose shirt was partially unbuttoned to
reveal an impressive amount of cleavage. This was, no doubt, an effective
distraction against most male opponents, but Shenk seemed too focused on saving
his boat and his cargo to fall for that old trick. Busch was laying about
himself with the belaying pin, heedless of the fact that the pirates’ weapons
were bladed.
    Remembering the impact with which the improvised club had
struck when he’d