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

fought the mate himself, Rudi had no doubt of its
effectiveness, an impression reinforced when a raider dropped his sword with a
howl of agony and what sounded like the crack of shattering bone. With a cry of
triumph, the mate swung the cylinder of wood a second time, up into the man’s
jaw, and he pitched over the rail with a splash.
    That made two down already, Rudi thought. Yullis wasn’t going
to be much help, though. He was still swinging a meat cleaver from his galley
with grim determination, but a self-evident lack of martial ability, when the
remaining three unengaged pirates rushed him, knocked him off his feet, and left
him gasping and winded on the deck. To Rudi’s surprise they didn’t stop to
finish off the fallen cook, instead just pausing a moment to glance around as if
orientating themselves.
    “This way!” The young man in the middle of the trio appeared
to be unarmed, Rudi saw, although he had something clutched tightly in his hand,
which he seemed to be studying intently. The three of them turned, following his
lead, and ran for the hatch leading down to the hold.
    “Hanna!” Rudi tried to shout a warning, but his opponent made
another cut at his belly, and all his attention returned to the fight. This one
was good, he could tell, having faced a number of opponents of varying abilities
during his brief career as a watchman: exceptionally good, in fact. He tried
every trick he could think of, hoping to break through the man’s guard, but
nothing worked. The sliver of whirling steel was always there ahead of him,
deflecting every blow, and licking out to threaten him with lazy deliberation.
His opponent smiled.
    “You’re pretty good, river boy. It’s a shame to have to kill
you.”
    “You haven’t managed yet,” Rudi gasped, feeling the air
beginning to labour in his lungs.
    “I haven’t really been trying.” A smile of lazy confidence
appeared on the man’s lips, and with a sudden chill, Rudi realised exactly what
he was facing: a professional killer, who liked his work, and enjoyed tormenting
his victims. That sudden moment of realisation probably saved his life, as it
gave him an instant to prepare for the blizzard of stroke and counterstroke that
would otherwise have swept him away, as the assassin began trying to dispatch
him in earnest.
    Then abruptly the duellist staggered, an expression of pain
and surprise on his face. A wet, meaty thud echoed around the deck, and a
belaying pin clattered to the planking at his feet. Busch had thrown the solid
piece of timber with startling accuracy, catching the man in the side of the
head. Rudi drove in, taking full advantage of the opening that his unexpected
ally had just bought him, and thrust his blade straight through the assassin’s
heart with a sudden surge of vengeful rage. The over-confident duellist just had
time to look surprised all over again before the light went out of his eyes, and
he slumped to the deck.
    “Thanks,” Rudi called. Then he frowned. “That was pretty
risky. How could you be sure you wouldn’t hit me instead?”
    “I wasn’t.” Busch picked up the belaying pin, and went to
check on Yullis, who was trying to rise to his feet despite looking dazed and
disorientated. Shenk and the female pirate were still exchanging blows and
invective, but the captain seemed to be holding his own, so Rudi hurried over to
the hold.
    “Hanna!” he yelled. “Are you all right?”
    “For the moment.” The sorceress’ voice was grim, and Rudi
leapt into the darkness of the hold without thought or care for his own safety.
He landed on one of the boarders more by luck than judgement, driving the man to
the deck with a loud grunt and the crack of breaking ribs. The impact of his
fall broken, he rolled, feeling the quiver across his shoulders grinding into
his back, and slashed at the legs of the man in front of him.
    The fellow was quick, leaping over the sword blade, and
striking down to deflect