said.
He sneered at me. They didn’t’ like that word, Lycan. But I didn’t like the words Demon, Freak or Animal.
“I didn’t come here to entertain your talk,” he barked. “I came to watch you die. Take him!”
Clubs raised, Renny, Harvey and Osclar came at me.
Stomach in knots, weaponless, and with a dizzy head, I forged into battle.
I jumped over the three of them and darted for the farmers. They breathed, barely. I wrapped my fingers around both of their clubs, banged them together, and said, “Come and get me!”
They stopped, eyes wary.
“Fools! Take him!”
They screamed as they charged.
I cracked Renny in the jaw. Osclar in the head. Harvey in the knee.
Three down. Ten to go.
I smacked the clubs together and said, “Who’s next!”
A wave of nausea assailed me, and I sank to my knee. The more active I was, the more the poison attacked my system. Drat! I had to fight it. I had to make my body do what it did not want to, or I was going to die.
I rose to my feet.
“Get the swords!” the Jackal yelled. “And get in there. You. You. You and You!” All the enforcers eyed the Jackal.
I smiled. All I needed was a blade. I could cut them to ribbons. They knew it.
“No! Just use clubs. And more men. You! You! You!”
They sc rambled down, clubs and bucklers ready. That battle with the first three had taken a lot out of me. Suck it up, Dragon!
They came.
I swung.
They swung.
Back and forth we went, them chasing me from one side of the fort to another. I dodged, poked and parried. Where one fell, another popped up. A hard shot on my back knocked me to my knees. I ducked under the next swing, clubbed one in the chest, another in the knee.
Hard wood cracked. Shields smacked. Alarm and pain cried out.
I took a shot in the back of my head and pitched forward.
Whop! Whop! Whop! Whop! Whop!
They beat me like a drum.
I roared out.
“His eyes!” one said, backing off.
“He’s a demon!”
A spark. A fire. An inferno came. My head cleared. My muscles loosened. I could see my reflection in the nearest man’s eyes. My own eyes flared briefly with life. The effects of the poison fizzled out.
I cracked the clubs together.
“Let’s try this again.”
They ran. I pummeled.
I caught one in the chin. One in the nose. One in the jaw.
I laughed. It felt good to laugh and swing. Torment those crueler things. A minute later, not one man stood except me.
I looked up at the Jackal and said, “So, what happens when you run out of men?”
“I’m not concerned about that. Get in there, Brock!”
Brock, all eight feet of him, hopped down into the arena like a big ape. Well armored, he carried a spiked mace with a round head in one hand and a heavy chain in the other. When he stretched his arms out, it looked like they stretched from one side of the fort to the other.
“I see you’ve grown since we last talked,” I said.
His lip curled over his teeth as he came forward.
“My, what an awfully long stride you have. Have you been eating Golden Ore? It’s dirt you know. Is that why you grew so big?”
Swack!
I ducked as the chain licked out over my head.
His mace rose up.
His mace came down.
I dove away.
“I’m going to turn you into a mud hole,” Brock said.
The mace and chain were like toys that he wielded like a child. A vicious child. The kind who plucks the wings off fairies.
He charged. I ran. He swung. I dodged. I ducked. I dived.
I could hear the Jackal’s high-pitched laugh. Evil, condescending. I cast him a quick glance. He was twirling one of my Mithril arrows in his clawed fingers.
Brock’s chain whipped around my legs and jerked me from my feet. I rolled as his spiked mace came down, clipping my arm.
“You’re as big as you are inaccurate—Goon!” I said, whacking him in the hand.
He roared, releasing the chain. His mace came down, and rolling over the ground I went, kicking the chain from my feet.
“You are going to die!”
Brock swung.
I blocked. The
He sneered at me. They didn’t’ like that word, Lycan. But I didn’t like the words Demon, Freak or Animal.
“I didn’t come here to entertain your talk,” he barked. “I came to watch you die. Take him!”
Clubs raised, Renny, Harvey and Osclar came at me.
Stomach in knots, weaponless, and with a dizzy head, I forged into battle.
I jumped over the three of them and darted for the farmers. They breathed, barely. I wrapped my fingers around both of their clubs, banged them together, and said, “Come and get me!”
They stopped, eyes wary.
“Fools! Take him!”
They screamed as they charged.
I cracked Renny in the jaw. Osclar in the head. Harvey in the knee.
Three down. Ten to go.
I smacked the clubs together and said, “Who’s next!”
A wave of nausea assailed me, and I sank to my knee. The more active I was, the more the poison attacked my system. Drat! I had to fight it. I had to make my body do what it did not want to, or I was going to die.
I rose to my feet.
“Get the swords!” the Jackal yelled. “And get in there. You. You. You and You!” All the enforcers eyed the Jackal.
I smiled. All I needed was a blade. I could cut them to ribbons. They knew it.
“No! Just use clubs. And more men. You! You! You!”
They sc rambled down, clubs and bucklers ready. That battle with the first three had taken a lot out of me. Suck it up, Dragon!
They came.
I swung.
They swung.
Back and forth we went, them chasing me from one side of the fort to another. I dodged, poked and parried. Where one fell, another popped up. A hard shot on my back knocked me to my knees. I ducked under the next swing, clubbed one in the chest, another in the knee.
Hard wood cracked. Shields smacked. Alarm and pain cried out.
I took a shot in the back of my head and pitched forward.
Whop! Whop! Whop! Whop! Whop!
They beat me like a drum.
I roared out.
“His eyes!” one said, backing off.
“He’s a demon!”
A spark. A fire. An inferno came. My head cleared. My muscles loosened. I could see my reflection in the nearest man’s eyes. My own eyes flared briefly with life. The effects of the poison fizzled out.
I cracked the clubs together.
“Let’s try this again.”
They ran. I pummeled.
I caught one in the chin. One in the nose. One in the jaw.
I laughed. It felt good to laugh and swing. Torment those crueler things. A minute later, not one man stood except me.
I looked up at the Jackal and said, “So, what happens when you run out of men?”
“I’m not concerned about that. Get in there, Brock!”
Brock, all eight feet of him, hopped down into the arena like a big ape. Well armored, he carried a spiked mace with a round head in one hand and a heavy chain in the other. When he stretched his arms out, it looked like they stretched from one side of the fort to the other.
“I see you’ve grown since we last talked,” I said.
His lip curled over his teeth as he came forward.
“My, what an awfully long stride you have. Have you been eating Golden Ore? It’s dirt you know. Is that why you grew so big?”
Swack!
I ducked as the chain licked out over my head.
His mace rose up.
His mace came down.
I dove away.
“I’m going to turn you into a mud hole,” Brock said.
The mace and chain were like toys that he wielded like a child. A vicious child. The kind who plucks the wings off fairies.
He charged. I ran. He swung. I dodged. I ducked. I dived.
I could hear the Jackal’s high-pitched laugh. Evil, condescending. I cast him a quick glance. He was twirling one of my Mithril arrows in his clawed fingers.
Brock’s chain whipped around my legs and jerked me from my feet. I rolled as his spiked mace came down, clipping my arm.
“You’re as big as you are inaccurate—Goon!” I said, whacking him in the hand.
He roared, releasing the chain. His mace came down, and rolling over the ground I went, kicking the chain from my feet.
“You are going to die!”
Brock swung.
I blocked. The
Similar Books
