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decided by the Supreme
Brother, my ambitious friend. Not by you."
Isgon threw Blade a glance, appealing to him to order the local Holy Warriors
into action. Blade shook his head.
That was a bad idea at any time, and particularly now, with Pterin's forces
united and obviously alert.
Blade's shaking his head drew Pterin's eyes back toward him. "And who is this
man you have admitted to the House of Ayocan? What has he to recommend him,
besides his ability to help you break
the laws of the Brotherhood?"
"I have already told you that "
"I care not if he converted ten thousand of King Thambral's subjects to the
worship of mighty
Ayocan! He has been admitted to a House of Ayocan without proper testing and
rituals. And you even permit him to wear a beard. That is to fly in the face
of Ayocan. And Ayocan shall not be displeased."
Pterin turned to his Holy Warriors and jerked a thumb at Blade. "Seize him,
bind him, and shave him. His beard at least shall no longer pollute this
house. After that I "
Pterin never finished the sentence. Blade's arm snapped up, and his spear
point gashed in the lamplight. Then the arm snapped forward, and the spear
plunged into Pterin's chest. The priest's head jerked up, and his eyes met
Blade's. "It you " he gasped. Then he choked on the blood welling up in his
throat, reeled, and fell back ward onto the floor.
Isgon and both groups of Holy Warriors stood in amazed shock for a moment. It
was as if the spear that had killed Pterin had paralyzed all of them. In that
moment Blade moved.
His axe and sword sprang into his hands. Brandishing both, he charged the
warriors blocking his path to the stairway. The first two did not even have
time to draw their swords, nor did Blade bother to use his weapons on them. He
ploughed into them like a charging bull, hurling the two smaller men aside by
sheer physical impact, smashing them to the floor.
Four more warriors stood between him and the stairs. One of them broke and ran
from the spectacle of Blade coming at him. Blade let that man go. He had
enough to do with the other three. His axe sang through the air and crunched
into the first man's shoulder, disabling his sword arm. A kick to the same
man's kneecap sent him to the floor, gasping with pain and obviously out of
the fight.
But the other two had their swords out now. Blade had to ward off a down-cut
from the one to the right as he swung his axe toward the left. The first man's
sword clanged off Blade's guard, while at the same moment Blade's axe chopped
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into the second man's neck. The man's head did not fly off, but it lolled
hideously. Blood spurted over Blade, and for a horrible moment he thought he
was going to lose his grip on his sword.
But he held onto it, feinted at his last opponent's head, then swung over and
down to slash into the warrior's thigh. It was not a killing wound. But the
warrior reeled out of Blade's path, and the stairway was open. Bloody axe and
bloody sword waving, Blade tore up the stairs, taking them two and three at a
time.
He barely felt or saw the stone under his feet. It was a small miracle that he
reached the top without falling. But he did, and before there were any sounds
of pursuit from below. The whole battle had taken thirty seconds at most. The
mass of stunned and amazed warriors below would only be recovering from the
shock and getting ready to follow Blade.
Several of Blade's men were on guard duty in the hut at the top of the temple
mound. They had their swords already drawn when he came tearing up the stairs,
no doubt alerted by the uproar from below.
They stared at Blade as he darted toward the door. One of them raised a
spear. Another asked, "Master, what is ?" But before he could complete the
question, the door slid open. Several of Pterin's disguised Holy Warriors ran
in, swords also drawn.
But Blade was not caught by surprise. He shouted "Treason! Blasphemy!" over
his shoulder. Then he grabbed one of the staring temple guards and shoved him
hard into the path of the oncoming Holy
Warriors. The wretched man screamed as three swords chopped into him. But his
dying strength kept him on his feet, so that he plunged among the Holy
Warriors. He and they went down with shouts and
clatters of falling weapons and waving arms and legs. Blade leaped high,
sailing clear over the tangle of bodies. He cut at an exposed head as he went,
and landed outside in the cool darkness.
There were other Holy Warriors still on guard outside, but Blade caught these
by surprise. Before they could recover from that surprise, Blade had chopped
down the only one who stood in his path.
Before the others could close around Blade, he was out on the slope of the
mound. The moon rode high over Dafar, brightly illuminating the slope. The
stone was dry, and the footing was good. Blade thrust his sword into its
scabbard, hung his axe on his belt, and settled down to run.
As he hit his stride, Holy Warriors from inside the mound began pouring out.
They were shouting and waving their arms. In the bright moonlight Blade could
see blood on some of them. There had been a fight down below, that was
obvious. But more and more Holy Warriors kept pouring out into the open.
A few, braver or angrier than the rest, started down the mound after Blade.
For the moment, he had a safe lead. But he went down the side of the slope at
a dead run, the wind whistling in his ears and his feet thudding on the stone.
He looked back again when he reached ground level. The Holy Warriors were
coming after him now as fast as they could run. One at least came down the
mound too fast. Blade saw him stumble and go rolling down the stone, arms and
legs flying doll-like. But some of the others were coming down just as fast
and staying on their feet. And now Blade saw that some of his pursuers were [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]