Azure bonds - Kate Novak [10]
Fortunately, the first assailant was an amateur. He rushed forward while his wiser companion circled. Alias brought her leg up hard and connected. The fool dropped his club, clutching himself in pain.
Get the knot, get the knot, her mind chanted as the fingers of her right hand tore frantically at the binding on her sword. Don't think about the spell-caster: Work the knot!
Alias attempted to rise, and the second assailant swung at her from behind, catching her left shoulder again. She rolled with the blow and came up at last with sword in hand. The first assassin had recovered, so that Alias stood on the beach facing both armed assailants, shifting her eyes from one to the other. Worse than that, she could hear the rising chant in the distance of another spell.
The chant died with a sudden muffled scream, and the two assassins half-turned in surprise. Alias lunged, catching the first in the belly. She lost her grip on her sword's hilt as the assassin crumbled to the sand.
The remaining black figure thrust his club like a sword, seeking to catch Alias between the ribs. Alias dodged backward, so the force of his lunge knocked the assassin off balance. She reached to the top of her boot with her good hand and flung a dagger underhand. Her aim was true, and the second assailant fell, hands clawing at the protruding hilt, staining the sand with his blood.
Alias breathed deeply and recovered her weapons. Both men were dead She rubbed her sore shoulder, feeling the tingling of life returning to it. Then she remembered the spell-caster Has she fled, or is she waiting in the shadows? Alias moved cautiously in the direction the magic missiles had come from.
The spell-caster lay face down in the sand about twenty yards away, a nasty gash across her back. Bending over her body was the lizard-creature. It's just as ugly in the moonlight as it had been in the dusk, Alias thought. In one paw the creature held an odd-looking blade that had too much steel and not enough grip. The tip of the blade was an oversized diamond shape edged with curved teeth that curled backward. The teeth were bathed in the mage's blood.
Alias raised her own sword into a guard position. The lizard looked up and hissed. Is that a hostile sign? she wondered. She tightened her grip on her own blade. The beast rose from the mage's body. Swordswoman and lizard stood motionless, each waiting for the other to move first.
Finally, the lizard-creature gave a muted snarl as it twisted its odd-shaped blade in its hands, spinning the weapon like a baton once, twice, thrice…
And drove it, point first, into the ground at Alias's feet The creature dropped to one knee beside the grounded blade, head down, offering its bare neck to Alias's weapon.
Alias raised her sword over the creature. I failed to kill the thing this afternoon, she realized, and I'll never have a better chance to deal with it. Putting it out of my misery would be the simplest, most logical thing to do. Four dead bodies on a beach attract no more attention than three.
The lizard remained in its kneeling position, not reaching for its blade. The creature seemed to be holding us breath.
Alias hesitated, You'd think I was a follower of Bhaal, God of Murder. First I try to kill a priest, and now I'm ready to slay a foe who's surrendered. For that matter I don't know that it's a foe, The creature took out the magic-user for me. It's offering me its services like a knight.
Alias tapped the lizard-creature on the shoulder with the flat of the blade. "Okay, you can live." Her voice sounded overloud and pompous. "But one false move and you're dragon bait. Read me? Dra-gon bait."
The creature nodded and pointed to its chest with a long, clawed finger.
Alias rubbed her temples with annoyance. "No, you're not named Dragonbait. If you give me any trouble, you'll become dragon bait."
The creature repeated the gesture toward itself.
Alias sighed. "Dragonbait it is, then." She pointed toward herself. "Alias," she said. "Now let's