Doctor Who_ Corpse Marker - Chris Boucher [48]
Each man had a stun-kill in one hand and an edged weapon in the other: one had a sharpened hook, one a crude axe, the third a long curved blade. They were all breathing heavily and Leela could see that their teeth had been sharpened to points. On strings round their necks they had small body-parts, ears, fingers, what looked to her like noses. She wondered what had driven them to such madness.
‘Nightstalking degenerates,’ Padil said, powering up her stun-kill. ‘What they can’t sell, they eat. What they can’t eat, they wear.’
It could be because she could finally see them, Leela thought, or because she had given up but for whatever reason the woman no longer seemed to be afraid. ‘Are you ready?’ she asked her. She could hear the other three nightstalkers, the ones following behind, getting closer.
‘What do you want me to do?’ Padil said.
‘Kill the one on the left.’ Moving lightly on the balls of her feet, Leela walked towards the steps, her knife held low and loose by her side. ‘This is where you earn the warrior name.’
There was not enough room for the three men to stand side by side so they stood on separate steps. The lowest was on the right, the next up on the left and the highest in the centre. It was a mistake any warrior would recognise. They were crowding each other. They would get in each other’s way. Leela suppressed her contempt, remembering her trainer’s words: Your contempt is your opponent’s advantage. She had underestimated these men once already. As she approached they brandished their weapons and made menacing, snarling noises. Another mistake. It told her that they were waiting for the three to catch up, that they did not expect to fight, that they expected their victims to panic. It told her that they were underestimating her.
By the time the first man understood that the prey they had cornered was dangerous it was too late. As Leela came within reach he swung at her with his sharpened cargo hook. She swayed back. Stupid and vicious, she thought, all he wanted was to feel that hook bite into her. Now he tried to use the stun-kill as well. She feinted at his face with the knife. He flinched back instinctively and lost balance. She dropped low and drove the knife up below his breastbone. She pulled the knife out and as part of the same movement pulled him forward. As he fell Leela stepped on his body and leaped at the man on the highest step.
Before he could react her knife had slammed into his throat and he was falling backwards with Leela on top of him. The long curved blade fell from his hand but he struggled feebly to hold on to her and bring the stun-kill to bear. Leela pushed the weapon away and reached for her knife still stuck in his throat.
She noticed that the string round his neck held noses and ears in sets. To the left, the last man on his feet stood over her and raised his axe above his head.
Again Padil’s reactions were not fast. The controlled ferocity of Leela’s attack had left her standing as if not quite believing what she was seeing. Then she saw the man on the left turning.
Leela saw the axe start down and knew she could not roll out of the way in time. She was making too many mistakes.
Underestimating these men, overestimating that woman. The axe faltered suddenly and dropped harmlessly. Padil stepped back from the man and he fell away. Leela pulled the knife from the dying man and dispatched him with a blow to the heart. She stood up quickly and shoved the body down the steps. ‘Up here, Padil,’ she ordered urgently.
Padil scrambled across the tumbled bodies and on to the higher steps. ‘That was instructional,’ she gasped.
‘Stand four steps higher than me,’ Leela said. ‘If I need help step down two and use the stun-kill.’
‘If you need help?’ Padil snorted. ‘You could clear the Sewerpits of nightstalkers single-handed. I’ve never seen anybody fight like you.’
‘It is what a warrior is trained to do,’ Leela said impatiently.
‘Be quiet and listen for the three who were following us.’
‘Sorry.’ Padil whispered.