Ironhelm - Douglas Niles [79]
"But what about the danger in Ulatos?" Erix vividly remembered her abduction from the temple.
"I will see to your safety personally. The sanctity of the Silent Counselor's grounds shall not again be violated."
Erix turned back to the two legionnaires. "You will find yourself on the shore as we emerge from this shrine. Your friends lie to the east. Kachin and I return to our city, to the west." She started toward the door, then stopped and looked back at Halloran.
"May your journey pass in peace."
Halloran looked at the woman again. She seemed so much older than Marline, or himself, for that mailer. He sus-peeled lhal she had not yel seen twenly years, yet she carried herself with a maturily and grace lhal fascinated him almost to the poinl of awe.
Yet Marline's terror-stricken face appeared in his memory again. He had failed his responsibility to her! She had been killed because a mad priest took her to be this woman in from of him. Perhaps lhat should make him angry at Erix, but instead it only made him more curious.
"I hope thai we meet again," he said, bowing.
Halloran preceded the others up the stairway leading out of the shrine. The twilight of approaching dawn filtered dim light through the foliage around them, and he saw a wide beach through the trees.
Erix followed him out of the shrine, then paused to look at him one last time. Kachin followed her, stopping in the doorway.
Suddenly Ihe cleric's eyes widened. He sprang forward, pushing Erix roughly to the side. The black arrow inlended for her heart lodged instead in the cleric's rib cage. Kachin gasped in deep pain and dropped to the ground.
Daggrande raised his crossbow, quickly sighting on the dark blur he Ihought he saw among the foliage. The black shape rolled to the side, evading his missile but revealing its presence by the movement.
Halloran charged the manlike figure, his silver longsword seeking flesh before him. Even though dawn's light had come as a rosy hue in the east, he could see nothing of his opponent but whirling shadow. Then he caught Ihe dull glint of cold sleel.
Helmstooth clashed against another metal sword. The enemy's blade was black, but rang like irue steel. Again and again the weapons met, silver and black. Sometimes sparks flared from the violence of the contact. The fighters dodged and ducked among the trees, hacking into trunks and through branches in their desperate attacks and parries.
Hal guessed his opponent to be of human size, perhaps a little smaller but possessed of a supple, wiry strength. He noticed that the swordsman was cloaked entirely in black, including his gloves, boots, and a silken mask. More importantly, the dark one's skill with the blade matched the best swordsmen he had ever seen.
With savage, silent violence, the dark figure rushed Hal, slicing his face and narrowly missing his bowels. Then the legionnaire kicked the wiry form away and stabbed once, twice, again, each time missing by a mere inch.
Halloran attacked and parried with all the skill in his arm and his brain. The dark figure seemed to flow away from his shining blade, deftly swirling beyond the point, and then the razor-edged return thrust whistled past Halloran as he used all of his speed to avoid sudden death.
Daggrande cocked his crossbow and aimed, but he could not get a clear shot into the melee. Even as red dawn blossomed to pink, as flowers and insects became visible among the fronds, the mysterious attacker remained shrouded in shadowy darkness. His garments, if such they were, seemed to float around him like a cloud of smoke, obscuring his limbs but in no way impairing his movement.
The fighter pressed Halloran back again, the blows coming more swiftly than ever. The legionnaire parried and retreated. Slowly he felt himself losing the fight. His arm felt like a leaden weight, and his brain began to struggle against fatigue. Still the dark stranger attacked, with no sign of strain or exhaustion. Dawn's pale illumination began to brighten the clearing around them, and Halloran fought for