Rise of the Blade - Charles Moffat [26]
Chev wasn't listening. He charged forward and threw Clayton's dead torso at Truman's feet. The man only sidestepped and stabbed out at Chev's neck.
Up came Chev's buckler and he blocked it and held it there as he pulled his blade slowly across Truman's swordarm.
The bodyguard backed off with only a stump of an arm left and spurted blood all over.
Chev grimaced and stabbed Truman in the left arm, severing bone. He followed up by kicking the warrior's feet out from under him.
Truman lay on the floor gasping, both arms crippled. He looked up to see Chev leaning down over his face.
"For that, I shall leave you alive Truman but it will be a horrible existence for I have crippled you for life. No magic will fix your arms. Gravebringer's magic makes sure of that." Chev straightened and gave him a mock salute with the black adamantite sword. "Have a nice crippled life."
The next warrior surprised Chev from around a corner and stabbed him in the side. Together they had grappled and fallen down the stairs headfirst. Holding his buckler above his head, Chev ignored his bruises until they came to a stop at the landing where Truman was.
Rolling forward, Chev swatted Gravebringer behind him and nicked his assailant's ear. When he finally got to his feet, he saw that he had also nicked the man's temple. Looking closer he recognized the warrior as the youngest son of the Bravepike family, Gareth.
Hoping to use him as a tool, Chev severed Gareth's head from his shoulders and carried him by his hair up the stairs to where the last warrior waited. The oldest brother Matz Bravepike and leader of the family now that their father was dead.
Gareth's bloody head clunked to the floor at Matz's feet. The Bravepike looked up in shock at Chev just in time to get a sword through his forehead.
Alone at last, Chev looked at the steel door. "Kipriana?"
"Chev?" Her voice was low and trembling.
The warrior looked at the blood covering the floor and he quickly threw the body of Matz out the window into the courtyard below. Gareth's head soon followed. Finally, he took a step back from the door and kicked.
The steel door held firmly. The door was meant to swing outwards.
For a moment Chev wondered if he had just thrown the key out the window. Angered by the possibility of a mistake, he drew gravebringer and slashed at the door's hinges repeatedly until they were useless hunks of steel dangling off the wall.
He pulled the handle and stepped to one side as the door crashed the floor. When the dust cleared, he saw her within.
Her brown hair was dirty and unkept. Her pale face was streaked with tears and her fair skin was scarred and scratched. She looked awful indeed but to the warrior's eyes she was the goddess of beauty incarnate.
They left Bravepike Manor that very night and two days later arrived in Waterdeep with Chev's cloak wrapped around her to keep her warm. The guards who met him at the gate saw a man who was so covered in brown caked blood had first thought him to be a zombie.
He almost was too. When he got to the d'Or estate at last it was with a subdued celebration. Chev was immediately separated from Kipriana and sent to clean up before appearing before old man d'Or.
When the warrior finally entered the room, his leather armour cleaned and buckler polished. His shirt was a dashing red silk with a black sash around his middle. The moment he heard the d'Ors' mage chanting, he ripped off the sash immediately and drew Gravebringer but by that time it was too late.
A grey bolt of energy struck him in the chest and spread across his body as he was turned slowly to stone. For a moment he panicked when he realized he couldn't breathe. Then his senses, for he could still see and hear, focused on old man d'Or.
"Chev. Chev. Chev," mumbled the old man and approached the solid statue. "You did a very brave and stupid thing, and now you've paid the price. What else was I supposed to do with you? You knew I had betrothed my daughter