Rise of the Blade - Charles Moffat [52]
But not fast enough when Pierce's greater reflexes got past the warrior's defenses to place a foot solidly behind Chev's. The Doctor smiled and took the warrior to the ground with one of the first wrestling moves he had ever learned. Now it was simply a matter of getting that buckler off.
"Pile on top of him!" shouted Petre and young elves nearly tripped over themselves in their haste to burden down Chev.
Ignoring the rough movements of the elves and the punchs of Chev, Pierce tore the buckler off the warrior's arm started to get up. He wished he had taken his time however in order to let more elves pile on top for Chev's strength was more than enough to drag himself to his feet despite the welterweight elves.
Falling backwards against the balcony railing, Pierce saw it coming.
With fluid kicks and a level of finesse no other mortal warrior could have achieved, Chev surged to his feet and charged Pierce in desperation. Without his magical buckler he knew just how vulnerable he was. The two men grappled for a moment but it was mere icing on the cake as the railing snapped under their combined weights and they fell into the roaring water fountain.
Closing his eyes and trying to ignore the dizziness and queasy feeling in his stomach, Pierce waited for the impact that would surely come. Taking a deep breath as he fell free of the fountain, he curled himself into a tight ball and hoped his armour wouldn't weigh him down too much in the deep water.
The bane of the d'Or family did likewise but had no worries about his ability to swim. Rather he held tightly to his buckler with a grip an ogre couldn't break. The roar of rushing water filled his ears and froze his heart as it occurred to him that he was falling over fifty yards and that the water might as well be granite when he finally landed.
A great elven bard had once said that water was the most powerful element of all. Without it one would die of thirst. With too much one could drown with ease. With time it could wear down mountains and build forests. With just enough, it made Chev's hands slippery and the impact of a two hundred pound man falling fifty yards was more than enough to tear the buckler from the warrior's clenched hands.
Pierce hit with a similar splash which was marked by his silent scream as he plunged underwater. Pain like he had never felt before wracked his frame and oblivion threatened to steal his world back from him. His feet his the bottom of the pool of churning water and agony shot up his injured leg, again threatening his consciousness.
Gritting his teeth despite the loss of air, the Doctor swung his arms valiantly and bobbed to the surface long enough to draw breath before his armour pulled him back down. Water filled his ears and he concentrated on the direction to the edge. To his side he glimpsed Chev's form diving below the surface in search of the missing buckler.
Reason defying his own quest to take down Chev, Pierce walked slowly across the bottom of the pool towards the edge. He swam to the surface every few steps to gasp in another breath and float back to the bottom. He could feel the water getting shallow and the bottom slanting towards the edge. Before long he could stand on his toes and breath easily once more.
At the water basin's edge servants and guards awaited him with towels and helping arms. They pulled the warrior out of the water like a gardener plucking carrots out of the ground and set him down gently beside the fountain. Someone handed him his sabers and it took the Doctor awhile to determine that it was Petre, his mental shieldings preventing him from discerning who it was until he saw the chubby elf's face.
The elven guards quickly scoured the fountain basin but found no trace of Chev. They looked expectantly to Petre who nodded in the direction of the merchant quarter. "Does he still have that buckler?" the mage asked hopefully.
Pierce tried to speak but found that his throat was too sore from lack of air. He shook his head