Rise of the Blade - Charles Moffat [89]
The bodyguard came to his feet and swept the glowing swords around him, searching for Pierce.
Twenty feet away, Pierce was scrambling to dig a cobblestone from the floor. Looking back at Chev, he was thankful that the light from the swords also made Chev an excellent target.
Out of the darkness a brick came soaring towards Chev and struck him in the knee, driving the warrior to the floor with a broken knee cap.
"That's gotta hurt!" Pierce shouted and lobbed another brick at Chev.
Despite his agony, the bodyguard rolled off to the side and narrowly dodged the brick that would have crushed his skull. He came face to face with a leather harness that had been left behind from some forgetful carpenter. He snatched up a hammer and looked about just in time to duck another brick.
"Oh! That was a close one!" Pierce shouted and scrambled away with the knowledge that Chev now had a suitable throwing weapon.
On a hunch, the warrior threw the glowing longsword first, using its bluelight to shine up the area like a torch. He caught a brief glimpse of Pierce's tell-tale armour moving farther back into the darkness.
The hammer soared past Pierce's shoulder and crashed into the darkness beyond. Hoping to fool Chev however, the veteran shouted an oath of agony and quickly scrambled back farther and took shelter behind a skid loaded up with marble tiles. From here he could still gauge the distance accurately enough for the bricks to be deadly and at the same time the marble tiles would provide a reasonable shield.
Glancing around the marble tiles, the Doctor saw Chev limp into a doorway and peak out for some sign of his opponent.
For a moment the only sound Pierce could hear was the heaving of his chest. This would be not such a bad time for his heart to give out on him. He could certainly do without the pain in his foot, to say nothing of the throbbing ache in his forehead.
When Chev finally leapt from his hiding place, Pierce was ready for him and threw a brick straight at his head. The bodyguard ducked under it and scooped up his fallen longsword. He passed right by Pierce and stumbled on the Doctor's good leg.
In an instant Pierce was upon him, using his weight and heavy armour to pin Chev to the ground. The bodyguard dropped his swords and tried to roll to the side but Pierce's position was perfected and the weight too much for even Chev's arms. If he hadn't been injured he would have been able to push the bronze clad warrior off him but not now.
On top of Chev, Pierce shoved his arm under the warriors neck and pressed down in an attempt to choke him. Chev's hands flashing out of the darkness and pounding on the Doctor's jaw, stunning him.
That split second was all the young warrior needed and he pivoted his good knee underneath Pierce and rolled off to the side. With the heavy armour off him, Chev rolled past his cutlass and scooped it up.
Pierce rose to his knees and drew both sabers just in time to deflect Sharkslayer away from his neck. They stood locked for a moment, Chev leaning forward with Sharkslayer bare inches from Pierce's neck and the Doctor kneeling with both sabers raised in defense.
If they continued this pose for much longer Pierce knew his injured arm would give out on him. He wasn't about to tell Chev that though. "You know you can't keep this up," Pierce said, licking dry lips. "Your arm is injured too much." He raised his good foot and planted it underneath him firmly and started to rise.
Chev backed off and pulled his whip from his belt. He flashed it forward and snagged Pierce's bad leg and pulled.
The Doctor fell to floor with a howl of agony but quickly rolled out of harm's way as Chev charged in to stab at his exposed back.
Rising up, Pierce kicked out with the heel of his foot at Chev's uninjured leg. The warrior crashed to the ground, both legs failing to hold his weight under his momentum. Ignoring the thrashing warrior, Pierce rose and stood over Chev.
Chev