Star Wars_ Splinter of the Mind's Eye - Alan Dean Foster [68]
Arms outstretched for an unaffectionate embrace, the Coway charged.
Luke met directness with directness. As soon as the creature was close, he threw his best punch straight at the onrushing jaw. Maybe the Coway had glass chins. As it turned out the metaphor was inappropriate. The Coway’s lower jaw was made of solid granite, not glass. Even so, the force of Luke’s blow stopped it. For a second.
When it came on him again Luke jabbed with his other fist at where the solar plexus would have been in a human. It didn’t even slow the Coway. Luke tried to duck and roll under an outstretched arm, but the aborigine was startlingly quick. It grabbed Luke’s shoulder and spun him around.
Luke desperately tried to backpedal, found himself in water. The pond bottom was slippery and he fell backward, landing with a splash. As the Coway threw himself at him, he twisted in fear and found himself on top of his opponent.
With both hands he tried to force the furry head beneath the water. It wouldn’t budge.
It was rapidly growing clear to Luke why the Coway had selected this slightly smaller version of themselves as their representative to Canu’s court. He was lithe and agile and one big piece of muscle under all the deceptively soft-looking fuzz.
No other rules, he reminded himself. With one hand he hunted hopefully along the slick pond bottom for a rock, for anything solid and smaller than his fist. He encountered only sand, and all the probing unbalanced him. The Coway threw him off and fell on his chest. Unlike the native, Luke found his head easily forced under the surface.
A few centimeters of water served to turn the roars of the crowd to a muffled echo. He stared upward. Distorted by the water, the batrachian face of the Coway glared down at him. Inexorable pressure held him under with one hand as the native balanced itself with the other.
Desperately, Luke turned to the right. His mouth bumped against something warm and he bit down hard. With a jerk the Coway pulled its injured member away. Luke’s head broke water and he swallowed air gratefully. Like another opponent, the crowd noise assailed him again. Through it he could hear Halla and Leia and Threepio screaming frantic encouragement. Both Yuzzem were hooting deafeningly, while Artoo beeped and whistled loud enough to drown out half the Coways.
If only Hin were in his place! The Coway above him wouldn’t be grinning so easily. As the hand he’d bitten returned and tried to get a fresh grip on his skull, Luke twisted violently and probed with both hands. Fingers searched the creature’s flanks, hunting for anything sensitive. Most of the regions Luke wanted to try were out of reach, however.
Impatient, the Coway brought its other hand over to steady Luke’s head so that the right hand could get a firm grip on it. Thus balanced, Luke discovered the water working to his advantage. He heaved and spun. The teetering native went over sideways into the pond.
Thoroughly soaked and half-drowned, Luke staggered to his feet. He eyed the Coway as it rose again, tried to think of something to attack next. Meanwhile the native lowered its shoulders and charged.
This time Luke used his right leg. As the youth put every ounce of his remaining strength into the kick, his foot fairly exploded out of the water. It caught the Coway in the mid-section, roughly where a human stomach would be located. Whether from the tremendous force of the kick or the fact that he’d struck a more vulnerable area, the Coway let out a startled whoof! and sat down hard in the water.
Stumbling toward it, Luke lifted his leg and kicked again. The Coway wasn’t so stunned it failed to raise an arm to block the kick. Simultaneously it grabbed the swinging leg and fell across it. Luke tried to turn over as the still sitting Coway pulled him toward itself by the one thrashing leg. If the creature could get its hands