The Yellow Silk - Don Bassingthwaite [107]
"No! You're not going to win this fight alone!" The old woman's voice was strangely thick, almost muffled.
Tycho twisted around. "Veseene, go-"
Mosi's hand flicked out. Five darts of ruddy light swarmed from his fingertips, streaking like arrows to pierce Tycho's side. The bard gasped and the lash fell from his hand, vanishing in a silent flare as pain sent him stumbling to the ground.
Yu Mao's finger pointed at him. "He's mine."
"Fair enough," said the bearded wizard.
Li's gut squeezed down into a knot. How light had he felt when he had believed Yu Mao was dead? The weight that had been lifted from him had come crashing back, heavier than ever. Yu Mao alive-even though he had unwittingly killed him once! Now…
In the Hooded's lair, memories of happier times-of the brother he had known-had stayed his hand.
Now his brother had just offered up Tycho and the greatest treasure of their family. For what? He looked up and into Yu Mao's eyes.
All he saw there was murder and bloodlust. The same madness he had seen in Black Scratch's eyes. What kind of monster had his brother become?
Honored ancestors, give me courage, he prayed silently.
Lords of Karma, judge me kindly. He tore his gaze away from Yu Mao and looked to Tycho. "Give them the Silk," he said. "Save yourself."
But the bard's face twisted into a crooked smile. "Bind me if I will!"
A smile touched Li's face, too. Thank you, honored ancestors. For what better courage could I ask?
Li forced doubt out of his mind. A fast, hard blow could end this quickly. He shouted as he turned away from Tycho and charged at his brother. He launched himself into a leap, a high-flying kick at Yu Mao's head.
With a speed that belied his barrel-chested size, Yu Mao spun aside and punched out with a blow of his own that slammed Li to the ground. Li twisted, soaking up some of the impact with a roll that brought him back up to his feet. Yu Mao was right on top of him, though, and unleashing a flurry of vicious hand strikes. Li got his arms up to block the strikes, but the ferocity of his brother's attack forced him back and brought a gasp out of him. Yu Mao smiled savagely.
"Not up to the challenge, younger brother?" he grunted.
A break in the storm of his attacks. Li's arm shot out straight, stiff fingers driving into Yu Mao's thick neck. Yu Mao dodged back before they could strike. Li bared his teeth. "More than up to it, elder brother."
He threw himself forward. Yu Mao leaped to meet him, not to strike or block, but to grapple. Suddenly Li found himself fighting-really fighting-to tear himself out of his brother's embrace. Yu Mao reeked like a pig, the stink of his body enough to make Li retch. His skin was greasy with filth as well, and his near-nakedness made if difficult to grasp him. His own clothes, on the other hand, made it easy for Yu Mao to get a grip on him and hold him tight.
Massive arms squeezed and Li gasped as the air was crushed out of his lungs.
He wrenched his arms free desperately. Cupping his hands, he clapped them against Yu Mao's ears. The big man gasped and his arms loosened. Li thrust against his shoulders, drawing his body up and out of the deadly embrace, and threw himself backward in a long flip. The heel of his boot caught Yu Mao's chin with a snap and sent him staggering back. Li landed in a crouch beside his fallen dao, swept it up, and rose into a position of balance. "Hrah!"
Blood was trickling out of Yu Mao's mouth as he stood up straight. He wiped it away with the back of his hand. "You've gotten good," he said.
Li didn't move. "And you've gotten foul. You're more pig than man." His eyes narrowed sharply as Staso's tale came back to him-along with Tycho's caution of curses as fickle things. "It's the captain's curse," he breathed. Yu Mao's eyes narrowed as well.
"So you know about that." He sneered. "By my blood, you shall not live to forget Sow. Well, I haven't forgotten her or her bitch mistress-every night when the moon rises I send a prayer to whatever hell she burns in and I thank her for her curse because