Under Fallen Stars - Mel Odom [63]
The leader was a huge man with fiery red hair that caught highlights from torches in the distance. He carried a battle-axe in one hand and wore a small shield on his other arm. The shield was featureless except for a score of scars from previous battles.
A smaller man stood at his side, cloaked and hooded, his narrow shoulders pinched and rounded together. He kept his hands in the voluminous sleeves of his cloak.
"Sabyna Truesail," the big man rumbled. "Ship's mage of Breezerunner."
"I don't know you," Sabyna said.
Jherek kept his hand away from his sword hilt, hoping he was overreacting. Still, he noticed Sabyna's hands moving, readying her spells.
The big man grinned. "I'm Captain Vurgrom, of Maelstrom."
"I don't know your ship either."
Vurgrom shrugged, the smile never leaving his lips and never quite touching his eyes. "It doesn't matter, lassie. It's a long way from here."
"What do you want with me?"
Jherek glanced around, but no one seemed to be paying them any attention.
"It's not you," Vurgrom said. "It's your ship I'm after. Piece of business turned nasty on us tonight, and we want to get out of Baldur's Gate before morning. Unfortunately, the ship we'd borrowed took a lot of damage. My crew noticed your craft fared better. Took a little bit of doing, but we found out about you. Figured your captain might be wishful of keeping you in one piece. I guess I intend to find out."
Leather hissed at Jherek's side. In the next instant, Sabyna held long-bladed knives in both hands. The young sailor hadn't made a move yet.
Vurgrom grinned. "You can come easy or you can come hard. If I have to, I can chop some pieces off and take your captain what's left. I'm still going to wager he'll be ready to deal."
"No," Sabyna answered.
Vurgrom waited just a moment, then nodded. He didn't wait for his men. He brought the battle-axe forward, holding well down on the haft so he'd get a full stroke.
The axe blade whistled as it cleaved the air and sped for Jherek's head.
X
5 Kythorn, the Year of the Gauntlet
Stepping to the side and twisting to avoid Vurgrom's battle-axe, Jherek slid his sword and hook free of his waist sash. His clothing still remained wet from his earlier dip in the harbor and constricted his movement. His muscles flared in protest at being forced to perform again without rest.
Vurgrom's axe missed him by inches, biting deep into the cobblestones and shattering some of them as the other men closed in. For the moment their numbers worked against them, though Jherek was sure that wouldn't remain so.
The young sailor moved aggressively forward, slashing at Vurgrom. The blade crashed fire across the mail shirt without penetrating. For a big man, Vurgrom moved surprisingly fast, bringing the shield around as Jherek hammered at him again. The sword struck sparks from the shield. While the young sailor tried to recover after expecting the sword to find a home in flesh, Vurgrom stepped forward and body-blocked him with the shield.
The massive blow slammed Jherek from his feet and knocked him back almost three feet. Shaken, the young sailor stumbled back and set himself again. Vurgrom lashed out with the shield again, expecting Jherek to still be off-balance. Instead, the young sailor slammed into the shield at an angle, rolling off it toward Vurgrom's front. He brought the sword around again, but this time barely succeeded in getting it up in time to block the battle-axe.
The impact rang along Jherek's arm.
Vurgrom came for him with the shield again. Anticipating the move, recognizing it as a favored one, the young sailor ducked and went low. The shield raked against his chest but lacked the force to knock him away. Reaching with the hook, he snaked it under the shield and hooked Vurgrom in the back of the leg. The big man yowled in pain.
With the hold secured, Jherek yanked. For a moment he thought the man's sheer weight would keep him from succeeding. If it had been strength against strength, Vurgrom might have held, but the hook was firmly embedded in the big man's flesh with tearing pain.
Screaming