Part 8 (1/2)
Though Atreus was concerned for Ris.h.i.+, his thoughts had already leaped to hisown fate, and Seema's. ”What's this 'Multi-verse' of Tarch's? And who are the 'bashers'?” Seema shrugged, then removed a curved needle from one of her pouches andthreaded it with coa.r.s.e black thread.
”Tarch is a devil. He says many things I do not understand.”
Atreus raised his brow. ”A devil?” he asked. ”One of Ysdar's?”
Seema's brown eyes lit in brief distress. She laughed nervously. ”It is possible, butYsdar has been locked away for a very long time.” She pushed the needle through aflap of Atreus's skin and said, ”Ysdar is only a myth now.”
”Myths can be dangerous, too,” Atreus replied. ”He certainly caused me enoughtrouble.”
Seema raised her brow but said nothing and began to sew. There was a faint tugging at the edge of the gash, but the yellow powder had left the wound too numbto feel more. Atreus sipped at the elixir and glanced around the barge casually,taking stock of the situation. He counted thirty slaves chained in the center of theboat, with only eight slavers still aboard to guard them; four in the bow and four in thestern. There were also the two burly oarsmen and Tarch himself, who was a great unknown, but with surprise the odds would clearly favor the slaves. In fact, Atreus foundit difficult to understand why they had not rebelled already.
He leaned closer to Seema and whispered, ”What can you tell me about Tarch in afight?”
Seema scowled and said, ”You mustn't ask such things. Blood draws blood*”
A rousing cry went up from the edge of the barge and Atreus knew one of theslavers in the water had come up with Ris.h.i.+. Tarch growled an order at the oarsmen,and the boat began to move upstream with surprising speed.
Leaving his wound half st.i.tched, Atreus pushed Seema's hand away and started torise. The slaver who had gone to fetch his dry clothes emerged from the cabin carrying an armload of grimy cloaks and trousers.”What's all the noise?” he demanded, looking to Seema.
Atreus settled back to his elbow. ”They've got Ris.h.i.+ back. It looks like you're going to be rich men.””Tarch will be rich,” the slaver corrected, dumping the clothes on the deck. ”He isn't much for sharing.”
As the slaver turned to join the others, Atreus flung his blanket aside. Hegrabbed the back of the guard's belt and pulled himself up, at the same timedriving the heel of his palm into the base of the man's skull. Something popped inthe slaver's neck, then he collapsed into his killer's arms.
Atreus jerked the padded club off the man's belt and sprang across the deck, raising the weapon to strike even as Seema cried out in shock. A pair of guards spuntoward her voice, but Atreus ignored them and went straight for Tarch. The clubcaught the devil across the side of the head and knocked him into the water.
Atreus continued the swing, smas.h.i.+ng the club into a guard's head. The impactknocked the man unconscious and sent him sprawling across the deck toward Seema. Atreus crippled a second slaver with a stomp kick to the knee, then found himself standing on the outside edge of the deck, facing two guards with their ownclubs.
He pressed the a.s.sault, sliding forward to feint at the one standing on the insideof the deck. As Inside tried to block, Outside took the bait, slipping around toattack from the rear. Atreus performed a quick reverse-spin, catching the fool inthe chest with a back-thrust kick that launched Outside into the river.
Suddenly alone, Inside screamed for help and backed away. Atreus moved in fast, beating the slaver's guard down in three quick blows and finis.h.i.+ng him off withan elbow to the temple. So powerful was the strike that the man's eye poppedfree of its socket. He screamed and reached for his head, then fell silent and collapsed.Atreus returned to the side and kicked the slaver with the mangled knee over theedge, and only then did he pause to peer into the river. His victims lay in a line trailing downstream from the boat, with Tarch floating facedown at the far end, his scaly armsand tail las.h.i.+ng the water as though instinctively trying to right himself. Ris.h.i.+ was ashort distance upstream, bobbing in the grasp of the first guard Tarch had sent torescue him. Both the Mar and his captor were s.h.i.+vering, coughing, and looking as astonished as they did exhausted.
”In the name of the Forgotten Ones, good sir!” called Ris.h.i.+, coughing up water.”What are you doing?”
”Escaping,” Atreus replied. A confused uproar rose forward. He glanced towardthe bow to see the four bow guards rus.h.i.+ng back, clambering over slaves withwhips and clubs in hand. He waved at Ris.h.i.+. ”If you want to live, get over here and help!”
Ris.h.i.+'s hand disappeared beneath his cloak. In the next instant, his rescuer criedout and released him, then floated away grasping his ribs. The Mar swam for the boat.
When Atreus turned back to the forward guards, he found Seema standing before him. Her hands were covered with blood, and she had such a look of confusion on her face that he feared the worst.
”Seema, are you injured?” Atreus reached out to grasp her shoulder, but shequickly shook his hand off and pulled away. He lowered his arm and wondered what hecould have been thinking. ”I'm sorry. I shouldn't have presumed*”
”Two men!” she cried. ”You killed two men!” Atreus shrugged, unable to understand why she seemed so surprised. ”It was nothing,” he said humbly. ”I had the advantage of surprise.”
The barge lurched, then began to travel in the opposite direction as the oarsmenbegan rowing downstream. Atreus stepped around Seema, gesturing toward the rear of the boat. ”Ris.h.i.+ will need help getting aboard.”
Atreus grabbed a second club off the second dead guard, then leaped a row ofslaves and started forward. The bow guards swarmed past the oarsmen on bothsides, determined to meet their foe en ma.s.se.
Atreus angled off toward the starboard oarlock. The four slavers seemed confused for a moment, then saw that smas.h.i.+ng the oarlock would prevent thebarge from going after Tarch. They rushed to cut Atreus off, spreading themselvesout in a line. He cut back toward the middle, leaping two rows of screaming slavesto attack the guard on the end.
The slaver lashed out with his whip and wrapped up one of Atreus's arms, then brought his club around in a wild attack. Atreus deflected the blow with the shaft of one of his own weapons, then stepped forward and smashed the hard b.u.t.t into theslaver's brow. The man's eyes were still turning gla.s.sy as Atreus turned to meet his next pair of foes.
The two guards split up, leaping slave rows in opposite directions so they couldapproach from both flanks. The last slaver advanced to take their place, and Atreus suddenly found himself facing three foes. He pulled his arm free of his lastvictim's whip and began to whirl his clubs through the air, weaving an impenetrable curtain of defense around his body. The effort pained his soreshoulder, but he did not dare give his enemies a static opening.
The three slavers cracked their whips and advanced, their padded clubs heldat the high ready. Atreus eased back, his breath coming hard and ragged. Theslaves cringed and covered their heads, filling the boat with the eerie rattle ofchains.
”Stand and fight for yourselves!” Atreus yelled. ”What's wrong with you?” The slaves did nothing except wail and rattle their chains more loudly. The guardssmirked and struck with their whips. Atreus caught two attacks in his defensivecurtain, then dropped his clubs before his foes could use them to draw him offbalance. The third whip got through and twined itself around his forearm. He circledhis hand over the cord and caught hold, giving it a mighty jerk.
When the slaver came stumbling forward, Atreus pivoted sideways and planted a stomp-kick square in the fellow's chest. The sternum broke with a loud pop,then the guard dropped to the deck gasping and groaning. Hoping to catch their foeweaponless, the last two slavers charged.
Atreus turned and sprinted for the rowing platform behind him. The two oarsmen abandoned their duties to meet him, but they were hardly a match for onewho had grown up brawling with ogres. Atreus grabbed the first by the s.h.i.+rt andslammed him into the second, then brought the first one forward again and headb.u.t.ted him.
The man's nose exploded across his face, spewing blood and cartilage in everydirection. Atreus flung his victim into the guards behind him, stepping forward to kick the second oarsman's feet from beneath him. The fellow landed flat on his back, and Atreus finished him with a stomp to the throat. He turned to find his last two attackerstrying to claw their way out from beneath the oarsman with the smashed nose.
Atreus grinned and leaped into the fray, biting an ear off and gouging two eyes out with his naked fingers, both favorite ogre brawling tricks. By the time he finished, hewas painted in blood, and the two slavers were clutching their mutilated faces,screaming miserably and lying at the feet of their horrified charges.
Atreus rose, braced his hands on his knees, and tried to ignore the pain racking hisbody. His wounds were taking their toll, even after Seema's elixir. Normally, a little wrestling match would hardly be enough to tire him.”B-by the Forgotten Ones, look what you have done! Eight men and T-Tarch!” criedRis.h.i.+. The Mar was kneeling on the aft deck, soaked and s.h.i.+vering as Seema tuggedat his wet clothes. ”You are Ysdar's devil!”
The words caused the slaves to cringe away from Atreus. He cursed under his breath and held out his hands to rea.s.sure the frightened captives, but this onlycaused them to cry out in their native tongue and fling themselves away.
”I am not a devil!” Even as Atreus said this, he glanced down at his naked, blood-smeared body and realized how deceiving appearances could be. ”Ris.h.i.+, tell them! I'm just a man.”
Atreus started toward the dry clothes awaiting him on the rear deck, then saw ascaly hand rise up behind the stern and grasp the barge. He s.n.a.t.c.hed the nearestclub and started aft, the slaves straining against their chains to lean out of his way.Ris.h.i.+'sjawdropped,andwhatlittlecolorhe had vanished.
”There is no need for temper, good sir! I will tell them!”
Ris.h.i.+ began to speak to the slaves in Maran, somehow staggering to his feetdespite the stump of the severed lance still protruding from his calf. Seema frowned and draped a dry blanket over his shoulders, scolding him in her version ofthe same language. A second scaly hand appeared beside the first, and still neitherof them noticed.
Atreus leaped another row of slaves, and Ris.h.i.+ reached into his cloak for a throwing knife. ”No! Behind you,” Atreus shouted, pointing with his club.
The sound of cascading water murmured up from the river, and Tarch's pointedhead appeared just above the deck. Ris.h.i.+ spun and flung his knife in one motion, striking the slave master square between the eyes.
The tip scattered a few scales, then clattered to the deck, unable to penetrateTarch's thick brow.
”I knew you was trying to peel me,” Tarch growled.
The devil pulled himself up over the edge of the deck. Ris.h.i.+ cursed and grabbed Seema, hobbling around to put her between himselfand the slave master.
”This is not my doing!” Ris.h.i.+ produced a throwing knife and pressed it to Seema's cheek, saying, ”Touch me, and I will mark her!”
Atreus. .h.i.t the rear deck at a sprint and, ignoring his urge to club Ris.h.i.+ senseless on the way past, rushed to meet the slave master. Tarch sprang ontohis feet as nimbly as a lynx. Atreus charged in swinging.
This time, Tarch was ready. He caught the attack on his wrist, then counter-punched to the body. Atreus tried to leap clear, and only his backward momentum kept the slave master's fist from driving a shattered rib through hislungs. As it was, the impact forced the air from his chest and knocked himthree full paces backward.
Atreus staggered and barely managed to keep his feet, allowing Tarch to stepsecurely onto the deck. Ris.h.i.+ backed away slowly, still holding his knife to Seema'sface, and the slaves murmured in fear.
”You can take a punch.” Tarch stepped toward Atreus. ”That's good. There'll be a lot of punches in Baator.”
Atreus did not reply*his aching lungs did not contain the air. He simplylaunched himself at the slave master, club held high. When Tarch raised his armto block, Atreus leaped into the air and planted both feet square in the slavemaster's chest. Tarch stumbled backward and slipped overboard, catching theedge of the deck as he dropped into the water. Atreus landed on his side and began to slam his heels down on the slave master's scaly fingers. Two digitscame loose, but then Tarch's second hand caught him by the ankle.
A strange tingling stung Atreus's flesh. His leg grew numb and weak, and hiswhole body started to quiver. An unreasoning fear welled up inside him, chasingfrom his mind all he had ever learned about fighting. He dropped his club andclawed at the deck. He could think only of escaping the terror that had him, of freeing himself of this inhuman thing and hurling himself into the icy river andswimming for the sh.o.r.e. Any sh.o.r.e.