Read Gangs of Antares for Free Online Page A

yelled savagely and the twinkle of steel in his fingers changed abruptly into a streaking line. Automatically I flicked up my blade to deflect the throwing dagger. I needn’t have bothered. He wasn’t hurling at me. The wicked thing whistled past my head. I did a stupid thing, then, with these cut throats ready to chop me.
    I turned my head to watch in horror as the flung dagger sliced towards the women and children. If Rolan or Rofi were hit and died...
    The throwing dagger chingled into the wall, rang like a gong, and rebounded to ricochet across to the other side and so tumble uselessly to the floor. There was no time to let out a breath of relief.
    Instantly I flung about again and the rapier was just in time to flick away the first blade slashing towards me. I jumped away to the side and gave the fellow holding Nisha a smack with the hilt of the main gauche. I didn’t care to use the blade for fear of Nisha; as it was the blow did not connect cleanly and narrowly missed the limp form of the girl.
    Two swords thrust for me and I circled them with my blade. I thrust in turn, nicking the first man’s forearm as he attempted to cut back, and then instantly slicing around the other way to make the second fellow jump back. He let out an explosive oath and his stubbly face went even meaner.
    The third apim bore in. They all wore brass-studded leather armor and good though the steel of the rapier was, I was not prepared to chance it trying to thrust through armor, leather or not. He foined as I sprang away from the first two, his blade going around and around quite prettily. There was no time for niceties of that nature. I started him one way, snapped back and stuck him through the throat. Then it was an immediate leap back and swivel to front the attack from the others.
    The man carrying Nisha did not want to get into the fight and that was eminently sensible of him. He had a sword in his right fist and his left held onto the girl over his shoulder. He hovered. He didn’t get into the fight; he didn’t run off.
    I flung a quick glance towards the other combat. The Chulik was not enjoying himself. Blood spattered down his armor and he was parrying the Kildoi’s attack with growing desperation. Fweygo was up against a topclass swordsman, no doubt of that; there was also absolutely no doubt in my mind that like other Golden Wonders I knew he would very soon overcome this topclass opposition.
    I swung back to the business in hand.
    Steel grated on steel. They tried to come at me from two sides simultaneously. I wasn’t having any nonsense like that. With a fresh turn of speed I sprang at the left hand one, flurried my blade at him, forced him back, swiveled and was on the other fellow like a leem taking a ponsho. He swashed his sword at me — he had no buckler — and clearly was unaccustomed to dealing with rapiers. His own braxter could cut me up into little pieces, unarmored as I was, and he was patently baffled by his inability to do so. There was no time even with the breathing space I had created to finish him off. His comrade roared in from the back, trying to spit me through, so I stepped briskly to the side and turned and so had them nicely together again.
    The noise in the corridor had died to a rhythmic stamp of feet, of indrawn breaths, gasps of effort, and the chingle of steel. No one in that fight was an amateur. This heartened me. They most probably would not care to hang around and fight to the death.
    Still the kidnapper with Nisha did not try to escape.
    These two villains had to be disposed of quickly before he made up his mind to run off.
    Either that or appeal to their professionalism to admit they had failed in their kidnap attempt. They would not see it that way at the moment; I would make the appeal with cold steel.
    Side by side they fronted me. The rapier swirled. One, two, three and back, not to one again but to two. This flummoxed them. Their braxters even in combination could not prevent the