Paul Crilley - Night of Long Shadows

“I wasn’t. But three years on the Valenar plains, you learn to look inside a bit.”

She searched his face, curiosity plain on her features. “I’m kind of sad to kill you now, Blackbird. You’ve actually become interesting.”

Cutter made one last attempt. “Then cut me down. All I want is to get the person who took Rowen from me. All I want is Tiel.”

For a moment he thought she was actually going to cut him down. Then she broke into a grin, and Cutter felt his hopes drip away like the blood from his wound.

“No, I don’t think so. Nice try, though.”

Cutter glanced surreptitiously at the knot. Was it his imagination, or had it unraveled a fraction?

“You always were pathetic,” he said, turning his attention to Jana and looking as contemptuous as possible.

Jana looked at him in amazement. “Excuse me?”

“Why don’t you just admit it? All that stuff about Leto. It’s all rubbish. You did all this because I turned you down. You wanted me and I said no. You couldn’t handle that.”

Jana burst out laughing. “That’s some ego you have there, Blackbird.”

“And do you know why I turned you down? Because you were sad. Here was this old woman-and you practically are an old woman Jana, no matter how much dye you put in your hair-here was this old woman getting drunk and making a pass at the new recruit. It was embarrassing, Jana.”

“Shut up, Blackbird.”

“You were so desperate. And you know what? After you left, I actually felt sorry for you. I don’t even think it was about sex. You were just so lonely you didn’t want to wake up alone.”

“I said shut up!”

Jana lunged forward and punched him in the stomach again. He didn’t try to kick her. Instead, he went with the punch, subtly moving his legs like a child on a swing to get rocking back and forth. She hit him again. His breath exploded from his lungs, but again, he used the force of the punch to build up his swing.

He glanced at the knot. It was definitely unraveling, loosening in quick jerks every time his movement carried him backward. He pointed his feet forward in an attempt to get some more power, but Jana saw him and stepped back a pace.

She looked up at him and shook her head. “Nice try, Blackbird. But you’re not going to get me close enough to try anything.”

Cutter felt the rope jerk as he moved to the zenith of the swing. He looked at the knot and saw it parting. He pulled himself up and thrust his feet forward, swinging with as much energy as he could. The knot gave way and he sailed through the air, carried by his forward momentum. Jana’s eyes opened wide and she tried to dive out of the way, but she was too late. His feet caught her full in the face and she flew backward, blood spraying from her nose.

Cutter landed heavily on his back. He struggled for breath and tried to pull his wrists apart, but that knot was still tight.

He pushed himself to his knees, then to his feet, and staggered over to Jana. She sat against the wall and shook her head dazedly, one hand trying to stop the blood flowing from her nose.

She looked up as Cutter approached. “You bastard!” she screamed, trying to stand up.

Cutter pushed her down again and wrapped the trailing rope around her neck, pulling it tight. Jana fought and struggled, squirming round in his grasp so that she was eventually facing away from him. He pulled the rope tighter, hearing her struggling for breath.

Then his hands flew apart, pulling against nothing. Jana whirled around and slashed at him with the razor. He raised his arm to block the swipe and felt it slice his skin to the bone. He lashed out with his other hand, punching her in the jaw. The razor flew through the air and skittered across the floor.

Cutter dropped the loose end of the severed rope and ran after the razor. He grabbed the bone handle and tried to maneuver it to cut the rope around his wrists. He glanced over his shoulder-

And saw the boot coming straight for his head. He jerked back, but the tip of her foot caught him on the forehead, sending him spinning to the floor. Cutter held on to the razor and tried to saw the rope beneath his body. Jana kicked him in the ribs. He cried out in pain and curled up, turning his back to her as he managed to saw through the last of the cord. He pulled his wrists apart and turned, catching her foot as it came in for another kick. Cutter twisted it hard, intending to break the ankle, but Jana saw what he was doing and leaped into the air, spinning in the direction of his twist. She fell to the floor and Cutter pushed himself to his feet, tossing aside the last of the rope.

He dropped the razor hastily into his pocket and grabbed his blades from the table, turning to face Jana. She was standing again, favoring her injured ankle. She grinned through bloodstained teeth and slowly drew the sword at her side. Cutter noted it was double-edged, so he held the Khutai knives along his forearms, ready to use them to parry her swings.

She ran at him, letting loose with a furious blur of overhead and side swings. Cutter raised his forearms to block, using the blades along his arms as armor to catch the edge of the sword. Sparks flew as they ranged back and forward across the floor, both of them evenly matched. Cutter never quite reached inside her guard to land a blow.

He didn’t have the reach of her sword either, so she had the advantage. But she was pressing the attack so violently that she would tire soon. All Cutter had to do was wait.

That was, if he could stay alive that long.

Jana adapted her attack, not just battering at his arms, but twisting the sword as she drew back, trying to catch his skin under the guard of the blades. She succeeded a few times, his grip on his knives slipping with sweat and enabling her to inflict numerous slashes and cuts. His arms were soon slick with blood.

But she was starting to tire. Her attacks became risky, opening herself to retaliation. Cutter held off from taking advantage straight away, suspecting some kind of trick.

He was right to wait. She was tiring, yes, but she still had enough left in her for one last feint. She lowered her guard, her arms dropping in what seemed like exhaustion. Cutter darted in and took a swipe, but he didn’t commit himself to the lunge. He pulled up short, narrowly avoiding her sword as she brought it into the air exactly where his chest would have been if he’d followed through.

She was expecting resistance. When there wasn’t any, it threw her off balance. She staggered forward and Cutter stepped past her guard and thrust the Khutai blade into her stomach. He pushed up, the curve of the blade forcing it up behind her rib cage and into her heart.

They both froze, staring into each other’s eyes. She grabbed hold of his arm, her fingers digging into his skin and drawing blood.

She sagged against him, her knees buckling beneath her. Cutter pulled the blade out and stepped away from the pulse of blood as she collapsed onto the tiles at his feet.

Cutter staggered backward and fell against the wall, staring at her body. He sat for a while, struggling to calm his rapidly beating heart.

After his breathing had slowed to a less furious rate, he looked at his arms, then at his shirt and trousers. Everything was covered in blood and sweat. If he planned on getting to Skyway to track down Tiel, he needed to clean himself up.

He pushed himself painfully to his feet and limped out of the room. He paused in the hallway to make sure he was alone, but he couldn’t hear any other signs of life. Obviously, Tiel trusted Jana to take care of the job.

He headed down the stairs and out the front door. The huge fountain splashed and gurgled to itself, a monument to bad taste and too much money. Cutter slipped over the side and into the water and scrubbed himself all over, trying to get his clothes as clean as possible. He stood up and looked at himself. It wasn’t ideal, but it would do for the moment. As soon as he was away from the house, he would stop and get bandaged up. Maybe he could find some clean clothing along the way.