Harry Turtledove: Clan of the Claw

“What?” Lord Tae demanded.

The Mrem who were in the square of fighters fell out of their perfect formation. Confusion was on their thin faces. But not only Mrem; Liskash soldiers wavered. Lord Tae shook his fists.

“You hairy mammals are weaklings! You cannot defeat my strength.”

Emoro grinned. They were about to try. He made a gesture.

Before the noble could restore full control, the Mrem warriors leaped at the guards.

Five whole eights guarding the lizard noble faced only one eight of Mrem. In spite of the fights he had already fought, Emoro was ready for this one.

The floor under their feet had a sheen of water on it from overnight condensation. Emoro used the slick surface to glide around his enemy, an immense, slate-faced Liskash in jingling plated leather. The guard chopped at him, but he was too slow to hit the clawmaster. With the protection and interference created by the Dancer, Emoro almost felt at an advantage, even though he was unarmed. He ducked in under the lizard’s guard and kneed him in the stomach. The guard’s grip weakened momentarily, but long enough for Emoro to disarm him and stab him in the throat with his own weapon. The body began kicking and convulsing. Emoro leaped back, and fell on his tail because of the slippery floor.

“Careful!” Petru’s voice reached him through the din of battle. Emoro glanced up at the valet. Petru stood with his hands on his hips, his broad body and thick fur concealing the Dancer. Only the tips of her fingers and tail were occasionally visible as she Danced behind Petru. She was fighting the battle none of the rest of them could see.

Two of the guards made for Emoro, chopping at him with their rectangular-bladed swords. He didn’t bother to get up, but slashed at their legs with his captured weapon. He gashed one of them on the thigh badly enough that the soldier staggered back.

Lord Tae let out a high-pitched laugh. Emoro scanned the battle to see what had struck him as so funny. To his horror, a circle of Mrem in armor were beating a warrior. The Mrem had fallen to his knees and had his hands over his head.

He glided over the cold stone floor. With the sword in both hands, he swung. The blow severed the spine of the first Mrem. It fell dead at his feet. Emoro felt sorry for the creature, but at least it was a clean, fast death. The others turned toward him, clubs in hand.

Never in his life had Emoro thought he would have to battle fellow Mrem, but he had to see these as puppets, only the skins of good people. If they were lucky, when the battle was won they would have their minds restored, but they were the most dangerous beings in the field at the moment. They did not behave as true Mrem because they were being controlled by a lizard, but they were faster than the Liskash soldiers. Emoro had to dodge swiftly to avoid being bludgeoned.

The Mrem who had been beaten staggered to his feet. With a pang, Emoro recognized Nemru. One eye was swollen closed, and welts stood out under his fur.

Emoro did a quick surveillance of the battle around him. He was pleased to see that there were far fewer Liskash standing than when they had begun.

“We are winning, Nemru,” he assured the warrior. “Keep fighting.”

“I will, Clawmaster,” the male said. He grinned, showing broken teeth in a bloodied mouth. He scooped up a dropped sword and stood tail to tail with Emoro.

Liskash hurried, at Lord Tae’s orders, to supplement the Mrem surrounding Emoro and Nemru. Emoro fought like a savage, seeing only one victim after another. There was no time to oversee the rest of the battle. As long as his mind was clear and his arm was still attached to his body, he would fight. The two of them turned and turned again, shifting across the courtyard.

At last, he saw an opening toward Lord Tae. The only guards near him were a pair of small, spindly red-scales. The Liskash noble had his eyes closed, concentrating.

“With me, Nemru,” Emoro said. He lunged toward them. Nemru followed.

The red-scaled guards saw them coming and shrieked out a warning. Lord Tae’s eyes flew open. They met and captured Emoro’s.

Pain overwhelmed him. Emoro felt as if his head would burst open. He clutched his sword, but he could not see to swing it. He felt his body being pummeled from more than one direction at a time. Nemru’s voice roared hoarsely in his ears. He fought against Lord Tae’s mind, begging the Dancer to intercede for him.

A pillar came hurtling toward Emoro, and struck him in the side of the head. Blessed unconsciousness followed.

“No!” Petru screamed. His voice echoed off the stone walls all the way to the metal lip of the pylon. He strode toward the puny red creatures, pointing a dangerous claw at them. “How dare you lay even a single scale upon my love!”

The Liskash bending over Emoro’s fallen body looked up in astonishment. They got up, brandishing their swords. Hah! Swords! As if that would spare them.

Petru took each around the neck with one huge hand and slammed them into one another until they sagged in his grasp.

Emoro lay covered with blood, his eyes open and sightless. Petru threw the Liskash aside and went to pick him up. He felt pressure and scented the stink from the lizard god, but was in no mood to pay attention to it.

“Emoro, are you alive?” he asked. “If you are dead, I will never forgive you.”

He was not the only thing that Lord Tae controlled. Gray-scaled soldiers in their appalling armor sprang up around him like weeds. One of them dared to reach for his arm.

Petru shook it off in horror, disgusted by its scaly fingers. “Don’t you dare touch me!” Others moved in to grab him. Petru backed away. “I said, don’t you dare. Touch. Me!”

The nearest Liskash chopped at him with a sword. As neatly as a Dancer, Petru swiped a leg upward under the creature’s guard and knocked his head sideways. Before the slow lizard could recover, Petru ducked and grabbed him by the ankles. The Liskash’s helmet flew off. His skull bounced against the floor. Green blood spattered his fur. It clashed with the golden dust he was wearing. Petru was revulsed and offended.

The other lizards rushed him. Petru picked up the Liskash by his feet and swung him like a bat, back and forth. Lizards went flying in all directions.

Slow, deliberate applause reached his ears. He turned to see Lord Tae watching him with amusement.

“Oh, you find me entertaining, do you?” Petru asked, angry beyond any time he could ever recall.

“Very diverting,” the Liskash said. “Very.”

All Petru could think to do was wipe the smile off the skinny lizard’s face. He strode deliberately toward him, flexing and flexing his claws. Lord Tae watched him come, mild curiosity on his face. A Mrem grappling with a Liskash passed between them. Petru kept his eyes on the noble, but he should have looked down.

By the time his foot hit the patch of blood on the floor, it was too late. Petru slid forward his entire length and hit the ground with a thunderous BOOM! The view of the blue sky faded to black.

Petru’s fall opened up the field between Cleotra and Lord Tae for the first time since the Lailah had descended into the courtyard. Her energetic leaps and whirls did not weaken her voice. Her ties to her distant sisters were far too strong, now. Their love and warmth bolstered her. Lord Tae’s thrusts into her mind were mere pinpricks.

“You are not going to want to be here when he awakens,” Cleotra said, in amusement, with a glance at the bulk of her beloved valet stretched at full length on his back.

“Why not?” Lord Tae asked. “A servant knocking himself out?”

“Because having him knock himself out won’t have been his fault. It will be yours. He didn’t just slip.”