Free Lord Protector by T C Southwell Page A

man. Although Storm was twenty years younger, he doubted his ability to defeat Blade, and already knew he was not as fast. Such feelings of inadequacy had never plagued him before. He had always considered himself to be the best. He met Blade's eyes and shivered at the icy emptiness of their pale grey depths, which held no hint of emotion. This brought the unsettling realisation that the man he had not wanted to kill in Jondar was an assassin of the highest calibre, devoid of the pity Storm had sometimes experienced.
    When the men behind him did not obey his order, he shouted it again, making them jump.
    "Where are you going to go, Storm?" Blade asked. "Do you think you can outrun my dagger once you cast aside your shield? Or do you plan to take him with you?"
    "You're staying here, and these men will ensure that you do if they want their friend to live."
    Blade raked the crowd with a contemptuous glance. "They won't try to stop me. They know I'll kill them if they do, just as I'll kill the man you hold unless you let him go."
    The man in question struggled, and Storm, his arm weakened by the injury to his shoulder, could not hold him. The villager slipped from his grasp with only a shallow cut on his throat and burrowed into the crowd. Storm gritted his teeth as his shoulder throbbed, sending shafts of pain down his arm. Exposed once more, he waited for Blade to make his next move as he tried to think of a way out of the situation.
    The Jashimari assassin appeared relaxed. He had not even bothered to raise his weapons again, but watched Storm. Sensing a movement behind him, Storm whipped around as a patron made a foolish attempt to grab him. He slashed the man's face, opening a gash down his cheek that made him recoil with a yell. Using the distraction, Storm rushed at the crowd, which dived from his path. Bending double, he raced for the door, yanked it open and hurled himself into the slushy street.
    Storm rolled, grunting as the impact twisted the dagger in his shoulder, then leapt up and spun to face the inn. Blade was already out of the door, a hand drawn back to throw another dagger, and Storm threw himself sideways as it flew at him. It missed him by a hair's breadth and clunked into the muddy ground, lost in the slush. Storm rolled to his feet, yanked the dagger from his shoulder and hurled it at Blade, who ducked.
    Realising that his only hope of defeating the Jashimari assassin was to get close to him, Storm charged Blade. Assassins normally avoided close contact, since it quickly resulted in serious, often fatal wounds to one or both combatants. As he hoped, it took Blade by surprise, and he slipped on the ice as he tried to leap aside. One of Storm's knives sliced into Blade's biceps as he flung up his arm, the other was deflected by Blade's weapon as the Jashimari assassin parried the blow with his other hand.
    The impact sent Blade sprawling, and Storm flung himself after the Jashimari assassin, trying to pin him down. Blade rolled aside, but Storm twisted and grabbed Blade's wrist as he tried to leap up. Blade whipped around and stabbed at Storm's chest, but Storm's up flung arm deflected the blow, and Blade sought to jerk free of the Cotti's hold. Storm hung on, knowing that he had the advantage of weight and strength.
    The viciousness with which Blade stabbed him made Storm regret his decision, however. The Jashimari assassin inflicted several shallow wounds in Storm's right forearm, which he was forced to use to defend his throat and chest. Since he had dropped one of his weapons in order to grab Blade, he had only one knife with which to try to kill the Jashimari, but he was too busy defending himself. He jerked up a knee, landing a glancing blow on Blade's hip, then rolled partly on top of his opponent, holding Blade's left wrist pinned to the ground. He grunted as Blade's dagger sank into his side, twisting his torso to prevent the weapon from penetrating too deep.
    As Blade yanked the weapon out, Storm