The Cyber Chronicles - Book I: Queen of Arlin (7 page)

Tassin backed
away as he advanced, shaking her head. Torrian stood over two
metres tall, bull-necked and barrel-chested. His gold-ornamented
helm hid his thick brown hair, and his shaven, coarse-featured face
held the trace of cruelty she feared. The gold band that encircled
his helm denoted his rank, just as the slight sneer that curled his
lips revealed his arrogance. His silver armour was moulded into
muscular contours, and a gold-hilted sword hung at his side. She
glanced around for an exit, while her uncle watched her. Bumping
into a chair, she backed around the far end of the table, Torrian
following. Seizing her chance before he got too close, she made a
dash for the door, where two guards stood.

"Stop her!"
Torrian roared.

The guards
crossed their spears, but she ducked under them and ran down the
hall, gathering up her cumbersome skirts. Heavy boots pounded after
her as Torrian and the guards gave chase. Tassin flew down the
broad staircase, slipped on the smooth floor at the bottom and
banged her knee. Torrian's bellow echoed through the fortress,
calling for more men. A guard blocked her way, but stepped aside
when she charged him. No soldier dared to lay hands upon the
Queen's person, especially her uncle's men, who were practically
her own. Bursting into the courtyard, she spotted some grooms
loitering by the stables.

"Bring my
horses, now!"

The men ran to
obey, and a group of red-liveried soldiers who idled there looked
up. A twenty-man honour guard was all Torrian had brought into the
castle, but they were far more of a threat to her than her uncle's
soldiers. They started towards her, and Tassin glanced around. To
try to run was hopeless, even if the long skirts did not hamper
her. Spying a wood pile nearby, she ran to it and snatched up a
sturdy faggot, brandishing it. The men hesitated, but then Torrian
came out of the castle.

"Hold her! Do
not let her leave!"

Niam's soldiers
watched, grim-faced, as ten of Torrian's men surrounded her. They
would have to be careful; if they hurt her, Niam's soldiers could
retaliate, for they hung on a knife edge of loyalties. Tassin swung
the branch, making a soldier jump back, but another grabbed it and
wrenched it from her, as two more gripped her arms. Tassin yelled
and struggled, and several of Niam's soldiers started towards her,
then stopped. Her uncle stood in the doorway, his hand raised.

"Traitor!" she
shouted. "Your brother is cursing you from his grave! You hand me
over to a rapist! A woman beater! A -"

"Silence!"
Torrian's roar drowned her out, and Niam hung his head, his face
pale and haggard. His men shuffled their feet, but would not go
against the Duke's orders. Tassin kicked at her captors, hit one in
the shin and made him hop and curse.

"Stop that, you
little wild cat." Torrian loomed over her, his eyes hard. "I am
going to have fun taming you." He grinned, revealing large yellow
teeth. "You will enjoy being My Queen, never fear."

Tassin glared
at him, her heart thudding. "I will take a knife to you one dark
night, you bastard!"

Torrian
laughed. "No you will not, my beauty. We will have a great
marriage, though."

Tassin spat at
him, and his face reddened, then he raised a beefy hand and slapped
her. Pain exploded in her head, and she sagged in the soldiers'
grip, tasting blood. Niam started forward, protesting, and his men
gripped their weapons. Torrian waved him away.

"See what you
condemn me to, Niam!" Tassin yelled. "I hope you can live with
yourself! You could have helped me!"

Torrian
gestured to his men, wiping his cheek. "Get her out of here."

Tassin glanced
around, desperate for a way out of this predicament. The grooms had
returned with the saddled warhorses and Falcon on a lead rein, and
stared at her. If she could reach the horses, she might have a
chance to escape. Perhaps there was one man who could, and would,
help her, insufferable though he was.

"Sabre!" she
shrieked, looking around as the soldiers dragged her towards the
gate. "Sabre!"

A man emerged
from the billets, the crystals on his brow sparkling.

"Help me,
Sabre, damn you!" Tassin shouted.

As the cyber
broke into a lope towards her, Torrian's soldiers moved to
intercept him. He raised an arm, and blue fire spat from his wrist,
slicing through the armour and flesh of four of them as if it was
butter. They collapsed with soft cries, and her captors turned to
gape at their dead comrades. The others backed away, their swords
brandished before them. Torrian stepped in front of Tassin, drawing
his double-handed broad sword.

Sabre stopped,
dwarfed by Torrian's great height and bulk. He raised his arm
again, but the beam of light that struck the King was weak, only
making him step back as a glowing spot appeared on his armour.
Sabre reached for a tube on his harness, something Tassin did not
recall him doing the last time he had used the blue fire. It had
seemed inexhaustible before, but apparently it was not. Torrian
roared and charged, his sword held high. The cyber dived aside as
the weapon whistled down to strike sparks from the stone where he
had been an instant before. He rolled to his feet, spun and leapt,
one foot lashing out to strike Torrian a glancing blow on the side
of his helm that staggered him.

The King
growled and slashed at Sabre's legs, forcing the cyber to leap over
the blade. As he landed, Sabre lunged in a fluid motion, his fists
striking a hammer blow to Torrian's midriff. The King sprawled with
a great crash of metal on stone, his armour saving him from serious
injury. The soldiers, seeing their monarch in mortal danger and
Sabre no longer able to use the blue fire, charged with a roar,
swords raised.

Tassin gasped,
certain that he would be cut to pieces, but he leapt aside and
chopped the closest man in the throat. The soldier coughed and
dropped his sword to paw at his neck, falling to his knees. Sabre
ducked under a sword stroke and punched its wielder in the chest,
sending him flying backwards to lie winded and writhing. The cyber
swayed aside to avoid a thrusting blade, which grazed his ribs and
sliced through his harness. He punched the man in the face, and he
dropped and lay still, blood oozing from his crushed nose and split
lips.

Sabre skipped
back, blood running down his side, and Torrian's men charged after
him. Sabre swayed back to avoid a blade, whipped around and kicked
the man in the gut, sending him flying with a coughing grunt.
Diving under another swinging sword, Sabre sprang to his feet close
to a soldier and chopped him in the throat. He dropped his weapon
and fell backwards, writhing and making horrible gurgling noises.
The men fanned out to encircle the cyber.

Sabre jumped
back to avoid a blade, ducked under the swing of a sword behind him
and kicked backwards, sending the soldier sliding over the cobbles
with a glitter of sparks. Stepping closer to a man, Sabre landed a
spinning straight-armed blow on the side of his head, denting his
helmet. He sprawled with a crash, and the remaining soldiers
snarled and pressed home their attack in a mass of brawn and
sharp-edged weaponry. Sabre moved in a blur, avoided a sword and
sent another soldier sprawling with a kick, accompanied by a
sickening crunch of breaking bone.

The rest
impeded each other in their eagerness to cut him down. Sabre
deflected a blade with a lightning-fast punch, ducked under another
swinging weapon to lunge at a soldier, and dropped into a crouch to
punch the man in the ribs. The warrior staggered sideways and fell,
his armour dented. Sabre flung himself backwards as a sword skimmed
over his chest, landed on his hands and jerked up his legs. His
foot cracked into the underside of the soldier's jaw, jerked his
head back and sent him rolling. Sabre thrust himself back onto his
feet with a powerful push of his arms, twisting to avoid the stab
of another blade. His hand flashed up to grip the soldier's wrist
and yank him forward, driving his sword into the man on the other
side while Sabre swayed back to avoid the swing of the second man's
sword.

Tassin gasped
as the injured man staggered away to collapse and the cyber snapped
the first man's wrist with a savage twist and a sharp crunch. The
soldier howled and recoiled, dropping his weapon to clutch the
fractured limb.

Torrian sat up,
spat blood and shook his head, spied the brawl and roared, "He is
mine!"

As the men
retreated, Sabre swung to face the King, who stood up and raised
his sword again. Torrian kept the weapon pointed at Sabre as he
circled, looking for an opening. Tassin glanced around at Niam's
soldiers, who watched in patent amazement as an unarmed man took on
the armed and armoured King, whose reputation as a swordsman was
unrivalled. The fact that Sabre had already defeated fourteen armed
warriors and emerged almost unscathed was not lost upon them,
however. Becoming aware that her mouth was open, she closed it. A
few of the men Sabre had knocked down climbed to their feet,
looking dazed and clutching their injuries, but most lay still.

Tassin's
captors gaped at Sabre, forgetting to drag her out of the gate. The
cyber reached for a tube on his harness again, but it hung askew,
due to the cut strap, and his hand found bare webbing. Torrian
charged, forcing him to leap aside. Twisting away too fast for the
King to swing the heavy sword, Sabre kicked the hilt, sending the
weapon spinning to skitter away with a clatter. Torrian tried to go
after it, but Sabre drove his foot into the King's flank. The force
of the blow sent Torrian sprawling with a grunt, and the cyber
stepped towards him, then spun as the soldiers attacked again.

Sabre batted
away a sword thrust at his chest and stepped back. Torrian rolled
onto his side and grabbed Sabre's ankle. As the cyber tried to jerk
free, a soldier chopped at him, forcing him to throw himself aside.
Torrian's grip on his ankle forced Sabre to twist like a cat,
landing a glancing blow on Torrian's chin as jerk of the King's
head deflected it. Torrian held on, forcing Sabre to break his fall
with out-flung hands, and the soldiers closed in, hacking at the
cyber as he rolled aside to avoid their weapons.

"Hold him! He
is mine!" Torrian bellowed.

The five men
flung themselves at Sabre as he tried to jerk his foot from
Torrian's grasp, but the King hung on long enough for them to grab
the elusive cyber. Mindful of their sovereign's claim on Sabre's
life, the soldiers tried to pin him down. Two grabbed his arms as
he sent a third rolling away with a short-armed jab to the solar
plexus. The other two went for his legs, but Sabre kicked free of
Torrian's hold and raised his legs in a swift movement that gave
him enough momentum to roll over backwards, twisting his arms from
the soldiers' grip. As he regained his feet, the men lunged for him
again, knocking him down with the force of their concerted
charge.

Tassin winced
as Sabre's head hit the flagstones with a dull crack, and he
writhed as the men piled on top of him, two of his previous victims
joining them. Torrian staggered to his feet, clutching his ribs,
while his men struggled to hold Sabre down. The soldiers punched
the cyber in an effort to subdue him, pinning his arms and legs.
One man took hold of the loose weapons' harness, yanked it off and
tossed it aside. Torrian waded into the melee, and his soldiers
dragged Sabre to his feet. The King drove his armoured fist into
Sabre's face with a crunch, snapped his head back and ripped him
from the soldiers' grasp. With his legs still held by the men who
knelt at his feet and his arms released too late from his captors'
grip for him to throw them out to break his fall, Sabre hit the
ground hard. He bounced from the force of the impact, the air
punched from his lungs with a soft grunt as his head cracked onto
the stones again.

Tassin
grimaced, wondering if her magic warrior would be defeated. Torrian
wrung his hand, grimaced and cursed, walked to the cyber's side and
kicked him in the ribs with all his might. Sabre coughed and
writhed as the air was punched from his lungs once more. Torrian
lifted a foot and stamped on Sabre's head with a sickening thud,
then stepped back, certain of his victory. The soldiers released
the cyber and stood up, grinning at their king, who frowned and
flexed his hand. Sabre writhed, the lights on his brow band
flashing, a lot of them red. Then, incredibly, he rolled away and
staggered to his feet. The brow band's lights remained bright, but
some turned green again. Several soldiers muttered in amazement,
and the King looked perplexed.

Sabre turned to
face the King, his face as blank as ever. Blood trickled from his
nose and one ear, and he glanced around, presumably for his
harness. Torrian charged, but Sabre dropped and tackled the King's
legs as Torrian overshot him. The King crashed to the cobbles, and
Sabre leapt to his feet. About a third of the lights on his brow
band still flashed red. The soldiers closed in again, preventing
the cyber from reaching the supine King. Sabre swung to face a
soldier who charged him from behind, his head jerking around as if
he had eyes in the back of his head, the rest of him following an
instant later. His fist smashed into the man's face and lifted him
off his feet.

Torrian climbed
to his feet, shaking his head, and advanced on the cyber, a furious
scowl knotting his brows. Tassin got the impression that Sabre
would have tried to reach his harness again, but knew that if he
went after it Torrian would prevent him, as he had done before. The
cyber's hand flashed to his belt and yanked out his knife. The King
paused, considering the weapon, then swung his fist as Sabre's
head, missing when he ducked. The cyber lunged, stabbing Torrian in
the thigh, since he wore full torso armour and arm-guards. The King
roared and recoiled. Sabre followed and landed another
double-fisted punch in the King's solar plexus, denting his armour.
The force of the blow lifted Torrian off the ground, and he
sprawled yet again with a crash of metal on stone. The soldiers
charged into the fray once more, this time with deadly intent.