The Mongoliad: Book Three

could flee, but that would only exacerbate Onghwe’s rage, and Rutger knew the Khan would pillage and burn everything until his bloodlust was satisfied.

Breaking the Mongol grip on Hunern was an impossible feat-one so very nearly in their grasp-but without the death of Onghwe, their efforts would amount to little more than waking a slumbering bear.

They might win the day, but Christendom would only be even more imperiled by their actions.

“My men are scouring the camp,” Emmeran said. “There is no way out but through the main gate. Even if some of the Mongols manage to escape, we will have weeks to hunt them down.” The Hospitaller shook his head, a grim smile on his lips. “But the Khan will not escape.”

Rutger’s chest tightened, and his throat worked heavily. “I wish I shared your faith, Master Emmeran,” he wheezed. “But I have seen too many battles that were thought won-” An icy lance of pain ripped through his upper chest, and he staggered. He tried to draw a breath, but his lungs refused to work.

“Master Rutger…” Emmeran began.

Rutger stared at his left arm. His entire body felt cold, except for his arm, which burned with such heat that he thought it would burst into flame. His legs quivered and he fell to his knees. Streaks of white light flashed across his field of vision. He stared up at the Hospitaller, trying to make sense of the shadows moving across the man’s face.

A white light bloomed behind Emmeran and his horse, and Rutger blinked, tears starting in the corners of his eyes. “No,” he croaked with the last breath in his throat. It can’t be. Don’t take me, he pleaded. I am not ready.

The light erupted, an explosion of thousands of white petals flying outward like a snowstorm falling upward, soft, downy flakes rising up to Heaven. In the center of the light, Rutger saw entwined branches and-

The exhausted heart of Tyrshammar’s quartermaster finally stopped.

Onghwe broke the momentary respite in the duel by throwing his sword at Zug. With a shout, Kim dashed forward, but the Khan fled, dashing back toward his enormous platform of pillows and furs.

Zug twisted his body, evading the well-thrown blade, though the tip of the weapon raked across his right ear. Blood began to flow, and tiny pricks of pain nipped at his skull as if he was being stung by an extremely angry and persistent hornet.

Onghwe started throwing pillows as he reached his bed, and the Flower Knight adroitly knocked the first aside with his spear, let another bounce off his chest, and ducked under a third. He kept closing on the Khan throughout, and after the third missile, he thrust his spear at the Khan’s legs. The Khan, who had been digging through the layers of furs and pillows, found what he was looking for. As he pulled his legs back, getting out of range of Kim’s attack, he twisted his body, and levered up the long pole that had been hidden beneath the opulent layers.

It was a guan do, similar to Zug’s naginata, but the blade was shorter, thicker, and had a notch and a spike along the back edge. Onghwe whipped the pole-arm around, and Kim, having some experience fighting against this weapon, knocked Onghwe’s first strike aside and thrust his own spear point over the top of the Khan’s haft. Onghwe snapped the haft around, rotating it over Kim’s thrust, and shoved the spear aside. He flicked the guan do blade, and Kim leaned back, letting the curved edge of the pole-arm blade whisk past his face.

Onghwe pressed the attack, flicking the guan do in tight circles, forcing Kim back as the Flower Knight blocked and evaded the flashing blade. Kim gave ground readily and Zug approached from the Khan’s right, flicking his own weapon at the Khan. The Khan adjusted his technique, and the blade of his guan do became a darting, flashing bird that leaped from both Zug’s and Kim’s weapons without pause. Zug was content to be patient, keeping the pressure on the Khan, knowing the other man could not keep up this incredible display of dexterity for long. Eventually he would tire.

The Khan’s blade rebounded from his naginata, slashing low toward Kim, who had started to drift closer to the Khan. The Flower Knight leaped into the air, avoiding the guan do’s blade, and at the apogee of his leap he thrust his spear forward in one hand, and the point pierced Onghwe’s shoulder.

The Khan snarled, and Kim barely got the haft of his spear up in time to block Onghwe’s counterattack. Kim landed off balance, and the Khan’s attack sent him reeling. He drew back quickly, seeking distance from the angry Khan, and he would have been in trouble if Zug had not leaped forward with a whirling slash of his own.

The Khan flicked the guan do up, catching Zug’s blade, and then slammed the blade of the guan do down, sliding it along Zug’s haft, aiming for the Nipponese man’s hands. Zug shifted his arms, twirling the naginata as he forced the guan do wide and retaliating with another stroke. Onghwe jerked his left hand up, catching the shaft of the naginata just inside the metal blade, and he responded with a similar slash of his own. Zug countered and closed the distance, letting his weapon fall back against his body. He snapped the shortened end up, smashing Onghwe on the side of the head.

Onghwe’s head snapped to the side, and he stumbled. Zug stepped back, giving himself some measure, and flicked his naginata blade up in a vicious swing. Onghwe tried to parry it but only managed to deflect the naginata enough that it glanced off the upper portion of his left arm. Zug felt the blade bite into flesh, and when the Khan reeled away, he saw blood soaking the sleeve of his robe.

“Your dogs smell blood,” he snarled, and he heard Kim make a howling noise, as if he were summoning a pack of wild hounds.

The cry was picked up by other voices, and all three men paused.

At the back of the tent, the Rose Knight was no longer alone. He had been joined by the other knight-the one who had helped with the cages-and a familiar giant of a man, who kept up his howl longer than the others. Braced in his hands was a long club, topped with a heavy ball of rough stone.

Madhukar grinned as his howl trailed off. “Save a little bit for me,” he said, hefting his club.

Kim’s shout was the only thing that saved Zug from the Khan’s sudden attack. Snarling, Onghwe rallied, lunging forward with the guan do. Zug flinched, and the blade sliced across the front of his right shoulder.

An inch higher and the blade would have cut his throat.

The Khan tried to seize the advantage, but Kim was suddenly there, at Zug’s side, aiming a high thrust at the Khan’s face. Onghwe retreated, smashing the Flower Knight’s spear aside, and Zug saw an opening.

He brought the naginata around low, and flicked it up, beneath the Khan’s guard. The blade passed between the Khan’s legs, and he rotated his wrists and pulled up as the Khan danced back, fleeing from his weapon. He felt the blade tug as it sliced through cloth and flesh.

Kim pressed forward, his spear point darting high and low at the Khan. Onghwe parried Kim’s attacks easier, but his stance was unsteady. A heavy sheen of sweat covered his face.

He knew he had been cut.

Zug prowled to the left, staying just out of measure but close enough that he could spring forward should an opportunity present itself. Kim continued his flurry of attacks, forcing the Khan to defend himself. Forcing him to keep moving, to keep putting weight on his injured leg.

The inside of the Khan’s leg was covered with blood, and he was leaving a bloody trail behind him as he staggered across the rugs.

Onghwe smashed Kim’s spear aside with a heavy swing of his guan do, and, with a heavy snarl twisting his features, he lunged at the Flower Knight, thrusting his pole arm straight at Kim’s face. The guan do didn’t have a pointed end, and the only way the strike could hurt Kim was if the Flower Knight dodged to the side but didn’t block or retreat, allowing the Khan to slash sideways. Kim twitched his head to the side as he leaned forward, and the guan do passed within a hair’s breadth of his head. He wrapped his left arm around the haft of the Khan’s pole-arm and trapped the weapon against his shoulder.

It was a dangerous move, as the blade of the guan do was poised right behind his head. The Khan would only have to rotate the blade in order to get the edge against Kim’s skull.

But he never got the chance.

As soon as Kim trapped the Khan’s weapon, Zug leaped forward, bringing the