With his head exposed like that, I brought a knife hand down on his neck and smiled as his body crumpled to the ground in a heap.
It wouldn’t hold him for long, but at least it slowed the enemy advance.
Pipe Guy came for me next. He was a good foot taller than me, and twice as heavy. I should have guessed that the armed ones would come at me first. It only made sense. Knock me out nice and easy, then steal my stuff. It’s what I would have done in their situation.
But he wasn’t much more effective than his buddy. He swung his pipe in a vertical arc, intending to bring it crushing down onto my skull.
His swing was harder to dodge than Bat Boy’s, but I managed to move my body out of the way just in time.
The lead pipe barely nicked my arm, and I felt a wave of pain radiate up and down the appendage. Pipe Guy was every bit as strong as he looked.
I tried to grapple the man’s arm and pull the weapon out of his hand, but he was too strong for me, and it felt more like I was helplessly glued to his arm instead, being flung about, as he swung his arm around to free me.
On the last throw, I let go on the outward arc, and the momentum carried me a few feet backward. I stumbled a little to keep my position, but it gave me time to finally find that object I’d been searching for in my pockets while the enemy regrouped.
“Until next time,” I said with a slight bow.
I raised the small, triangle-shaped object high in the air and flung it into the ground as hard as I could. At the last instant, I brought up my other arm to block my eyes.
The flash-bang charm went to work immediately. None of my enemies had been ready for it, so they were all stunned by the intense white light that shot out of the device, filling the entire area for several seconds.
Once again, I took advantage of their confusion. I ran over to the car and flung the driver’s side door open. There inside were my two weapons. I looked at both the katana and Grax’thor for a moment, not doing anything.
Sheila’s words came back to me. Grax’thor. Boudicca needed Grax’thor to complete her ritual. I needed to keep it from them at all costs. So I did the responsible thing and left it in the car, where hopefully they wouldn’t see it, and grabbed the katana.
Now that I had a weapon, I felt better about my odds.
Sure, these guys could come back to life, but it didn’t seem like it was instant or anything, so all I had to do was take them out for long enough to escape and collect Rick, wherever he’d run off to.
I scanned the street quickly, looking for him, but I didn’t see him anywhere. Oh well. Hopefully, he’d escaped.
Half-Naked Guy was the first one to come out of the knot of enemies and approach me once the flash-bang started to wear off. I should have guessed it would be him. The two of us had the most history, after all.
He crouched low and lurched forward, and it was all I could do to jump out of the way before he careened into me.
Seriously, who rams themselves headfirst into a guy holding a katana? Not a smart move.
But it worked to his advantage, and he made it past my guard. I brought my blade around and smacked him on the back with the flat of the blade. That hit, combined with his own momentum, sent him sprawling into the passenger door behind me.
His head hit the door with a loud crack, and he went limp.
Nice. One attacker down. Of course, with the shiny new dent he’d left in the car, it would be harder to return it now, but I could deal with that when I was safe and alive. At least it was only superficial.
Wiry Chick was the next one to come after me. I caught a glimpse of something metal in her hands and saw that she was sporting a pair of brass knuckles. I couldn’t let those hit me, or I’d be a goner.
She made a slight jab at my sword arm, and I feinted to the side with ease, but that was followed up by a lunge and another fist to my gut. The second hit connected, hitting the same area in my stomach that had already been bruised by the bat earlier.
My whole body tingled with pain, and I almost lost my footing, stumbling back a step in the process until I was up against Half-Naked Guy’s body.
In a move that smacked more of desperation than planning, I swung my sword around, aimed at her retracting arm. I managed to score a glancing blow against her forearm before she could get it to safety and felt satisfied as I watched a thin combination of skin and clothing fall to the ground.
But Wiry Chick kept coming at me in spite of the injury, like it wasn’t even there.
I’d forgotten that these Celtic warriors were damn-near immortal and didn’t slow from simple damage.
Shoot.
Before Wiry Chick could regroup enough to do much damage, I slid my sword forward, aiming for her chest. She flew backward to dodge the blow, but ended up knocking herself into the driver’s door, which was still open.
With my other hand, I slammed the car door closed onto her body as hard as I could. I heard the crunch of something metal combined with a sickening thunk of something soft, and Wiry Chick went limp.
Two down. But there were still three of them and a dog, and I wasn’t exactly at the top of my game anymore.
Bat Boy and Pipe Guy came at me next in something of a team. Lanky Guy still hadn’t moved, yet, and neither
