blood seeping through the bandaging and ripped armour. Her eyelids flickered.
Ryko eyed the bloodied sword in my hand. Are you all right?'
'I'm fine,' I said.
'Here.' He passed me its twin, sending a surge of new energy into my exhausted reserves. 'Go.
I'll hold them off.'
The mouth of the alley was suddenly blocked by men. Four of them in dark, close-fitting armour: Ido's private guard. Two men immediately came forwards, swords raised. Behind them, Ido swept a searching glance along the corridor, his height giving him a clear view.
Although his face was in shadow, I knew the moment his eyes found me.
'I want her alive,' he ordered and there was a caress in his voice. 'The others you can kill.'
Ryko picked up the dead swordsman's weapons. 'For Shola's sake, get going,' he hissed. 'I'm not going to last long.'
He ran to meet Ido's front guard. They were already past the first stack and angled themselves ready for his momentum. The crash of metal against metal reverberated off the stone walls, the force of the guard's blows pushing Ryko back towards us. He was using his body to block the narrow pathway Beside me, Lady Dela stirred, roused by the clanging danger. Ryko desperately blocked a simultaneous attack by both guards, barely managing to stop their slicing blades. He was not going to hold them off for long.
'Help me,' Lady Dela said. She was fumbling in the opening of her armour. 'I'll keep looking for the name.'
She withdrew her hand, unable to pull the folio through the tangle of waist bindings. We both knew it was too late, but I tucked my sword under my arm and jerked out the book, pressing it into her hand. The pearls lifted and unwound, clicking into a slide of welcome across my skin.
I pushed their weight back onto the folio.
'If things go bad,' I said, 'get to the grate.'
The swords were whispering to me, eager to fight.
Lady Dela's eyes flicked to Ryko. 'I'm staying right to the end,' she said through clenched teeth.
I turned and sized up the battle, my eyes seeing it through the ancient wisdom of the swords.
Ryko had been hit; blood was running from a deep slice in his forearm. Superficial but it would take its toll. One of his attackers was down, not moving. The other was close to breaking through to me, a young man with over-quick moves and a cocky smile. Two more guards were approaching. At the mouth of the alley, Ido was waiting for Ryko to fall. I took a deep breath and yelled, the release of Hua propelling me into the fight.
I met the young guard as he broke past Ryko, each of my swords singing in a lethal figure-eight. He blocked the lower
blade, but mistimed his deflection of the higher slice. It caught the side of his face, snapping his head back and opening his cheek to the bone. I lunged, aiming for the shouldei weakness in the armour, revelling in the borrowed skill and fluid movement, He countered the thrust hut the move was soft and clumsy with shock. Even as 1 swung my other sword around, 1 knew it would hit home. My blade hit into his neck, smashing hone and severing column into a bloody mess. As he started to topple, the ancient part of me was already pulling my weapon free, ready to move on.
I checked on Lady Dela. She was edging behind the stack near the grate, the folio angled to catch the moonlight. Ahead, Ryko was fighting with his back against the bales, two guards raining blows on him. He was blocking most of them and frantically dodging those that he missed, the slicing thrusts ripping dusty holes in the bale behind him.
'Oy' I shouted, running at the closest of his attackers.
The man spun around. I saw Ryko's eyes cut to me — shock turning to fury — then my view was blocked by the guard. This one was older, more cautious, shrewd calculation on his lean face.
'You should surrender,' he said. 'Then perhaps your friends will survive.'
I answered with the Monkey Dragon Third: a series of quick cuts aimed at the neck. But this man was no over-confident youngster. He stopped me by sweeping his swords outwards, the weight of each connection pushing my swords wide. I felt my grips slip and loosen. He swung his right sword back, lining up a hilt punch to my head. Gritting my teeth, I tightened my right grip and brought my blade down onto his hilt. I heard him curse as the cut just missed his fingers and sliced into the leather binding. He broke away, deftly swinging the sword around.
Kinra's knowledge was still bright within me, but my body was tiring. Her rage could not keep me going much longer.
At the corner of my vision, I saw Ido, swords drawn, coming up the alley. Ryko saw him too and, in a desperate lunge that left
him unprotected, slashed a wild stroke at the Dragoneye's head. It missed, and Ryko's back arched as his opponent's sword plunged into his right side. Then the guard in front of me attacked and my focus narrowed into deflecting the flicking thrusts that threatened to disarm me. Was Ryko hurt? Dead? I could not take my eyes off my opponent, but the clanging sounds of sword on sword and the heavy pants of pained effort gave me hope.
'Pull out,' Ido ordered.
My swinging cut sliced through air as my opponent immediately ducked sideways, making way for his master.
'Try and take the islander alive,' Ido ordered, jerking his head back at Ryko. 'And then find the freak.'
The guard dipped his head and retreated. If Ryko was hurt, he would not last long against such a cunning fighter. I raised my swords, trying to catch extra breath in the momentary lull.
Ido smiled at me, and swung his swords up into a mirror of my own. He had discarded the heavy embroidered Ascendant coat and his thin linen undershirt showed the broad lines of his shoulders and chest. I had felt his massive strength in the Dragon House at Daikiko. He was quick too. I flexed my toes, trying to ease the weakness of exhaustion already trembling through my legs.
'You fight very well for a cripple,' he said. 'Perhaps you have access to more power than you claim.'
I met his amber eyes. There was no silver Hua threaded through them — he was not using his dragon power — but there was a light in their depths made of madness. How did you fight a madman? I tightened my grip on Kinra's swords; a wordless prayer for the power to stop him.
'You've killed all the other Dragoneyes, haven't you? Even the apprentices,' I said, watching for the flicker of tension that would herald his attack. The sounds of Ryko's grim battle echoed against the stone walls, but I could not look away from Ido's eyes.
He edged forwards, pushing me back a step. 'Sethon has forced my hand. He thought he could use me to take the throne, then turn around and use the Council to kill me 'He snorted, his heavy jaw lifting with disdain. 'Now there is no Council, Only you and me, and more power than Sethon could evei imagine'
All you've done is left the land without its guardians,' I said. 'There will be no land to rule.'
'Don't you see? When 1 have you, I'll be its guardian.' I lis face was alight with his own truth.
'It's time for the dragon throne to be reunited with the dragon power.'
Suddenly his blades were hissing through the air. Kinra's reflexes raised my swords in time to stop the sledgehammer blows, but the impact forced me backwards. I le swung his weapons around again, the high bludgeoning connections scraping against my hilts and locking into them. My borrowed knowledge told me he was well trained; far more accomplished than a normal Dragoneye. He leaned into the crossed swords, the pressure of his weight straining my muscles into shaking fatigue. Up close, I could see the rings of exhaustion and drug use under his eyes; my attempt on his dragon had depleted his power. Even so, his strength was overwhelming. And the smile on his face filled me with sick fear. He wanted to hurt me. The only way I could disengage was to retreat. But if I went further down the alley, he would see Lady Dela behind the last stack. It would be her death.
Horse rears and kicks.
My body knew the form and my mind snatched at the hope. Calling on Kinra's energy, I pushed up against his blades and thrust them outwards, sending a vicious kick at his knee that jarred my bad hip. He jumped back and slashed at my foot, just missing it. I staggered a few steps to regain balance and realised I was level with Lady Dela's hiding place. She had slipped down the wall and was crouched on the ground, still hunting through the pages. Her head snapped up. For a second I saw panic in her
eyes, and then she recognised me, the fear shifting into a moment of desperate, silent communication. She was close to finding something.
