Invasion by B.N. Crandell Read Free Book Online

how she blocked his attacks. She didn’t want to break a blade and have to run the distance to the edges to retrieve another weapon.
    Gilkan made the first attack and the hushed crowd cheered all at once even though she parried with ease. For that brief moment, though, she got a taste of his raw power. His confidence obviously heightened, he came on in a fury, swinging this way and that with a sword almost as long as she was high. Even with his massive strength, swinging a sword that size would have to be tiring and so she nimbly dodged each attack.
    She usually found that orcs were easily irritated when she dodged instead of blocked, but Gilkan was patient. He also left very little room in behind his attacks for her to make a counterattack. This orc could fight.
    Sylestra allowed herself to be backed up against a large barrel. She rested a foot against the side of it to get a sense of its stability as she deflected Gilkan’s down-hand swing. It was full and sturdy.
    Risking the strength of her blade she stopped Gilkan’s next attack dead and leapt atop the barrel. His surprise became apparent as she struck down with her sword and scored first blood. It was a superficial shoulder wound but it would be a blow to his confidence. She knew that he imagined this fight would be over even quicker than the fight against his father. He now knew otherwise and that made Sylestra smile  which unnerved him further.
    He showed the first sign of frustration by swinging his sword furiously at her legs which she jumped over, did a flip in the air and landed lightly back on top of the barrel. He ducked under her counter-attack easily and instead of striking back at her, he struck the barrel with a mighty swing. Sylestra anticipated this and did a back flip off the barrel moments before its liquid contents sprayed all over the dry dirt.
    The splash of water blinded Gilkan for a brief moment and so Sylestra took the advantage by jabbing in low and scoring another hit on his thigh. Once again blood flowed but Gilkan didn’t even flinch. He sidestepped his way around the broken barrel, keeping his eyes fixed on her.
    “You have some tricks, I’ll grant you that, but when I draw blood I’ll make it count.” Gilkan glared at her.
    “By slitting your own throat to end your pain?” Sylestra kept moving but never took her eyes off the imposing orc. Gilkan’s face wrinkled up as he came at her swinging his sword, first high, then low followed by a jab. She deflected the first, blocked the second and jumped back out of range of the third.
    Gerard’s words about efficiency of movement came back to her and she realised that Gilkan did not possess this. He was fast for his size and cut off any apparent opening, but his fighting style was tiring. It showed on his face. No doubt he seldom had to fight for very long, relying on finishing his enemies quickly.
    She danced around him, showing that she still had plenty of energy left. He continued to stalk in cautiously, but made no further attacks, holding his sword at the ready.
    “Are we dancing or fighting?”
    “Fighting is a dance.” She shuffled her feet about quickly to demonstrate her point.
    This time he didn’t strike out at her. He conserved his energy. She would have to change that, so she went on the offensive with lightning quick moves. A worried look overcame him as he barely managed to parry her first strike.
    He gave ground fast and went into defensive mode. She continued to push him toward a set of platforms. Thick ropes hung from a solid timber beam ahead. He backed into a rope but didn’t let it distract him, merely letting it swing to one side of him. She watched the gentle swing of the rope carefully as she pushed him further back.
    When she came level with the rope she pushed it back behind her as if out of frustration and lunged toward him. He did the expected thing and stepped back beyond her range. She jumped high and flipped over backward, gripping the returning rope