Guns of Mars 25
A Martian action-adventure by The Legend Chuck Dixon
CHAPTER 7.4
With a firm grasp of the saber in two hands, Kal leapt clear of the convulsing animal below him to bring the blade down in a chopping motion. Borne by his full weight, the six-foot blade came down to slice through tissue and bone until it was lodged deep in the other’s ribs at a horrific angle. The son’s eyes turned glassy as his life’s blood sprayed from the mortal wound, both of his hearts severed in twain.
The combined weight and force of this action brought them both to the ground. Kal rose to place a foot on the carcass of the son and tug at the sword firmly held in the ruined flesh. He turned his head at a roar of rage to see the other warrior, probably another of Romagus’ spawn, charging up the slope with lance couched for the strike. With a last desperate pull, the saber came free. Kal raced to remount his own thoat but it bolted away in panic, driven by the anguished bleats of the black thoat now stamping widdershins in a mad, futile effort to escape the agony of the lance stuck fast in its side. The dead son’s beast had charged away also leaving Kal to stand his ground dismounted.
The remaining warrior was bearing on him; lance point down for a killing strike. Kal had the advantage of the high ground though it was a slight edge. The degree of the incline was gradual and the thoat showed no sign that its progress was retarded in any way. The rider was howling a ululating war cry as he thundered up to meet his foe.
Kal dug his bare soles into the sand and raised the sword in both hands in a fighting stance. There would be time for one gambit, no second chances and certainly no mercy. He was poised, waiting for the other to close as though to bat the unwavering lance aside with the flat of his blade. He could see the rictus grin fixed on the face of the rider anticipating an easy kill.
At the last second, Kal ducked low to allow the lance point to pass over him while he turned the blade in his hands to drive the razor tip hard into the side of the charging thoat. The animal’s momentum served to drive the blade deeper and create a long, bloody furrow along the soft flesh beneath its ribcage.
Special Note: GUNS OF MARS is now available in a hardcover edition. It is available at Amazon and at NDM Express.
