lesser warriors, fighting only from a distance. It was true that sometimes boys and women were found in their ranks. The real warriors stood their ground and faced the men they would kill. Of course, others didn’t share that opinion, and Da had proven himself many times in battle. But this armsman obviously wasn’t among them.
The armsman stopped two paces from Da and raised his sword point to Da’s chest. “A Koramite, commanding his handful of cowards. Except, oops, you forgot your bow.” He paused. “You know, all this resistance just makes me wonder what you’re hiding.”
Da did not flinch. “This has nothing to do with hiding. It has everything to do with order. You come back with a token and you can pry into every cranny. That’s the law. And you know it.”
“Don’t lecture me, Koramite. These are the facts. One of your own was practicing the dark arts. And one of you is harboring—”
“Ridiculous,” said Da.
The man raised his sword to Da’s neck. “Don’t interrupt me again. We’re going to search this place. Then maybe you’ll make us some dinner. Afterward, if we feel like it, your tasty daughter there will entertain us.”
“This is why hunts are regulated. Now, I want you to move on.”
“You want?” Then the man’s face changed and he jabbed his sword forward.
But Da moved. One moment he was standing heron still, the next he dodged to the side and delivered a blow to the man’s sword hand with such violence that the sword leapt from the man’s hand and fell to the dust a number of yards away.
The man gasped. He clutched his sword hand.
Da kicked the man’s leg and sent him to one knee.
The two men by the house rushed forward, but Ke and River, fast as snakes, snatched up the Hog and fallen sword and faced the hunters.
The two hunters hesitated. But Talen saw the others draw their swords.
Da knocked off the man’s helmet and held him by the hair with a knife at his throat. “Now,” said Da. “You—”
A man Talen had forgotten was behind him took Talen by the neck and pressed a knife to his back.
“Two can play that,” the man said. “Throw down, you buggered Koramite!” There was nervousness in the man’s voice. “I’ll poke him! I’ll poke him! I’ll poke him!” Each time he said it, the pitch of his voice rose, and Talen felt the knife point push a little harder into his back just where his ribs ended.
There was a deep thud like the sound of a stick hitting a melon, and the man suddenly slacked his grip and fell to the ground.
Talen turned. There stood Nettle holding a hunk of firewood.
Talen felt his back. When he pulled his hand away, blood stained his fingers.
“The sword!” Nettle said. “Get his sword!”
Talen bent over, fumbled at the man’s scabbard, and soon held the sword. It was heavy and did not feel right in his hands.
“You call your men off,” said Da to the big armsmen whose head he held by a fistful of hair. “You tell them to drop their weapons.”
“You’re dead, Koramite,” the big armsman said. He tried to break Da’s grip, but Da simply pushed the knife closer.
“Now,” said Da.
“We can take them,” one of the hunters said, and the remaining four men began to move forward. Talen would not be a match for any of them. Ke might be able to hold his own. But if they had to fight these armsmen, they would lose.
In a flash, Da stabbed the big armsman’s shoulder and put the knife point back to his neck.
The big man cried out in pain.
“The next one goes right into your neck,” said Da.
“Put them down!” the armsman called out.
The hunters hesitated.
“Drop them!” the leader bellowed.
The men reluctantly dropped their swords.
“Everything,” said Da and he pushed the knife harder into the man’s neck. “And kick them away.”
“Do it,” the leader said. His face was red and strained, a massive vein standing out on his forehead.
The men threw daggers after their swords.
“Get the bows, Nettle,” said Da, then he stood the big man up. By the time he’d walked the man past the weapons, Ke, Talen, and River each had a bow, and had strung it.
Da shoved the big man forward. “I’m going to give you ten seconds to get across that stream. Then I don’t want to see you here ever again. You can make complaints to the Shoka warlord to get your weapons back.”