The world seemed to stop. I was in such disbelief that Herman’s sword could not even handle the most basic of sequences. In reality, my strength was not even above average. It was just that poorly crafted of a sword.

Then, time seemed to resume as Herman’s next shot came flying at me. I twitched my head to the right so that the bolt whistled past my ear and vanished. I could hear Herman’s frustrated cry from here.

I turned my attention to the guards, who were also in disbelief. The one on the left, whose sword I had broken, had fallen back, more from shock than pain, and was being supported by the guards behind him. The other on the right trembled visibly through his armor. He held his sword straight in front of him like a horn or a ward to cast off an evil spirit.

“J-just what are you?” he stammered, his eyes wide.

I looked down at my sword—or what had once been my sword and was now no more than a crude paperweight. With more than three-quarters of the blade gone, it was more useless than Ulrich’s cloak disguise.

In slight frustration, I cast the hilt aside, letting it join its fellow fragments, and returned my gaze to the guard, or rather, to his sword.

“As I have said many a time,” I started, closing my fingers around the blade of the guard’s essentially proffered sword and holding tight, “My name is Anno, third prince of Cross. I may not have told you that before, Sir Whatever, but I am getting rather sick of my own subjects not knowing who I am.”

If he wanted, the guard could have pulled his sword back in an attempt to slice my fingers off, but all he did was let go of the hilt as if I had set it ablaze. Suited me just fine. Shifting my grip, I tossed the sword into the air so that it flipped hilt over tip and caught the grip as it came to rest in my palm.

“I should add,” I said, flashing them a winning smile, even as my face bled freely, “That I am also the inheritor of the royal Wolfskreuz sword style. Far surpassing those of the first and second princes.”

I had no idea if that was true, as I’d never seen my brothers in combat, real or otherwise. But it left the guards' faces looking like I’d told them that I was Ulrich’s secret son.

Putting my new sword into its scabbard, I turned around and ran away at full speed. A most princely of retreats!

Here I come Lina, I thought, as I turned left down an empty cobbled street. Another left and I would be back on track.

But I had only gotten a few feet down the road when three more guards popped out from other alleyways, barring my path forward. All their swords were drawn.

“Oh, for the love of Iliana!” I shouted, grabbing my hilt once more. But instead of pulling my more than useless blade out, I used my bloody left hand to unfasten the belt around my waist and raised the sword, sheath and all.

The rest of the belt refused to come free when I tugged at it. Whether the leather was part of the scabbard or not, I did not have time to investigate. I wrapped the two halves of the belt around my left hand enough to keep them out of my way as I reversed my usual grip, placed my left on the upper grip, and assumed langen ort with my arms extended and my sword pointing at the middle guard’s face.

Another bait. One that the center guard took without hesitation. He stepped forward, swinging his blade diagonally left in an attempt to disarm me. I stepped back, pivoted, and pulled my sword so that I assumed the Plow guard and waited for my opponent’s swing to whistle past me.

Before he and the other two could react, I thrust and buried the covered point into the man’s armored chest.

Fang.

He grunted and staggered back, sword clattering to the ground as he clutched at the dent I had made in the steel, but not before I pulled the blade back and transitioned into a horizontal slash to catch the guard to the left in his side, which rang with the chinking sound of leather on metal.

Unfortunately, he did not stumble away as his fellow guard had done and instead grabbed the scabbard with one hand and began to pull it from my grasp.

I would have let him unsheathe the sword had my hand not been bound to it by the belt. I could feel the leather tighten around my palm. The guard grinned, and he raised his sword to slash into my exposed neck. But I would not let him.

I closed the gap between us and freed my right hand from the grip to catch my opponent by the wrist. Our chests pressed into each other as he tried to free his arm and take a step back. My left wrist ached as I forced it into an awkward angle across my torso, but I refused to budge. This fight was mine!

Such foolishness. He had lost the moment he chose to swing down on me. In such an instance, the defender had the leverage and, therefore, the advantage.

My eyes regarded the other two.

The center one that I had sent backward had now recovered, though still disarmed. His gaze was hungry as it focused on his lost sword. I was not worried about him. He was not the immediate danger.

The rightmost guard had backed away and was preparing to stab. I could not free my sword. While I had the leverage with my right hand, the man who held the scabbard had the leverage with his. We were locked together in a prison of even strength.

Or we would be, had I not placed myself into a Plow guard with my left foot forward. My smile was calm as I shuffled forward. The guard’s face, which had been borne in a snarl of effort, popped into an expression of surprise as the heel of my forward foot hooked against his right heel.

This final point of contact was the fulcrum I needed to gain the advantage. I pulled my foot in whilst simultaneously pushing upward on his wrist with my right hand and pulled the hilt back with my bound left.

The guard tried to stop himself from falling by letting go of the scabbard and flailing his arm, but there was no stopping his fall as I released my grip on his wrist and gave him a small push in the center of his chest.

Like a tree, the man fell stiffly to the ground and, to my delight, took the center guard with him as the tripped guard grabbed at his companion in desperation. Both fell in a heap.

Trying to stand in armor was difficult enough, but even more difficult when tangled together. I turned my attention to the guard and parried his thrust with a Zornhau diagonal slash.

Now that it was one-on-one, this would be over in a matter of seconds. I fell into the Vom Tang guard with my sword pointed to the sky and brought it close to my right cheek, ready to pounce once more.

The guard raised his sword in defense; hands grasped tight as he held the blade in front of him. But there was a major gap as his left elbow was far too high, almost parallel to the ground.

The moment I saw that opening, I struck.

Wolf Crest.

I put all of my strength into an undercut that smashed through the man’s flimsy guard and into his armorless underarm.

The man’s shoulder jerked upward, and I heard a rather unpleasant snap as something in the man’s body broke. He screamed in pain as I returned my sword back to Vom Tang. His blade clattered to the ground as he clutched at his shoulders.

“Forgive me.” I said as I kicked his sword away, “I promise to have my friend restore you back to health once this is over; that’s a Prince Anno promise.”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The man did not seem to hear me as he fell to his knees. Meanwhile, the other two were still trying to separate themselves from each other. This was my chance to run.

I left the three in my wake as I unwound my hand from the belt and held the sword under my arm as I fled. My wrist and fingers ached. It would be wise not to do that again. Being bound to the scabbard had not been a good idea. One more fight like that, and I, too, would be in agony with a broken bone or two.

With reluctance, I returned the belt to my waist. The gap between me and Lina was much wider and would continue to grow as my legs felt heavy. I could feel exhaustion creeping upon me already. Yesterday’s battle with Gertrude and an uncomfortable night’s sleep were taking their toll on me.

But I pushed past it and continued turning corner after corner, eyes alert for any more guards.

If those that I had just defeated were of the original twelve, then there were still three guards on the ground and Herman on the roof. Red Beard was still out there somewhere with Lina. If I was unlucky—and apparently, I was—the guards I had left in the alley were also in hot pursuit, making eight.

I needed to expect the worst.

And I was right to expect it, for no sooner had I thought this, than another four guards appeared from my left.

My sword was out and swinging before they even realized that they had run into me. The flat of the sword slammed against a guard’s leg, which sent him to his knees, yelling in pain. I ran at the fallen guard and leapt over him.

Now behind them all, I lashed out with a foot, caught another man on the rear and sent him to the ground.

The remaining two turned, only barely managing to catch my downward swing with his sword, but I raised the sword once more to beat down upon his guard. I did this once, twice, three times before the man’s hold slipped, and the sword was knocked away, clattering to the street.

I backed away and assumed the Plow guard. Just by the way the sword felt in my hands, I could tell that I had done serious damage to the blade as the balance felt off.

The next strike would shatter this sword. I needed a new one if I were to continue. The final armed guard pointed the tip of his blade at me. I flashed him a smile, though I could feel the strain of effort in my lips.

I was about to take yet another risk. With a blade this damaged, I could ruin my hand forever. With my left hand I grabbed the center of the blade and held the grip in my right, assuming half-sword.

I could feel the chips in the steel even through the lever. I needed another sword, and this was the simplest way I knew how. There could be no hesitation or this would not work.

The guard swung which I caught with the upper half of my blade. I could feel the strain this had on my sword, but the steel did not give. Immediately, I seized the other man’s blade and twisted both our swords counterclockwise, catching my opponent’s arm with my pommel and breaking his grip.

I backed away once more, now with both swords held in my hands. I adjusted my grip so that it was firm on both swords and held them above my head in an Ox guard.

Both blades were pointed at the guards, who gaped at me.

My grip adjusted further to grab a handle in each hand. I swung outward with both swords and pointed them to the ground.

Double Fang.

My strength was halved with just a single hand gripping a sword, but my defensive capabilities were doubled.

I did not know how well the damaged blade would hold out, but it would be supported by the undamaged.

As I watched the guards that were still capable of standing to rearm themselves with the two remaining swords, I twisted the blades and crossed them together so that the broad side of the damaged blade lay flat on top of the broad side of its twin and waited in Fool’s guard once more.

A wary expression overtook one of the guard’s faces as he hesitated in his approach. His eyes darted between me and my swords. That confirmed to me that this was one of the men who had witnessed my Wolfsbiss. He knew of its stinging bite.

The other took no notice of his companion and raised his sword. I prepared my blade for my next sequence.

Wolfstanz.

True to its name, the Wolf Dance’s main strength was blending graceful footwork with a series of slashes meant to gain control in a duel. Against a master like Silva, this technique was purely defensive. Against a single novice, however, it was a quick and easy way to overwhelm.

It only took a few slashes with my blades in tandem for the guard’s face to melt into horror. I even added a few spins to give him more of a show. He tried to cut back when he thought my back was turned, but after I caught his sword edge in my crossed blades and shoved him back with a push, all the fight seemed to leave him. His arms went limp.

I caught his undamaged sword with both of mine and quickly exchanged it with my nearly destroyed one. I faced the remaining guards, only to find them fleeing. The one whose leg I had clubbed lagged slightly behind the others as he limped away.

Their fear must have overridden their orders to kill me. Good. I could let myself hope they would tell their friends and leave my path clear.

Four to go.

My eyes returned to the rooftops in case Herman tried to sneak up on me before I returned to a run. All was clear. There had not been a soul in sight other than the guards. I had to believe that everyone was gathered together somewhere in Justice. Perhaps a town square? I had been marched through it when the three of us were arrested.

Had that only happened today? It felt like so long ago.

It made sense to me that Heide would gather people there. If her entire goal was to search for Lina, then she would be wise to have Lina brought to her rather than wasting time doing the reverse. So, if I focused on making my way to the center of town, I would have a better chance to run into Red Beard or my companions. Either would be preferable.

I did not have the strength to run and carry two swords. It was not wise to use the Wolf Dance when I was as weary as I was. It was a rather taxing technique at full energy.

But the damage had been done, and I found myself debating whether to toss the extra sword. In the end, I decided to sheathe one sword and carry the other in my right hand.

And I was glad I did. For no sooner had I turned a corner and into what seemed to be a main thoroughfare as the cobbled road was twice the width of the ones I’d been running on, than did I see a man running a few lengths ahead of me along the wall of a shop. Even from this distance, I could tell that he was out of breath. He had discarded his helmet, and his sweaty face was as red as his beard. But neither was as red as the woman’s hair that spilled over his arm as he carried her.

Luck was on my side at last! There was Lina.

I raised my blade, took careful aim, and threw it with all my remaining might. It flew, straight and true as a dart, right past Red Beard’s face and embedded itself in a wooden door frame.

Red Beard froze on the spot, his bugging eyed watching the sword quiver into stillness. He then turned to look at me as I strode forward and drew my second blade, pointing the tip at his face.

“If you thought you could get away from Prince Anno for long, you were sorely mistaken.” I did not have the energy to produce one of my winning smiles. I could barely manage a slight grimace. “Now, if you would be so kind as to put the woman down, we can avoid having to slice your tendons so that you would never walk again.” He swallowed at that. That managed to give me a bit of energy as I flashed my teeth. “Or worse, shave that unsightly red monstrosity that you call facial hair!”

I flicked my wrist so that the tip of the sword brushed across his beard and took a small chunk from it. I watched it flutter to the ground, then cast my eyes to the still-unconscious Lina.

She was still, except for her chest, which was twitching ever so silently. I was not too late!

“You and I both know that if it came down to a fight, I would win. But I’d rather avoid that as it would bring further harm to Lina. If you know what’s good for you—and for Lina—you’ll do as I say.”

I could see the conflict in his eyes. There was no certainty that he could disobey the prime directive to keep Lina alive.

I decided to state the obvious to better help him decide. “For your information, sir. She would have a far greater chance if she were in my hands than in yours.”

Silence.

“And what’s more, you and I happen to be going in the same direction. I’d like to have a word with this Heide character.”

My voice was hard, but I managed to keep my face soft enough to be assuring. After a few seconds more of silence, Red Beard nodded at last.

“You’ll deliver her to Lady Heide.”

“I will,” said I as I sheathed my sword and held out my hands for Lina. Just as soon as I get Lina to Dietrich. “In fact, why don’t you take me to her, save us both some trouble.”

Another nod as Red Beard gently placed her in my arms once more. Her body felt warm, as did mine, as it filled with energy. I even managed a smile as I looked down at her unconscious face.

Keep holding on. I told her in my mind. Aloud, I said, “Lead on, my good man. Heide awaits.”

Without a word, Red Beard walked forward with me right behind him.