The horses around Rick were ethereal. Their edges grayed and danced as flames would one second, then blackened and solidified the next. Their eyes glowed, shaped like the slits of visors. They avoided collisions with the precision of fish in a stream. Each hoof touched the ground with a whispery whoosh.

Attack spells of this unfamiliar new cavalry struck the Ullonites, making them quiver with hurt. The pirate crew began to fall. A few abandoned their fellows to flee. The cavalry mowed these down with spells and sabers.

The Ullonite pirate woman had looked old from a distance, but up close her vitality was plain: her neck and arms were toned and muscular. Brown locks bunched under her snow-white wig. She too was tattooed, with red teardrops trailing from eyes to bare shoulders. She tried another spell, but failed, coughing and clutching at where he'd cut her.

Rick tried parrying her dagger, but she was too quick. Strangely, her blade brought him no pain. Shock seized him as she opened his flesh, leaving his clothes uncut. He managed another hack at her arm, but she slashed his throat open, then drove her knife's point into his chest.

Rick drowned in the blood spurting from his heart.

Back

| Contents | Contact | Raingun.com