Alerio allowed a flurry of clashes with his left gladius against the Lieutenant’s right handed sword. Then, the Legionary parried the Rebel’s blade to the side while stabbing with his right blade. The Rebel Lieutenant folded up around the deep belly gash and sank to the floor.
Speckled Pheasant could have joined in the fight sooner. But he was delayed by the weight of the dead Lieutenant’s body. If nothing else, the Captain was persistent. His fixation on having a shield was time consuming and, by the time he turned the dead man to face Alerio, the second Rebel Lieutenant was laying and dying in a pool of blood.
“One thousand Republic gold,” Speckled Pheasant said.
Whether it was an offer or just to see if he could distract Alerio, didn’t matter. The Legionary stabbed through the side of the dead Lieutenant and skewed the fleshy flank of the Rebel Captain. In pain and surprise, Speckled Pheasant dropped the body. As it fell, the tip of the gladius tore from his side, widening the stab wound. Speckled Pheasant sank to his knees.
Alerio retrieved his gladius from the dead man and wiped the blade on the man’s shirt. Then, he angled both gladii over his shoulders and slid them into the scabbards.
“Speckled Pheasant. Pay attention,” he said standing over the bent and crying Rebel Captain. “You are about to die. Make peace with what every God will have you.”
The Rebel Captain lunged with his knife. It slid along the underside of Alerio’s left forearm. As blood poured from that arm, the Legionary used his right hand to pull the curved dagger with the yellow band on the hilt.
It flashed once horizontally. Speckled Pheasant began to gurgle as bubbles of blood formed at his neck. His eyes opened wide, staring at the Legionary.
“Goodbye Captain,” Alerio said as he drove the dagger tip through Speckled Pheasant’s eye and into his brain. “Giving you a change to pray was a mistake. Next time, I’ll remember to never give my opponent a chance to counterattack.”
Alerio flipped up the hood of his cloak and strolled behind the bar. After snagging a clean bar rag and wrapping his forearm, he headed for the door.
Outside, Horus paced back and forth. The Rebel guards were tied up and lying face down. The bar owner and everyone else had run off. Most of them didn’t want to be involved. But, one man decided there might be a reward if the Rebels knew their Captain was in trouble.
Alerio pushed through the door while holding the wound closed.
“Can you run?” Horus asked as he rushed to the young Legionary’s side.
“Yes. Just a little leak,” Alerio replied then he staggered.
Horus grabbed one arm while Corporal Thornernus took the other.
Before they stepped off, Thornernus looked over his shoulder and said, “Scatter.”
The three masked Legionaries dashed off into the night. Alerio matched the pace of the two men holding him up as they jogged down the boulevard towards the dock. Behind them, like rats emerging for cheese, Rebels began to stream from alleyways.
By the time they had the four Rebel bodyguards untied and a direction, Alerio was already handed off to the Heavy Infantrymen. Horus and Thornernus drifted away into the shadows. Under a minute later, a gang of Rebels gathered on the boulevard at the end of the pier.
“We’re going to search that ship,” one stated. “Move aside!”
The Lance Corporal glanced over his shoulder then back at the Rebels.
“What ship?” he asked.
“That ship. The ship where you took the killer,” shouted the Rebel.
“If there’s no ship,” the Squad Leader asked. “How could we have loaded a killer on it?”
“What are you deaf as well as blind?” demanded the Rebel.
The Lance Corporal looked over his shoulder at the two Heavy Infantrymen standing behind him.
“Did they just insult the Consuls?” he asked. “And threaten the stability of the Republic?”
“That’s what I heard,” one replied.
“It’s treason to call the Consuls blind as well as deaf,” the other replied.
“Half squad. Form up,” the Lance Corporal ordered. “Forward march.”
Suddenly, the dock shook as their left feet came down and when the right stomped, the dock thundered. Before the Rebels could grasp what was happening, the half squad of Heavy Infantrymen were knocking them down and grinding them into the pavement.
Alerio heard the recognizable stomp as the ship’s Doctor guided him to the infirmary.
“What was that?” the Doctor asked.
“Oh, just the Infantry keeping the ship clear of rats,” the sailor on watch replied.
“That’s excellent,” the Doctor observed. Then to Alerio said, “Come on young man, let’s get that arm sewn up.”
The End
Clay Legionary
I enjoy chatting with readers and I do reads reviews on Amazon.com and Goodreads.com. If you have comments or want to reach me, I am available.
Thank you,
J. Clifton Slater
E-Mail: [email protected]
Twitter: @GalacticCRealm
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If you enjoyed this book, please check out my other novels.
Clay Warrior Stories
Clay Legionary
Spilled Blood
Bloody Water (Fall 2017)
Galactic Council Realm
On Station
On Duty
On Guard
Clay Legionary (Clay Warrior Stories Book 1) Page 22