Then the boats were sliding up onto the mud and crunching over submerged roots. Blade dropped into knee-deep water, drew his longsword, and splashed toward dry land. As fast as the other boats grounded, their warriors followed him.
An arrow whistled past Blade and splashed into the water. Another struck him in the stomach but glanced off his reptile-hide armor. As the water grew shallower and the footing-more solid, he broke into a run.
Not all the arrows coming at the Kargoi were badly aimed or futile. Blade saw one man suddenly stagger and clutch a bloody thigh-then keep on going, stumbling, his face twisted in pain, but still on his feet. As the Kargoi started reaching the land, several of the fishermen began to form a circle around the woman. She didn't seem willing to be protected. Blade saw her whirl her long staff, jabbing at the stomach of one man, the knee of another. They fell back. Before they could recover, Blade charged them at a dead run.
As he ran he shouted «Prisoners! Prisoners!» He doubted that many of his warriors would hear or obey, but hopefully enough would to leave at least a few of the enemy alive. He particularly wanted the woman-she looked like the highest-ranking person among the enemy here tonight. She would be a valuable hostage, perhaps a valuable source of information.
Two of the fishermen stepped toward Blade as he approached the woman. One of them shot an arrow that whistled past his ear, then gripped his bow like a club and swung wildly at the oncoming Blade. Blade threw up one arm, taking the blow on his wrist brace, then chopped downward with his shortsword to hack the bow in two. The man dropped the broken halves, but instead of stepping back, he dropped on all fours and hurled himself at Blade.
Blade sprang clear of the man's lunge, but had to check his slash at the other man, who was coming at him with a spear. The spear point drove into the armor of Blade's thigh and almost into his flesh. Before the man could pull back Blade swung his longsword a second time. This time the edge cut cleanly through the spear shaft and one of the arms holding it. The man bared his teeth with a hiss of pain and drew back.
Now the woman came in, gripping her staff with obvious skill, feinting at Blade with one end, then swinging with all her strength at his head. As she swung, the archer grabbed Blade around the waist, clawing at his armor, heaving with all his strength. Blade went over backward, and the woman's staff whistled down where his head had been to thud into the ground.
The woman raised the staff again, but hesitated for a moment, obviously afraid of hitting the archer as he struggled with Blade. Two Kargoi rushed in against the woman and she had to back away, her staff flickering like lightning, thudding against the Kargoi armor, doing no damage but keeping the warriors out of striking range.
Meanwhile Blade found that he had a first-class fight on his hands. The archer who'd grappled him was barely two-thirds his size, but the man was all muscle and also a tough, skilled wrestler in a murderous rage. At last Blade let go of his swords and threw all his own speed and strength against the archer. Twice he got the man in an unbreakable hold, then let him go, to show a willingness to accept the man's surrender. The archer seemed incapable of accepting the idea of surrendering. Each time Blade let him go, he attacked more furiously than before.
At last Blade got the archer in a firm grip, twisted hard, and let go only when he heard the man's neck snap. He rose, covered with sweat and dirt, his face grim. These people might not have much in the way of weapons, but they'd showed considerable skill in using what they had, and also breathtaking courage. These people would not be easy to fight, and Blade found that he didn't particularly like the idea of fighting them in any case.
The woman was still defending herself, her back against a tree, and there were now four Kargoi warriors around her. They seemed to be letting her hold them at a distance, and Blade realized they must think he'd picked out the woman as his prize of the night's battle. So they were merely keeping her busy until the High Baudz could come up and claim his rightful booty.
Blade looked up and down the shore. A large number of Kargoi torches were now throwing light on the scene. Out of twenty or so defenders, all but half a dozen were either dead or had vanished into the forest. Each of these survivors was defending himself desperately against three or four Kargoi. The Kargoi were attacking so eagerly they sometimes got in each other's way, giving the fishermen a chance to strike back. Blade counted at least fifteen Kargoi down, six of them obviously dead.
The warriors around the woman had her hemmed in so that she could not flee, but as Blade approached they stepped aside. The woman cracked one warrior's wrist with a final flick of her staff, then turned for a dash into the forest.
Blade was up with her before she'd gone three steps. She whirled and the staff sang through the air toward Blade. He raised his longsword to block the staff and unhooked his shortsword from his belt, scabbard and all. Then he closed in, holding the shortsword out hilt first.
The woman didn't realize until it was too late that Blade meant to capture her, not kill her. His longsword met her staff in midair and chopped halfway through it. The two weapons were locked together, and that held her in place just long enough. Blade thrust the hilt of his shortsword into the woman's stomach, pulling the blow at the last moment to avoid doing real damage. The woman gasped and doubled up, her hands gripping the staff so tightly that the knuckles of her dark-brown hands turned pale. Blade dropped both swords, jerked the staff out of the woman's hands, caught her by the arms, and got her face down on the ground. He placed one foot in the small of her back and held her down while he drew cord from the pouch at his belt and systematically bound her wrists and ankles. Then he turned her over.
Now that he could look at her carefully, he realized that she was extremely striking. Not beautiful, not even pretty, but exciting and certainly memorable. She was tall and long-limbed, with broad shoulders for a woman and a broad, high-cheeked face. Large gray eyes stared up at him, filled with pain and confusion, but also with continued defiance.
She wore the same clothing as the other fishermen, a pair of knee-length trousers with a silky sheen to them. Hers were now rather soiled and torn from the fighting. She was bare above the waist, her small but beautifully formed breasts exposed. The cuffs of her trousers were embroidered in a geometric design of red and blue. She wore a wide bronze ring on each arm, one set with blue stones and the other with a design of fish and seaweed.
Blade ordered two warriors to mount guard over the woman and give her food and water if she asked. Then he strode off to rally his men and start getting things sorted out.
None of the eight hundred Kargoi warriors of the landing party got much sleep for several days, and Blade got least of all. By the end of that time, however, they'd done everything they were supposed to do and a good deal more besides.
The woman said nothing, not even to ask for food or water, but there were seven other prisoners, most of whom talked freely enough. Some talked out of fear, believing that their people were doomed if they didn't cooperate with the Kargoi. Others talked in a spirit of angry defiance, to tell the Kargoi of what a fate awaited them as soon as they moved on. Blade listened carefully to all of them.