Lost Star by Hawke, Morgan (digital book reader .TXT) 📕

“Then I will make you accept my claim.” He lifted his blade and lunged, his blade pointed at Ravnos’s heart.

Cool excitement raced up Ravnos’s spine. That’s what you think. He intercepted Seht’s blade on the flat of his, forcing it off target, and lunged in to meet him hilt to hilt.

He smiled from only a kiss away. “I am not an unaugmented child this time.”

Seht grinned, showing his fangs. “So I see.” He shoved hard and twisted, breaking contact with Ravnos’s sword. He lashed out with his whip, aiming low.

Ravnos spotted the whip and leaped straight up, avoiding the lash. His augmented legs lifted him high off the deck.

Seht leaped upward, matching his height, and swung for Ravnos’s upper arm.

In midair, Ravnos swung out his forearm-length parrying dagger hard, caught Seht’s blade, and used the momentum created by the hit to twist all the way around.

His sword whipped out and scored a slice across Seht’s upper sword arm.

Seht curled his lip in a hiss but didn’t drop his blade. He slammed the heel of his whip hand into Ravnos’s chest, shoving him away. He landed on the floor in a crouch.

Scarlet dripped on the steel deck.

Ravnos landed in a crouch two body-lengths away.

Seht snarled and charged him.

Ravnos growled low and deep and ran to meet him.

Lightning fast, live-steel met live-steel in thrust and counterthrust, parry and spark-inducing slide. The bay echoed with the tang of ringing steel from strike after strike, punctuated by the occasional whip crack. Scarlet splotches spattered across the steel decking.

Annoyed at the difficulty he was having getting his sword past Seht’s defense, Ravnos twisted to avoid a stab, his coat flaring out, and lashed out with a hard kick. It landed solidly on Seht’s left side.

Seht gasped but countered with a whip-hand punch aimed for Ravnos’s head.

Ravnos jerked back but still felt a glancing slam to the edge of his jaw. He twisted away and added a long backward flip hard enough and high enough that his hands didn’t need to touch the deck. He landed in a crouch, his coat pooling around him on the deck plates.

Interstellar Service & Discipline: Lost Star

137

Two body-lengths away, Seht crouched, panting for breath. He frowned. “That fighting style… Where did you learn it?”

Ravnos stood up and spat a small amount of blood. He rubbed his jaw with the heel of his sword hand. “From a cousin.” He couldn’t help the smile lifting his lips. “A very distant cousin.”

Seht snorted. “Ah, an isfeht, a renegade rehkyt.”

Ravnos shrugged slightly. “Well, he did have red hair.”

Seht’s brow lifted. “And fangs, no doubt. No human is capable of fighting in that fashion. Even with augmentations, their spatial sense wouldn’t allow for it.”

Ravnos shrugged again but noted the small rents in Seht’s ship-suit all along his arms and upper thighs. He wasn’t much better. His coat and trousers had almost as many slashes. Scarlet was dotting the plates under both of them. He’d been careful to avoid cutting the arteries under Seht’s neck, arms, or along the inner thighs. He didn’t want to kill him if he could avoid it.

Ravnos did a quick survey of his own wounds and noticed exactly the same pattern of slices along his arms and outer thighs. Seht wasn’t trying to kill him either.

However, with as much blood loss as they’d already suffered came disorientation. He had to stop the fight before one of them accidentally did something fatal.

It was time to fight dirty. He tossed his parrying dagger across the bay. He’d need his hands for this.

Seht lifted his chin and snorted, a smile curving his lips. “If you think I’ll toss my whip aside, you are sorely mistaken.”

Ravnos licked his lips and smiled. Good. He twirled the sword in his hand. “Not feeling honorable?”

Seht’s smile evaporated. “Fuck honor.” He flicked his wrist, making his whip coil at his heels. “I will use any means to get you back!” He lunged toward Ravnos and lashed out with his whip.

Ravnos reached out with his off hand and allowed the whip to wrap around his wrist. It stung like a bitch. Wincing only slightly, he grabbed the wire-laced leather, sidestepped, and yanked hard, throwing his entire weight to the side.

Seht was thrown in the opposite direction, skidding on his heels in an arc.

Ravnos crouched lower and continued his hard turn, making it more of a spin.

Just before Seht could completely lose his balance, he pulled hard and lunged toward Seht, using the tension from the whip for greater speed. At the very last moment, he tossed his sword away and threw his right arm out to catch Seht around the neck.

Seht’s eyes widened; then he fell back under Ravnos’s weight.

With Seht’s off hand caught under his body, Ravnos grabbed his own wrist, putting Seht into a headlock.

Seht released the whip to grab at Ravnos’s hair. “Let go!” He brought up his sword, aiming the pommel for Ravnos’s head.

138

Morgan Hawke

Ravnos winced and hissed from the pain of his hair being yanked, but only loosened his hold on Seht’s throat enough to roll onto his back and halfway under Seht to avoid the descending pommel. He tightened his hold around Seht’s throat once more and yanked Seht squarely on top of him. “No.”

Seht choked, grabbed for Ravnos’s arm, and rolled hard to the side.

Ravnos spread his legs wide to keep himself under the silver-haired prince. He growled in Seht’s pointed ear. “Pulling hair? I thought only girls fought that way.”

Gasping, Seht kicked out and struggled to sit upright. “Bastard!” His sword clanged on the steel deck.

Ravnos decided to help him sit up and rolled forward. With a hasty bit of wiggling, he got both knees bent under him and safely away from Seht’s sword. He angled his choking-hold arm high, aiming to stop the blood flow in the arteries on the sides of Seht’s neck to make Seht pass out as quickly as possible.

Seht’s struggles