Will the terror stop? Astounded and enraged at this sudden interruption of his pleasant little girl-hunt, Siva paused, glaring down at Tam from his towering height.
"Fool!" he roared. "Who are you, and what do you here in the place of the immortals?"
Tam did not speak, but rushed at the monster, who promptly drew his long tulwar and came on guard.
It was Nina who answered for him as their blades clashed together.
"He is the Son of the White Tigress," she cried, "come to fulfil the prophecy—to destroy the Destroyer."
"Ha! A two-legged tiger, is he? I have slain many of the four-legged kind, but this one will be much easier to kill."
He brought his heavy tulwar down in such a powerful head-cut that had Tam parried with an ordinary blade it would have shattered under the blow. But this was no ordinary weapon which Luk had pressed upon his chela. And Tam was thankful that he had accepted it, for the tulwar slid harmlessly to one side. He countered with a quick neck cut which drew blood, and would have bitten deep had the giant not caught it on his mace as it was descending, breaking its force. Then he was compelled to leap back to avoid a terrific slash which the crafty Siva aimed at his legs.
After that there was a bewildering exchange of cuts and thrusts, swiftly given and deftly parried, and Tam realized that he was up against the greatest swordsman he had ever encountered. He tried every trick of swordsmanship that Lozong had taught him, and several more which he had invented himself, but although his blade drew blood again and again he could not succeed in inflicting a mortal or even a crippling wound on his wily adversary, and was himself severely cut about the head and shoulders.
Soon both opponents were bleeding from a score of wounds, and Tam began to feel his sword arm weakening from the terrific loss of blood. Not only was he sorely put to it to avoid the slashes and thrusts of the long tulwar, but in addition, he was compelled to dodge the blows of the heavy mace which Siva swung with one of his right hands. Several times the giant had saved himself from mortal wounds by parrying with the mace, and Tam believed that if the bludgeon could be eliminated from the contest he might improve his chance of winning.
Accordingly, he whipped out his long dagger, and holding it sword-fashion in his left hand, used it to parry a thrust of the tulwar while he struck at the arm that held the mace. The keen, double-curved blade of the yatagan bit through the giant's wrist, and the heavy weapon, still gripped in the severed hand, fell to the floor. But scarcely had it fallen ere the other right hand whipped the battle-ax from the monster's belt, and Tam was faced with an even more formidable weapon than before. It swung up, then down, in a flashing arc, aimed for his head. He raised his yatagan to ward off the blow, but his arm had weakened, and the heavy ax head forced down his guard, striking him in the forehead. There was a brief instant in which it seemed that all the flashing jewels in the blue dome above had crashed down around him. Then he found himself lying flat on his back with Siva bringing his ax down for the death blow. Unable to rise, he rolled over to avoid the descending weapon, which bit deep into the golden tiles beside him. With a snarl of rage, Siva wrenched it free, and again swung for Tam's head with terrific force. This time Tam rolled back to his original position, and the ax haft shivered with the force of the blow as the blade once more bit into the golden floor.
Roaring like an angry bull, Siva flung the useless handle from him and raised his tulwar. But in that instant Tam had transferred his long dagger to his right hand. He balanced it carefully, then hurled it with all the strength and skill he could muster. Straight as an arrow it flew, sinking up to the hilt in the third eye of Siva which a moment before had blinked fiercely down at him from beneath the golden helmet. Again Tam rolled to one side, but this time to avoid the body of the giant, which toppled and fell with a terrific crash.