Platonic1: Thanks again for reviewing…and I look forward to more of your work!
Please R&R—you know the disclaimer.
Chapter 3
Squall lunged to his feet and stabbed the Lionheart forward in a fast, straight thrust, striking the life from the gunman before he even realized an enemy was in his midst. The Commander let the man's body ease off his sword's fine edge, hardly pausing in his momentum from the first strike to the second, the latter of which opened a gaping slice on his second target's abdomen. That man fell a pace from the first, twitching as his life's essence ran from him.
Staining the already abscessed ground with the blood of yet another fallen.
The next two attackers had the sense to coordinate and Squall hastened back a step, wary, rising to the balls of his feet in a reflexive defensive posture. The men, both sword wielders, came at him as one; Squall sidestepped the rightmost, in motion a split instant before them, knocking aside the second's blade with an easy parry. The man he had dodged swung backhanded to retaliate. Squall was already gone, the Lionheart raking out wide and seemingly too far out to be brought back against the avenging target. That same man reversed his backhand and sliced back in at the still-moving Commander, hoping to dart in in the moment of apparent weakness. He realized the feint for what it was as the gunblade–reversed as his blade was, mid-swing–tore his sword and two fingers from his hand. Squall had just enough time to pivot on his booted heel and parry his other attacker, meeting him blade to blade. Sparks rained from the impact.
Gorham smiled, enjoying the sight. Eighteen or not, Leonheart was as good as his reputation and more. Watching the youth parry nearly simultaneous blows and still squeeze in a perfect counterstrike, the mercenary nearly laughed out loud in felicitous anticipation. A hungry look came over him then and, letting the surge of emotion escape his lips, the redhead charged forward.
A roar that was no less than feral drew Squall's attention to a new enemy. The moment cost him, almost dearly, as his other attacker drove his gunblade out indefensibly wide. The partner strike sliced in and horizontal; Squall jerked rearward, compromising balance in trade for sheer desperation and necessity. The Commander shifted his hips, sliding backwards on the dusty, bloody ground, sucking in his stomach as he did so. He bit his lower lip as the assailing blade cut a shallow u-shape across his lower torso. The metal slit neatly through muscle and tissue, hardly catching at all.
The man, his attack connecting much less solidly than he'd intended, overbalanced as Squall swung his gunblade down, one handed, still off balance himself. He lacked the necessary force to knock his assailant out cold, but a pommel to the back of the head sent the swordsman stumbling a satisfactory distance away from the action. Spinning, Squall met the first attack of the roaring man that had been giving orders, and the youth had to catch himself in the face of sheer surprise. Gorham was over a full head taller, his shoulders as wide as the distance between Squall's and half of that again. For each of Leonheart's lithe, neatly defined muscles Gorham had a matching set that was a good deal bulkier. Taking in steel gray eyes and red hair died bloody by the firelight, Squall found himself pitted against a man that was, in every respect, larger and a good deal stronger than he himself.
A man who, in every respect, would thoroughly thrash him if Squall remained in close quarters, near enough to receive direct blows from a massive sword swung by massive arms. The force of the first impact alone had the Commander's arms tingling in lingering numbness.
Yay—updates all around. My first since starting college! Please tell me what ya thought—this is as far as I've gotten with this one!
K