Chapter Six - Betrayed
Athos
Athos was going to find his contact and kill him. This was not how he had expected the evening to go. Ruiz had told him that there would be two men at the meeting point, passing the vital documents between them. Two men, Athos could have handled. Two men were not an issue for a swordsman of his ability. But six. Six was quite a few men to find himself having to deal with.
He had quickly taken out one of the men with his gun, before using the spent weapon as a club on a second man, who was down but not out.
That left him with four enemy combatants and one who would return once he had pulled himself up and wiped the blood from his eyes.
Concentrating on the four Athos knew he had to thin them out a bit. He could not take them all on at once, not in the open. He backed up towards an alleyway. The alleyway was wide enough for him to swing a sword comfortably but not for all four of his opponents. There was no quick way for them to get behind him, so they would have to come at him individually, or possibly in pairs. Athos hoped for the former but would deal with the latter if he had to.
The first man, of similar build and height to himself advanced. Athos swung his sword and forced the man back a couple of paces. This man was trained, thought Athos as he dodged a well-aimed thrust. Athos feinted to the left before stepping into the man and bodily pushing him back, hooking his foot behind the man's ankle as he did so, sending him sprawling to the cobbled ground.
Two more men stepped over the first and rushed forward. Man number two was skinny, Athos guessed it would not take much to knock him down, man number three was the opposite, a stocky short man, but his movements were slow. Athos parried the first poor attempt to impale him, made by the third man, before slicing his sword across the man's side decisively. The move left Athos with four men to fight.
The skinny second man was not alone for long. The first man had scrambled to his feet.
Athos was tiring. He hated to admit to any fallibility on his own part, but every man had his limits. He was fighting six men, Athos knew he would not come out unscathed.
The better swordsman looked annoyed that Athos had got him on the ground and attacked with a renewed vigour. The two men were soon locked in a fierce battle exchanging sword blows with bruising precision. Athos had his work cut out dealing with the man.
He wondered if his contact had been planning to set him up from the start? Was this some grand plan to kill him? He dismissed the thought, he was not that important, and an assassin could have taken him out with a gun at any number of moments since he had met the informant. No, the contact had probably just been paid more by these men.
His musing were cut short by the swordsman in front of him making a mistake, Athos plunged his sword into the man stomach, using his foot to push the man down. There was no time to tarry, he had three more men to deal with.
The skinny man looked terrified, but he was soon joined by a tall broad man who would not look out of place brawling for money in a tavern. In fact, Athos wondered if he recognised the man as one of the few that had been able to beat Porthos over the years. Athos pushed the thought away as the big man advanced.
A dangerous ploy formed in his mind. He hated to do it, but he would have to think differently against this opponent. His bigger sword would be harder to parry. But the skinny man, he was a poor fighter, Athos would use that to his advantage, despite the consequence to himself.
He allowed the skinny man to get closer, dodging the big man several times, ducking down and jumping to the side. He bided his time until he had the skinny man where he wanted him. As the big man raised his sword for another bruising blow Athos sidestepped towards the skinny man who enjoyed the sudden opening to make contact with his sword.
The skinny man's enjoyment of drawing blood from Athos was short lived as the big, brutish man's sword swing could not be stopped in time to prevent him from slicing deeply into the skinny man's neck. The man crumpled to the floor. The brute stared at the skinny man, the shock at what he had done, or rather been manipulated into doing caused him to pause. His pause proved fatal.
Wrenching his main gauche from his belt Athos stepped forward and thrust the sword into the man's chest, making sure the blade slipped between ribs and embedded itself deeply into his lungs.
Athos stumbled back a couple of paces panting. How many had he dealt with? He looked along the alleyway counting the bodies that littered the ground, his eyes coming to rest on the sixth man, the man he had hit with his spent gun.
The man stared at him for a few seconds, his sword held firmly in his right hand. Athos knew the cut to his arm was deep and bleeding freely. Athos was in no state to continue to fight another man. He could probably hold the man off for a few seconds but he was exhausted and bleeding badly. This sixth man might be his undoing.
Athos raised his sword, if he was going to die, he would die fighting.
The End.