The Magic Trick (The Card Game #2)

Ch 28 - Belch's Rebuttal

CHAPTER XXVIII

BELCH'S REBUTTAL

A deep bellow sounded. Whatever was coming had the guards abandoning their posts, their lines breaking like a ruptured dam.

"NO, YOU FOOLS—FIRE!" the Leopard shouted. "FIRE!"

But no one was listening. With the room rocking, both Viktor's friends and foes were backing away from the onrushing force. Guards in the hallway tried to flee, but the space was too congested. Final shrieks went up before—

CRASH!

Scores of guards were blasted in the air, and the enemy responsible rocketed out of the corridor like a bullet from a chamber. Clad in dark armor—footfalls like thunder and a broken spear for a nose—was the beast from the Zoology Trial: The Indian rhinoceros! Belch danced in its wake, clapping his hands like a madman. He had let it loose!

The rhino demolished an entire quarter of the enemy blockade and sent the remainder fleeing in the opposite direction. Viktor sensed the Xaladikta Roma too splitting in half, so he also darted out of the way and saw the beast charge by. It was cutting a route across the great hall. The few gunshots that pierced its skin now were not enough to deter the creature—only to infuriate it. None dared to stand its path—save one.

The Leopard held his ground. The Seven had long retreated, and Sergeant Bogatir and Lieutenant Vyrhus were nowhere to be found, but he, the master of Staryi Castle, refused to budge for his own beast. Viktor thought the rhino must have known so and accepted the duel, because it let out a snarl and charged all the harder. Ears pinned back, head down, armor rippling, the creature was coming to kill. It tossed its great head from side to side, whipping what was left of the blunted horn it had been robbed of.

Thirty meters. The Leopard pulled his dagger from a sheath and a round shield from a strap on his back, wedging one against the other. The rhinoceros snorted.

Twenty meters. The Leopard paced forward, his momentum increasing.

Ten meters. The Leopard broke into a run, bellowing a war cry that matched that of the animal.

At the point of impact, the rhino threw his head upward. The blow was meant to crush the body of its foe and send him soaring—but there was nothing to hit. The Leopard dropped to his knees and slid nearly on his back through the narrow gap between the rhino's four great legs and heavy underbelly. Just as quickly the two separated and the marked man sprang back up onto his feet, striding forward.

Briefly Viktor wondered what such a dangerous feat had accomplished. Then he noticed that the Leopard's shield and dagger shone red. The sound of the rhino's keratin hooves was abruptly replaced by a squeal and the awful sound of flesh slapping stone, for all four legs of the beast buckled outward. It slid on its slit belly across the great hall and into the opposing corridor, leaving behind a sickly trail of blood until finally it skidded to a stop.

For a sliver of time, the death of the behemoth held everyone dumbfounded. Viktor glanced around at the room in utter disarray. Guards and Masqueraiders were groaning on the floor, leaders had retreated, the Leopard himself was short of breath, and the corridor behind the Xaladikta Roma force had been cracked wide open. Viktor blinked. The corridor was open!

Viktor didn't need to yell at his comrades to flee—they were already in action, and all tarnation broke loose. Romulus and Rover hurled Silver Splits. Guards taking aim were blasted with shrapnel, instantly incapacitated. Drina and Mirela let fly a host of black arrows. Shandor yanked pistol after pistol from his vest, trading bullets with the guards who were inaccurate thanks to the smokescreen created by Roksana's Blackbirds. And Eiruss, she brought up the rear of the flight, her swordsmanship greater than any of her challengers.