ANGEL OF JUSTICE (2014 revised)

Chapter Eighteen - Negotiations

Negotiations

Present day, Cardinia.

Harne ducked down the dark, narrow alleyway. With the sound of marching feet coming from the end of the alleyway, Harne melded into the shadows of the tightly grouped warehouses and waited for the city patrol to march past. Once they were gone, Harne continued along the alley, soon realizing he was no longer alone. Silently drawing a dagger from his belt, he looked around counting his potential assailants as they materialized out of the shadows.

"Well, what have we here, boys? This stranger looks lost. Perhaps you should pay us to guide you safely out of our territory?"

Harne chuckled. "Well, it won't be you lot. And with only six friends, I think you all should reconsider your next move."

Sword hissed out of scabbards and a club smacked against the brick wall from somewhere behind.

"This guy has more balls than brains!"

Harne glanced over his shoulder seeing two silhouettes against the faint torchlight of the main street far behind.

"I've been told that aplenty, but if you're gonna sneak up on someone, it pays not to announce yourself, it reeks of amateurism. Trust me I know these streets better than most."

A glint of steel flickered to his right. Mentally, Harne noted how the six men would most probably attack. He also knew that unless they were accomplished swordsmen use to fighting in close quarters, they would probably just get in each other's way. And if they were trying to rob someone walking in the dark, then they were far from great swordsmen.

"So who's first?" Harne asked.

A voice close to his right, replied. "You're a cocky bastard and you talk too much for someone about to die. How bout you hand over any gold you're carrying."

Harne's dagger flew through the air, striking flesh. His victim dying before he fell to the pavements. 

"I was thinking the very same thing," Harne replied calmly drawing his sword.

"Get him!"

The men attacked. Something dark and heavy lashed out towards Harne's head. He ducked low allowing the wooden club to whoosh through the air. Touching the pavement with the fingers of his left hand to keep his balance, Harne kicked out to the side. A loud crack was followed by a grunt of pain as someone fell to the pavement. Jumping to his feet, Harne lunged at the man in front then riposted, his sword slicing through unguarded ribs. With his left side exposed, Harne swung his body, catching a heavy blow against his shoulder, the chain mail beneath his black coat biting into flesh. Pulling another dagger from his belt, Harne tossed it, the steel blade plunging into the chest of the man to his left. The other attackers paused for a moment before a couple of them ran off.

"Looks like your friends have decided to leave, maybe you should while you can still walk."

The remaining men stepped back and looked to each other then suddenly broke and ran, the man with the smashed knee limped off heavily. Harne chuckled. Sheathing his sword, he recovered his daggers from the bodies and moved off, swallowed by the shadowy depths. Rubbing his shoulder where the blade had bruised the flesh, Harne cursed the sudden shrill of the city watch whistle coming from close by. Glancing back, he could see the silhouette of watchmen at the alley's entrance.

"There he is!"

Racing away Harne could hear their shouts echo, their boots slapping against the stone pavement. "Damn! Should have killed them all."

Reaching the end of the alleyway, Harne stopped. Drawing his sword, he looked around the corner of the tightly packed warehouses. There was no one out on the streets, yet an unnerving feeling niggled his senses. A feeling he knew not to ignore if he wished to stay alive and one that had saved his backside on countless times in the past. The running sounds of the city watch grew louder as Harne bolted across the intersecting streets and down another alleyway, putting some distance between them.