Blood Knot

Chapter Two

Chapter Two:

The Jarathian ship closed in; the crew began to throw hooks and rope ladders over the side. Avoca remained motionless, waiting for the enemy to come to her. The sailors on her ship stood on the large deck, clubs and cooking knives raised. They shouted obscenities at the enemy, expressing their hate. Avoca evaluated the chances. The other crew seemed to have less numbers, but they made up for it in weapons. They looked experienced. But Avoca's crew had more sailors. Besides, she thought with a smile on her face, they had her. The captain walked down their ship, calming the sailors, shouting reassuring commands. Avoca had to respect his aura of authority.

Just then, the first Jarathians leapt across from their ship with a mighty battle cry. 'FOR LOREC!!'

'WE'LL FEED YER TO T'SHARKS!

'FOR JARATHIA!'

'DIE LLAAMS!'

The enemy crew soon swarmed onto the ship like a wave of ants, chopping and hacking as they went. Cries of pain went up as Avoca saw a Jarathian slice open a sailors guts. Another sailor dived on top of the killer, bashing him in the head with a club. Avoca watched the sailor keep pommelling the Jarathian in fear, even though his skull was very clearly crushed and blood poured out, until another enemy came at him from behind and sliced his head off before he knew what was happening. She rolled her eyes at their inexperience as she searched for a victim.

She spotted a group of Jarathians fighting as a team, making their way down the deck towards her. Any sailor that got in their way was cut down. She smiled cruelly and watched them. When they were a few yards away they spotted her leaning against the door frame of her cabin. The tallest one grinned and strode towards her, sword pointing at her. Avoca waited till he was close then flicked his sword to the side with her own and stabbed him in the gut with her left hand that was holding a dagger. He dropped immediately and a second Jarathian jumped over his fallen crew member. 'Beginners luck,' he said, snarling at her. Avoca shrugged. 'If you say so.' She leapt forward, surprising him. He brought his sword up to protect himself but she was too close. Their blades clashed as she swiped it out of the way and pinned his arm to the wall. She grinned as she kneed him in a place that shouldn't be hurt and he fell backwards onto another Jarathian with a yelp.

Two more men came at her, more cautious after seeing her ability. The three of them eyed each other, when Avoca said 'Would you really hit a girl?' Her eyes went wide and innocent, and the two men looked at each other in confusion. She used their distraction to lunge forward, wrapping her ankle behind the left most Jarathian's leg and waving her sword in his face. He stepped backwards to avoid the sword and went sprawling over the floor. She kicked his face before daintily jumping over him to avoid a swing from the other Jarathian's sword. He swiped again and she ducked. On his third swing she parried, grinning wickedly, knowing she was in her element. She let him attack again, and she blocked again, then again. 'Annoyed yet?' she said teasing him. A vein was nearly popping out of his head in exertion. Avoca felt the sickness coming back as she swayed on her feet. She decided to be rid of him quickly, and ducked his next swing, dancing behind him. As he turned, she lifted her sword arm and her blade caught his arm. She cut through it like it was made of cheese and he screamed. There was a dull thud as his arm and sword fell to the ground. The man fell to his knees and he cradled his arm.

The two that had fallen over were scrambling away. She sneered at their fear and threw her dagger at them. It hit one perfectly in his back where his heart was. Avoca was going to chase the other one when a wave of dizziness washed over her. She leant against the cabin for a moment. When she recovered, he was nearly lost in the fighting. She snarled and drew another dagger, this time from a clever contraption up her sleeve. With careful aim, she pulled her arm back and threw. It went spinning into the melee and hit her target in the back of his skull. He dropped immediately. After all, she thought with a fond smile, she had been trained by the best.