‘Didn’t think you’d fall for that old trick,’ Alvarado said. But I’d still prefer to fight you with blood in your eyes. He was slowly circling; the rapier was angled slightly up. Now suddenly, with a huge explosion of breath, he threw himself into a lunge, right knee bent, left leg fully extended, surging forward with tremendous power, his whole weight behind the blade, driving its tip like an awl through Zemudio’s light upper body-armour to finish the fight right here, right now … Except … … Zemudio rolled his wrist and the heavy falchion battered the flimsy rapier aside – a surprisingly fast and agile parry. It looked as though he would follow through at once with a thrust to the belly, and Alvarado was already moving to block and counterstrike when Zemudio surprised him again. Instead of the obvious thrust, he swept the falchion down, trapped the rapier against his own right thigh where the steel plates in the lining of his breeches protected him from its edge, took a huge stride forward with his left foot and clamped his massive left hand – God’s death, how could this be happening?
