[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.The spear gleamed as it hurtled toward Katerina.The spear came fast.Katerina moved faster.She dropped on one knee, ducking her head but keeping her own spears pointing toward the enemy.The leader's spear whistled over her head and stuck quavering in a tree behind her.It was still quivering as Katerina moved in to the attack.She didn't know what the rules might be for this sort of combat.She only knew that she had to win each fight as fast as possible, saving her strength and avoiding even the smallest wounds.That meant a quick, deadly attack, taking the initiative and keeping it.Otherwise she had no chance of even lasting very long, let alone surviving.She dropped one spear to the grass, raised the other over her head with both hands, and dashed forward.The leader raised his second spear and moved forward to meet her.Katerina went straight in at the man, watched his spearpoint swing toward her, and stopped two feet beyond it.Her arms whipped her own spear up, over, and down in a blindingly swift arc, striking with the butt rather than the point.The butt crashed into the leader's forehead.His spear jerked, then wavered as he sagged forward on his knees.A moment later he was stretched out facedown on the grass.Katerina knelt and felt his wrist.He was unconscious but still alive.Good.She wanted badly to win and live, but she would be happier if she could do it without slaughtering these people right and left!She stepped back from the leader and looked at the other nine men."One of you has met me, and there he lies.What is your custom now?"Another warrior stepped forward, brandishing both spears."The Meeting continues, Stranger, until you or all of us can fight no more.It will be you, for we are still nine Ganthi and you are but one."So it would be as she'd expected."Do not tell me that you are so good.Come forward and prove it." If she could make them angry enough to stop thinking clearly, it might help.Otherwise each warrior could calmly watch what happened to his predecessors and learn from it.If they came out in a blind rage, on the other hand-Another spear came at her, aimed low.Instead of ducking, she leaped sideways.Again she moved faster than the spear.This one struck the ground, bounced end over end, and vanished into the bushes.The warrior did not give her a chance to attack.Before his spear struck the ground he was coming in after it, seeming to move just as fast.His spearpoint danced in front of him as he closed, making little jabs and feints.Katerina stood her ground, holding her spear across her body with both hands, letting the enemy's point drive in at her.At the last possible second she dropped to her knees, shifted her grip, and whirled her spear sideways.The sharp edge of the point slashed into the side of the warrior's knee as his own point darted over her head.It slashed through the leaves of her hat and they fell to either side.The warrior was too busy to notice.His gashed and weakened leg threw him off balance.Before he could recover, Katerina rose to her feet and smashed the shaft of her spear across the side of his head.The man's skull did not shatter, but his cheekbone and jaw did.His eyes went blank and he toppled sideways.Before he struck the ground Katerina was springing back, clearing off the last leaves of her ruined hat.She didn't have time to check if her second victim was still alive.Another man was coming at her.He held on to both spears and stopped twenty feet away, holding one low and the other high.The man's comrades seemed to accept his refusal to close in.That wasn't good.If her opponents could play a waiting game, they could force her to use up time and strength she couldn't spare.She decided to try a trick of her own.She deliberately turned her back on her opponent.Then with her body screening her movements, she bent down and came up with her second victim's spear in her hands.In one smooth movement she whirled and threw.The man tried to leap aside, but he wasn't fast enough.The spear took him in the thigh.He did not cry out, but his face twisted with pain as he drew the spear free.Blood was pouring down his leg as he staggered away toward his comrades.Three up, three down, no one dead yet, and not a mark on her.Katerina realized that she was doing better than she'd believed possible.She also realized this couldn't go on indefinitely.There was nothing except perhaps their taboos and rituals to keep the remaining seven men from a mass attack that would certainly bring her down.The scholars said primitive peoples would never go against their taboos [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

zanotowane.pl

doc.pisz.pl

pdf.pisz.pl

listy-do-eda.opx.pl