Page 54 of The Wind Dancer
His blades flashed past her neck, midsection, and thighs. The slightest mistake, and she would be skewered. But the reach of her longer sword kept her safe.
The smoke finally cleared. Bodies of the agents lay all around us.
“This is even more fun than I thought,” Fu Shang hissed, blocking another attack. “Although you could be more creative, since you have come to kill me.”
Mei Lin didn’t answer. Her eyes were blazing with rage, and with each strike, she was getting faster and more ruthless. Her blade grazed him several times, but she hadn’t inflicted any fatal wounds. Fu Shang moved as if dancing through the attacks.
The mistress leapt at me again, letting out a wild scream. Her claws were aimed at my stomach.
The steel of my bracer met the steel of her claws. Sparks flew. With a half-step to the side, I slashed my dagger, ripping her thigh open. A dark liquid gushed from the wound. It wasn’t blood.
She laughed, almost gleeful, and lashed out with her injured leg. If that kick had landed cleanly on my ribs, I was certain it would have shattered them.
“Oh, I like you! It looks like you know how to play,” she hissed. “So let’s play!”
Fu Shang took a step to the side, and he moved his blades to protect himself as he did. Mei Lin didn’t back down, but I could see that her breathing had become a little harder. Unfortunately, our enemies didn’t even look slightly out of breath.
“We have to end this,” she breathed.
I gritted my teeth and attacked. Fu Shang’s mistress dodged with a smooth motion and a big smile.
“Oh, boy, you look so scared,” she purred. There was madness and bloodlust in her voice. “Come on, come on, showme something more fun. I love it when my dinner tastes of despair and fear.”
Fu Shang slid forward, attacking with one blade and throwing the other one. I saw him cut through the mask. The remaining cloth on Mei Lin’s cheek got drenched with blood.
The mistress lunged at me again, but I didn’t back down. I slid forward, moving low, her claws missing my head by a hair. Then I twisted into range and stabbed my dagger into her shoulder. I twisted sharply as I dug it out of her, taking a chunk of flesh out.
She reveled in the pain. She growled and spun around at breakneck speed, striking me with her elbow. I barely managed to move so that she wouldn’t shatter my temple, but she still struck me hard. My vision went dark, and I fell to one knee and immediately rolled backward.
“That’s enough,” Fu Shang’s voice rang out.
The woman froze, her chest heaving from how quickly she was breathing.
Mei Lin and Fu Shang had disengaged. Their breathing was heavy, but neither was able to get the upper hand.
Fu Shang grinned and wiped a drop of blood from his lip.
“It was nice to meet you,” he said mockingly and threw his blade. Mei Lin jumped back, ready to deflect it, but it spun past her and struck a metal figure with its hilt, knocking it askew.
A mechanical click sounded beneath the carpet.
Mei Lin rushed forward, but the floor beneath Fu Shang and his mistress opened, and they fell into the darkness.
I staggered to my feet, fighting to push away the dizziness.
We were left in a house full of corpses and wounded agents.
Mei Lin slowly lowered her sword, her chest heaving. She wiped the blood from her cheek and hissed through her teeth, “May hell swallow this bastard.”
Blood still dripped from her blade.
I leaned against the wall, rubbing my cheekbone. My side was throbbing. I’d have to check later if it was just a bruise or something worse.
Mei Lin stood over one of her agents’ bodies, her eyes expressionless, but her fingers gripped the hilt of her sword tightly. I grunted, spitting blood on the floor.
“Your people screwed up.”
She exhaled sharply.
