Secrets of the Swords, Book 1

Chapter 40: The Secrets of the Swords, Part 1

Ulsper barely had time to shout a warning before the figure leapt from the walkway, landing behind Nem Koel and Suthe in a graceful crouch. He realized he had shouted the warning in Shun Dwo only when Suthe was slow to react, but at least Nem Koel was prepared by the time the figure had sprung, dagger out at the pair of them.

Suthe, to her credit, had enough presence of mind to hurl herself out of the way – with a small yelp – while Nem Koel took a series of rapid steps back to absorb the force of the blow. The man both parried Nem Koel's first swipe and struck out at her in the same fluid motion, and Ulsper rushed forward to help. She was good, but this stranger easily outmatched her, and Ulsper didn't miss the way the trainee was favoring her right arm.

Nem Koel ducked and tried a feint, but the man saw through the ruse and knocked the knife from her left hand, where it went spinning through the air in Ulsper's direction. Ulsper ducked as the blade flew over his head, pinging off a blue-tiled support column behind him.

Looking back up, he realized the distraction had cost him the opportunity to intervene. Nem Koel's adversary had now intercepted another of her attacks, grabbing her right wrist and twisting until her back was to him and her arm was caught up at an awkward position. She moved to break free, but the man's right arm had already wrapped around hers, immobilizing it as he pressed his dagger into the back of her neck.

Nem Koel froze, a resentful scowl on her face as her last knife hung uselessly from her fingertips.

"Not another step," the man ordered in Shun Dwo, and Ulsper begrudgingly stilled. A glance to his left showed that Suthe was still struggling to get to her feet, unaware of the command that had been issued.

"Tehke magerah, Suthe," he translated, and she froze as well, looking up at him with a furrowed brow before shifting her gaze to Nem Koel and the man holding her hostage.

"Are you Enji?" Ulsper asked the man, and was met with a hiss from Nem Koel as the blade dug deeper into her neck.

The man gave no answer, and Ulsper tried a different approach.

"Irikri sent us. You're surprisingly talented at combat, for a mere smuggler."

The man found amusement at that comment, and his topknot, which had loosened in the skirmish with Nem Koel, shifted a little as he shook his head with a scornful chuckle.

"I wouldn't survive in this profession if I weren't. People tend to underestimate the perils of, as you say, merely smuggling."

So it was the person they'd been looking for. Though older than himself, the man was much younger than Uhi, which was around the age Ulsper had been expecting Enji to be. Rather, the man was perhaps in his early thirties, with a smooth and lightly-tanned face that made him seem even younger. Ulsper took note of the man's nondescript chestnut-brown robe, carefully crafted to blend in with crowds. While it was an ordinary shade, the fabric was sturdy and crisp, and the hem of the sleeves was subtly embellished with thread that caught the light in small golden shimmers, hinting at the profits that came with his line of work.

"I suppose you choose to risk greater dangers for the sake of earning a higher profit," Ulsper commented.

"Yes," the man named Enji said, moving his blade so that its tip now rested at the side of Nem Koel's neck. "But usually those dangers aren't so perilous as Sylterran soldiers swarming the district. I'd appreciate an explanation, now."

The topknot came fully undone at that moment, and his black hair fell, slithering over his shoulders in a sudden motion. The man did not even blink at the change.