Vampire Khan (The Immortal Knight Chronicles Book 3) by Dan Davis

Author:Dan Davis [Davis, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2018-04-03T03:00:00+00:00

***

The night air was cold but there was little wind. The waxing moon was half full and I could see across the rocks of the mountainside down to the faint shape of Firuzkuh Castle. Summer was all but over and winter was well on the way.

I could not see the men I was stalking but I could hear them, and I could smell their stink. They were down in the deep shadows under a steep cliff side. I could probably have climbed down it in the daylight, wearing light clothing. But at night, in my armour, I knew I would fall. So I began to work my way around, moving slowly and as quietly as I could.

My helm was back at the castle, as it would have blocked my hearing and sight too much. Instead, I wore my mail coif that covered my head and neck. My body was protected by my thick, padded linen gambeson and over that my mail hauberk. Over the mail, I had a cotton overcoat in the Persian style that fitted me perfectly, and I wore it to reduce the noise and cover any shine from my armour.

I had to move deliberately as I approached my prey, and yet still I kicked the occasional stone downhill or snagged myself on brittle bushes. No doubt the men below me could hear something of the noise, and I hoped that they would. If I made too much noise, surely they would think I was drawing them into a trap, and they would be wary. So I had to judge it right. They would expect a Christian knight to be a clumsy oaf, and so that was what I had to be.

In truth, it was not a difficult part to play. Put me in a damp woodland and I will slither through it like a wolf. I will slip from outcrop to boulder in the hills of Derbyshire but even after months of practice, in that stony land, with powdery sand underfoot I made for a poor Assassin.

And I knew that, in the dark, their eyesight would be better than mine.

They leapt out at me, striking fast and hard. Not with cries but with grunts of effort and hard breathing.

I fended them off as best I could, retreating back up the hill as they came at me. They were six, crowding themselves in an effort to be the one to strike the killing blow, and I backed myself against an outcrop of sandstone twice the height of a man. Cornered as I was, they attacked hesitantly, wary of my skill.

One rushed in and I cracked him on the head, just as the one behind lunged at me. I batted the weapon aside and stamped on his knee, breaking it. He cried out, the harsh throaty sound splitting the night.

They fell back a few steps to collect themselves, and the four that were uninjured took the lead, brandishing their clubs.

Finally, I heard a sound above on the rock, and Eva leapt from it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.