Unexpected Aid

Thrust and parry. Attack, dodge, counterattack. We had been going on like this for what seemed like hours, though I knew it was only minutes.

Blood seeped from a dozen or so shallow cuts all over me. I hadn't even managed to get him to sweat. Every attack looked casual. Every dodge, bored.

He was playing with me.

I thought, _He goaded me into making this challenge, and I fell for it!_ The duke was, by reputation, the deadliest swordsman in a hundred leagues. A reputation I had thought overblown. I was wrong. And I was going to die for it.

*Then take my aid.* I glanced quickly about, but there was no one else here but the arbiter. *Parry high left!*

Without thinking, I did what the voice said, and blocked a death blow I hadn't even seen coming. I felt the sword guide my hand, my arm, my whole body. No more defense, now. Only attack. For the first time in his life, _he_ was on the defensive. I... No, _we_ struck him in the face, drawing blood.

I knew we would win.

And the sword purred, hungry for more.