“All right, you want to play samurai?” said Wyrdrune. He

gestured toward the body of the man who threw the stars and the

sword in the scabbard on his back unsheathed itself and floated

free.

The second man’s eyes grew wide as the sword came flashing

toward him, as if wielded by an invisible attacker. Steel rang on

steel as he parried desperately, backing away from the magically

animated blade that lunged at him repeatedly, driving him back

relentlessly. The swords clanged against each other as the man

fought wildly against an opponent he could not wound or kill. He

was a skilled swordsman, but it was a fight he could not win. He

cried out as the flashing blade bit into his upper arm, then swept

around and sliced into his torso, moving faster and faster, with a

speed impossible to defend against, finally delivering the coup de

grace as it drove itself into his chest and penetrated to the hilt,

emerging from his back.

But the remainder of Nishikawa’s men were quickly closing in

from both sides of the bridge.

“I can’t just cower here!” said Akiro furiously. Before Kira could

stop him, he got up and started scuttling across the bridge in a

crouch.

“Katayama! Get back here!” Kira cried.

“Let him go, ” said Takeo. “What’s one coup, more or less?”

“Give me that, ” she said, twisting his gun out of his grasp.

Startled, he was caught unprepared. She wrenched the pistol

away from him and clipped him on the side of the head with the

barrel. He granted and collapsed. Keeping low, she quickly moved

off after Katayama.

The remaining gunmen had realized that they were overmatched.

They turned and fled. Merlin sent bolts of thaumaturgic energy

lancing after them. Each one found its mark and the assassins fell.

All save one, who kept on running.

Wyrdrune raised his arms, but Merlin stopped him.

“No! We need one of them alive, ” he said. He teleported,

reappearing on the path just ahead of the fleeing man.