Confessor: Chainfire Trilogy Part 3

"Ah," Richard said. "So it's Jagang who fears that we'll beat you. That tells me a lot. It should tell you something, too-that we're better than you and you can't win in a fair match. Jagang knows it as well, that's why he sent you-because you're not good enough to beat us at Ja'La."

As another man, cursing under his breath at the delay, reached out to grab him, Richard swung the looped section of chain from behind his back as hard as he could. It caught the man square in the side of his face. He spun away, crying out from the unexpected shock of pain.

As a third man charged in, Richard dropped back onto his shoulders. With all his strength he kicked up into the center of the man's gut, using the man's falling weight against him. The blow rammed the man back at the same time as it drove the wind from his lungs.

The first man was already on his feet again. The man who had taken the chain across his face was still writhing on the ground. The other, holding an arm across his middle, rolled to his feet, catching his breath, eager for revenge. The fourth and fifth men came in from opposite sides.

Two of the downed men were up, eager to rejoin the fight. Now four strong, the men charged in all at once. There were too many hands grabbing for the chain all at once for Richard to keep them from getting ahold of it. As he tried to whip it out of their reach, one of the men lunged and managed to capture the heavy links in both hands.

Richard swung his leg around, knocking one of the remaining men's feet out from under him. He landed heavily on a shoulder. The other two seized the chain and then grunted with mighty effort as they yanked it back. The slack in the chain snapped taut. The sudden jerk felt like it might rip Richard's head off as it flung him sprawling on his face. The choking pain in his throat was so severe that for a second he thought the iron collar might have crushed his windpipe.

While Richard was momentarily stunned, fighting the rising sense of panic, one of the men kicked him in the ribs. The blow felt like it might have broken a rib. Richard tried to spin away but they again yanked the chain back from the other direction, twisting the iron collar around his neck and flipping him over backward. The iron burned as it bit into his flesh.

The guards in the distance remained where they were, watching. They would not be eager to get involved. After all, these were men from the emperor's team.

As it snapped taut, Richard seized the chain as he got to his knees, holding tight, trying to keep the men from using the chain and collar to break his neck. Three of the men gave a mighty pull. They managed to yank Richard off balance and over onto his back.

A boot came down toward his face. Richard turned his head aside just in time. Dust and dirt flew. Fists and boots came crashing in from all directions.

Holding the chain with one hand, Richard used his other to knock one man back. He blocked the punch from another and elbowed a third in the thigh, momentarily dropping the man to a knee. Still, as fast as he could block or escape their blows, yet more rained in. With the men holding tension on the chain he couldn't maneuver and he dared not let go of the chain altogether.

Richard pulled himself into a defensive crouch, protecting his midsection, making himself as small a target as he could, getting as much of a lead in the chain as he could. One of the men cocked an arm and threw a punch. Richard let go of the chain and used his left forearm to deflect the blow. At the same time he sprang up inside the man's defenses and rammed an elbow up into the attacker's jaw with bone-cracking force. The man staggered back.

Now that he had a little more slack in the chain, Richard ducked under a punch and kicked sideways into the man's knee. The blow did enough damage to draw a cry of pain and cause the man to start to hobble back to get out of danger, but Richard immediately used the opportunity to kick the side of the man's other knee, folding his legs under. As he came crashing down, Richard brought his knee up into the man's face.

As another punch flew in, Richard dodged to the left and grabbed the man's wrist. With an iron grip on the wrist, he slammed the heel of his left hand into the back of the man's elbow. The joint popped. The man screamed as he pulled his dislocated arm away.

Another punch flew in. Richard deflected it across, past his face, then, as the man quickly punched with the other fist, Richard deflected the arm in the opposite direction, over the attacker's other arm. With the man's arms crossed and tension on the elbow preventing any escape, Richard used the leverage on the crooked arm to flip the big man over.

Even with the success he was having, it was difficult to fight the men off, because the chain around his neck prevented him from moving effectively. He knew, though, that, despite the difficulty, he had no choice but to think of what he could do, not what he couldn't do.