Sati bent down, ripped a part of the bloodied cloak of the assassin she had just killed, and bandaged it tightly around her abdomen. It staunched the blood flow. While doing so, she’d seen from the corner of her eye that the Meluhans who were running towards her were probably a third of the way through. She knew she couldn’t stop the duels now. She had seen the killers. They couldn’t leave her alive. Her only chance was to continue duelling and hope that she would still be breathing when the Meluhans reached her.

Sati drew her sword. ‘Who’s next?’

Another assassin stepped forward.

‘No!’ said Swuth.

The assassin stepped back.

‘She’s mine,’ said Swuth, drawing one of his curved swords.

Swuth didn’t approach Sati with both his curved swords. That would have been unfair according to the rules of Aten, since Sati had only one sword hand. He held the sword forward in his right hand. As he neared Sati, he started swinging the sword around, building it into a stunning circle of death just ahead of him, moving inexorably towards her. Even as Swuth’s sword whirred closer, Sati began to step back slowly. She suddenly thrust her sword forward quickly, deep into the ring of the circling blade of Swuth, inflicting a serious cut on the Egyptian’s shoulder. She pulled her sword back just as rapidly, before Swuth’s circling blade could come back to deflect her sword.

The wound must have hurt, but Swuth didn’t flinch. He smiled. He’d never met anyone with the ability to penetrate his sword’s circle of death.

This woman is talented.

Swuth stopped circling his sword and held it in a traditional sword-fighter stance. He stepped forward, swinging viciously from the right. Sati bent low to avoid the blow and thrust her blade at Swuth’s arm, causing a superficial cut. But Swuth suddenly reversed the direction of his blade, slashing hard across Sati’s shoulder.

Sati swerved back just in time, reducing the threat of what could have been a devastating blow. Swuth’s sword grazed her right arm and shoulder. Sati growled in fury and stabbed with such rapid force that a surprised Swuth had to jump back.

Swuth stepped back even further. This woman was a very skilled warrior. His standard tactics would not work. He decided to keep his distance, pointing his sword forward, thinking of what could be a good move against her. Sati remained stationary, conserving her strength. She couldn’t afford to move too much for fear of increasing the blood loss from her numerous wounds. Also, she was playing for time. She didn’t mind a few moments of reprieve.