“I don’t have anything worth stealing,” I said, still sitting. Then I realized that they would happily slit my throat for the two horses.
The others slowly came closer, forming a ring around me and the fire.
“Who are you? Why are you here?”
“My name is Orion. I’m heading for Ararat.”
“The sacred mountain? Why?”
“He’s a pilgrim,” said one of the other men, with a wolfish grin. Like the first, he wore the black leather corselet of a military uniform.
“Some pilgrim,” said the first.
“But that’s what I am,” I said, letting go of my sword and hauling myself to my feet.
“Orion the pilgrim, eh?” His voice was hard, suspicious.
“And what might your name be?” I asked.
“I’m Harkan the bandit, and these are my men.”
I said, “Harkan the soldier, I would have thought.”
He gave me a bitter smile that twisted the scar on his cheek. “Once we were soldiers. That was long ago. Now the Great King has no more use for us and we must make our own way.”
“Well, soldiers or bandits, you can see that I don’t have anything to steal.”
“Except two fine horses.”
“I need them to get to Ararat.”
“Your pilgrimage is going to end here, Orion.”
Fourteen against one are impossible odds. Unless I could make it a personal duel.
“I’ll make you a wager,” I said to him, trying to sound cheerful.
“Wager?”
“Pick your best two men. I’ll fight them both at the same time. If they win, you get my horses. If I win, you let me go in peace. With my horses.”
“A pilgrim who wants to fight. Who is your god, pilgrim, Marduk? Shamash? Who?”
“Athena,” I said.
“A woman!” laughed one of the men.
“A Greek woman!” They all began to laugh.
Even Harkan was grinning at me. “And what weapon does your goddess want you to use? A spinning wheel?”
They roared with glee.
I raised my bare hands. “These will be enough,” I said.
Their laughter cut off abruptly. I could see in their faces what they were thinking: This is a madman. Either he is mad, or he truly serves the goddess Athena.
“All right, pilgrim,” said Harkan, brandishing his sword in my face. “Let’s see what you can do.”
“Who else will help you?” I asked.
The grin came back. “Who else? Just me and my sword. That’s all I need.”
I flashed out my left hand and gripped his sword arm before he could twitch. With my right I grasped his belt and lifted him off his feet. He yelled as I held him aloft and then tossed him to the ground so hard that he dropped his sword and I heard the breath woof out of him.
The others stood frozen, eyes wide, mouths agape.
Harkan climbed painfully to his feet. “Zoser, Mynash—take him.”
They were experienced fighters. They moved warily, swords in hand, one to my left, the other to my right.
I feinted left, dived to my right, knocked Mynash off his feet with a rolling block and wrested the sword from his hand with a quick twist that made him yelp in pain. Zoser was swinging overhand at me. On one knee, I blocked his sword with Mynash’s and then pounded his midsection with an uppercutting left that lifted him completely off his feet. As he landed flat on his back with a heavy thud I pricked the skin of his throat with the point of the sword, then spun and did the same to Mynash.
Harkan smiled grimly at me. “Can you take three at a time?” Before I could answer, he went on, “Four? Ten? Twelve of us?”
I had impressed him, but he was no fool.
“You agreed to a bargain,” I said.
“That was only part of the bargain,” he replied. “The rest of it is this: we are heading toward the country around Lake Van. Better pickings up there and fewer of the Great King’s pretty soldiers to bother us. You’re heading that way yourself, so until we reach the lake you are one of my men. Agreed?”
“I prefer to go alone. I need to travel fast.”