Ryan shrugged.
“No problem.” Richmond dropped his knife onto the ground and kicked it to the edge of the circle.
Meanwhile, Mog and his three men had Hambly, the mutie, surrounded. Billingsley was poking him with his pike while Foghat was slashing at his back with his sword. There was pale red blood flowing over the mutant’s equally pale flesh, making him look like a predark barber’s pole. Every once in a while, Hambly would make a break for the circle’s edge, but Mog would always catch him and pull him back for still more torture.
As Ryan was dealing with Richmond, he noticed what was going on out of the corner of his eye and knew he’d have no trouble chilling Mog when the time came. He was too careless and casual in his way, and Ryan would take full advantage of it when the time came. He looked back at Richmond and threw his panga to the ground where the tip dug into the hard, dry earth and stuck, leaving the handle to quiver slightly in the sun.
“I’ll get more pleasure chilling you with my bare hands anyway,” Richmond said, moving closer. “That way it will happen slowly and with plenty of pain.”
Ryan said nothing, concentrating solely on Richmond’s hands and feet.
Dorfman, one of Mog’s cronies, wandered over toward Richmond and Ryan, looking for a chance to chill one of them while they fought. But Brody stepped forward, waving the sharp end of his pike in Dorfman’s face, and the man backed off.
Richmond lunged at Ryan, but the one-eyed man was able to move left, out of the way. Richmond turned, a slight smile on his face, then lunged again, this time feigning left, then moving right. Ryan again stepped to the side, but this time as Richmond passed him, he put out a knee, catching the sec man in the thigh and sending him spinning to the ground.
Richmond spit dust and dirt from his mouth and rolled onto his back, expecting Ryan to be right there towering over him.
But Ryan was standing well back, waiting for the sec man to regain his feet.
“You’ll be sorry you didn’t try to finish me off, Cyclops!”
“I’ll make you the same offer I made your friend,” Ryan said. “If you leave at the next break, I won’t chill you.”
Richmond said nothing for several seconds, then began to laugh. “You’re gonna spare my life, slave!”
“I’m no slave,” Ryan said.
Richmond grabbed a handful of dirt and dust and threw it in Ryan’s face. The one-eyed man had been expecting as much from the sec man and turned his head to the right, causing the grit to sting his face and fall harmlessly against the patch over his left eye.
Ryan moved in, not giving the downed sec man any more time to get back to his feet. But before he could get his hands on Richmond, the man had a knife in his right fist. He gave it a flick and a four-inch blade appeared, as if out of the air.
The crowd had noticed Richmond’s weapon and realized he had brought it into the ring with him. They began to boo and throw rotten fruit and vegetables into the circle. Ryan was hit in the back by an overripe tomato.
Grundwold got up from his chair, looking as if he might stop the fighting or force Richmond to drop his weapon, but the baron motioned for Grundwold to sit down, then waved his hands, signaling that the combatants continue their fight.
Ryan ducked low and kicked at Richmond’s feet, sending the sec man spinning onto his back. Without hesitation, he kicked him again, this time hard in the stomach.
Richmond sputtered and coughed up a mouthful of bile, but still managed to slash at Ryan’s leg, splitting the fabric of his pant leg open at the knee.
Brody moved in with his pike to pin the sec man down, but Ryan waved him off. “I don’t need your help!”
The crowd roared its approval and turned its attention away from Mog’s battle with Hambly. The mutie had been cut and slashed so many times that he would probably bleed to death before the next break. But that hadn’t stopped Mog from continuing the torture, cutting off pieces of the mutant’s body just to see how long he could remain standing. The sadistic punishment had held the crowd’s interest for a while, but paled in comparison to the drama of the close contest being waged between Richmond and Ryan.