“I’m not left-handed,” Inigo replied, and with those words, he all but threw the six-fingered sword into his right hand, and the tide of battle turned. The man in black retreated before the slashing of the great sword. He tried to sidestep, tried to parry, tried to somehow escape the doom that was now inevitable. But there was no way. He could block fifty thrusts, the fifty-first flicked through, and now his left arm was bleeding, he could thrwart thirty ripostes, but not the thirty-first, and now his shoulder bled.

The wounds were not grave, but they kept on coming as they dodged across the stones, and then the man in black found himself amidst the trees and that was bad for him, so he all but fled before Inigo’s onslaught, and then he was in the open again, but Inigo kept coming, nothing could stop him, and then the man in black was back among the boulders, and that was even worse for him than the trees and he shouted out in frustration and practically ran to where there was open space again.

But there was no dealing with the wizard, and slowly, again, the deadly cliffs became a factor in the fight, only now it was the man in black who was being forced to doom. He was brave, and he was strong, but the cuts did not make him beg for mercy, and he showed no fear behind his black mask. “You are amazing,” he cried, as Inigo increased the already blinding speed of the blade.

“Thank you. It has not come without effort.”

The death moment was at hand now. Again and again a Inigo thrust forward, and again and again the man in black managed to ward off the attacks, but each time was harder, and the strength in Inigo’s wrists was endless and he only thrust the more fiercely and soon the man in black grew weak.

Chapter 5