| Book Information Weight of Guilt, Part VI |
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| Added by | Stirk | ||
| ID | xx0016c4 | ||
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chased Sanrit up one flight of stairs, and saw him pause in the living room. His hesitation told me he was weighing his chances of making it out the front door in time to elude me. Apparently, he thought it not worth the risk, and instead ran up another flight of stairs. Hot on his heels, I heard a crash ahead of me as he fled out of a window in what appeared to be Artisa's bedroom. I did not have time to ponder the irony that Kevius, scapegoat for the murders, had fled similarly so many times before. All I could do was follow Sanrit, as he leapt from one rooftop to the next. I feared he might start feeling the adrenaline rush redguards are so known for; if he did and kept running, I would never be able to catch up to him. . . and if he did and turned to fight, I did not know if I could hope to match him in combat.
Three rooftops later, the burly fellow made up his mind. Just as I made the jump, he spun around and buried his free hand into my midsection. I tried to roll with the blow, though it wasn't the sort of blow one can truly roll from. I came to a stop laying on my back, and raised my katana to cover my face just as Sanrit lowered his blade in an attempt to decapitate me. The power behind his swing was such that he nearly succeeded anyhow. Kicking his legs out from beneath him, I sprang back to my feet and took on a traditional sparring stance.
The murderous redguard quickly got up, and struck at me quickly and angrily. I parried each thrust, giving ground as I did so. I made a feint at his thigh to buy me enough time to jump to the next rooftop; having given so much ground on Sanrit's assault, I did not have a lot of roof left to work with for a second attack. There was the possibility that he might start running again, but I rightly banked on his wanting to see this impromptu duel through to the end.
In his leap over, Sanrit twisted his body around to give himself a wide arcing swing, to make sure I would not take advantage of him as he did of me. It kept me from continuing immediately, but such twists inevitably leave an area open. I quickly lashed out as his exposed back, careful to hit him with the flat of my blade; while he may have no qualms about killing, I would much rather capture a criminal than slay one.
My strike disrupted his balance on the tilted roof long enough for me to get in a second hit, this time on the wrist of his sword arm. The result went as I'd hoped: The sword flew from his hand. However, I had not imagined how fast the redguard could be, for he snatched the longsword out of the air with his other hand, and instantly turned to attack again. I had not counted on ambidexterity. A savage smile on his face, he trust at me again and again, slashing alternately at my arms and head.
Running out of rooftop once more, I made my final jump, choosing the building carefully. I backed away from the edge as Sanrit followed. While he closed the distance, I switched the katana to my other hand; the heavy blows of an adrenaline fed redguard are enough to exhaust most any swordsman. As we crossed swords, I finally realized that I would not be able to weather the hail of shots he could lay down. He was simply too quick, too strong, and too unrelenting, and I was too unwilling to cause injury.
We continued on until the last in a series of three strikes was so overwhelmingly powerful that I lost my footing. Finally triumphant, the redguard readied for one final death-dealing chop. He had had the luxury of having his mind on the battle the entire time, while I had not. Though he stood over me, victory within his grasp, now was the time my extracurricular thinking would pay off. Rolling away from him to create some distance, I cast an incredible burden spell at him. Sanrit had no time to react.
The roof collapsed under his now-colossal weight, and he dropped into the building unceremoniously. Placement had concerned me quite a bit, but looking down into the gap, I saw my fears hadn't come true. Sanrit had fallen through the roof of the Protectorate compound, convenient right into an unoccupied jail cell. With Protectorate all around him, the clouds visible through the hole would likely be the last sky he would be seeing for some time.
As an investigator though, one question still nagged at me: Why? I would not be satisfied with the conclusion until I knew what had driven the redguard to kill.