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battle above.
Lugh broke the hold of Bres and knocked the older warrior back. Again
they faced each other, swords up, both breathing hard, taking wary
account of one another before making a new move.
Streng stood on the parapet, sword drawn, watching the fight and
wondering what to do. He wished he could abandon the arrogant Bres, but
he imagined Balor would not approve of such an action. He had thought
of helping Bres dispose of Lugh, but had hesitated, afraid that would
not be appreciated by the former High-King.
Now, however, he was aware of the attention fixed on them from below.
Something had to be done to end this quickly, he determined, and began
looking for an opening to finish Lugh.
It came soon. The two combatants drove in close, weapons locking
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together and pushed up as the two men collided and grappled. They swung
around in their struggle, and so focused was the young warrior on his
contest with Bres that he was unaware that he had left his back open to
Streng.
The Fomor officer crept forward, off the parapet, along the walkway
toward Lugh, his sword lifting for a fatal thrust.
"Lugh! Behind you!" Aine cried in desperate warning.
The young man snapped his head around to look and saw the danger, but
too late. He couldn't move quickly enough to escape the blade.
Then Streng was knocked backward by the blow of an enormous battle-ax.
The wide head of it had struck below his neck and split his chest,
throat-to-navel, tearing out through his spine in an explosion of
blood. The force of the blow lifted him and tossed him back onto the
parapet as if he were a bundle of dried sticks, and he fell brokenly
onto the planking.
"A fine throw!" Gilla called to the Dagda.
"Keepin" things even," the man replied. "I hope it's enough."
Above, the distraction had given Bres a chance to act. When Lugh had
tried to turn toward the new danger, the ex-king had jerked the young
warrior off balance, sending him staggering up the walkway into the
rail. Then Bres had run to the body of Streng and grabbed the handle of
the ax in his free hand. Now he yanked at the formidable weapon. But ft
stayed fast in the body.
Lugh started for his opponent again. Bres launched his sword at the
young champion to drive him back. While Lugh paused to knock aside the
flying weapon, Bres seized the ax handle in both hands and, with a
massive effort, wrenched it free.
The huge weapon was a tremendous and unwieldy weight to all but one of
the Dagda's size. But once in motion, it was nearly impossible to
defend against. Bres brought it up with both hands and launched it in a
wide, sideways swing meant to take off Lugh's head.
The young warrior didn't attempt to stop or turn it. Instead, he ducked
under it, letting it whoosh over him as he tried to come in at Bres
from the side.
256
THE RIDERS OF THE SIDHE
THE ANSWERER
257
But Bres was fighting with the strength of desperation now. He managed
to check the swing of the great weapon and sweep it back, with a speed
that surprised his adversary. This time Lugh barely had time to dive
away as the blade smashed through the wooden railing, shattering it as
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it slashed through without slowing.
Lugh hit the planking and rolled toward the parapet end. The momentum
of the heavy ax spun Bres around to face him. The ex-king brought the
weapon up high with a grunt of efibrt and sent it in a downward cut at
Lugh as he started to get up.
Unable to jump from the weapon's path this time, Lugh lifted The
Answerer up in both hands in a desperate move to turn the ax away.
He barely succeeded. The ax was deflected, but the weight of the head
forced down the blade, ramming it deeply into the timber flooring and
pinning it there.
Lugh yanked on its hilt to pull it free, but without budging it. He
looked up to Bres who stood over him, holding the sword down with his
weight on the ax. The ex-king grinned at his opponent, then lashed out
with a savage kick that caught Lugh solidly in the side of the head,
flinging him back.
The young warrior toppled heavily onto the parapet, his back slamming
against the outer wall. Dazed, he lay beside the split carcass of
Streng. Bres pulled the great ax up once again and swept it high over
his head. With a triumphant laugh he started toward Lugh for the final
blow.
The groggy youth lay helpless, until his eye fell on the sword of
Streng that lay beside the body, drenched in blood. He stretched
forward, gripped the hilt, and lifted the weapon in what he assumed
would be a vain gesture of defense.
Bres saw the weapon rise, but too late to check himself. As the slender
blade drove through his side, he twisted sideways, tearing the weapon
from Lugh's grasp. He staggered into the outer wall, the heavy ax
plunging over the side and dragging him after it.
Bres released the handle and flailed out wildly for a grip on the
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