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coach used to scream at him across the dojo. "Don't react! If you think, the initiative is yours. If you react, the initiative is your opponent's." |
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Careful always to keep his body between the Dark Man and Kyna, Cyrus began to pace back and forth. |
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"Ah, you see how he protects her?" the Dark Man muttered. "How he protects the bitch that murdered my son?" |
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Cyrus charged, sweeping in from the right to use the black giant's body as a shield against the goateed man's sword. But the apprentice was ready and he leapt in front of his master, carving a figure eight in the air with the point of the sword. |
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Cyrus put on the brakes, turned and circled back. |
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The Dark Man stood calmly staring straight ahead, apparently unmoved and unconcerned by the soap opera unfolding around him. Cyrus lifted his nose to the wind. The goateed man's fear reeked like cheap booze, but all Cyrus got from the Dark Man was the rather pleasant odor of bitter herbs. |
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Does the man not have a nervous system? Cyrus fumed. |
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"Come, Mr. Trigg." the Dark Man sighed. "I grow weary of this game. I have business with Ms. Rand." |
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The witch doctor's constant chatter was an obvious ploy to distract Cyrus and provoke him into making a rash moveso far it had worked pretty well. The thing Cyrus had to keep reminding himself of was that as painful as the blasts from that talisman were, it was the sword that he had to worry about. |
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It's the sword, stupid, he told himself. Ignore the Dark Man for now and take care of Mr. Goatee. |
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"You cannot save her," the Dark Man said reasonably. "If you were the right sort of man, you wouldn't even want to." |
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Cyrus stared at the witch doctor. He could almost taste the bastard's blood in his mouth. It would be watery and as bitter as turned wine. |
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"Shall I tell you what I plan for her? No? I understand. She is very beautiful and you are infatuated. Well, you remember Ms. Rand's friendMr. Douglas? In his own way, a very |
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