Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

seduced the young Paragon. Not that he cared a damn about the boy, but he could be a useful tool, if not an ally. And perhaps even a weapon that could be used against Lewis, should he ever be foolish enough to return to Logres. It was an easy enough thing to turn the boy's hero worship into something else. Stuart was young and inexperienced in the ways of the world, and still delightfully innocent in oh so many ways. Day by day, Finn made Stuart into one of his creatures, and set the boy's heart against Lewis Deathstalker.
    It wasn't difficult at all.
    They were getting along really well, giggling together over their wine like great chums, when the Paragon Emma Steel made one of her grand entrances. She slammed open the door, knocked down the bouncer when he tried to block her way, and trampled right over him. She struck a pose, hands on hips, and glared disdainfully about her. She was tall and willowy, though her bare arms were heavy with muscle.
    Her skin was a rich coffee color, and she wore her jet black hair pulled straight back into a tight bun on the back of her head. Striking rather than conventionally pretty, she could still take your breath away—in more ways than one. Emma Steel was Mistworld's Paragon, greatest fighter of the old rebel planet, and generally considered the most dangerous person on Logres, in or out of the Arena. She was the law, on Logres.
    The other Paragons stopped their playing, and abandoned their drinks and their drugs and their groupies to rise silently to their feet and stare at Emma Steel. Everyone's hand was near a weapon, but no one moved. Emma sneered at them all and stalked across the room, heading straight for Finn and Stuart's table. The other Paragons stood very still, watching her silently with cold, vicious eyes. The music in the bar cut off abruptly, and it all went very quiet. Even the drunk and drugged-out groupies had enough sense to keep their mouths shut for once. Emma ignored them all with magnificent disdain, and crashed to a halt at Finn and Stuart's table. The youngLennox gaped openly at her. If there was one other person in the Parade of the Endless he adored as much as Finn Durandal, it would have to be the almost equally legendary Emma Steel.
    "What the hell are you doing in a place like this, with a man like him?" she said bluntly. "You can't trust a word the Durandal says. Trust me. I have reason to know this."
    Stuart flushed angrily. He was already a little drunk, and made an effort to speak clearly. "I think I'm quite capable of choosing my own friends. And I don't think you ought to talk like that about Finn. He's Imperial Champion, and the greatest Paragon we've ever had."
    "I thought that once," said Emma, looking coldly at Finn. "He was my hero. And then I met him. And now there's just me to patrol the whole of Logres, because the mighty Imperial Champion can't be bothered anymore."
    "I have other duties now," Finn said easily. "New responsibilities. I can't be everywhere at once. And you're doing such a fine job, Emma.
    Hardly ever out of the news. I hope you've got someone experienced handling your merchandising."
    "I've never given a damn for any of that shit, and you know it. I care about the job—because someone has to.Lennox , listen to me.
    Learn from my mistakes. The Durandal isn't the legend he was. If he ever really was."
    She broke off as one of the carousing Paragons suddenly threw away his drink and came charging straight at her, sword in hand. Emma spun round, her sword leaping into her hand, and met him head-on.
    She parried his sword thrust easily, kicked him in the balls, and then hit him on the back of the head with her sword hilt as he dropped towards the safety of the floor. She sneered down at the twitching body at her feet.
    "The quality of Paragons has really gone downhill recently. I suppose that's what happens when you pal around with the Durandal." She looked unhurriedly about her, her free hand hovering over the disrupter on her hip. The other Paragons stared flatly back, their faces cold and dangerous, but none of them moved. Emma sniffed loudly. "Seems I've outstayed my welcome.Lennox , you know where to find me, if you need me. Don't leave it too late."
    She backed out of the Sangreal, not taking her eyes off the other Paragons, not hurrying but not hanging about either. The Paragons waited until they were sure she was gone, and then they went back to their various unpleasant pursuits as though they'd never been