The barbarian crouched and crept forward. Neil scrambled for his sword, his mind paralyzed with a sudden muscle-gripping, nerve-shattering fear.
Baz’s legs lashed out, twining about the barbarian’s waist, and twisting until the man fell to the stones, Baz’s fingers went to his opponent’s throat. He squeezed tightly, but then Baz’s face went suddenly white as all life flooded from his body. His hands dropped limply, falling on his chest.
The barbarian jumped to his feet. But Neil had a sword this time, and it swung out in a whistling arc, catching the barbarian across his chest. A gaping hole appeared in his right side, and he stared at it in disbelief. The sword swung around again, and the barbarian collapsed beside Baz, the dagger rattling harmlessly to the stones.
“More,” Erik shouted. “Careful, Neil.”
They came again, a gigantic human steam roller that rumbled across the small court.
Neil fought beside Erik, his arms tired with the weight of the heavy sword. The barbarians pressed forward, pushing, thrashing, then falling back again.
“We can’t hold out much longer,” Neil said, glad for the momentary respite.
From the corner of his eye, he caught a minor skirmish on the other side of the court. Four barbarians were crowding around a figure with a sword. The figure lashed out, stepping in and felling one of the invaders. He turned, ran a few feet toward Erik and Neil, and then stopped again to face the pursuing barbarians. His sword flicked out, and another man fell. More barbarians joined the pursuers, reaching for the battling figure. It turned and ran for the circle of defenders again, and moonlight splashed on a broken nose.
“Dave!” Neil shouted. He slapped Erik on the shoulder. “It’s Dave.”
Erik leaped over the pile of bodies that formed a barricade before them, and Neil was just a step behind him. They ran across the yard, joined their weapons with Dave’s and plowed into the barbarians.
Then, turning swiftly, they ran back to the barricade.
Neil saw
“This is it,” Neil said. “This is the last one.”
“I’ve been searching high and low for you,” Dave said. “This lone wolf business doesn’t appeal to me.” He wiped a bloody hand over his torn shirt. “These guys are all over the city.”
Erik looked across the court where the barbarians were rallying their strength.
“What are they doing now?” Neil asked.
“They’re waiting,” Dave said. “They’re taking no chances this time. They’re waiting until the rest of the boys in the city join them. Then there’ll be one last rush.”
“And if it succeeds,” Erik said, “there will be no more resistance. The city will be theirs.”
They glanced nervously across the court. Barbarians poured in from the streets, joining their fellows and waiting for more men and more arms. They began pounding on their drums and shaking their rattles.
“What can we do?” Neil asked. “We’ll never survive another charge.”
“Look at them. There must be hundreds of them. What are they waiting for?”
“Probably an omen from the skies to…”
Neil stopped short, his mouth hanging open. He gripped Dave’s shoulder.
“The machine!”
“What?”
“From the skies! We’ll drop down on them with the machine, Dave.”
“What! Don’t be ridiculous, Neil. The machine needs repairs. We’ll never get home if…”
“We’ll never get home if those men take over the city, either.”
“But I don’t even know if she’ll fly. One of the rotors is still pretty badly twis…”
“We’ve got to try it, Dave.”
“Neil, I tell you it’s crazy.”
Across the court, the drumbeats grew louder.
“They’re getting ready,” Neil whispered. “Can you hold them, Erik?”
“Where are you going?” Erik asked.
“We’ve got a powerful weapon.” Neil started.
“They charge!” a Norseman shouted. “They charge again.”
Across the court, the barbarians leaped to their feet and shouted wildly. Spilling across the court like rolling time bombs, they rumbled onward.
Neil leaped over the barricade and shouted, “Come on, Dave!”
Dave cleared the barricade and rushed after Neil as the barbarians swarmed against the few remaining men.
Neil glanced back over his shoulder to see Erik, tall and proud, his beard blazing defiance, smash out at the attackers viciously.
Then he ran as swiftly as he could until he reached the forest. He didn’t even turn to see if Dave was behind him.
“Hurry up, hurry up,” Neil shouted.
“She’s got to warm up,” Dave complained.
“How much longer? Please, Dave, hurry.”
They were in the control room of the time machine, and far off in Chichen-Itza the cries of the barbarians rose in exultant fury.
The machine coughed, trembled.
“There it is,” Dave said. “You set?”
“For crying out loud, get this…”
“Relax,” Dave snapped.
He twirled a dial on the panel before him.
Slowly the machine began to rise, leaving the beach far below it. With infinite patience, Dave steered it over the trees and toward the city.