After he was wounded, Roland's attacks grew fiercer and more ruthless. His weapons were a pair of long, narrow curved swords, their spines engraved with starburst patterns-clearly lesser blades fashioned in imitation of Dawn.
Now fighting savagely, Roland swept his left sword across like a surging wave to cut off his opponent's movement, while his right thrust forward like a shark's fin slicing through the water, striking straight at the weak points in his defense. The staggered rhythms of the two blades formed a strange cadence that dazzled the eye.
Edric tightened his grip on Dark Star, his ancestral Valyrian steel sword, and continued to meet the attacks calmly, though he could no longer easily gain the upper hand.
The fight remained deadlocked for several more quarters of an hour before Roland suddenly changed tactics. His left sword feinted at Edric's legs, and as his opponent bent to parry, his right sword flew from his hand! A thin chain attached to the end of its hilt rattled as the flying blade swung toward Edric's back like a meteor hammer.
This Chain Swordsmanship originated in the unusual techniques favored by the mounted bandits of the Dornish deserts, and an uproar swept through the spectators in the stands.
Yet Edric seemed to have anticipated it. He spun sharply, and Dark Star split into two blades. Crossing them like a winch, he caught the chain and used its pull to drag Roland off balance-he had deliberately left an opening to lure his opponent into using a technique condemned as "unorthodox" by House Dayne's teachings.
Just as everyone thought Edric had seized the initiative, Roland surged forward in the instant the chain wound around Dark Star. His right hand drew a fallen star iron dagger from his boot and pressed it against Edric's throat,