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A white tunic flashed between the trees half a mile or so before them.
“Let’s go, man,” Tamhas said.
Panting, they both resumed the pursuit. Konnor’s whole body felt like it was on fire. He was so tired. At some point, his mind went blank with exhaustion while his body kept running. He blinked the sweat from his eyes and saw that about two hundred yards before them, one of the MacDougalls had caught Colin and dragged him forward by his shoulders.
Konnor went cold. His foot caught a root, and he tumbled down, scraping his palms raw.
“Go!” he yelled to Tamhas while he was getting up.
Goddamn it! He didn’t believe in magic, or God, or much of anything, but at this moment, he prayed. To God, to the universe, even to Sìneag the Highland faerie. Please, let us save the boy. Please, let us get him back.
Tamhas sped up, his long, dark hair flying on the wind behind him. He drew his sword.
“Stop!” he yelled, and the MacDougall stopped and turned.
His eyes widened.
“Tamhas!” Colin cried.
The MacDougall brought his dagger to Colin’s neck. “Stay back,” he said, “or I’ll cut his neck. I ken who this is. The MacDougall’s bastart grandson. I will take the lad to him. He wants him alive, but he willna mind if the lad is scratched a wee bit.”
Konnor stopped and panted, trying to steady his breathing. He drew his sword and pointed it at the man. He wasn’t tall, and he didn’t look strong, for that matter, but he did have their boy.
“One movement, and I will cut his neck open.”
Where was the rest of the MacDougall army? Konnor and Tamhas could take the man easily. He glanced farther into the forest and saw the backs of men and carts moving away in the distance between the trees.
Konnor looked at Tamhas, who caught his eye. Konnor made a barely noticeable movement with his head, indicating to Tamhas that he should circle the man from the left side while Konnor did the same from the right. Tamhas gave the tiniest nod.
But the MacDougall’s nostrils flared, and he whistled.
Oh, for the love of—
The men who were last in the procession looked back at him, and three of them hurried towards their companion.
Hell. Four against two, and one hostage.
One of them had a long spear with a single-edged blade and a sharp end. The other one held a long-handled ax, and the third had a mace.
The spear gave the first one the advantage of distance, and Konnor had seen how a mace could smash helms and armor. It could crush a man’s skull easily. The ax was a simple weapon, but its long pole also gave the enemy the advantage of distance, while having a larger blade to injure a man.
This didn’t look good.
The first man poked the glaive at Tamhas, who jumped back just in time, and the other man brought his mace high above his head and launched at Tamhas. Konnor didn’t have time to help him, because the man with the ax darted at him and brought his ax down towards him.
Konnor ducked. The blade swooshed passed his face, and he felt the small puff of wind as it went by. Close.
The man was at a disadvantage while fighting in close combat. Konnor’s only chance was to get near. He darted forward, stopping the pole of the ax with his sword. The impact resonated in his bones. With his free leg, he kicked the man, who then staggered and fell back. But the ax’s handle was long, and even while lying on the ground, the man came at Konnor with the ax and would have wounded him in the leg if Konnor hadn’t jumped back. Risking his arm, Konnor grabbed the handle just beneath the blade and yanked the ax forward, taking it from the man’s hands. With one smooth motion, he jabbed the man with the wooden end of the pole in the face, and he stilled, unconscious.
He looked at Tamhas. The man was still fighting two enemies and was backed against a tree.
The first man, the one who had Colin, was backing up towards the army.
Damn it.
Konnor was torn between helping Tamhas and getting Colin. Tamhas was still all right, but if the McDougall warrior managed to join the army with Colin in his possession, they wouldn’t be able to retrieve him.
No, Konnor had to act now.
