Highlander the Dark Dragon (26 page)

Pitt hurried alongside Rhys as they made their way to the brigade of villagers passing bucket after bucket of water. Rhys could see that the barn could not be saved but the bucket brigade had managed to stop the flames from reaching other structures.

Henry hurried over to him.

“Where is my wife?” Rhys asked before Henry could say a word.

“I sent her to stay in the keep. We needed all hands to fight this thing or we would have lost the entire village and possibly the keep.”

Rhys turned to Pitt. “Go make sure she is there.”

Pitt hurried off.

“We need to keep on the flames until there is nothing left for them to claim,” Henry said. “We got the animals out safely, so it is just the barn we lost.”

“What happened?”

“I do not know,” Henry said, shaking his head. “Most everyone was asleep. I have yet to find out who rang the bell and to alert us.”

The little black pup with the one white paw ran toward Rhys at the same time Pitt did, but the pup reached him first and yapped repeatedly, too young yet for a full bark, while he jumped against his leg.

“She is not in the keep,” Pitt yelled as he approached.

Rhys looked down at the pup that was now backing away from him as he continued to yap as loud as he could. “Where is she?”

The pup ran, then stopped to see if Rhys followed and when he saw that Rhys was right behind him, he kept running. The pup kept his distance from the burning barn as he led Rhys, Pitt, and Henry to the woods behind the back of the barn. He ran to a spot and grabbed something with his tiny teeth, though he could not keep hold of it as he tried to bring it to Rhys.

Rhys stopped as soon as he saw what the pup was trying to show him—his wife’s boots.

He stared at them and fear like he had not felt in years rose up to nearly choke him. Then he did what he did years ago...he let the Dragon loose.

He snatched up her boots and shouted an order to Pitt, “Get my warriors; we ride into battle.”

Show no fear. Rhys will come for you. Show no fear. Rhys will come for you. Show no fear. Rhys will come for you.

Heather kept repeating the words in her head, though the thought of what would happen to her before Rhys could reach her scared her to death. Haidar wanted revenge and she was the weapon he would use against Rhys to get it.

She cringed and stumbled as her one foot stepped on a rock hidden beneath leaves and she went down hard? How many times had she fallen? She had lost count after seven times. She had wanted to cry out when they yanked her boots off, knowing what lay ahead, just as she did now. She hurried to stand, not an easy chore with her feet paining her so badly and her wrists tied together. She had learned quickly that if she lay there she would get kicked until she stood.

She made it to her knees when the warrior that held her wrist rope kicked her in the thigh and she could not help but wince.

“Up! Up!” he ordered and kicked her again.

She got to her feet, though she did not know how and once again followed behind the warrior. He kept a fast pace and Heather feared she would not be able to keep up with him much longer. Besides, the further away from the keep they got; the longer it would take Rhys to get to her.

Rhys had suffered far worse than what she was suffering and for far too many years. If he could do it for as long as he did, then she could survive until he came for her. And she had no doubt he would come.

She refused to linger on what she would have to endure until he found her. She would do whatever it took to survive, whatever it took to be with Rhys again, and whatever it took to see her family again.

She bit her tongue against the pain in her feet. They had to be cut and bleeding by now. If only it was morning. She could at least see where she stepped and could avoid the forest debris that stabbed at her feet with every step.

It seemed like they walked for hours. Any minute Heather expected, more so hoped, to see the sun rise, but it did not happen and she wondered if sunrise was further off than she thought. They walked until Heather could barely feel her feet and her legs felt as if they were on fire, her muscles burned so badly. Then suddenly the pace slowed and Heather noticed a flicker of light just up ahead.

They had reached a camp and she wanted to cry with relief.

After entering the campsite and being brought closer to the fire, the man holding her rope gave it a hard yank. Heather stumbled and fought to stay on her feet and as soon as she regained her balance, the man kicked her legs out from under her. She raised her arms to cushion her face from the fall, her body smacking the ground hard. This time the breath was knocked out of her.

Fear gripped her as she tried to remain calm and breathe, and she silently prayed for Rhys to hurry and come for her. She could not wait to feel his strong arms around her and the thought helped her finally breathe easy.

“Knees,” the man ordered sharply.

She struggled to get to them, her legs ached so badly. When she finally did, the man slapped a strong hand on her shoulder, anchoring her to the spot and fear fluttered in her stomach.

“She is tired. This is good, she will not have the strength to do anything, but obey me.”

Heather raised her head to look at Haidar, but he had stepped behind her.

He stepped in front of her again after only a few moments, smiling and nodding. “Good, she will not be able to walk with how badly her feet suffered.” His smile grew as he stood staring at her. “Dirt does not even mar your beauty. I may keep you longer than I thought,” —he sneered—“and make your husband suffer even longer.”

Heather would have preferred to remain silent, worried if she said a word her fear would show. But if she could keep him talking, then it gave Rhys more time to reach her before Haidar could do anything to her.

She tossed her chin up. “My husband will come for me.”

“Of course he will.”

“He will kill you.”

Haidar laughed. “He will never defeat me. I taught him what he knows. I made him bow to my will just as I will do to you. And it will be ever so enjoyable for me, but so terribly painful for your husband and not so pleasant for you, unless you learn to accept your fate and obey my every command, something it took your husband a while to learn.”

“But he did, and won his freedom.”

“So he told you about that,” Haidar said, nodding. “It was, what I believed, an impossible task. I never expected him to succeed. I expected his tortured body to be returned to me, but instead I was quite surprised when he returned with my enemy’s intended bride, the task complete.”

Heather was shocked by the news. Rhys had enslaved another to free himself.

I promise I will return to you, nothing will stop me from coming back to you.

Quinn’s departing words came back to her. His promise had come at a great cost.

“I took her as my bride that day. He left three months later with a great deal of wealth I bestowed on him for accomplishing the task, though he took something far greater with him than wealth...he took my wife, Anala, the woman he had captured for me.”

Heather kept silent not able to speak if she wanted to, shocked by what she had just learned. But then having grown to know Rhys and knowing Quinn as she did, neither man would let a woman suffer if he could help it.

“It was not so much that he took Anala, but that he took my unborn child...a son who died before he could live. I stood at the shoreline and watched as everything I so generously gave him was loaded onto the vessel, never knowing Anala was among them, never thinking he would betray me in such a way.” His eyes narrowed. “Now I will see him suffer greatly for his betrayal.”

Heather could not help but think that at least Anala and her son were forever free of such an evil man.

Haidar began to unwrap the black sash around his waist. “We will leave a little something for your husband to see how much I enjoyed his wife, though I will make sure not to disturb the seed he has no doubt planted inside you. I have plans for his child. He nodded to the man who held her rope. “Strip her bare and leave the torn garments where they fall. That should be a clear enough message for him.”

~~~

The Dark Dragon rode his stallion through the woods. He wore his leather armor but no helmet. His warriors rode along on both sides of him, lighting the way with torches.

He cursed himself a hundred times over for leaving the keep, leaving Heather. He should have known something was about to happen when his contingent of warriors arrived from the west and told him that Haidar’s warriors had not been spotted. He had moved them in preparation for this trap. The one good thing about that was that Haidar would not expect the size of the troop Rhys brought with him.

Many of his warriors at the McComb village insisted on joining with the warriors that had just arrived. They were eager to find Lady Heather and bring her home safely and once and for all be rid of the enemy that had continued to plague them. Other warriors remained behind to finish extinguishing the fire.

Rhys also had received a message from Innis. He had set a plan in motion after discovering important information and if all went as planned, Rhys would have Haidar exactly where he wanted him.

A halt was called from the lead warrior and Rhys did not question it. His men were superior warriors and knew well what they were doing.

Pitt rode up beside him. “A moment, they think they found something and want to be sure.”

Rhys nodded and his stallion snorted, wanting to keep moving as anxiously as his master did.

“Patience Macinnes will ride as soon as she gets that message,” Pitt said, waiting beside him on his horse.

“I expect her to; they need to be ready for what is to come.”

“My lord,” a voice called out.

Rhys dismounted as did Pitt and they followed a warrior who waited a few feet ahead. His warriors circled a small area and they parted when Rhys approached. The best tracker Rhys had was hunched down close to the ground in the middle of the circle. He looked up at Rhys and he could see the tracker did not want to tell him what he had found.

“Tell me,” Rhys ordered.

“Lady Heather’s feet were bleeding by the time she reached here and she took a hard fall here as well. You can still see where her body hit the ground.”

Rhys looked to see where the tracker pointed. The size of the outline fit his wife and he could picture her taking the fall, her knees hitting the dirt and her arms going up in an attempt to protect her face as she went down hard and fast. He fisted his hands at his sides, his heart rammed against his chest, and rage filled his whole body. He knew exactly what his wife was going through and he hated knowing she would suffer even more before he reached her.

“They do not hide their tracks well. It is as if they leave a trail for us to follow,” the tracker said.

“That is exactly what he is doing. Keep following and remember his men hide well.”

The troop waited until Rhys mounted, and then they took off.

~~~

Heather had no way to defend herself and even if she could she barely had the strength to do so, but she did not let either stop her. She did something Patience had once taught her. She waited until the warrior got close and she used the only part of her body that had some strength left... her head.

As the warrior leaned down and tore her sleeve off her shoulder, she came up with her head fast and hard, catching him in the jaw and sending him sprawling to the ground. She quickly grabbed the rope away from him as he lay squirming in pain.

“I admire your courage, though I do not think it will last long,” Haidar said and waved to two men to finish the task. His hand suddenly stilled, halting them. “What is that sound?”

The camp turned quiet and listened.

When nothing was heard Haidar raised his hand again and froze in place, his eyes turning wide.

From the darkness, dozens of glowing green eyes suddenly surrounded the camp. Growls started and grew as wolf after wolf slowly and cautiously entered the camp, their sharp teeth bared in warning as they walked over to Heather and one by one circled her, creating a shield of wolves around her.

One warrior mistakenly placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. A wolf shot out from the darkness behind him and dragged him back into the dark depths of the woods, screaming.

Heather shut her eyes and cringed until his screams were no more.

Haidar said nothing and made no move, his hand still up in the air. The warriors did the same.

Heather forced herself to her feet, ignoring the pain as best she could.

Suddenly an arrow shot into the camp just missing one of the wolves and a pair of wolves jumped out of the darkness, lunging at a warrior. Their sharp fangs tore at him as they dragged him into the woods, his screams echoing in the night.

No arrows followed after that and from the look on Haidar’s face, the warrior who shot it would suffer for his misdeed.

Heather started walking, the wolves keeping their circle tight around her. Her feet pained her badly with each step she took and her body ached all over, but she forced herself to keep going. The wolves had come for her and they would see her to safety and all she had to do was walk along with them. She called out no parting words to Haidar as she disappeared into the darkened woods. She would leave him to her husband.

Once out of sight, the wolves parted and she knew what they intended. She took off running with them. She told herself not to feel, not to think, just to run as free as the wolves.

Haidar stood not moving at all, his face contorted red with rage and his arm aching from holding it up so long. Wolves remained snarling and snapping if anyone dared to move, and then they began to leave until none were left, their growls and howls continuing to echo in the air.

“Find the fool who fired that arrow and kill him,” Haidar ordered the man who stepped toward him as he brought his arm down painfully slow. “Then gather the men. Plans have changed.”

~~~

The sun was rising when Rhys and his men neared the camp. A halt was called and Pitt hurried over to him.

“Dismount and come see this now,” Pitt urged.

Rhys followed an anxious Pitt and found himself staring at what looked like more than a hundred wolf tracks. “No bodies?” he asked.

“I have the men searching now,” Pitt said and went off when a warrior shouted out to him.

Rhys went and picked up a piece of rope off the ground. He was familiar with the purpose it served since he had worn one around his wrists for some time. Dare he hope—something he had not done much of in many years—that somehow Heather got free before the wolves attacked? Or had they attacked? He stared at the tracks and crouched down to look more closely and saw a human track amongst the wolf tracks.

He stood and called out for Pitt, but he was already headed his way.

“Two bodies, or what are left of them,” Pitt said, “and a third with his throat cut.”

“Haidar’s way of punishing those who fail him.” Rhys shook his head. “I think the wolves may have rescued Heather.”

“That would explain the foot tracks keeping pace with the wolf tracks,” Pitt said.

“Then we follow,” Rhys ordered.

“They set a fast pace and with the injuries to her feet, which probably have worsened the tracker does not believe Heather would make it far.”

“Then she should be close.” Rhys hurried and mounted his horse. “Which way do the tracks go?”

Pitt pointed as he mounted his horse. “Back toward McComb land.”