Chapter 5 #2
The outlaw wheeled around and saw the surprise on the next guard’s face.
He came towards Callan, drawing his sword, but Callan was quicker.
He rose up to punch the man’s arm, pushing it back.
He then grabbed the man’s neck and roared as he shoved the guard away into the nearest horse.
The horse whinnied and in its panic, as Callan had hoped it would do, kicked out with its mighty hind legs, right in the middle of the guard’s back.
The guard yelled as his body bent the wrong way and was thrown about ten feet by the kick, sprawling face down in the dirt, the only motion a wretched twitch of his legs.
The horse caused enough commotion that panic spread through them all and they ran away.
The ground trembled with the thunder of the stampede.
Callan was already turning around, taking quick aim and flinging his dagger at the next guard.
It landed right in his throat, sending his neck arching back.
The guard crumpled like a chopped vine, grabbing at the dagger.
When he pulled it free it only resulted in a fountain of blood spurting out.
He wriggled and writhed on the ground, choking on his own blood, which formed a pool beneath him.
His inhuman gurgles were sickening, but Callan didn’t have time to be distracted.
There was one guard left, the biggest and the meanest, and the one who dared put his paws on Nora.
He turned slowly, pushing her away. She cried as she fell to the ground, clutching dirt.
“Ach, sae coin was nae enough? Dae ye consider yerself a hero, lad?” he growled.
Nora turned to look at him, her face was red from crying and her eyes wide.
“Nae, but I’m better than ye. I will nae let ye touch this woman again,” Callan replied.
The guard threw back his head and laughed.
“Ye think ye hae a choice? I’ll break yer arms and legs and then make ye watch, lad.
I’ll kill ye afterward. Ye made short work of me friends, but that just means she’s all mine, and there’s naething that gets me in the mood more than a wee bit of killing. ”
He drew his sword and approached Callan menacingly. Callan’s dagger was in the guard’s throat. The bodies of the guards he’d killed were too far away to grab their swords, so for the moment he was unarmed.
He’d fought men as big as this before. The guard approached him, leaving himself open because he was arrogant and didn’t believe that Callan was a threat. He heard Nora calling his name, but he had to focus on the guard.
Callan watched the sword, the feet, and the eyes. He saw the moment when they flashed and knew the strike was going to come, strong enough to cleave his head from his shoulders if he wasn’t careful.
The guard roared. Callan quickly shifted to the right.
The blade cut through the air. Callan rushed towards the guard and punched him in the gut, winding him and forcing him to double over.
Then, he moved to his back and wrapped his arms around the man’s throat, hoping to choke him just as he had choked the guard when he’d come across Nora’s carriage.
This guard was bigger and stockier, though.
He stood back up and Callan’s feet were lifted off the ground.
He still managed to cling on, tightening his grip, knowing that even a giant would collapse if he couldn’t breathe.
The man grunted and gnashed his teeth. He beat Callan’s arms and swung himself around, trying to fling Callan off.
However, Callan was unerringly determined and nothing was going to make him let go, not when Nora was still in a puddle in the corner of his eye.
But all of his intentions were torn apart when the guard changed tactics.
He moved backwards at alarming speed and Callan couldn’t let go quickly enough when the shadow of the tree engulfed him.
The impact shuddered through his body and the air was driven from his lungs as the guard drove him into the tree, trapping him between the trunk and the body.
Callan wasn’t sure which one was harder.
He was forced to let go. The guard stepped forward.
Callan followed, staggering as he clutched his crushed chest, wheezing breaths not bringing him enough strength.
The guard turned around and put all his force into a mighty blow.
Knuckles cracked across Callan’s cheek. Blood swam in his mouth as he staggered away.
The world spun before him in blurred vision as he saw movement but couldn’t react quickly enough to block it.
This time he was kicked in the pit of his stomach. He went sprawling back and shook his head, trying to dispel the haze that settled upon his mind. He spat out blood and one thing was on his mind.
Nora.
Nora.
He blinked and for a moment clarity was restored.
He stumbled over something that he thought was a fallen log at first, but it happened to be the guard who had been kicked by a horse.
Callan ducked down, grabbed the man’s sword from his fingers and brought it around just as the remaining guard was storming towards him.
Callan felt steel meet flesh as the blade plunged into the man’s stomach.
The guard looked down, surprised, and then turned his gaze back to Callan.
He smiled and when he did so a river of blood flowed out, staining his teeth and lips.
Callan drew the sword back. The man collapsed at his feet.
Callan grunted and drove the sword right into the middle of the man’s chest, leaving it there, and then he staggered and fell on his rear, the pain flooding through him, agony flickering at the corners of his vision.
It all happened so quickly. One moment Nora felt that the end was nigh, then a storm of violence swept through this terrible part of the forest. She heard grunts and groans and the horses running away.
A sickening sound that reminded her of someone crushing a peach beneath their boot.
Then Brune turned and she crawled away, her tears staining the ground.
She curled up into a ball and dug her fingers into the dirt, clinging to whatever she could for safety.
She trembled all over, fearing that this was only a temporary respite, but then she turned her head and through her veil of tears she saw him.
Callan.
Coming to rescue her again.
Confusion reigned in her mind. She’d left him at the inn. He wasn’t supposed to be here, and yet he was.
Why?
He fought like a man possessed. She winced as she watched him crushed between Brune and the tree, then her hope faltered as Callan gained the upper hand.
After that, the battle was over quickly.
Rage filled every inch of his movement as he drove the sword into Brune’s chest. It was an ugly, grisly sight, and while Nora had always considered herself a gentle soul, she did not feel an ounce of pity for the men Callan had killed, and no inch of compassion was spared for Brune.
Breaths fought to enter her lungs. She wiped her eyes and tried to still her frantic heart. Callan came towards her. His arm stretched around her shoulders and pulled her close.
Ragged sobs tore through the air. Part of her wanted to push him away, but the moment his hand touched her, she felt a wave of safety come over her; a need to hold him, to be held by him, as though he was a shield that could protect her from all the world’s ills.
She curled into his arms, feeling so small she might as well have been a speck of dust.
His embrace was firm, but tender. She looked up and noticed the bruises on his face. Blood trickled from the corners of his mouth, and one of his lips was swollen. Her dress was torn down one leg, showing her knee, calf, and the beginning of her thigh.
“Ye are safe now,” he muttered softly.
His voice rolled through her and she drew strength from it.
The rhythm of his breathing was steady and strong.
It reverberated through her mind and she listened intently, allowing hers to match it.
Deep and low and slow, it helped to ease the shuddering fear that continued to hold her body in its thrall.
“Are ye ready tae move?” he asked. “I dinnae want tae linger here.”
She looked over his shoulder at the four dead men and decided that she didn’t want to remain there either. She nodded. His hands moved, one resting at the small of her back, the other taking her hand. He helped her to her feet. Knees threatened to buckle, but she had been weak enough already.
No more, she swore.
Somehow she would find a way to be strong, to defend herself. This world demanded so much of her, more than she realized at first, but there had been a grim awakening and she could not go through this ordeal again. It was utterly impossible.
Callan led her back to his horse and helped her mount it.
He sat behind her. This time she didn’t mind that he was so close.
There was something comforting about his presence, for it didn’t seem as though anything could hurt her while he was around.
An entire army might have come storming towards them and still Nora would have believed that Callan would protect her.
He geed the horse and they turned around, heading back in the direction from whence they came.
“That’s twice ye hae saved me now,” she said softly.
“Let’s hope there’s nae cause for a third,” he replied.
She leaned against him and took comfort in the strength of his body. The rhythm of the horse lulled her and the jagged fear that gripped her heart eased for the time being, although she had a feeling that it would rear its head again before too long.