“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.
With the long ax in one hand and his sword in the other, Konnor advanced towards them. He looked at Colin, who stared at him with wide eyes. If Colin would move just a little bit, Konnor could thrust the blade of the axe into the guy.
Konnor locked his eyes with Colin. “Look, Colin, buddy, do you remember our game of soccer?”
He nodded.
“Shut up!” the MacDougall said, confusion in his eyes.
“I can score. I just need you to clear the goal for me.”
He blinked, then his face became calm and concentrated. He gave a barely noticeable nod, opened his mouth, and bit down on the man’s hand.
The man screamed and released his grip, which allowed Colin to twist out of his grasp. At the same time, Konnor tossed his sword aside, gripped the pole of the long ax with his both hands and thrust the sharp, upper edge of the blade into the man’s face.
Blood sprayed, and he dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Colin ran into Konnor’s arms, and he hugged the boy.
Oh thank God! He felt so small and yet firm and trembling in his arms. Konnor pressed his cheek against Colin’s unruly mane of hair.
He turned to Tamhas and stopped in his tracks. One opponent lay immobile on the ground, while Tamhas was pressed against the tree, holding a bloody gash on his side. The last warrior brought his mace high above his head for the last, deadly blow. Tamhas’s sword lay on the ground by his foot. He was defenseless.
Konnor let Colin go and darted at the man with a loud whistle. The whistle worked, and the MacDougall glanced.
Tamhas—good man—launched at the man’s stomach, using his head like a battering ram. The man doubled over but hit Tamhas’s back with his mace. Tamhas screamed in pain.
Konnor was now close enough, and with one clean movement, he cleaved off the man’s head. Blood sprayed in a fountain of gore, and Tamhas fell with the man’s body on the ground.
Konnor crouched by his side and lay him flat on his back. He looked at the gash and at Tamhas’s pale face. The man was breathing hard and wheezing. Colin sank to his knees by Tamhas’s side, his green eyes wide.
“Tamhas?” he said.
Fuck. The man didn’t look good. Konnor pressed his fingers against Tamhas’s neck to measure his pulse. It was weak. No!
The man looked at Colin and closed his eyes, his face relaxing with a relief. “Thank Jesu!” he mumbled. “Good man, Konnor.” He looked at him. “Thank you for saving him. Ye two should go back now, before the army notices ye.”
Konnor’s gut clenched. He knew the man was right. But he just couldn’t leave a fallen soldier behind.
“Let me see how badly you’re wounded. I can help you.”
He took Tamhas’s hand off the wound and swallowed a gasp as sharp needles pierced his gut. Blood pumped out of the open wound, and he could see the man’s pink intestines.
Colin saw it, too. His face paled, he turned and vomited.
Konnor pressed Tamhas’s hand back against his wound. The truth was, he didn’t have long. Damn it. Konnor’s hands shook as he took Tamhas’s other palm in both his hands. He glanced at the forest, but no one else had noticed them yet.
“Look at me, brother,” Konnor said. Tears prickled in his eyes, and he blinked, willing them away. He’d seen other men die in battle. It hadn’t happened often, thankfully, but Iraq had been a bloody battle field. “I’m here with you. So is Colin. We’re not leaving you.”
Tamhas’s eyes darkened and focused on Colin. He smiled. “Lad. I loved ye like ye were my own. Take care of yer mother, aye? She’s one of a kind.”
He looked at Konnor. “I hated ye because she looks at ye as I wish she would at me. I’ve wished that my whole life. And yet ye came and it only took a couple of days for her to fall in love with ye. I ken she’ll be safe with ye. She’d never be mine, no matter how much I’ve wanted it. But I ken ye’ll make her happy. Tell her I loved her.”
He stilled, looking at Konnor with unseeing eyes. Colin wept quietly by Konnor’s side, and he hugged the boy and brought him close. He let a tear crawl down his cheek, too, for the man who’d given his life protecting the son of the woman he loved.