Highlander Enchanted (30 page)

Another funnel cloud formed, this one closer, and tore through the middle of the battle, slaying everyone in its path without discrimination.

“This is wrong,” she said, unable to catch her breath when she saw the power of Cade’s magic. Cade would never knowingly hurt any of his warriors.

“I fear the worst is coming.”

Her eyes lifted to the heavens.

Clouds had begun to swirl above the ocean. They formed a funnel that extended halfway to the sea while wind twisted the waves and lifted them towards the heavens. The mammoth funnel began to grow and pull in more clouds and water. Sparks of Cade’s sorcery glimmered and flashed in the depths.

Two people on horseback came from the direction of the ocean, over the hill, and started into the valley. She recognized Father Adam’s white hair and stooped form. He was headed towards the center of the battle, and she frowned.

Wind pushed the stewart’s horse into hers, and she steadied her destrier with a pat.

“We need to seek shelter!” the stewart cried above the gale sweeping in from the ocean. He turned his mount and started towards lower ground.

Untouched by gale or rain, Isabel hesitated. Two more funnels tore through the valley, and the downpour grew as thick as the fog.

Cade was there somewhere, and he was hurt or mad. His sorcery was once more visible, as it had been the night she followed him into the forest. He claimed it guided her to him, despite his wishes. The tempest roaring around her, caused by his magic, did not touch her. She was protected from him, by him.

Yer touch drives him back inside me, where he belongs
, he had once told her about the Black Cade side of him.

 Even now, pink gems sparkled from the far side of the battlefield. She had been drawn to the seillie chieftain since they first met, connected to him by a fate neither of them had understood. Her heart yearned for her to find him, to settle the darkness ripping him apart, to feel his arms around her once more and beg him to forgive her for treating him unfairly when he had the gentlest heart and wisest mind of any she had ever met. To lose him now, after all she had learnt, was unbearable.

Only when it was possibly too late did she see her own flawed thinking. Her greatest sin was not lust or hate. It was harshly judging a man worthy of her respect and love. He was flawed, and his magic frightened her. Whether her god or his had brought her to him, she was fated to share what remained of her life at his side. If they were to die here, it would be together, as husband and wife. It was an honor, one that would take all her strength, one that was worth her eternal soul, one he deserved.

“Lady Isabel!” the stewart shouted. “Come!”

She glanced towards the tempest forming over the sea. If it were to hit the valley, all would be lost.

Loosening her horse’s reins, she kneed it hard and bent over its neck.

She galloped down the hill, into the melee of the valley. Isabel guided the destrier away from those fighting and through the mud, her senses filled with the scent of earth and blood and the sounds of battle. Lightning raked across the sky and thunder smashed the heavens, rumbling the ground.

Another funnel swept by, this one close enough for her to see its incredible width and power, and she hunkered down over the horse. At one point, she thought she saw Father Adam, likewise skirting the battle, and headed in the same direction. He was swallowed by fog, and her course altered according to the pink lanterns.

Where Cade somehow protected her from magic, he was not present to save her from battle. One moment, she was atop her horse, and the next, she was hauled off its back and thrust to the ground. Isabel landed in the mud. Three men, too covered in grime and blood for her to make out what tartan they wore, stood over her with weapons raised.

“Is that her?” one shouted.

She hurried to her feet and started to run. One of them caught her arm and yanked her back. Just as quickly, his hand fell away, and his mouth dropped open. The two of them looked down at his severed arm at the same time, and she stifled a cry. The blade of a broadsword pierced his chest, splattering her with blood.

Isabel stared as her attacker fell, to be replaced by a familiar face.

Richard’s master-at-arms stood bloodied and breathing raggedly before her. She started to inch away, prepared to run to the destrier lingering outside the battle, when he spoke.

“You should not be here!” he said.

“I belong with Cade!”

Thunder roared loudly enough to cause them both to look up. The ground quaked beneath them. The grey-black clouds forming the edge of the wild sea tempest were visible over one ridge while a dark wall of clouds formed over the opposite ridge.

Isabel lifted the skirts of her gown and whirled, seeking the pink lanterns.

“Where do you go?” the master-at-arms gripped her arm. “You cannot think to enter battle!”

“I must find him!” she shouted above the wail of wind.

He studied her. “He controls this sorcery, does he not?”

Her mouth went dry. She considered lying to protect the seillie secret. Another crash of thunder dissuaded her.

“Yes,” she said. “But I can help him stop this!”

The knight appeared torn. She held her breath, awaiting his decision.

“I will assist, my lady,” he said finally. “Stay behind me.”

“He is there.” She pointed.

The master-at-arms released her and strode before her. He began to make a path, at times fighting and at other times, maneuvering around the warriors clogging the valley. She trailed him closely and guided him when needed by tapping his arm and pointing.

The fog began to turn black, and the funnel clouds to appear at shorter intervals. Aware of the massive storm creeping into the sky above her head, she began to witness the destruction it would leave. Men from the edges of the battle were thrown towards its center. Horses were next to be lifted and tossed, along with rocks and debris. The storm closed in around the valley and began to devour everyone in its path.

She pushed the master-at-arms, tears of fear on her face. Untouched by the tempest, she could not escape the sight of its destruction and violence as the world began to crash around her.

The men in their path were swept off their feet, and ocean water started to spill over the ridge into the valley.

Suddenly, the master-at-arms, was sucked into the air by the force of the winds.

“No!” she cried and held onto his cloak. She tripped over a dead warrior and fell, forced to witness her guide being swallowed by the storm. He disappeared into a funnel. Ocean water washed over everyone and everything in its path – but parted as it reached her and raced around her.

Isabel wiped her eyes clear of tears and continued. She refused to think of her brother being caught in the tempest or washed out to sea and forced herself to continue when she wanted nothing more than to drop to her knees and sob.

She had to find Cade.

The men before her were torn away from the ground beneath their feet by a combination of wind and seawater, whose rising levels threatened to block her view soon. She followed the pink lanterns, the trail of Cade’s magic.

At long last, when all was flung clear from her path, she glimpsed him before a wave of seawater blocked her sight. The water passed, and a passage opened for her to reach him.

Cade knelt with his head bowed, surrounded by the colorful lanterns of his magic, untouched by the storms.

“Cade!” she cried.

If he heard her above the wind, he did not move.

Isabel stumbled and staggered through the mud left when the ocean retreated to allow her passage. She splashed into a puddle and rose with effort. Breathless, she looked him over, not convinced he was alive. He was so still, drenched and bleeding.

“Cade!” she called again. “You must stop this!”

He shifted without lifting his head.

“Cade!”

“Yer dead.” His low voice was ragged.

“I am here!” she said and focused on traversing the last few obstacles to reach him. “Cade, you will kill us all!”

“Can … no’ … stop … it.”

A sob welled up inside her. “You
must
! My brother … your cousins and kin … you will slay them! You will slay
me
!”

“I am … weak. Can … no’ fight it.”

Her ankle twisted beneath her, and she fell once more. Fire shot through her, as burning and hot as when she had broken her shin falling from a horse. Trembling, Isabel swiped away tears and water from her face and rose. She limped forward. Reaching him at last, she dropped to her knees before him. “You can fight it. You must!” she said, voice cracking. “Your magic guided me here. It protected me so I could help you!”

“I am gone.”

Her heart broke at his hushed voice. Men, horses, boulders, wagons and she knew not what else were swirling around the valley, yanked into the violent storm.

“Please, Cade,” she pleaded.

He sagged without responding.

Isabel sucked in deep breaths, fighting her panic. “You are my husband, Cade, a man of great honor and bravery. I was wrong to want you dead, to seek you out for the purpose of harming you. You healed my brother’s madness and I am … distraught knowing this causes you such pain. I did not know. But I do now, and I am so sorry for the strife I caused you, for the secrets and lies and blame.” She stopped, unable to tell if her words were penetrating his madness.

During the last days before her father’s death, she had openly wept and pleaded with him at his bedside, trying to reach him, too, and make him understand how much she needed him, how much she loved him. She had failed to save him, and she was failing to save Cade. The tears started, and pain with no physical source thrummed within her.

“Please, Cade. I want a home with you, a beautiful keep on the ocean where we can see … the ocean from every window and a home and land for each member of your … our clan. We will have children, three boys and two girls, and they will drive you mad with their laughter and you will remember this day and how you fought the madness one last time. You will know … peace. I swear it!”

Her eyes darted to the sky then to the seawater starting to fill the valley.

“You will have gold,” she continued. “We will never … we will never leave our lands, because they are ours and so beautiful, you would not ever wish to leave, and no one will ever take them from us. The king has given me his word. He will protect the seillie and my claim and Niall will ensure the hills are always covered in flowers and we will dance every night with … with the clan,” she babbled. “But you must stop this first. You must protect us and your cousins and …” She broke off and sobbed, aware of how little time she had to reach him through the madness, of how many lives were likely lost already.

Waves crested the ridge, these large enough to swallow the valley.

“You must save me, Cade. One last time,” she told him.

He was unresponsive.

Isabel looked away from the sea and clouds attempting to devour all in their path and shuffled on her knees to her husband. Hunching her shoulders against the storm, she wrapped her arms around Cade’s neck and pulled him into her body as she had her brother. The ocean loomed over the ridge behind her, and she swore never to let Cade go, even if they were swept out to sea.

“Please, Cade,” she whispered. “I cannot live without you.” She closed her eyes, expecting to spend her last moment alive knowing she had not been able to save any of those she loved.

He shuddered.

She squeezed him tighter in response, unable to speak through the sobs clogging her throat.

He was trembling and warm, and the growth of his beard was rough against her skin. Her strength was spent, and she clung to him. She waited to die as the sounds of the world dying around her tore away what remained of her hope.

“Isabel.” His voice was rough.

She swallowed hard. “I am here,” she managed. “I will not leave you again.”

He lifted her chin and pushed the wet strands of hair plastered to her cheek out of her face. “I thought you were dead.”

She shook her head, chin trembling.

His eyes were glassy, and the shadow she had seen over him in Laird Duncan’s Great Hall was present.

“Forgive me, Cade,” she whispered and took his cheeks in her hands. “Forgive me for not saving you.” She fluttered kisses across his face and hugged him again.

He sighed deeply. Cade’s arms closed around her, drawing her against him. He felt strong and solid despite the faint tremor of his being, and she melted into him, grateful to spend her last moment alive with the most honorable man she had ever known.

“You did save me, lass,” he murmured.

Not this time.
She could not speak the words aloud.

“My magic chose ye. It always ken ye would protect my kind. Were that I trusted m’self sooner, trusted you …”

No wall of ocean water swept them away, and no wind tossed them into the heavens. Her eyes opened. The sea no longer peeked over the ridge, and the clouds above had begun to break up. Wind softened its abuse of all in its path and the rain was receding.

“Cade,” she breathed, afraid to hope the danger was passing.

“The madness took me. I couldna … fight … alone …” He drifted off and then buried his face into the nape of her neck, squeezing her against his hard warrior’s frame.

She breathed in his scent, too exhausted to speak. She listened to the sound of his heart above the quieting tempest. It was strong and steady despite his state.

She relaxed in his embrace, grateful for his strength when hers was close to gone.

“Isabel, my wife,” he whispered. “Ye soothe my unseillie blood. Ye return me from the madness.”

She blinked back tears, gazing up at his rugged features framed against a pop of brilliant blue sky visible as the clouds rolled away. Cade was flushed, his moon-hued gaze sharp but his skin clammy.

“The sky,” she said, straightening. “I have not seen the sun since I arrived.”

The color dazzled her. She refused to blink, afraid this was a dream, that the blue would disappear and the storm return. Finally, she allowed her eyes to close and open – and nothing changed. The clouds raced away as fast as they had formed. Puddles of water and mud littered the verdant valley. Men and horses were starting to rise from where they had been dropped by the wind and seawater. Wood from broken wagons and trees were scattered across the floor of the valley, along with weapons, armor, and other debris.