Mist Warrior (5 page)

“
Aye, Tan,
”
Gavin said
,
stepping forward
. H
is voice sounded strange.
“
What happened?
”

Tan remained silent
,
gazing at them as if they were ghosts.

“
What happened, man?
”
Gavin asked
,
holding up the signet ring.
“
What happened to my family?
”

Tan dropped to his knees.
“
Forgive me, lords. They took us by surprise four days ago. They burned your home and the entire village. I fear your family did not survive it.
”

“
No…no one?
”

“
Some say they thought they saw Lady Catriona running into the woods with a group of mounted men pursuing
,
but we have not found her.
”

Branan squeezed his eyes shut. Suddenly the black rage pushed forward and his body shook with the power of it. But a tiny hope blossomed within him and managed to keep sane thought in his head. Could she still be alive?
“
Who did this?
”

“
Warden Strickland’s men.
”

Branan’s head shot up.

“
I do not know why
,
but they burned the village and the manor house. Only a handful of villagers survived…and no one in the house.
”

The cold blackness seized Branan’s heart. Nausea at the stench of burnt fle
sh assailed him and
fueled his rage. Once again Strickland had destroyed all Branan held dear…this time his foster-family. He squared his shoulders and strode to his horse.

“
Branan?
”
Gavin asked.
“
What are you doing?
”

“
Come, Gavin,
”
he growled.
“
We must search for Catriona.
”

“
My lord,
”
Tan said, his expression agonized.
“
No one is certain it was she. It could have been a servant running away.
”

Branan glanced down an>lanced at the cross he held
. H
is grip
on it
poked sharp indentations into his hand.
“
If she is alive, Tan, I will find her.
”

“
Aye, brother,
”
Gavin said
,
moving quickly to his own horse.
“
If anyone could survive the woods, it is Catriona.
”

Branan mounted and donned his helm
,
then hefted his claymore
“
Where was she last spotted, Tan?
”

The old man pointed.
“
We found a woman’s track in the woods
,
but the horsemen obliterated the trail. We gave up trying to find her.
”

“
Then we follow the horsemen,
”
Gavin said.

“
Aye,
”
Branan replied. He barked orders to his men to search the woods, a savage bloodlust thundering through his veins.
“
Let’s ride!
”

****

Catriona hit the ground hard
. E
xhaustion and cold wrapped around her thoughts and blurred reality. But her father’s voice continued to scream in her mind.

Run!

Doggedly, she hauled herself up and kept going. How long had she run? Days blurred into nights
,
and still the men hunted her like hounds on a scent. She had fled while the bastards
had
put torches to her home, slaughtering her mother and father. Where was her brother? Why had Gavin left on a secretive journey after being gone for so long?

For a brief instant
,
she remembered a terrible sight from childhood
-
waking up in the middle of the night for some unknown reason and peering out her small window. She saw the shadow of Branan’s back as he disappeared down the trail with an unknown rider. She had tried to go after him
,
but had not been able to catch him.

Branan had vanished, never to return, and he
’d
never said goodbye. Her father refused to speak of him after that. Perhaps he had felt as betrayed as she did.

Had Gavin abandoned her and
their parents
just like Branan
had
?

Nay, she couldn’t think like that. Gavin was her brother by blood
. N
ever would he shirk his family. But where was he and how could she get word to him?

Tears fogged her vision but she kept running. She had not been able to shake her pursuers long enough to rest
for more than an hour or two. Catriona
snatched winter
-
berries as she ran
. T
he frozen earth
was
too hard for her fingers to dig up roots. She wore only a tattered wool dress and cloak, now ripped to shreds from her flight.

She was cut and bruised from skidding on snow and rocks. She had thought her knowledge of the forest would allow her to lose the hunters easily
, b
ut now she felt like a trapped deer. Did they have a forester with them? Why did they stay on her trail with such determination?

Catriona knew she was beyond the limits of her endurance. She had to find shelter and food. She turned south, staying in the woods. She wanted to travel streams
,
but the unbearable cold would only serve to give her frostbite if she remained in the water.

A crossbow bolt pierced the trunk of a tree near her head. Growling curses, she sprinted away. At least all the dirt and muck covering would make her harder to see in the gray snowy mist.

“
This way!
”
a voice cried.

Catriona

Cat’s heart batter her ribs.
Too close! Too close!

We’ve got the little harlot now!
”

“
The one who catches her enjoys her first!
”

She ran harder, a sob strangling in her throat and cutting
off
her air. She pitched over a pile of
deadwood and fell into a
ditch on the other side. White
-
hot pain shot through her ankle as she slammed into the ground. Her vision darkened and she fought to suck in a breath. She had to keep moving but her exhausted body refused to obey her.

“
I say she went this way,
”
a harsh voice barked.

Terror knifed through her heart and her fingers closed around a thick stick.

Catriona felt the vibration of the earth before she truly heard the sound. The dull thud of hoof-beats reverberated in an even cadence, the stride long and heavy. She looked up, trying to blink her vision clear. Time seemed to slow, matching the pace of the ominous meter and her heartbeat joined it. Through the trees
,
she spotted a huge gray destrier charging toward her like a specter formed
of
swirling mist. She gaped at it, wondering if she was so exhausted she
’d begun to
hallucinate.

The sound of its hooves grew stronger.

Finely armored with plate and mail, the massive beast’s long stride swallowed the ground. The knight who rode the animal appeared as a giant as well, the colors of his brat muted with dirt and mud. The destrier continued its charge, heading straight toward her. The knight lifted his claymore.

Catriona remained rooted in terror as the ghostly apparition thundered closer. Suddenly, the beast gathered itself and shifted its weight to its haunches. It launched itself over the ditch and the deadwood, landing easily on the other side. The knight bellowed his war cry.

“
Cruach Mór!
”

She peeked over the deadwood and time abruptly righted itself. The knight’s claymore crashed down on the helm of one of Catriona’s pursuers, driving it into his skull. Blood flew as the man toppled from his horse. The knight’s claymore snapped around to the left, catching a second serjanr cecond st in the jaw, ripping it off and breaking his neck.

Catriona could only stare in horror at the carnage and at the giant knight
,
who wielded the two handed claymore as if it were nothing more than a bastard sword.

The gray destrier reared, screaming its challenge. The knight’s war cry answered and the horse lunged past a third serjant. The knight slammed his claymore into the man’s back
. B
lood flew from the serjant’s mouth and he hit the ground, his dead eyes wide with shock and horror.

The knight pulled his horse to a sliding stop
,
gazing at the bodies around him. He dismounted and moved toward Catriona.

She drew herself up to her knees, hefting the stick
,
but she inwardly cringed. There was only one man who fought with a claymore in Inglewood. Strickland.
Though w
hy he had just slaughtered his own men, she had no idea. She was hardly a match for an armored knight
,
but he wouldn’t take her without a fight.

“
Whoreson!
”
she spat.
“
Bloody cod-sucking swine!
”

The knight paused for a moment
, then
thrust the tip of his claymore into the earth, where the weapon remained upright. His attitude seemed to be one of exasperation and forced patience.

Catriona’s nerves stretched even tighter.
“
A pox on your cock! Do your worst!
”

The huge knight ripped off his helm and spoke in a deep
,
but mild voice.
“
And after that, lass, what will ye do to me? Steal my clothes and hide them until I turn blue with cold or put another dead rat in my pack?
”