Except it wasn’t a retreat.
It was an attack on the king.
Chapter Thirty-Five
“Cormac!” Finn shouted,grabbing Dallan’s shirtsleeve and yanking him to their commanders. “Cormac! To the king!”
Upon hearing his cry, Dallan looked toward Brian, swearing a volatile oath and taking off on his own, doing his damndest to chase down twenty horsemen.
Calling once more for Cormac, Finn sprinted after him. He wasn’t about to let Dallan fight Baeth alone.
Baeth’s men reached the king when Dallan and Finn were halfway across the field. Brian drew his sword, his guard taking up his defense while Dallan and Finn closed the distance.
Finn’s fury welled up from deep in his belly, burning hotter than a smith’s forge. He was going to kill Baeth. After all he’d done to Eva, after the threat he posed to first Dallan and now the king, Finn wouldn’t let him leave this battlefield alive.
Cormac, at a full run on a stolen horse, passed them as they went, entering the fray with a roar of anger. He’d better not get to Baeth first. The only way Finn could let the killing blow pass is if Dallan landed it himself.
His sword moved with a will of its own, cutting a path alongside Dallan directly for Baeth.
Four horsemen toward the back noticed them, turning to charge. Finn and Dallan sidestepped the charge in opposite directions, separated from one another with half the horsemen between them.
“Baeth!” Finn shouted, continuing to move lest he be trampled by one of the horses. Screams and steel surrounded him, a dizzying cacophony of violence.
Behind him, Finn heard Diarmid, Conan, and Broccan, as well as the shouts of several other men. All of them worked to cut a path to Brian.
Sunlight glinted off a sword out of the corner of his eye. Finn turned, springing into action. Baeth had reached Brian.
Finn’s breath caught as Baeth’s sword hit Brian’s horse, narrowly missing the king. He wouldn’t make it in time.
But Dallan did.
Brian dismounted before the horse fell upon him as Dallan moved to defend the king from Baeth. Finn neared them, watching as they dueled. For several strokes, Dallan had the advantage. He beat Baeth back with hit after hit.
Then Baeth’s men noticed the duel.
Abandoning their own fights, they descended on Dallan and the king with devastating force. Cormac reached the king in time to defend him alongside the guardsmen, working to free him from the melee.
Brian called for a retreat. All the Fianna in sight ran after him, protecting their king and their own backs.
All the Fianna, except Dallan.
Finn watched as his best friend was swallowed whole by a dozen men, many still mounted. Baeth gained the upper hand before Dallan disappeared from sight.
He didn’t hesitate a moment. His friend needed him. Finn roared, drawing as much attention away from Dallan as he could. He cut down two men, forcing his way to Dallan within the circle.
Covered in blood but still fighting, Dallan spun with the ferocity of a caged wolf, his sword flying from one man to the next.
While Dallan turned his attention to a horseman spearing him from behind, Baeth lifted his sword to take advantage of the opening.
Finn’s shield caught the blow. Relief washed over him. He’d made it just in time.
Baeth’s skill with the sword challenged Finn, but Finn’s simmering rage gave him an edge. As Dallan returned to join in the fight against Baeth, Finn’s sword slid into his chest.
The thundering of hooves preceded a flank attack by Sitric, who grinned like a fool as he and his men dispatched the last of the traitors.
“Mide is coming!” he called to Dallan and Finn, urging his mount to follow after Brian and the Fianna.
They ran several miles before finally leaving the enemy warriors behind, every man dropping to the ground or doubling over to catch his breath.
