Kai backed away, pushing Caitlin behind him, and drew his sword as Alice’s men formed a circle around them.
“We dinna have time for this!” Alice hissed. “Wolfric! Go tell MacGuinness to get started.”
The bandit leader glowered. “Not until I’ve taken my vengeance on this bastard—”
“Do as I say! I will deal with our two spies.”
With a frustrated snarl, Wolfric pulled his horse around and trotted towards MacGuinness’ compound.
Kai glanced around, desperately searching for a way to escape, but he and Caitlin were surrounded. Alice’s men were closing in from all directions, forming a tight circle. There was no sign of Magnus, Conall and the others.
Suddenly, Alice’s men charged. Kai was ready for them. He parried and kicked and struck, blocking each blow with his sword. He would not let them get near Caitlin.
He pushed her back with one arm, keeping her behind him. He fought off the first wave of attackers and was gratified when they pulled back, surprised by the ferocity of his defense. But he was badly outnumbered and knew he could not hold out for long.
A wave of resignation washed over him. He had known this day would come—that he would die in a fight one day—but his heart twisted with pain at the thought of what would happen to Caitlin.
“Come on then,” he growled, raising his sword in front of him in a determined gesture. “Let’s finish this.”
As Kai watched, two of Alice’s men suddenly staggered as arrow’s sprouted from their necks. They collapsed into the dirt right at Kai’s feet. A second later, there was a thunder of hooves and an enormous horse came galloping through, slamming Alice’s men aside as if they were sticks. On the enormous horse’s back sat an even more enormous man, waving his sword over his head and bellowing a war cry.
Kai didn’t think he’d been so glad to see Magnus in his life.
The big man grinned. “Thought ye could do with a little help.”
He heard the drum of running feet and Oskar, Conall and Emeric ran through the gap that Magnus had created and formed a ring around Caitlin.
“Ye took yer bloody time,” Kai growled.
“Aye, sorry about that,” Emeric said. “We were...otherwise engaged.”
All of them, Kai noticed, looked like they’d been in a fight, with cuts and scrapes and bruises.
Around them, Alice’s men were regrouping after Magnus’s charge. Alice herself was watching them with a cold fury.
“Ye canna win,” she snarled. “No matter what ye do, our plan will still succeed.”
“What plan is that?” Kai demanded. “What do ye mean to do with that powder?”
Alice just smiled, a cold, mocking smirk. “Ye’ll find out soon enough.” She gave a command to her men and they charged.
Kai braced himself, sword raised. Magnus spurred the horse forward, knocking men flying, but many more made it past the big man. And then they were on them. The clash of metal against metal filled the air as swords flashed in the sunlight.
Emeric dispatched one man with an acrobatic kick while Oskar disarmed another with a neat sweep of his sword. Conall took out one who came too close to Caitlin with swift stabs of his daggers.
Alice’s men fought with shocking ferocity, with little care for their own safety, confirming Kai’s suspicion that these were more than just hired thugs.
I would never betray our cause, Alice had said.What cause was she talking about? What was their real plan here?
He had no more time to think about it as two men came at him, one armed with a spear, the other with twin blades. Kai shifted his weight, allowing the spear-wielding man to lunge past him while simultaneously slicing the sword-wielding man’s arm. He followed up with a swift kick to the man’s jaw and he went down in a heap. He dispatched the other with a single stroke of his sword.
But still the attackers came. There seemed to be no end to them. His men were holding steady, keeping Caitlin safe within their circle, but all of them were sporting cuts and Magnus had been knocked from his seat and the horse had bolted.
Only a few of Alice’s men had fallen. The others, he noticed, kept rotating, darting in to attack one of Kai’s men then disengaging, making no real effort to break through the circle.
They were trying to delay them, Kai realized. Trying to keep him and his men pinned here. But why?
“Fall back!” came a sudden bellowed order.
