Page 46 of Highland Prince of Darkness

Neither of the men was armed with anything, but Iain had already seen the many pieces of wood that would work as a make-shift weapon if he needed to use one. But Athol was still his friend, and although they had fought in the past, he couldn’t imagine using that kind of force against him.

“Give it up now!” Iain called to him, but Athol simply snarled and ran at him again.

Iain was ready this time. He swung a punch that landed against Athol’s ribs and caused him to double over for a second, but he was swiftly back up and on his feet with his arms ready to attack.

They fought for a few more minutes, the brawl turning into something much more violent as both men became more riled up. Iain was panting and trying his best not to show that the movements were tiring him out, but he really didn’t want to fight against Athol, he just wanted him to see justice.

“Ye’ll regret ever going to the guards, ye’ll see one day,” Athol spoke with a sickening smile on his face. It was as though he was going to take pleasure in watching Iain suffer. “I will nay be locked up forever, mark my words.”

Iain had felt a lot better knowing that Athol was behind bars and was unable to cause any harm to innocent people. He knew that he was going to have to do something to make sure that Athol would stay locked up, but he still didn’t like the way that he was fighting his friend.

“Ye cannae be the bad guy out here, I will nay let ye,” Iain called to him, as Athol recollected himself for a moment, “I will nae let ye cause more suffering to people.”

“And what is it that ye think ye do?” Athol was seething as he spoke to him, “Because that’s all ye cause too!”

“Nae! I never wanted this life I… I just never wanted it to be this way.”

Athol charged at him and Iain managed to push him off, but he wasn’t expecting him to come back quite so quickly. Iain was too slow to block the incoming blow and fell, stunned for a moment. He was breathing heavily as he picked himself up and managed to stand just in time to see Athol lunging at him with a piece of splintered wood.

Iain moved to the left just in time to feel the whirl of wind in the wake of the sharp wood, but he wasn’t able to recover in time to dodge its second blow.

He gasped and fell to the floor as the piece of wood stuck out of his side. It was a searing pain that he hadn’t felt in a long time, but it was more the shock of being injured so badly that stung him more. Iain hadn’t thought that Athol would seriously hurt him; they had always been friends, and it felt almost as big of a betrayal as what he had done to Athol.

“Dinnae look for me,” Athol spoke in a low voice, “Dinnae seek me out, and dinnae rely on anyone’s guards to bring justice ever again. I dinnae ken what kind of deal it was that ye made with them, but what I do ken is that ye’re a fool for doin’ so.”

Iain could only grit his teeth through the pain as he looked around and realized the kind of trouble that he was in. The street was deserted with nobody to help him, and even if someone was there, he wouldn’t be able to get help too easily without the risk of being arrested himself.

“Ye’ll nae get away with this, they’ll find ye one day,” Iain managed to say through his pain.

“I dinnae think that they will, and do ye want to ken why?” Athol spoke as he came closer to his old friend, “Because I will nae make the same mistake of having someone like ye as a friend.”

“Sounds like a lonely life to live,” Iain managed to remark.

“It will keep me alive and out of the hands of the law.” Athol stood back and glanced around. “Well then, I suppose this is where we part ways, old friend. Just ken that I will get my revenge if ye survive this.”

Before he left, Athol decided to twist the wood in Iain’s side to a new angle, amounting to a new cry of pain from Iain. He left him for dead on the street, but Iain knew that he was stronger than that. He would get his own revenge one day.