The brute laughed a humorless, cruel laugh. “Bold words,” he sneered, slowly starting to circle around Emeric and Anna. “But ye are outnumbered, Mackintosh. Just pay the toll and we’ll let ye pass. Yer horse and yer woman should do it.”
Emeric’s grip on the reins tightened until his knuckles turned white. Anna could feel the tension radiating from him as he turned Plover to follow the man’s movement, keeping him always in sight.
“Touch her,” Emeric growled. “And I will kill ye.”
The man’s laughter boomed across the ravine, echoing off the stony walls and filling the silence. “Is that a threat, Mackintosh?”
Emeric held the man’s gaze with a calm severity. “A promise.”
A tense silence descended. The man studied Emeric closely, no hint of amusement in his gaze now. The other men watched their leader carefully, their hands gripping their weapons.
The big man stepped back. Waving a hand dismissively, he said to his men, “Take her.”
Everything seemed to happen at once. The Murray ruffians sprang forward like starving wolves. Emeric roared, a primal sound that echoed through the ravine like the roar of a bear. He grabbed his bow from where it hung from the saddle. It was shorter than the longbow he’d used in the games, designed for hunting from horseback rather than long-range shots, but in Emeric’s hands, it was no less devastating. His first shot took a man through the throat, his second thudded into an unprotected chest, his third pierced the meat of a man’s arm, causing him to drop his weapon and scream in agony.
“Hold on, Anna,” Emeric hissed urgently into her ear.
He booted Plover hard. The horse’s muscles bulged beneath them and he sprang forward, bursting through the ring of men and sending dust and rocks flying up behind. His hooves pounded a thunderous rhythm against the rocky ground as he ran, echoing the terrified thumping of Anna’s heart. She clung on desperately as they careened through the ravine in a mad dash that had her hair whipping out behind her and tears squeezing from the corners of her eyes.
Behind them, enraged howls echoed through the ravine as the Murrays realized too late that they had underestimated Emeric Mackintosh.
But Emeric had also underestimated the enemy.
Up ahead, warriors who had remained hidden during the confrontation suddenly spilled across the path, these ones mounted, blocking their escape.
Plover screamed and reared, his legs pawing the air. Anna screamed too as she lost her grip on the saddle. Then suddenly the ground was rushing up to meet her, and she landed with a thump, the breath whooshing out of her lungs.
Emeric dragged her to her feet, his anxious face looming close. “Are ye all right?”
She nodded. “I...I think so.”
“Stay behind me.”
The Murray bandits were bearing down on them. There was no sign of Plover, and Anna guessed the frightened horse had run off in the melee. Emeric had managed to keep hold of his bow and quiver and now he calmly nocked an arrow, lifted the bow and fired, knocking a man clean out of his saddle. He drew and fired, drew and fired, and three more men fell before his onslaught. But there were still so many of them and Emeric’s arrows wouldn’t last forever.
Anna looked around for something she could use as a weapon but found nothing. Damnation. She was terrified, but furious too. Her eyes alighted on a pile of rubble. It was littered with shards of slate and palm-sized rocks. If she could throw an ax, she could bloody well throw a rock!
Darting over to the rubble, she grabbed a rock and hurled it at a man who was sneaking up on Emeric’s left. It missed, but the second one caught him in the shoulder, making him grunt, and Emeric spun and sent an arrow into his chest.
Emeric gave Anna a grin of acknowledgement and she continued to fling her crude missiles. Her rocks did little damage, but served to distract their attackers just enough for Emeric to take them down.
But his arrows were running out. Two more arrows. One. Then none.
Emeric tossed aside his bow. With a howl of rage, he sprang forward, closing the gap between himself and the nearest rider. The man raised his sword, Anna screamed, and Emeric leapt, slamming into him and sending him crashing from the saddle.
“Get the horse!” Emeric screamed at Anna. “Get away! Now!”
“Not a chance! I’m not leaving you!”
Without stopping to think, she hurled herself at the man Emeric was grappling with, landing a kick between his legs that sent him crashing to his knees.
“What are ye doing?” Emeric cried. “Ride, damn it!”
“We’re both getting out of here! Come on!”
She seized the reins of the riderless horse, its eyes wide and rolling in the melee. Then a heavy hand clamped onto her shoulder and she whirled, seeing a man looming over her, face twisted into a snarl, teeth bared. She screamed, pounding at his chest with her fists, but he merely laughed and tightened his grip on her shoulder.
Then he suddenly stumbled, a thick arrow protruding from his chest, and he crashed to the ground at her feet. Anna looked over her shoulder and met Emeric’s gaze. He held another man’s bow now, his chest heaving.
