She looked to see Seamus standing there, a sword in his hand, the blade dripping with blood.
“Run!” he yelled again and gave her a shove and went to follow her when a blade suddenly tore through his chest, and he gasped. The blade disappeared as fast as it had appeared and he fell to his knees, his dying breath urging her, “Run!”
Heather turned, but it was too late. One of Haidar’s warriors stood behind her and in front of her stood Haidar.
“This time you will not get away,” Haidar sneered. “And you will never feel the soil of your homeland beneath your feet after this day is done.”
“True, but it is you who will never feel the soil of your homeland beneath your feet again.”
Heather turned to see the Dragon standing behind her, gripping the hilt of his sword, the blade covered in blood, Haidar’s warrior dead at his feet and Finn standing on top of him, his little chest puffed out proudly and his head high. She scooped Finn up off the dead warrior and ducked behind her husband.
“More of my warriors will come,” Haidar warned.
“Your warriors are meeting their deaths at the hands of my men.”
“That paltry group in the woods that await your word?” Haidar said with a laugh.
Rhys waited until his laughter died. “You taught me well. That troop was there for you to see what I wanted you to see. It is the massive army ofwarriors behind them that you failed to see and who now finish off your warriors one by one.”
“You have learned nothing,” Haidar challenged. “The warriors who wait on my ships will be here soon and I will see everyone dead, except you and your beautiful wife, of course.”
Rhys wiped the blood from his sword on the body at his feet. “They will not be coming, and your ships will not be sailing... my warriors made sure of that. As I said, you taught me well and now it is time for you to die.” Rhys lunged at him with his sword.
Heather had seen what a skilled swordsman her husband was and now she saw why. Haidar handled a blade as if he was born with it in his hand. The Dragon had learned from a master and suddenly Heather feared for her husband’s life.
Haidar seemed to toy with Rhys, deflecting every thrust and swing with ease as if he purposely prolonged the inevitable. The enjoyment Haidar was getting was apparent in his smile and confident movements.
Finally, Haidar seemed to tire of his actions and stepped away from Rhys, his smile replaced with angry scowl. “You rob me of burning your home and you rob me of taking you home with me and seeing you suffer for what you have done. But before I take your life know that your wife will suffer more than you ever did.”
Rhys moved so fast that he was a blur to Heather and Haidar as well, and the next thing shesaw was Haidar’s sword arm sliced near to the bone, his sword dropping from his useless hand. But Rhys did not stop there. By the time he finished, Haidar was on his knees, blood running down from what was left of both his arms.
Haidar raised his head, fighting against the pain. “At least I die at the hands of a worthy opponent.”
Rhys dropped his sword and pulled a dagger from his boot. “I promised Anala I would deliver a message to you before I killed you.” He stepped behind Haidar, grabbed him by the hair, and yanked his head back, pressing the dagger’s blade to his throat. He leaned down and whispered, “Anala told me to tell you that she gave you the only son that you would ever have and never live to see.”
Haidar’s eyes turned wide. “My son lives?”
“He does and good Scottish parents took him in, they love him, and call him their own, and he will never know any differently.” Rhys drew the blade across Haidar’s throat swiftly and as he bled to death he glared at Rhys with hate-filled eyes.
Rhys wiped the dagger clean on Haidar’s shirt and snatched his sword up off the ground and looked to see his wife crouched over a body. He went over to her and dropped down beside her and saw that it was Seamus.
She turned tearful eyes on her husband. “He died trying to save me.”
“Then I am forever grateful to him and pleased that he died a warrior’s death, not a crippledold man, which I believe was his intention when he picked up his sword and joined the fight. I will see he has a warrior’s burial and see that he is buried where he wished to stay—on McComb land, his home.” He helped Heather to stand.
She glanced over at Haidar, and then back at her husband. “You are finally free.”
“I was finally free when I first held you in my arms.”
He went to kiss her when suddenly a warrior rounded the corner with his arm tight around Patience’s throat and a dagger in his hand. He made a wide berth around Rhys and Heather.
Hunter came barreling around the corner and stopped when his eyes fell on his wife. “Let her go, Greer, this is between you and me.”
“You ruined everything,” Greer yelled.
Heather wondered why Patience did not do something. She had seen her sister get out of that type of hold many times. Then she saw the blood running down her arm. Patience was too weak to fight back. Instinctively, she stepped forward and felt a strong hand pull her back.
Heather looked at her husband. “She needs tending now.”
