Chapter Twenty-Two

Eli was looking for her next target when Dyna yelled, "Stop! It's over. Let's retrieve as many arrows as we can salvage and find our men."

Thea jumped down from the tree and followed Dyna into the sea of the fallen, desperately looking for Willum, Eli was sure. Wenna called out to Tevis, but got no answer.

Where the hell was Alaric?

Eli found her way into the middle of the field, dead and injured men everywhere, the sounds of wailing voices nearly too much to bear. She'd noticed aches in various spots on her body when she was in the tree, but she's ignored them because she had no choice.

A strong pain in her shoulder nearly brought her to her knees. Her hand reached up to check for blood, but none was there. Who had been hurt? Her gaze took in the entire air, drawing a breath of shock.

Stunned by the view, she scanned one area of the field then another, the sea of bodies overwhelming her while her hand still protected her shoulder. She made her way through the battlefield, doing her best not to step on anyone, and her eyes traveled from one face to the next. Some were dead with their eyes still open, others struggling to move, reaching for anything or anyone.

A hand tugged on her ankle but she yanked away, a dying Englishman begging her. "Help me."

Where was Alaric? Where were Willum and Maitland and Tevis? All she saw were Englishmen—dead, nearly dead, or severely wounded.

Stabs of pain assaulted her, and she jerked in reaction to each one. Every time she felt a new pain in one part of her body or another, she glanced down to see a man holding or bleeding from that part of his body, looking to her for salvation.

Her chest hurt, nay, her head, nay, her foot, nay, her shoulder. She grabbed her hair and tugged on it, the tears she'd held inside for so long pouring down her cheeks in buckets.

She couldn't take any more.

Where was Alaric?

She sobbed in wrenching spurts as she continued across the field. There was blood everywhere, and the stench of death overpowered her senses.

One man grabbed her leg. "Take it out. Ye put it there." His words came out in an odd, strangled way.

He had an arrow straight through his cheek. A second arrow protruded from his flank. "Take it out!"

She hurried forward. "Alaric? Where are ye?"

She'd known that any battle would involve death, but she'd never imagined the reality of being so close to it. And it wasn't just the visual. Death assaulted every one of her senses. The screams dropped to wails and then to odd, raspy breathing before they finally stopped.

"Alaric? Please, Alaric."

She loved Alaric. He said he'd loved her. Now she knew her own heart. If she came upon a body and it belonged to him, she'd never be right again. Each time she searched the face of a fallen body, she prayed it wouldn't be Alaric. He was the only one for her.

He'd said he loved her. Her!

More bodies. More blood. More death.

She moved blindly to any bare spot, hoping to avoid any of the not-yet-dead, but one sat up quickly and grabbed her hips, tugging her toward him. "I'll kill ye, lass."

Falling to the ground on top of the brute, she used her fist to deliver a blow to his face, then pushed away and kicked him in the belly, giving her the time to scramble in the other direction so she could get back to her feet.

A sudden jolt of pain in her leg made her knee buckle. She glanced down to see a sword wound that had nearly severed the man's leg. By the amount of blood around him, he'd died quickly.

She pushed forward, wishing the sounds away. Closing her eyes at the things she saw, pinching her nose to stop the assault on her nostrils.

Go away. Go away. Go away .

One of Douglas's men called out to her. "Help me, please. I'll live if ye get me away."

She couldn't see his wound at first, but a sudden sharp pain told her where to look. She pulled his arm back and stared at a slash across his hip, still bleeding heavily.

"I can help ye. I can. I need something to help ye." She stood up and searched the area. "Alaric! Dyna! Anyone!"

Voices called out to her, moans and whimpers. Last words uttered before a life fizzled away.

"Alaric!" Where was he? She began to move faster, the need for this man whom she trusted and loved so strong now that it overpowered her. There were more men trying to stand, more crying out for help.

Sir James made his way through the dead, looking for his men. She pointed him toward the man she'd promised to help. Then she saw a small group off to the side of the field. Were they not in blue and red plaids?

"Alaric?"

A hand grabbed her heel while another man called out to her. "Help me, please."

Her tears overflowed again, and she wanted nothing more than to escape the horror around her.

The man gripped her foot so hard that she fought to stay upright.

She did the only thing she could do.

Eli tipped her head back and screamed and screamed and screamed.