Chapter 4

4

I sobel jumped out of the longship to rescue Libby, flailing in the water after falling overboard in the cave. Instead of helping her onto the ship, Isobel pulled her onto the rocks above the waterline, where they would set up a makeshift camp.

She secured the ship to a rock column and then helped Drummond out. She reached out to take Elene’s free hand and pulled her ashore. Elene was carrying a bag of smoked fish and flasks of water. Conall grabbed blankets and clothes.

Isobel looked at the narrow entrance to the large cave. It had a natural walkway on either side, so they could easily reach the outside. The rocks were moss-covered and slimy, so they had to use care in navigating them.

She began to explore the back of the cave and found a chasm, but the cave system continued beyond that. A breeze flowed through the cave, and they should be able to light a fire to provide warmth and cook meals while venting the smoke.

“I’ll scout out the area, and if it looks safe, we can gather driftwood off the beach to build a fire.” Isobel made her way to the entrance of the cave, slipping twice.

Once she exited the cave, she crouched down, exposed on the rocky beach, and eyed the cliffs. She didn’t see any movement above. She hurried across the beach, gathering as much driftwood as she could, and then rushed back to the safety of the cave.

Conall had already set up the brazier, and Elene was organizing beds on the smoother rocks. Libby was changing out of her wet clothes, and Drummond was sorting out their food supplies.

“We’ll gather more driftwood and store it in here. But we eat first.” They hadn’t eaten for hours, and they needed energy.

“We should burn the Vikings’ longships.” Conall offered everyone the last of their smoked fish.

“If we did, they would be stuck here like us, and then they might even find us,” Drummond said. “It would be better if they leave.”

Isobel considered the possibility. “If we did burn their ships, we could stop the marauders from taking slaves with them.”

That was Isobel’s main concern.

Elene nodded, taking another bite of her mackerel.

“The Scots warriors could whittle down their numbers.” Conall drank some of his water. “But after fighting them, the Scots wouldna look favorably upon us if they should discover us.”

“Unless they learned we helped them by burning the Viking longships,” Isobel said.

After finishing the last of her mackerel, Isobel considered how they had survived their long journey across the open ocean. She couldn’t believe they’d safely made it this far.

The only way she would have ever gone there was to trade with the Scots or fight battles, which it often led to. Everything had happened so suddenly that she hadn’t had time to plan what they would do once they reached Scotia.

Libby poked at her fish. “I think we should burn their ships.”

Isobel suspected she said so because she had been uprooted from her home and didn’t like the human Vikings they’d lived with.

Elene took a deep breath and let it out. “They’ll be guarded, wouldna they be?”

“A couple of guards will stay with the ships. Also, the marauders won’t venture far from them. As long as they dinna return cliffside, they wouldna see the ships burning though.”

“That’s why they were fighting whoever was on the cliffs above. Their ships are nearby,” Conall said.

“ Ja . They’ll move down the coast to attack more monasteries and villages after they are done here,” Isobel said.

“It’s dark out now. They canna see us in the dark. We could go now,” Conall said.

Despite being tired after their long journey, Isobel agreed. “Aye, let’s go.”

The Vikings would want revenge but would be shaken when they realized an unseen enemy had destroyed their vessels and vanished.

“Elene, you stay with Conall’s sister and brother.” Isobel stood.

“You dinna need me to fight the men?” Elene asked.

They could use her help, but what if the men managed to kill the three of them? Then, the little ones would be in the cave by themselves, and Isobel didn’t want to think about what could become of them.

Isobel battled with herself over the plan. She wanted to keep her family safe. But she didn’t want anyone who might have been captured to be treated like Elene. Isobel hugged Libby, Drummond, and then Elene.

“Whatever happens, dinna come for us. If we dinna return, take them back to your home, to your wolf kind.”

“Aye.” Elene hugged her back.

“Come. Let’s go.” Isobel grabbed her sword, sheathed it, and carefully walked along the raggedy, slippery stones to the cave entrance.

Conall grabbed his sword and headed out after her.

Before leaving the cave, she told Conall, “If there are more than two guards, we dinna fight them. We watch, waiting for only one to be in view, then if that happens, we make our move. If they are together, we dinna engage them. We slip away. Mayhap observe them for a while, but we can only go after one while the other isna in view.”

“ Ja. ”

Neither of them was strong enough to make a full-frontal assault on one of the Vikings unless they caught him by surprise, and only if the other guard, if there were two or more, weren’t alerted.

Then Isobel and Conall made their way to the ocean.

“We could climb atop the cliffs and make our way toward the beach that way, but we might run into the marauders,” Isobel said.

“I say we swim to the beach. No one will expect anyone to go ashore there.”

That would give them more time to observe the situation, she hoped.

“ Ja .” They would reach a beach a short way from the cliffs at the water’s edge. But they would have to go around more cliffs after swimming to the second beach to reach the ships resting on the shore.

They started to swim toward the beach on the other side of their cave, battling the waves, the currents threatening to take them back in the cave's direction and trying to keep from slamming into the rocks. She and Conall were excellent swimmers but fought to reach the beach.

They clung to the rocks while the waves yanked at them, trying to pull them loose. But they could see the beach around the cliff. The longships were jutting out on the beach beyond the next cliff. They clambered onto the beach, then after catching their breath, they raced across the rocky shore.

At that moment, she wished she was wearing her wolf coat. She could run faster and be much warmer than a human wearing wet clothes.

The cold wind was whipping off the ocean, and she shivered. Not to mention, chills were running up her spine while thinking of the danger they faced. Running across the rocky beach helped to warm her. Her cousin was behind her, his feet hitting the rocks with a soft clatter.

Their hearts beat in unison, like two birds soaring above the crashing waves. They reached the next outcropping of rocks and paused momentarily, catching their breaths. They had to swim again.

“We can do this,” Conall said, hands on his thighs, breathing hard.

“ Ja , we can.” She was glad he agreed and didn’t want to back out.

She observed the choppy waves, the white caps, jagged rocks, and dark water, took a deep breath before they plunged into the cold ocean, and began swimming again.

As soon as they jumped into the water, the cold took away their breaths, but they pressed on, swimming hard. The waves crashed over them, pulling them in different directions. As bad as the first swim was, it wasn’t as treacherous as this, and she hoped she and Conall would be all right as they made it around the bend.

A wave crashed into her, propelling her into the coarse rocks, and she felt a stab of pain in her left arm. Her stomach clenched. Her wolf’s healing abilities would make her heal in half the time it took a human to heal, but she needed to be at her best if she was going to fight a guard or two.

The wind whipped through her wet hair as she swam at the cliff’s edge, the water splashing at the rocks. She grabbed the rocks, so she could see what they had to face next. The waves threatened to pull her away from her tentative hold on the slippery, mossy rocks.

Her heart was racing, her mind filled with dark anticipation.

Conall swam up beside her and grabbed hold of the rocks. “You’re bleeding.”

He could smell her blood like she could, and the wound stung with the saltwater washing over it.

“ Ja. I cut my arm on one of the rocks. Are you ready?” She wouldn’t let that stop her.

“ Ja .”

She scrambled up the slick, slimy rocks and cautiously peeked over the edge of the outcropping to assess the situation. The longships were grounded on the sandy shore. Unlike other vessels, Viking longships had shallow keels that allowed them to navigate both open water and coastal waterways and could easily be pulled ashore.

In the darkness, she saw a black-haired and bearded man leaning against the prow of the first ship, drinking from a flask, while another walked to the end of the beach in the other direction. “Gods, it’s Ari,” she whispered to Conall.

He was a cousin to Funi, their clan chief, and twice as mean. If he saw her and Conall, he would suspect they weren’t supposed to be there, though she was certain he would be confused at first. She couldn’t give him a chance to see her and question her.

“ Ja ,” Conall said.

Then her heart nearly gave out when she saw a group of men, women, and children bound with ropes near the cliffs and sitting on the beach. They were shivering, the women and children crying.

That made her resolve even stronger to take out the guards, burn their ships, and free the hostages.

“It’s time.” She climbed around the bottom of the cliff, careful not to slip on the mossy, wet, jagged rocks. They had to take out Ari before the other watchman was aware of their actions.

As soon as she planted her feet firmly on the rocky beach, she pulled her sword free and crouched, moving toward Ari as fast as possible while the second guard continued walking toward the other end. They had to take Ari out before the other turned and began walking back this way. She didn’t recognize the other man.

Ari was standing below the carved dragon at the prow, protecting the ship on their journey—but if she were successful, Ari’s journey would end now.

Isobel was smaller than the hulk of a warrior and wasn’t wearing a padded tunic like he was. But it didn’t matter what he wore as much as the ax and sword he carried and would yield to strike her down.

She moved in quickly, struck low, cutting his leg where she knew he would bleed out, and stabbed him in the chest before he could cry out. The hostages saw nothing as dark as it was. She was glad she and Conall were wolves and could eliminate the brigand under the cloak of night.

And gladder still that the prisoners hadn’t seen them and cried out from fright.

Now, they had to take care of the other man. But first, they pulled Ari into the water, where the current would take him away. Then they watched from near the ship’s prow, crouching low, observing the other guard as he finally turned around and began to walk back toward them.

Once he discovered Ari was missing, fighting the other guard would be much more difficult—maybe impossible. She wanted to free the slaves, but if they moved or cried out because if they worried that Conall and she meant to kill them, they would alert the guard.

They had one chance at this, and she feared that unless they could get around behind the guard, they would fail and die in their mission.

Alasdair, Erik, and six of his men watched from the cliffs as a lassie killed the Viking guard standing next to the longship's prow. Then she and the young man with her pulled the guard into the water. Alasdair glanced at Erik.

Erik raised his brows, saying he was just as surprised as Alasdair.

The woman and the boy appeared to be on their side. And braver than any woman Alasdair had ever seen in battle. The guard had been a foot taller than the lass and many pounds heavier. Yet she had cut him down without a whimper from him.

Alasdair and the others watched the other guard walk back across the beach. Part of him wanted to see how the lass and boy would handle the second guard. But he didn’t want to see them fail.

He began climbing down the cliff, hoping he wouldn’t shake loose rocks that would clue the guard and the hostages that someone was coming. At the same time, Erik and three men started climbing down. The remaining force stayed at the top of the cliff, watching for the return of the Vikings.

If the Vikings did return, they would all be in danger. However, Alasdair wondered where the lass and lad had come from. One minute, the guard was leaning against the prow of the ship, and the next, the woman was cutting him down.

Alasdair’s foot pushed a rock loose, and it bounced against the cliff face all the way to the beach. Instantly, he stilled and so did every man descending the cliff with him. The roar of the waves hitting the beach must have drowned out the sound because no one reacted—not the guard or the prisoners.

All except the woman and her companion. Both jerked their attention from the guard to him.

Could they see Alasdair hanging on the cliff face, waiting to move again? Or the others with him, pausing to see if anyone reacted to the falling rock?

Then Alasdair continued the descent. It was too dangerous to be caught hanging there, should the Viking possess a bow and shoot him full of arrows. However, he seemed to be armed only with a sword and an ax.

A couple of the women prisoners were softly crying, and so was a young girl. They had to rescue them no matter what. Then he saw Rheba. Relief to see her alive washed over Alasdair, though he feared for her safety and the others should the Vikings return to the cliffs and their ships.

Alasdair and the rest of the men were climbing down far away from the prisoners so as not to alert them to their presence and cause an outcry, warning the guard of their presence. The scent of saltwater and seaweed mixed with the musky smell of sweat and fear filled the air. It was a familiar smell to Alasdair, associated with danger and adventure.

The rough rocks scraped against Alasdair's calloused hands as he descended the cliff. The cold, damp air clung to his skin, and the rocks were just as wet, making the climb even more hazardous. His foot slipped twice, and he lost his grip near the bottom, his heartbeat pounding even harder.

When he reached the base of the cliff, he crouched in the darkness and waited for the others to join him. The men moved in absolute silence, their feet making no sound as they carefully picked their way down the cliff. Their mission was urgent, their success a matter of life and death.

They had to kill the remaining guard, torch the ships, and get the villagers to the safety of his keep before the rest of their clansmen returned. But the one Alasdair wanted to take to his castle the most was the young lass with the gleaming sword, the most dangerous woman he’d ever seen.

Clouds covered the dark sky, and no moonlight shone through. Rain would begin soon. He could smell it in the air. Climbing the cliff would be even more dangerous, especially for the prisoners.

Alasdair and the rest of the men with him all focused on the guard. Like a silent predator waiting for the perfect moment to strike, Alasdair was poised to spring from the spot where he crouched. At least the giant of a red-bearded man wasn’t calling out to the other, to Alasdair’s relief.

Alasdair, Erik, and the rest of their men were still worried that the other marauders would return after discovering they couldn’t go after Alasdair’s people.

But earlier, one of Alasdair’s men had followed the marauders as a wolf and discovered they were attacking another town. He relayed the information to Alasdair. Hopefully, he and the others would have time to burn their ships and save the prisoners.

The guard detoured toward the hostages, and that’s when his side was to Alasdair rather than his face. Alasdair raced across the beach to kill him, his heart beating wildly.

At the last minute, the brigand turned and saw Alasdair, then pulled his shield. Quickly, Alasdair swung his sword across the guard’s throat, blood gushing from the wound.

His eyes wide with shock, the man covered his neck with his hand, the blood from his wound covering it, and swung his sword at Alasdair, but the damage had already been done. Alasdair was glad he wouldn’t live long. The guard staggered but tried to swing his sword again.

Alasdair knocked the sword from the marauder’s hand and stabbed him through the padded tunic all the way to his heart, then yanked his sword out. The man fell to his knees and then keeled over onto the beach dead.

Before Alasdair had even finished him off, Erik and the other men were cutting the prisoners loose—including the midwife in his pack, the only wolf among them—and moving them to the cliffs to begin the ascent.

Alasdair glanced in the sword-wielding lass’s direction, intending to bring her with them, but she and the lad had vanished.

Alasdair and Erik dragged the dead guard to the water and let the current carry him away. As weighed down as he was with his sword and an ax still tucked in his belt, he would sink to the bottom like the other guard would.

“Where is the woman and the lad?” Erik glanced around where they had seen them last.

“They vanished.”

Erik shook his head. “The fae.”

“Not after wielding her sword as she did.”

“The only ones I’ve seen who have wielded a sword like she does—” Erik said.

“Was a Viking shieldmaiden. However, this one was without her shield. She and the lad must have swum to the beach to reach the guard,” Alasdair finished.

“A rival clan?” Erik asked as he and Alasdair set the longships ablaze.

“Mayhap. Which means she would be our enemy still.”

As the bright orange flames licked hungrily at the longships, Erik and Alasdair quickly worked to set the rest of their captors free. The hostages were a mixture of ages and sizes, their clothes tattered and torn.

They were huddled together, their faces etched with fear and confusion, but there was also a glimmer of hope and gratitude in their eyes.

As they hastily made their way up the cliffs, Erik couldn't help but steal glances back at the burning ships, watching as the flames grew higher and higher, the smoke billowing out towards the dark sea. He wanted to make sure they burned to the ground and couldn’t be used any further.

He and Erik helped the last male captives to the top of the cliff.

Then, as a unified force, Alasdair, Erik, and their men provided a safe escort as they hurried the villagers toward the castle. Armed and ready, the rest of their men formed a protective circle around the frightened villagers.

The group moved quickly through the forest as the villagers struggled to keep up. Once they left the forest, they had to rush across the open meadow.

It would not do for them to be caught out in the open now when the Vikings had to be nearby. The raiders would have no choice but to move on and find ships to steal to take them home. They wouldn’t make any headway here.

But Alasdair couldn’t send the villagers home, who belonged to a territory that he didn’t serve as a protector for until the Viking threat was gone.

Erik glanced at him. “So what about the lass and the lad?”

Alasdair shook his head. “She aided us and made our work easier.”

Until he located her and the lad, he would not rest.