completely by surprise, but he focused on his own task and headed straight at three English staring at the arrows overhead. He swung his sword in a side arc, catching the first one by surprise with a sword strike to his middle. Blood drenched his tunic quickly before he fell off his mount. He caught the next one in his arm, knocking his weapon to the ground, and then finished by plunging his sword into the belly of the third man, who wrenched away and lost his mount. That gave Derric the opportunity to swing back and hit the second man with the flat of his blade, sending him flying off his horse.
They fought for what seemed to be hours but was probably only minutes. Derric felt his strength leak away. Bloody hell, but he’d fought so much better than in his last battle—all his sword practicing paying off for him—but he’d used up much of his strength. He’d never had to battle this many for this long before.
That’s when he noticed what he’d dreaded. There were more English left than he would have expected at this point, especially given how hard they’d been hitting them. The English must have taken reinforcements because they appeared to come out of the trees, an endless supply of fresh men.
Another ten minutes didn’t improve their standing, the Grant contingent now in the center of the path with English coming at them from three directions, the front and both sides. The attackers had become the targets. Derric took a small wound to his left arm that stunned him for a moment, but a shout from a nearby tree brought the battle back into focus.
“I’m fine, Diamond. Keep shooting.”
Ten more minutes brought the force he’d been hoping for from the rear. Three powerful Grant war whoops announced the arrival of Alasdair, Els, and Alick, who charged into the battle with shocking intensity.
More arrows found their targets as Emmalin, and Branwen found their way into the trees, taking out ten men in a matter of moments because so many were shocked at the new addition to the Grant contingency.
They were still outnumbered by a large amount, and Derric feared for their lives. He’d never seen so many Englishmen in one place. Sweat dotted his brow even in the cool weather.
Dyna jumped down from her perch, and moments later, she rode out toward the melee, her bow lifted to the sky. When she joined Derric, she lifted her free hand across to him and he gripped it, holding on tight as if their connection meant life or death. Because to him it did. He loved this woman with all his heart and he wasn’t about to lose her now.
The spectral swords had to work.
That’s when it happened. With her bow aimed at the clouds, Dyna stared above their heads as the cloud formation began to swirl in a ferocious pattern, the winds coming up to toss the branches and leaves. Lightning forked through the air, the thunder not a moment behind it. The next strike sent two Englishmen flying through the air, one man snapping his neck when he landed.
The intensity of the storm ended the battle in a short time. He and Dyna lost their grip, but he could still feel the intensity of the storm and of her shooting through him. She was extraordinary. And together they would be something remarkable. The English were so distracted by the storm that the Grant cousins, who were fighting with an unnatural power and fury, were able to take out two to three men with one swing. They dropped faster than Derric had ever seen.
Once they were certain the skirmish had ended, Dyna glanced over at him and then rode hard, looking for her grandsire, he was sure. Loki joined her, and when Alasdair followed, Derric fell in behind him. He hadn’t noticed Alex Grant at all during the battle, but Loki had said he would keep himself at the front, if at all possible.
But they reached the front without seeing any sign of him. They all stopped, except for Dyna, who continued to ride in circles, yelling, “Grandsire. ’Tis safe to come out now.”
Derric glanced from one face to the next, and Loki said what they were all thinking. “Dyna, he’s gone.”
Alasdair rode forward and pointed to the ground. “He was taken captive by two men.” The hoofprints of three animals were still fresh on the ground.
Derric cursed as Dyna joined them.
“He’s with Busby and one other,”