by Donna Grant
His senses were on full alert. He couldn’t allow the Tnarg to sneak up on him again. If only he’d been able to kill it in the forest, but it was a sneaky creature and managed to outmaneuver him. Elric sighed. This should be a happy moment in his life.
He had succeeded in finding his mate and convincing her to return with him to Drahcir to save his people and the kingdom. Instead, he worried that they might never make it.
A loud roar in the distance had Elric gripping his sword.
The Tnarg had found them.
Chapter Nine
Marin shivered as they rode deeper into the mountains, the light from the full moon lighting their way. Ever since the Tnarg had roared, Elric had been like a man possessed. She feared if he had been able to, he would have run the horses instead of walking them, but the steep climb and thick snow prevented it.
She was as fearful of the Tnarg as Elric, especially after feeling its talons on her skin, but the frigid temperatures kept her from thinking of anything other than warmth. Her teeth wouldn’t stop chattering, and she had no idea how the horse managed to keep plodding through the falling snow.
“We can no’ make it to Drahcir tonight,” Elric said as he pulled up beside her. “We’ll have to stop.”
Marin nodded, unable to talk though the chattering of her teeth. She had no idea how much longer they trudged along before Elric suddenly veered off their path. She wearily followed him as she willed herself to stay in the saddle. Of a sudden, she felt hands on her and looked down to find Elric lifting her off the horse.
“You’re near frozen,” he said as they walked into a cave. “I’ll build a fire to warm you.”
She snuggled against his warmth, eager to feel her own hands again. The cloak, wool stockings, and thick skirts had indeed kept her warmer than she would have thought, but she wasn’t used to this kind of weather.
“Lachlan, take care of the horses,” Elric called as he sat her down and hurried from the cave.
Rhonda came to sit beside her and sighed. “I’m freezing, and I’m in a cave. A cave, Marin. You know how I hate to rough it.”
Marin laughed. “I’m just glad to be out of the weather.”
“Ugh. I do agree. I’m starving, too.”
“There might be something in here,” Lachlan said as he tossed two bags at their feet.
Marin tried to open a bag, but her fingers were too stiff.
“Here, let me,” Rhonda said and took the bag from her hands. She opened it and peered inside. “It’s food.”
Marin smiled as Rhonda rummaged in first one bag, then the next. It wasn’t long before Elric returned with a few sticks in his arms.
“The wood is wet, but we can no’ make a large fire anyway. I tried to bring us as far back into the cave as we could go, and with the horses with us, the Tnarg might pass us by.”
“Won’t it know where we’re headed?” Marin asked.
Elric stopped piling the sticks and raised his gaze. “Aye, it knows. It’ll be waiting for us.”
Marin shuddered, but this time not from the cold.
* * * *
A few hours of sleep and a little warmth did wonders for Marin. Her wounds pained her only a little, and just as Ivy had instructed, she checked the wounds as often as she could.
“We should reach the gates of Drahcir before nightfall,” Elric said as he clasped his cloak around his wide shoulders and glanced at the entrance of the cave where the sun shown.
Marin never tired of looking at him. He was everything she had ever thought a Highland warrior would be: tall, ruggedly handsome, and fiercely loyal to the ones he cared about. That pretty much summed Elric up in her opinion.
Lachlan had saddled the horses and Elric stood looking at her, waiting. It was time for them to leave, but she wasn’t ready. The few hours in the cave had been pleasant. Though, with Lachlan and Rhonda with them, Marin hadn’t been able to do more than snuggle against Elric.
“Have you changed your mind?” Elric asked, his voice heavy with doubt.
She walked to him and traced his lips with her finger. “Never. We’re safe here. Out there….” She let her voice trail off because she couldn’t find it within herself to finish it.
“I’ll protect you,” he vowed.
It still amazed her that this man she had just met was willing to lay down his life for her, and she had no doubt he would do just that if it meant she would live. If there hadn’t been proof on her arm and his, she might still be wondering at his sanity.
But once she had accepted what was before her, she found it easy to open her heart and soul to him. He offered her something no one ever had – love.
She rose up on tiptoe and kissed him. A moan rumbled through his chest as he molded her body to his.
“I want you,” he whispered in her ear and moved her hand to cover his hard rod.
With a smile she stepped away from him. “Then get me to Drahcir, and you can have me any way you want me.”
The words had no sooner left her mouth than he took her hand and pulled her out of the cave. The cold air hit her like a freight train as Elric lifted her atop her mare. With a small pat on her leg, he turned away and mounted his horse.
“Everyone, keep your eyes and ears open. The Tnarg is powerful and deadly. It willa be able to touch us once we reach the gates of Drahcir.”
“Our haven,” Marin whispered.
Rhonda clicked to her horse. “Then let’s get moving please.”
* * * *
Hours passed with nothing. But Elric wasn’t fool enough to believe the Tnarg would leave them alone. It had proven its tenacity in Marin’s time, and if he had learned anything of the beast, it was that it was very intelligent. It was most likely waiting for them.
And he knew where.
The pass was just up ahead. A narrow slit between the walls of the mountains that was treacherous on any given day, but deadly if something was waiting for you. There was very little room in which to maneuver a horse and even less in which to try and defend oneself.
Elric looked over his shoulder to see Marin close behind him, then Rhonda and Lachlan bringing up the rear of their small party. At first he hadn’t been too sure of Rhonda and Lachlan coming, but now he was grateful for an extra body to help ward off the Tnarg.
When they reached the entrance to the pass, Elric pulled his mount to a stop and dismounted. He walked to Marin and motioned Lachlan and Rhonda over. “Listen carefully. The pass is narrow and a perfect place for the Tnarg to attack.”
Marin visibly swallowed. “How much farther to Drahcir?”
“Once we get through the pass, you’ll be able to see the gates.”
“All right,” she said slowly and glanced through the pass. “Do we continue on as we have?”
Elric shook his head and unbuckled the long dagger at his waist. “I want you to keep this with you,” he said and handed it to her. He helped her strap it on under her cloak, then helped her off her mare. “I’ll go first. Once I reach the other side, I’ll whistle three times. That’s when you ride through.”
“What about us?” Lachlan asked.
“Since the Tnarg is after Marin, once she’s with me, I think it’ll be safe for both of you to ride through together. I’ll issue another three whistles when Marin has reached me.”
“And if we don’t hear the whistles?” Marin asked.
He looked into her troubled hazel eyes. “I’ll get through,” he promised. He wasn’t about to tell her he was terrified of her riding alone through the pass, but it was the only solution he could come up with.
Even if he was with her and the Tnarg attacked her from behind, by the time Elric dismounted she would be dead. With him going ahead, he would have ample time to try to find and kill the Tnarg before Marin rode through. But, just in case he didn’t, she had a weapon.
“I’m scared,” she whispered.
Elric pulled her into his arms and rested his chin atop her head. “I know.”
For a long moment
they remained as they were, oblivious to the bitter cold or the stares of Lachlan and Rhonda. There was so much Elric wanted to say to her, and though he had planned to save it until their wedding, he felt the need to say some now.
“Marin,” he said and leaned back. “Thank you for trusting me and coming with me.”
She smiled up at him. “How could I refuse a man with seduction skills as good as yours?”
Elric grinned and glanced away. “I wasna given the fine tongue of my youngest brother, Sorin, the insight of my elder brother, Lucian, or the wisdom of my eldest brother, Keiran. However, I do know that I feel whole now, with you at my side. You are a part of me, my soul.”
For several moments she simply stared at him as she rapidly blinked. “I don’t know your other brothers, but I know what I see before me, and there is no man more handsome, well spoken, wise, or insightful than you. I never believed people who said that they had fallen in love at first sight…until now. You say that I am a part of you, but I believe that you have always been a part of me. I want to walk beside you through the gates of Drahcir, and I refuse to allow one hideously ugly beast to threaten that.”
Elric smiled as he pulled her down to him for a kiss. What was supposed to be a simple kiss turned into a raging fire. His body wanted her, needed her with an intensity that frightened him. He pulled away before he lifted her skirts right then and buried his cock deep inside her.
He stared at her a heartbeat longer, etching her face into his memory and the feel and taste of her into his senses. Then he leapt atop his horse and grabbed the reins.
“I’ll see you soon,” he said before he disappeared into the pass.
Chapter Ten
Marin fingered the long dagger Elric had given her and waited. It had seemed as if ages had passed since she had watched her mate disappear into the narrow pass, a pass in which Elric was sure the Tnarg laid in wait for her.
“How long do we wait?” Rhonda asked.
“Until we hear Elric’s whistles,” Lachlan said. “Elric is checking the pass as he goes. If there’s a chance he could kill the Tnarg before Marin rides through, then he’ll do it.”
Marin shuddered and wrapped her cloak tighter about her. “I don’t like that he went alone. The Tnarg is very powerful.”
“He’ll be fine,” Lachlan said.
Marin gazed at the snow at her feet. Her toes had begun to grow numb about a half hour before, but she refused to move from the spot she had last seen Elric. It boggled her mind that he had somehow managed to become so important to her in such a short amount of time. Her feelings for him ran deep, as deep as feelings could go. And though they hadn’t spoken of love, it was there.
Suddenly, she heard the three whistles.
“He made it,” she said as she lifted her skirts and made her way to her horse. “Lachlan, please help me.”
In the next instant, he had lifted her atop the mare. “Be careful, Marin. Keep your eyes open and your weapon ready at all times.”
She swallowed and nodded, then looked at Rhonda. She gave her friend a big smile. “I won’t keep you waiting as long.”
Rhonda’s laughter followed her into the pass. She looked over her shoulder for one last look at her best friend and Lachlan, but they were already out of sight. With a deep breath, she turned back and stared down the long pass.
The silence was deafening. Chills raced along her skin. The place was eerie, and made more so by the fact the Tnarg could be waiting for her.
Marin pulled the dagger from its scabbard and gripped it in her right hand. She wrapped the horse’s reins around her left hand and kept her eyes moving as Lachlan had advised. All she saw was snow and ice. The walls of the pass looked to be several feet thick and as high up as fifty feet from her estimate. Though there were a few places something or someone might be able to hide, those places were few and far between.
With each step of the mare’s sturdy legs, Marin became more confident. She nudged the mare into a slow canter and let her mind wander to the memories of the night she and Elric had first made love.
* * * *
Elric jerked his horse to a stop when he heard the whistle. His heart lodged in his throat as he desperately tried to turn his horse around. He was at one of the narrowest parts of the pass. Another hundred strides or so and he would have made it through.
Once he had gotten his horse backed up, then turned around, he leaned low over his mount’s neck and urged him into a run. He had to reach Marin before the Tnarg did. The Tnarg was smart, but Elric never imagined it would have known about his whistle.
With his blood thundering through his ears, he pushed the horse faster. He had to reach Marin before the creature. Marin came into view, and he knew the instant she realized something was wrong. She jerked slightly on her reins, but when she looked over her shoulder and let out a scream, Elric knew real, terrifying fear.
“Marin!” he bellowed as he drew his sword and squeezed the horse with his knees to urge him faster.
He spotted the Tnarg as it yanked Marin from her mount. Rage erupted inside Elric as the beast slashed at Marin again and again as it straddled her. The Tnarg blocked Marin from Elric’s view, and he worried that he might be too late to save her, but he would avenge her.
As he approached, he kicked free of the stirrups and launched himself at the Tnarg. Elric grabbed hold of the creature around its neck and rolled it off Marin. The Tnarg screamed and tried to lash out at him with its talons. Elric’s blood cried for revenge as he jumped to his feet and faced the creature.
“Attack me, you worthless piece of dung,” Elric growled. “Only the vilest of beasts would dare attack something weaker than they.”
The Tnarg snarled and climbed to its feet. “Only the smartest of creatures knows how to outwit their enemies.”
“We were no’ your enemies. Until now.”
The Tnarg cackled and began to circle Elric. “Do you really think you can stop me from killing her?”
Elation pumped through Elric. Marin wasn’t dead. Yet. “Aye, I do.”
“Even if it means giving up your own life?”
“Aye.”
Its red eyes narrowed on him. “I’ll kill you first, then her. I only need to kill one of the mates to end it all.”
“Why?” Elric asked. “Why would you want to see Drahcir ended?”
“That should be obvious.”
Elric gripped his sword with both hands. “If you willna answer my question directly, then let us get on with it.”
“As you wish,” the beast said just before it leapt at him.
Elric swung his sword up and then over as he side-stepped. He saw his blade slice into the Tnarg’s thick fur, but if he expected to kill the Tnarg, he had been wrong.
The beast looked down at the cut that began to heal and laughed. “Did you really think you could kill me? You? A mere mortal?”
A knot of dread began to form in the pit of Elric’s stomach. He realized too late his mistake in thinking he could put an end to the Tnarg. Elric glanced at Marin as she stirred. He had failed her. Neither of them would be able to make it to the gates of Drahcir.
Though he might have forsaken her and his family, he would not go down without a fight. He turned back to the Tnarg and lifted his sword.
“It’s not you that I want,” the creature said. “Return to your home.”
“If you want to kill my mate, then it is me you want.”
“You would die for her?”
“Gladly.”
“Then so be it.”
When the Tnarg next attacked, it was with much more power. Instead of halfhearted swipes, those deadly talons were now aimed at his heart. Elric managed to keep the majority of the strikes away from him with his sword, but the Tnarg had more strength than he. Already Elric was beginning to wear down, and the Tnarg looked as though its strength only grew.
The Tnarg struck out and hit Elric on the jaw, throwing him backward. He landed hard on the packed snow and ice and strugg
led to catch his breath. He knew death awaited him. He looked over at Marin to find her watching him. He didn’t want her to see him die.
With a grunt, he rolled to his stomach and ran toward her. He wrapped his arms around her and shielded her body from the Tnarg.
“I love you,” he said as he waited for the Tnarg’s strike.
After several moments, Elric raised his head to see that they were alone. He reached for his sword and waited for the Tnarg to attack once again. Yet, only the whistling of the wind through the narrow pass sounded around them.
“What happened to it?” Marin asked.
“I doona know.” He looked off in the distance and saw two horses thundering toward them as he helped Marin to her feet. “It’s Lachlan and Rhonda.”
“Can we leave now?”
He shook his head. “First, I need to know if you’re hurt?”
“No. When it threw me off the horse, it knocked the dagger you gave me out of my hand. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?” he repeated as he pulled her into his arms. “You’ve nothing to apologize for. The Tnarg must have whistled since I never made it out of the pass. I found you as soon as I could.”
“I really need to get out of here.”
Elric could feel her shaking. She had his cloak in a death grip, and he knew she could handle very little else that day. “Aye. Now that Rhonda and Lachlan have arrived, let us get through the pass.”
* * * *
Marin expected the Tnarg to jump out at them when they least expected it, but they made it the rest of the way through the pass without any mishap. Elric quickly informed Lachlan and Rhonda of what had transpired, but it wasn’t until she saw the tall, gilded gates before her that Marin knew they were truly safe.
“My God,” Rhonda murmured.
Marin could only stare. If the gates that enclosed the city were as beautifully decorated with ancient Celtic knotwork, very similar to the mark on her and Elric’s arms, she could only imagine what the rest of the city looked like.