Page 83 of Highlander the Conqueror

“Lead the way,” Slayer commanded and grabbed him by the back of the neck and shoved him roughly to push through the pines. That Iver ignored his question was answer enough.

Slayer’s heart thundered in his chest, fearing what he might find and not wanting to think of a day without Sky. He did not know when she had become so essential to his life, but she had and if that was love then his love for her was stronger than anything he had ever felt in his life.

Slayer kept a firm hand on his captive as they maneuvered through the trees. When they broke past the pines and he saw how little distance there was between the trees and the edge of the cliff, he could almost picture his wife breaking through on the run to escape her captors and tumbling off the edge.

“Take him,” Slayer ordered one of several warriors who had followed behind him, and Iver was grabbed by the neck once again.

Slayer approached the edge, his heart pounding, and his stomach twisting, and leaned over the edge to peer down.

His wife was nowhere in sight.

Slayer released a ferocious roar that would frighten the most powerful beast, and, in the distance, wolves howled.

CHAPTER24

Slayer turned to Reed. “Take another man and have him bring a large troop of warriors here. You remain behind and oversee the safety of the clan until I return, and have a message sent to Ross to return home immediately and let him know why. And tell him that Noble and Cavell may be needed.”

Reed did not hesitate to take his leave.

One of his warriors pointed to a narrow stream. “That stream must connect with another body of water. If we find it, it will lead us down there.”

Slayer looked to the warrior who had pointed it out, one of his best trackers. “Take two warriors with you, Devlin, and go find the waterway that connects with that stream while I go down and see if I can find anything that can tell me what may have happened to Sky.”

“How will you get down there?” a warrior asked as Devlin disappeared into the bushy pine trees.

“I’m going to climb down the cliff.”

“But what if the wolves return, my lord?” a warrior asked.

“They will be distracted,” Slayer said.

The warrior looked puzzled. “How, my lord?”

Slayer turned to his warrior who had a grip on Iver. “You never answered me, Iver. Did you participate in the attack and brutal killing of the Gallowglass warrior you told me about?”

Iver paled, seeing the fury in the eyes of the Gallowglass warriors standing nearby. “Please, I beg you.”

“Clyde was not only a fellow Gallowglass warrior but a good friend.” Slayer nodded to the warrior who held Iver and without delay he gave Iver a hardy shove that sent him flying off the cliff screaming. His screams died when he hit the ground. They all looked down to see his limbs bent unnaturally and blood pooling beneath his head.

Slayer turned away and made ready to climb down the side.

One warrior expressed concern. “If you fall?—”

“I won’t,” Slayer said, and tossed his sword off the cliff before he lowered himself over the edge and began to make his way down.

Nothing would stop him from reaching the bottom and finding anything that might help him locate Sky. With that being the only thing on his mind, he continued his descent, reaching for crevices and sturdy trees that grew out of the rocky cliff here and there.

After a while, the strain of the climb had his arm and leg muscles burning like they were on fire, but he did not slow or stop to rest. He needed to find out what happened to his wife.

Once he reached the bottom, he retrieved his sword, slipping it in the sheath on his back, then he hurried to make certain Iver was dead before surveying the area. He would find the others who made Clyde suffer, especially the evil man Iver mentioned, and see that each one of them paid the price for killing his friend.

He turned away from Iver, glancing over the area and spotted a fallen pine tree, its branches crushed, and he hurried to it. He squatted down beside it looking for any signs of blood or pieces of garment but saw none. Yet something told him that this was where Sky had landed and if so that meant there was a good chance she survived the fall. The question was, did she walk out of here on her own, or did someone take her out of here? He rejected the thought that the wolves could have gotten to her. If that were so, there would be some evidence of it, and he saw none. So, what had happened to her? Or was she still here?

He surveyed the area with a fine eye finding paw prints—the wolves—then he spotted a strange pattern in the dirt. Someone had covered tracks, and he carefully brushed the soil away in rutted parts of the terrain and discovered hoof prints. Horses had been here. Someone had taken Sky.

Slayer was ready to kill, to rip off limbs and tear out hearts to find his wife, but he tempered his rage, saving it for when he found the person who took her. He set his own tracking skills to work, following a trail he was able to find. Unfortunately, they were on horses, and he was on foot. He feared they had already outdistanced him. He had dismissed the thought that he would find her dead along the way. If they intended on killing her, they could have already done so. But they had not. They had taken her with them.

The tracks took him into the forest, and he kept following them. He could not take the chance and wait for his warriors. Every moment mattered and he had no doubt his warriors would find his tracks and follow.

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