With a thought, he sent a warning to his siblings, only to find them fighting similarly armed redcaps. Calan cursed. Dar had planned his battle well. No matter. The Huntsmen would prevail. They had unity and strength on their side. They also recognized the danger, or potential danger, of the weapon the redcaps held. Real or illusion, they couldn’t chance falling victim to it.
A female’s scream carried over the clearing. Calan whipped his head in the direction of the sound. A male, armed with the same type of blade the rest of Dar’s army carried, advanced on the woman Calan had saved minutes ago.
Calan cursed and ran toward them, leaving the redcaps who’d attacked him alive and Dar to escape. He’d deal with the fairy and his creatures after he saved the woman.
She scrambled backward, using hands and feet to propel her. The redcap dove at her, the dagger aimed at her stomach.
“No!” Calan’s cry mirrored hers.
He watched in slow motion as the sharp blade descended. He wasn’t going to make it to her side to stop him. Even without knowing whether the weapon would deliver the fairy curse the same way Arawn’s dagger could, a direct blow from any knife would injure the baby she carried.
Dar’s tainted offspring or not, the unborn child didn’t deserve to die.
Calan raised his hand, ready to call the wind—anything to knock off the redcap’s aim. A few more seconds, that was all Calan needed.
A whoosh sounded, followed by a loud crack. A tree branch dropped and hit the redcap, knocking him to the side. Not Calan’s doing, but the act stopped the redcap from stabbing the female. Calan dropped his arm and ran faster.
The woman jerked her head in Calan’s direction. She pointed behind him. “Look out!”
He cut a quick glance behind him. The redcaps he’d left barreled down on them. He couldn’t fight them and ensure the woman remained safe. With a thought, he called his horse forward to hold the redcaps back. His horse couldn’t attack them, not in the same way his hounds could, but it would do everything in its power to delay them. With that done, Calan rushed to her side and scooped her up, an arm under her legs and another across her back to avoid jostling her as he’d done the last time.
“Put me down. I don’t want you to save me! Anyone but you!” She shoved against him.
Her push caught him by surprise. He stumbled, then righted himself. “Well, I have, and I promise to get you to safety.”
“No! No promises. Take it back!” She clawed at him, her nails ripping at his skin, and fought his hold. “Let me go before it’s too late!”
He ignored her thrashing and her crazed ramblings. He didn’t have time to calm her, not while the redcap closest remained alive. The male pushed to his feet, then leapt at them. Calan leaned to the right, using his body to shield the woman. It was the best he could do to save her. Another tree branch let loose and walloped the redcap in the head. The male crumbled, his blade falling harmlessly to the ground.
Too coincidental to be natural, Calan scanned the woods for the source. A flash of light caught his attention. He focused on it, and a fuzzy form took shape. The ethereal figure was one he’d never seen before, but he knew what the being was—an angel.
He didn’t have time to question the angel’s presence or his help. Calan would use the heavenly assistance given to get the woman and her child to safety. Neither would die, not on his watch, at least. Nature would take both, one to old age and the other to a fate no child should be condemned to experience. He couldn’t stop either.
But not today. Not at Dar or his redcaps’ hands. Not while I am here to protect them.
He called his horse to him. It galloped forward and trampled on the redcap’s fallen body, crushing his skull.
The woman screamed. Instead of trying to escape, she clung to him. He couldn’t blame her. His skeletal horse reeked of Hell and instilled fear in all those it looked upon. At the moment, its fathomless eyes were locked on to the female. The reaction didn’t surprise him. His horse didn’t allow others to ride it, not even his siblings. It would tolerate the woman on its back only as long as Calan stood near them.
Although draining, he opened his mind to hers and drew her terror into himself. He couldn’t risk her falling off the steed because she panicked. She calmed, and he lifted her onto his horse’s back. The animal immediately bucked, trying to knock her off. He grabbed the horse’s mane with one hand and steadied the female with his other. A stern command settled the animal. Assured it would remain still for the moment, he turned to face the remaining redcaps.
Only three remained. The fourth’s crushed body matched the one near Calan’s feet. He snatched the dagger from the ground. Energy whipped up his arm. He stumbled a second time.
Real. It was real.
Curses zinged through his head. Arawn and the Huntsmen had been betrayed. Calan didn’t have time to process the treasonous act or who might’ve deceived them. He had a fight to win and an innocent to save.
Two innocents. He refused to label the babe as evil. Nobody was inherently bad. It was the choices each person made that damned them. Being the son of Arawn, Calan understood that truth better than anyone.
He charged the nearest redcap, anger fueling him. The pathetic humans who sold their souls to Dar in exchange for immortality and power deserved to suffer alongside the fairies in the lowest pits of Hell. They would scream and die, over and over, for eternity. Even then it wouldn’t
