strength. Shoved the bone right up the bastard’s left nostril.
The savage howled in agony and reached for his face. Kayne threw himself into him and both Highlander and hill-man crashed down into a great puddle. Kayne raised the sliver of bone again and thrust it down into the savage’s throat. He grit his teeth as he felt it pierce flesh. Then he gave the bone a good hard drag.
It wasn’t as easy as cutting with a blade. It took a while to open the savage’s throat, and for the screams to become gurgles and then fall silent.
Kayne rolled away from the body. Close by, the corpse of another savage flopped face down, a broken arrow protruding from his chest. Brick had his bow aimed at the female savage, who was edging towards him.
‘Shoot her, lad,’ Kayne tried to shout, but it came out as more of a ragged wheeze. His chest was hurting and he couldn’t seem to catch his breath.
‘She’s a woman!’ Brick yelled back. He sounded confused and more than a bit afraid. The wild woman hissed at him, raising a cudgel studded with nails and broken glass.
Brick wavered and then suddenly Jerek was there, muscular arms covered in blood. He caught the swing aimed at the boy’s head between his axes, gave them a twist and yanked the club out of the savage’s hands. She spat and snarled and tried to bite the scarred warrior, eyes filled with hatred, spittle spraying around her chin.
He head-butted her in the face.
‘Mad cunt,’ he muttered as she went down with a splash.
Kayne stumbled over. The woman was still alive, judging by the way her drooping breasts rose and fell, but the rest were deader than dead.
‘Kayne. You okay?’ Jerek had a queer expression on his face. Almost like he was worried about something.
‘Fine,’ the old warrior lied. His chest had stopped hurting, but now he felt light-headed – as if he needed to lie down.
They stood in silence for a time. ‘Brick’s horse bolted,’ said Jerek eventually.
Kayne nodded. The light-headed feeling was beginning to pass. ‘He can ride with me.’ He walked slowly over to his mare. The beast waited patiently, unperturbed by the carnage. Jerek went to fetch his stallion, which was tossing its head skittishly.
Brick wandered over, a haunted look in his green eyes. Likely this was the first time he had killed a man, Kayne thought. He shook his head sadly. The realities of the world caught up with everyone sooner or later. He hesitated, and then placed a hand gently on Brick’s shoulder. ‘Lad.’
The young bandit blinked. ‘Yes?
‘I could use some help in wrenching a sword out of a body.’
The downpour finally stopped later that afternoon, to everyone’s great relief. Every clop of the horses’ hooves sent up great splashes of water, but they didn’t dare slow their pace. They wanted to be out of sight of the hills before nightfall.
The cut above Kayne’s eye had finally stopped bleeding, though it stung something rotten. Behind him, Brick sat Kayne's horse in silence. He had a lump on his skull the size of an egg. Between their respective wounds and the threat of savages attacking at any moment, neither had much appetite for conversation.
That changed when Brick sighted something to the east.
‘Your uncle?’ Kayne asked. His own eyes couldn’t make out more than a faint blur, but the sudden change in the boy’s expression told its own story.
Brick grinned. ‘I knew he wouldn’t abandon me.’
‘I never doubted it. But remember, we have us a deal.’
The youngster gave him a reproachful look. ‘I’ll keep my word.’
‘That’s what I figured. Or I’d never have given you your bow back.’
‘I... I’ve never killed anyone before.’
Kayne nodded. He’d been expecting this. ‘You did what you had to do,’ he said levelly. ‘Those savages didn’t give us much choice in the matter. There’s a lot of dubious reasons for killing, but self-defence ain’t never been one of ’em. I hope you never need to learn about the
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