Highland Strength (Book 3)

Chapter 21

AN - Scottishjam - Happy Birthday, I thought I would put this up early as I have just finished it, I hope you have a wonderful day! Az x

Chapter 21

With dawn peeking over the mountain tops in an array of pastel delights. It was all she could say of this morn. It was pale. A haunting beauty hanging in the air as she watched the mists rise from the ground from nowhere. The trees having thinned in the night there was space to see and watch, as her breath rose in puffs of smoke from her mouth and nostrils. Her mare turned dragon in the same fashion. The freezing temperatures of the early dawn had created a frost upon the ground beneath the rising, swirling mist, a hidden shrouded beauty trying to cling on even as she could feel the temperature rise a little with the subsequent rising of the suns’ rays.

As the mist parted in places, moving with a life of its own, she watched the glittering frost as the pastel rays lit it up. Tiny sparkling crystals constantly changing as she moved ever onward. The tingling in her stomach let her know she was near, but it was a constant effort not to just turn around and walk away. Yet, each time she looked behind her, she was reminded of the reason she needed to do this. In fact, it was not just when she turned to see him still slumped upon his horse. He was a constant presence in her mind as she tried to go over what she could remember needed to be done in a scenario like this.

Not that she had ever done this before, if this went wrong, she had no idea what would happen. Well, she had an inkling of what would happen, and that was not good at all. Yet, looking over her shoulder once more at that felled warrior in her care, she knew she could not do anything else. He was hers to look out for as she was his to try and protect. Though both were too stubborn to allow the other to fully do what was needed. She just hoped he was willing to fight a little longer. He had made it this far, on her limited knowledge of healing, she had packed the wound and made a bandage from a few strips of a ripped blanket. The bleeding had slowed, and yet, she was not sure if that was a good sign or not. His breathing was shallow, and he looked deathly pale, it was not the look you saw upon someone you thought would recover soon.

Looking ahead, she felt a chill creep into her bones. A heaviness about her heart, and as the wind picked up in heaving gust she swore she could hear the murmurs and whispers of people long past. The thought was eerie, and she did not wish to think upon it too hard. But she knew, if times had been different, she could very well have been one of those voices herself, at this moment. She did not belong here, but Aonghus did, and she would not let him leave this world without a fight. For the very least, his twin would mourn a piece of his soul for life. She should know that fact. Not every child had been lucky or unlucky enough to find themselves in a new time. Some had been too important to the survival of the people. She had not been important enough. She would never be worth anything. Except to the people who were even now the dust beneath her feet. Only heard upon the wind, in a melancholy song of loss and despondency.

Almost from nowhere a sheer cliff face rose from the ground and she quickly manoeuvred around it, knowing she was close. So close to her destination. Her bones felt like ice, and her stomach roiled at the knowledge of what she was to see, but at the same time, she also knew it would not look special, or have a deep seated warning attacked to it. No she was about to look upon a piece of the highlands that to any normal eye would be just that. Yet, to her, it held the pain of many unshed tear, and the deaths of all she held dear. She just hoped that it was not a prophecy of what was to come for the male with her, she could not and would not allow him to slip into the afterlife alone. He had come into this life as part of a pair. A pair that had been moulded from the same cast. As such, he did not deserve to do anything alone, not that he was not capable of doing such, but because she knew he would be capable of so much more when looking at it from a paired point of view.