Highlander's Throne

Scotland

Caspian Caine urged his horse to gallop faster as they fled from the Vera's burning manor. His score was now settled and the biggest man-hunt in history had just begun. No one attacked the Veras and got away with it, yet that was exactly what he did. And he had no intention of ever seeing the guillotine for it.

His men rode on horses behind him, the sound of thirty-two horse hooves pounding on the rocks and grasses of the highlands. Eight men had followed him and all nine of the men were coming back. His horse leapt over a log and the smoke from the fire finally began to disperse.

Slowing his horse to a slow walk he pulled into a space between two mountains and let the men and horses catch their second wind.

"Caspian!" It was one of his men, calling his name.

Reigning his horse to a stop he turned in his saddle to look at that man who had spoken. "Yeh?"

"Are we going to relocate after this?"

The Scottish man sighed and ran a hand through his messy black hair. "Yeh, gonna have to after this," he said gesturing to the burning manor behind them.

The man nodded and fell silent, not asking anymore questions. Finally, Caspian deemed his men necessary for travel. Throwing his hand up he threw it forward and kicked his horse into a gallop. His men quickly followed.

No one questioned him, and they trusted him implicitly. The name of Caine was a name to be feared, or it used to be. Now it was a name used in a wive's tale to scare their children into behaving.

Supposedly, to everyone outside the clan the infamous lineage of the Caine family was killed off, never to rise again. Of course, this was not true, as Caine was the only one alive left to carry on the blood line of his battle-hardened ancestors.

As soon as the thought fled his mind white light began to flash in front of his eyes. They blinded him periodically and he spurred his horse to go faster, trying to outrun the light as if it was just the place he was in that was causing him to see things. Soon the white light disappeared as they entered the forest, or rather, they only came fewer and farther between so that it might not have even been there at all.

Everyone in camp looked up as he reigned the horses in. If Caspian didn't dismount immediately upon his return, they were relocating, it was the unspoken rule among the clan. Women gathered up small pots and pans while men scurried to gather weapons and other heavier equipments such as the pelts used for the tents. Soon every man and woman was on a horse, some women riding behind men and cradling their children. Caspian had tried to keep the birth rate among his people low, though he didn't really have much choice when the men needed some release and the women had nothing better to do with their time.

They immediately started off when Caspian gave the signal, leading them through a thick, winding forest, full of redwood trees and dogwood plants. The mood was somber as they tread a not so beaten path through the dense trees, the branches hanging over them like Death's shadow, waiting to claim one of them to join Death in the midst of the millions of souls he had claimed before them. Ay, Death had been waiting a long time to claim one of the Highlanders, and he would have to wait a hundred more before he claimed the last Caine.

Hours passed before they came to a small, rounded off clearing that was big enough to strike camp. Caspian dismounted and led his horse to a tree, where he tethered it so that it could still reach the grass below.

Caspian helped strike camp before he decided that he needed to get out of camp and be on his own for a while. It did not take long for the empty clearing to be filled chatter, laughter, and joy.

He raised his hand and in an instant it was silent. "I shall be taking my leave of camp for a few hours. The sun is drifting it's way below the horizon on this hour, and therefore I order that the men who came with me to burn down the Vera's homestead eat and rest. The men who did not accompany me, I want you to routinely rotate out and stand watch. If I return form my short leave and find one of you asleep, you will not live to see the sunrise. Do as you will and harm naught what you are not permitted," he barked before stalking out of the camp grounds.