Blood of the Clans Ch. 46

The echoes and movement caught their eyes and ears, as MacRae and his army were passing by Inverinate. They watched them with great sadness, knowing they had failed in their part to stop the cannon from firing on Donan. It would be their undoing to dwell on it, as they hadn't noticed the eight remaining soldiers had trailed behind them. As they watched the procession, four arrows streaked towards them and two found marks, dropping the men instantly.

Quickly the clansmen turned and found where they were, breaking away from remorse and rapidly engaging in battle mode once again. Twenty four peeled away from the group and a head long charge was underway. The soldiers could see there was no further chance of attack and fled towards safety. Their heavy armour weighed them down considerably, their speed no match for the highland ponies. Two dozen blades were raised to strike, as the clansmen bore down on them. The soldiers pulled to a halt, knowing they couldn't outrun them and prepared to fight. As they took defensive positions, they saw the rage in the eyes of the men and a fear grew in every heart, as death was swiftly approaching.

Screams roared out, as blades clashed with others, while some made their way into flesh and split it open wide. Blood sprayed from sword tips, as they sliced through exposed areas. The clansmen rode past and turned, circling themselves. The soldiers faced out at the clansmen, prepared to fight till the death. Screams rang out again and the clansmen charged in, hacking and stabbing in rage-filled vengeance. Arms that tried to defend, were sliced off by sharp steel, while bodies became gored from points, spilling blood from them in abundance.

Once more, horses stood riderless and bloodied, as blades and armour were collected from the dead. They rode back, blood still dripping from their clothes, smiling at their success. Their smiles were greeted with ones from the other men, just as happy to know their land was rid of such vile men. Slowly their progress went, as they stopped often to tend to Gordon and their stricken comrades.

Cavendish and the others rode the newly made roadway towards Donan, unaware of eyes on constant watch of them. They passed the area where the Pioneers had been slaughtered, when they were halted by Iain and his men, blocking the way ahead.

"I know ye, yer Gordon's boy, aren't ye?" he said to Cavendish, upon recognizing him, "I know many of ye's from the last battle, too." he said looking among the men.

"Good tae see ye, Iain, Stephen." Cavendish replied, recognizing Stephen beside him.

"We ride tae Donan, tae see Laird Garreth. Robert MacDonald awaits on that beinn at the end of the loch wi' o'er two hundred men. Fifty ha'e gone tae the other side o'er there tae stop them from using the cannon. We ambushed MacRae just a while back and barely escaped." Dougall spoke up, pointing to where they were, not caring for pleasantries at this point.

"Robert MacDonald? Is Laird Grayson and Tioram safe?" Iain spoke out quickly, anxious for word from there.

"Aye, all is well at Tioram. We ha'e the Irish wi' us and they've brung birlinn, galley and horse wi' them. O'er three hundred men and arms. They sail now fer here. This ye'll no believe. The MacLean's attacked wi' cannon from their birlinns, but they were defeated and instead of killing them where they stood, Lady Arabella has offered them tae join wi' us and fight against MacRae. I've ne'er seen the likes of it before, but I'm no one tae question the decision of a laird, or lady fer that matter." Dougall informed him.

"Where is MacRae now?" Iain asked.

Before Dougall or anyone could speak, the rumble of feet and hooves began echoing to them.

"There's no time, my answer's been gi'en. We ride fer Donan in haste." Iain shouted out.

He turned his horse and had it galloping as fast as it could, the others following behind.

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"Och, I need a wee break. It was getting tae be quite the battle going on, wasn't it? Yer quite intae it, aren't ye, Sean?" Tavish told him, after seeing how attentive he was throughout the telling. "Well not tae worry, there's plenty more tae come yet."

Everyone welcomed the break and a suggestion to step out to the courtyard had them heading outdoors. The day had turned out gloriously and a cloudless sky was a vibrant blue, the air fresh and alive with the smells of Spring.

"So ye'll pick it up again, will ye Stuart? Or will I gi'e them a bit of battling my way?" Argus asked, his dark side sneaking out in his smile.

"Och, Argus, can I trust ye tae keep it tae a dull roar? Sean's no old enough tae know the details of battle the way ye like tae tell it." Stuart's worry evident in his tone.

"I promised before tae do that, but I can see he likes tae know more of what went on. Ye'll wash o'er most of it and Tav will just gi'e them a taste. Let me tell them and I promise not tae get too o'er the top wi' it. It was a grand battle, so it was and it should be told as such." Argus beseeched him, his eyes pleading for his cause.

Stuart reluctantly agreed, with a stern finger and a look from him to remind Argus.

"When we go back in, Argus wants tae pick it up where Tav left off. So ye'll get a good telling of the battle and what went on." Stuart announced to them, a hint of reluctance in his voice.

Taylor and Lisa, as well as Tom and Deb all showed a bit of worry after hearing it, while the five newcomers stood in wonderment as to why. Tom saw their looks and told them.

"Argus has a flair for bringing things into vivid clarity, especially gory battle scenes."

Mark and Gillian began to share the same look of worry as they looked at their son Sean, while his face began to beam, as he imagined what was going to be told.

The day was an invitation to enjoy the gardens for the women and the four made their way through them. The moment gave Deb and Lisa a chance to tell Roberta and Gillian about the sweet romance and the steamy sex that went on, the latter enjoying the ribald tales that were told. By the time they were finished, all four had flushed looks and knowing smiles, as they came back to the courtyard and the men engaging in mock combat.

Stuart saw them coming up and announced they should go back inside now and let Argus give his version of the battle. The men couldn't help notice the looks the women passed between themselves and the smiles that followed. None were the wiser, as they sat down again and noticed Gordon had provided some finger foods to enjoy, along with more refreshments. They all turned to Gordon and smiled, thanking him and receiving a gracious bow in return from him. Argus took a sip of tea and the last bite of his sandwich, before he wiped his mouth and cleared his throat.

"Now, let's set the scene, shall we. Garreth and two hundred archers, along wi' fifty more men manning stations at key points, were in Donan. Up in the hills are three hundred more divided intae groups, waiting fer attack. The Justice is sitting tae the north side of the castle, one cannon o'er on the west side and now the third cannon in place tae the south. MacRae fired the opening salvo and moments later, the air was a deafening roar of cannon fire echoing off the hills. The men in the birlinns had landed out of range and made their way close enough tae fire arrows on the Justice, but they were pretty well useless. It was just at that point that the tides turned and things broke down into an all out blood bath of hand tae hand combat."