Time Masters Book One; The Call (An Urban Fantasy, Time Travel Romance) (70 page)

The result was not what Dallan expected. Brennan merely caught himself with his hands to cushion the impact and spun to face him. “Surely you’ve taught him better than this, Kawahnee. He’s clumsy as an ox.”

Dallan narrowed his gaze at Brennan noting the man still seemed relatively w
ell intact. Fist to the gut, fi
st to the jaw, kick to the head… by all the Saints, what was going on? The only person who could withstand
such powerful blows was Kwaku. He stepped right up to Brennan and
balled his hand into a tight fi
st. “Excuse me, sir. If ye would be so kind as to indulge me a brief moment.”

Bre
nnan looked at him, then his fi
st with a bemused expression. “Be my guest.”

Dallan nodded once and promptly punched Brennan right in the jaw. Brennan’s head snapped around from the impact. He calmly looked back to Dallan and shrugged, unfazed.

Dallan’s eyes widened slightly and he looked to his hand. “Saints.”

“Indeed.” Brennan commented and dealt Dallan a similar blow, knocking him across the alley and into the opposite wall.

Kwaku continued to lean against the same wa
ll, his face a mask of disgust.
“Boyeee, you embarrass me! Get up and show him what you can do!”

Ignoring Kwaku, Dallan shook his head a few times, rubbed his jaw and stood. “Yer no a normal man, are you?”

Brennan gave him a wide smile. “Of course not. Do you think me fool enough to challenge you if I was?”

Dallan, knowing he had sufficient distance between himself and
Brennan, threw his warrior’s glare at Kwaku. “Ye bloody heathen, ye kent all along, didn’t you? By all the Saints! What are ye about? He’s got Shona!”

“I know he has d
e Maiden, Boyeee. But she is fi
ne.
Merely asleep.
He cannot harm her. If he did he would be killed instantly. It is de law.”

“Law? What’s all this bloody talk of law?”

Kwaku sighed as if impatient. “Zara, her heart is bonded to de Maiden for a protection and would seek out anyone who did de Maiden any true harm. It is how Muirarans protect de Royal houses.”

 
Da
llan let go a snort. “Och! A fi
ne time to tell me
!”   

 
Kwaku solemnly shrugged, off
ering no further comments.

“There’s no need for that little bit of information. Don’t worry, boy. I’ll dispatch you in short order then take care of your Azurti friend here.” Brennan drawled, obviously pleased Dallan now knew he was outmatched.

Dallan stepped forward, closing the distance between them. “Ye dinna ken how tempting it is to let ye kill me just so the heathen could get his. But, as I said before, I’ve other matters to attend to this evening.”

 
The two men began to circle each other again. “And as I’ve already informed you,” Brennan began, “you won’t get the chance.”

 
Dallan let go a chuckle, charged, dropped to his knees at the last
second and delivered a horrifi
c blow to Brennan’s groin.

Brennan was not amused by the sudden turnabout, but was in no shape to comment.

“AHA! Dat is
what I am looking for! Magnificent, Boyeee! Truly magnifi
cent!” Kwaku pushed himself away from the wall and moved to where Brennan stood, doubled over in pain, his face stricken with disbelief, bulging eyes full of promised revenge. “See, I told you de Boyeee has a style all his own!” He promptly slapped Brennan on the back. Hard.

Brennan went spra
wling onto the pavement face fi
rst. Kwaku happily placed a huge foot in the center of his back. “We go fetch de Maiden now, yes?”

Dallan was on his feet and stood watching Brennan. “In a minute.” He shoved Kwaku’s foot off his enemy’s back and pulled his face from the ground by his hair. “Saints, Kwaku. Ye knocked the bloody
Sassenach
out! How’d ye do that?”

“I dink perhaps your magnifi
cent move caused him to pass out. Den perhaps mine.” He smiled at Dallan. “You are strong, Boyeee, even stronger now from de bonding. But, my wife is Muiraran.
Very strong woman.
When you join, you become strong like Muiraran man. Brennan, he was once married to Muiraran. Dat is why he is so strong, much stronger dan you. He would have killed you sure.”

Dallan’s eyes widened. “But ye were here. You yerself could ha’ stepped in anytime and laid the bloody man out.”

Kwaku shook his head.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I made Brennan a promise I would not interfere. I did not. Now de
promise is fulfi
lled. Let us get de Maiden. You still have a long night ahead of you, Boyeee.”

Dallan stood painfully. “Aye.” He looked back to Brennan. “And what of him?”

Kwaku glanced to the metal trash bin in the middle of the alley. He looked back to Dallan, a huge grin on his face.

“Ye want him to live?” Dallan asked, shocked.

“It is not fi
tting to kill him now. There would be no honor in it, Boyeee. You would have no satisfaction.”

Dallan also glanced to the bin. “For once, we agree.”

Kwaku began to chuckle. “Yes, Boyeee, yes.” He happily bent to the unconscious Brennan and picked him up one-handed.

* * *

John, as usual, paced. “I don’t like this. He’s been in there too long. Lany, anything?”

Lany sat on a set of concrete steps gracing the alley where he, John and Angus waited for Dallan and Kwaku. “I still can’t feel the Maiden, at least not like before. It’s as if she were asleep.”

John stopped his pacing and stared curiously at him. “If I didn’t know any better, sometimes I’d swear you were Muiraran.”

“That’s not funny, Eaton.”

John shook his head and resumed his pacing.

“Lord John
..
.”

John turned to
a waiting
Ang
us at the alley’s entrance.
Kwaku and Dallan had f
i
nally arrived.

The Time Master strutted up to the men like a proud peacock. “You should have been dere, Lord Councilor! It was
beee-yoootiful
!”

Dallan, rather than strut, limped his way to the rest of the company. He took one look at Kwaku’s preening expression and groaned.

John took in the Weapons Master’s bruised face and the protective way one arm seemed to be holding his ribs together. “What happened?”

“He laid de fi
end out!” Kwaku chortled happily.

John looked from one face to the other. “How?”

Kw
aku burst into full Azurti guff
aws.

“Eaton,” Lany began as he left his perch on the steps. “I don’t think we want to know.” He scanned the area. “The Maiden, where is she?”

Kwak
u continued to grin. “She is fi
ne for now and can be retrieved easily.”

“Is Brennan still alive?” John asked Dallan, who now limped to Lany’s previous seat.

Dallan sat gingerly, not wanting to do further damage to his already injured ribs. “Aye, John. Though I wanted to kill him, ‘twas not the time. Shona is more important. We ha’ to get her. Now.”

Lany began to
examine the Weapons Master. “Th
is hurt?” He poked
here and there at Dallan’s ribcage.

Dallan shook his head. “I want to get her and leave this place. I dinna like it.”

“How about here?” Lany asked, moving to his other side.

Dallan shook his head again. “Brennan won’t be out for long. And I dinna like the thought of Shona with Julia.”

“Here?” Lany gave one last guess as to the problem area.

“
Ahhhh
! Och, Master Lany, dinna press so hard.”

“Sorry,” Lany looked over his shoulder. “Cracked ribs, Eaton. One, possibly two.”

Angus approached Dallan to examine him more closely, and snorted at the bruises on his face. “Got ye a few, did he? I hope he looks worse.”

“I’m afraid my appearance is a might sadder than Brennan’s.” His smile broadened. “But rest assured, An
gus, he got the worst o’ it. Th
e man will
no be up and around too soon.”

All three men looked at him with curiosity while Kwaku again exploded into laughter.

Dallan gave a sly smile. “He’ll no be with a woman anytime soon either.”

John stood tight-lipped, his face looking as if it couldn’t decide on amusement or empathetic pain
. Lany’s face chose the pain fi
rst, then the amusement. Angus’s went straight to amusement, joining Kwaku in complete hysterics.

“As entertaining as it ‘tis, lads,” Dallan interrupted, “I’d like to get out o’ here and fetch my bride. I may need more than one night to get the job done. The sooner we get started, the better.” He spoke and winced at the same time, sobering the rest of the company.

Lany sighed and shook his head. “Kwaku?” He turned to the Time Master who still chuckled. “We need Zara.”

“I know,
Mos
-go-fi -an. She waits for us at de shop. De Boyeee can make it.” He joined them at Dallan’s side, his face suddenly serious. “But I must warn you, after my wife mends him, she will not be strong enough to take us home. It will be up to de Boyeee and his Maiden.”

John and Lany exchanged a quick look, then John took in Kwaku’s grave face and Dallan’s bruised one. “So be it. If she doesn’t heal him now, he’ll never be able to save the Maiden anyw
ay. She has to join tonight. Th
e
fi
nal Call, I assume she sang it?”

Kwaku smiled proudly and nodded.

John turned to Dallan, relieved. “Good. We’ll go back to the shop, let Zara tend you then get the Maiden. If all goes well, we leave in the morning.” He sighed again. “Dallan?”

Dallan looked into his eyes and smiled. “Save yer thanks for later, John. ‘
Tis not over.
I’ve no managed to save anyone yet.”

“By answering the Call instead of Brennan, you’ve saved more than you could imagine.”

“True.” Lany added quietly. “Let’s get you out of here.”

 
With Lany’s help, Dallan left his seat and stood with the rest. Remembering the earlier confrontation with Brennan and something he’d missed, he turned an amused face to Kwaku. “What did ye do with Brennan’s trained dogs anyway? I forgot to ask ye earlier.”

Kwaku grinned. “Dey decided to take a ride in one of dose wonderful yellow and black chec
kered cars. I gave de driver fi
ve green paper currency and told him to take
dem
as far as de money would go in a straight line.”

 
Angus snorted and laughed. “And how many zeros were on the green money, Kwaku?”

Kwaku gave a sadistic sneer.
“I believe de amount on each
was one, zero, zero.”

Lany chuckled. “You knocked them out, dumped them in
to a cab and gave the driver fi
ve hundred dollars.”

Kwaku shrugged. “Well it was Brennan’s currency.” He dangled what appeared to be a very ex
pensive wallet from two huge fi
ngers.

Angus had to ask. “What direction did they head for?”

 
Kwaku snorted. “Nord, across de big river.”

Angus laughed again. “They’ll no be back anytime soon. That’ll land
them somewhere at the northern end of the next state!”

Dallan glanced at John who stood with a simple smile and nodded to himself. “Sometimes I ha’ to admit, he does right now and then. Even if he is just a heathen.”

John continued to smile. Home was but a morning away.

* * *

Shona tried to lift her head, the action excruciatingly slow. Perhaps she hadn’t been able to lift it at all. Maybe she’d imagined the movement. To test the truth, she tried again.

Nothing.

Her mind seemed to work but not her body. She tried her arm this time. Odd. A strange tugging resulted which confused her further.

She tried again, with the same result. But
nothing tugged at her
,
she was tugging against something
. After several more attempts she realized she was tugging against her other arm.
Oh no. Oh no, not that.

She tried once more and moaned
,
the sound cut off at the mouth.

Shona had been bound and gagged.

Panic began to course through
her,
her eyes now wide open with the sudden realization. She struggled against the bonds and wondered what on earth they had used to tie her with.
It was smooth, thick and hard
,
certainly not rope
. It also hurt.