i thought you might be the water horse come to take me on his back and drown me in the loch.
then come, let me grab hold of your golden mane and off we go. connor lifts her from the tattered bed, spins her around several giddy times and sits her upright in a chair.
they're all afraid of me. they think i bedevil their children because i've lost my own.
tiny minds and sour dispositions. i don't need them, connor. any of them. connor crouches at her feet.
you're sure? connor we leave tonight. let's start packing.
i'm already packed.
if your god should persecute me into the next world, then i shall simply have to find myself another. shocked murmers of outrage shudder through the crowd. kase steps up and rips away caiolin's cherished silver crucifix, with its distinctive wooden christ figure.
my water horse.  as connor splits the crowd like a battering ram. he reaches the pyre, hurling flaming timbers aside with his bare hands. initially stunned, the townsfolk shrink back, watching connor desperately scatter the fire. caiolin buries her face in her shoulder, biting back the agony as.  sword in hand, connor stretches upward, hacking away the ropes that bind her, oblivious to the fire now crawling in serpentine coils around his own arms and legs. freed of the ropes, caiolin begins to slump forward. connor grabs for her arm as the black powder explodes in a concussion of fire that renders any further hope of rescue futile. connor stands atop the burning pyre, wicked tongues of flame leaping off his back and shoulders like fiery wings. he throws back his head and howls to the heavens. fire dances across connor's skin and clothing as he raises his broadsword and steps down into the crowd. pandemonium breaks out. this isn't just a common witch. this is one of hell's very own. those few foolish enough to attack are cut down where they stand. the rest scatter in mindless panic. father rainey blocks connor's path. lifts his cross.  . . . as he's cut down by the blind slash of connor's sword. connor steps over rainey's body and keeps coming, driving the mob fleeing into their dwellings. kase crouches blustering over rainey.