by Griff Hosker
Everyone was mystified but we trusted the wizard enough to follow. We spied the church before we saw it. It stood high above the river and looked to have been the centre of a small community. The cross still stood atop the small bell tower. We saw the evidence of the Northumbrian’s camp fire. Myrddyn dismounted and took a box from the back of the saddle.
“Follow me.” I looked at Gawan and he shrugged. “Gawan does not know what I am about to do Warlord. Your father does. He and I discussed this before he died.”
When we reached the church we saw that the roof had gone and anything of value taken. Myrddyn handed the box to me and then dropped to his hands and knees. As he did so I examined the box. It had an equite on the top with the dragon standard; yet the box looked old and weathered. How could that be?
Myrddyn moved around the stone floor cleaning as he went. Suddenly he shouted, “I have it! Come here with the casket.” I gave it to him and he placed it on the floor. He took out a knife and ran it around a line of dirt. He patiently scraped it all away until I saw that it was an inset stone. He put his eye close to the middle and began to pick at it with his knife. Suddenly I saw two more lines in the stone. He scraped away the dirt and then prised up a piece of metal. He smiled up at me. “Here, Warlord, use your strength for something useful. Lift this stone.”
I pulled but nothing seemed to happen.
“Use all of your strength. The future of Rheged may depend upon this.”
I do not know if it was the words he used or something else but the stone began to rise. Once it was clear I moved it to the side and a damp musty smell came from beneath the hole.
Myrddyn picked up the box. It fitted almost exactly into the hole. He dropped it in and then, using the hilt of his dagger, pushed it away from view. If you looked down the hole appeared to be empty. Then he replaced the stone. He rubbed dirt and soil back into the cracks and then stepped back, seemingly satisfied. It was as though the hole had never been there. He rubbed his hands and smiled.
“Now, Myrddyn, the explanation.”
“Your father and I found the box at Civitas Carvetiorum. Inside was a message from Brother Osric. Your father was far sighted and knew that Rheged might not always survive. This is a message for one of your descendants. If they come here and dig this up it will lead them to Civitas. The map showing them where the treasure is to be found is in the box. Now that Gawan has given me the scabbard of Saxon Slayer I will place it there too. It will show your descendant that this is to help Rheged.”
I shook my head. “Should the scabbard not be with Saxon Slayer?”
He looked at me sadly, “I have dreamed of the death of Saxon Slayer. It will not need its scabbard where it is going.”
“Tell me and I will save the sword!”
“How can you save what you do not have?”
“Besides,” added Gawan, “if you change the future then you may be destroying Rheged. The spirits will not let us down.”
“Your brother is right. He is learning rapidly. The story is already written and we are just acting it out. Trust your heart, Warlord and your brother.”
“But whose descendant will it be?”
“That I cannot see. I know the face of the warrior but he did not wear a name in my dream. He looked like your father, as you do. Watch over your children and tell them of their past and their future for they are intertwined. What we do now will affect their lives and their futures. They need to know about this deserted church on the estuary. They should tell their children. I know not how many generations this will take.”
By the time we reached the men and the wagon Gawan and I were deep in thought. Tuanthal and Aedh knew better than to ask what we had been about. Myrddyn and his escort took the Roman Road south. “I will not bury your father until you are there.”
I laughed, “Suppose we do not make it.”
Myrddyn closed his eyes for a moment. “I have not dreamed your death yet.” He pointed a bony finger at Gawan. “Remember, Warlord, your brother can dream too. Keep him close. Keep him safe.”
Aedh and his scouts rode just fifty paces from us. There were now just eight of them. We had lost some to treachery and ambush and we had left some for the king. The ones we retained were the best. Tuanthal had kept forty resolute warriors too. With Garth, my squire, we were more than equipped to deal with Morcar and whoever else Oswald and Oswiu had waiting for us.
We found that the trail headed towards the south east. We were moving away from the village where we had found Morgause. I knew little of the coastline and the villages. This was all new country to us. We would have to move carefully and stealthily. We crossed the Lune and it became too dark to continue without losing the signs. We camped in a sheltered dell with a nearby stream for water. It was cold fare we ate. I wanted no fire. We had no idea how close or how far away the enemy were. Their fires at the church had shown us that they were lighting fires. The fact that we could neither see nor smell fires, meant that they were not close. However I was taking no chances. Morcar knew our ways. Sentries were put around the camp and I found myself asleep as soon as I stretched out.
I did dream. It was not one of my father’s dreams. It did not tell me of what was to come. It was just a vision, over and over of Morcar stabbing into my father’s neck. I watched, unable to move as the wolf’s bane dripped from the point of the cold dagger. I saw my father as his body shook and shivered when the poison took hold. I heard Morgause and Morcar laughing like demented foxes. And then I awoke.
Gawan was awake and he was watching me. “You dreamt.”
“A nightmare more like.” There was something in the way he said it. “You knew.”
He nodded, “I dreamed too. I have the gift, like Myrddyn. It is not as accurate as Myrddyn’s but I saw that you dreamed of our father’s death.”
“And what did you dream?”
“I saw a sea and a whale rising from the sea. It opened its mouth and I saw Morcar. He was holding Saxon Slayer.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I know. Myrddyn told me that I had to interpret my own dreams. I do not understand it yet but I will look for a whale. As we are not close to the sea I will not look for it yet.”
“What made the noise which woke me?”
“It was a couple of foxes.”
I nodded, “The fox is the younger brother of the wolf. I dreamed of foxes.” Something nagged at the back of my mind. It had been Morcar and Morgause who had sounded like foxes.
The nightmare did have one effect; it had made me wide wake. Perhaps that was my father at work for, as Gawan lay back I was suddenly aware of a slight noise and it was close. I slipped my sword from its scabbard and rose. Gawan knew me well enough to follow my actions. I walked to Tuanthal and shook his shoulder. When he saw the sword in my hand he too rose and grasped his weapon. We awoke all those around the fire. Soon we had twelve armed men. The rest were sleeping closer to the horses.
I scanned the outside of the camp. There was something missing; the sentries! “Alarum! We are being attacked!”
I sensed a movement and whipped around. My sword caught the edge of a spear which had been thrust at my side. A heartbeat later and I would have been skewered like a piece of meat. The warrior’s momentum carried him forward and I punched him hard in the side as he came past. As soon as I hit cloth I knew he had no armour. He began to fall to the floor and I raised my sword and brought it crashing down on the side of his head. There was crunch and he lay still. I whirled around and two dark shapes were racing through the dark to reach me. I knew that I might not be so lucky this time. I reached down to grab the dead warrior’s spear. Taking a chance I dropped to one knee and braced the spear against the ground. The first warrior ran on to the spear and I slashed my sword to rip into the unprotected thigh of the second warrior. They both screamed. The man with the spear stood looking at the wood coming from his middle and then fell while the second quickly pumped his life away.
I stood and took in the scene.
I could not see any other warriors close by. I knelt down and picked up the short seax the first warrior had had in his belt. I ran away from the fire to the horse lines. I reached there just as the warrior who had been trying to save them was slain by two Northumbrians. They did not see my stealthy approach. As they went to untie our mounts I stabbed one in the back with the seax and, as the other turned punched him in the face with the guard of my sword. He fell stunned to the ground. I needed prisoners. I stabbed him in the palm of his right hand and his left. I knelt down and cut the tendons on the back of both ankles. He would not move.
I checked to make sure the horses were still securely tied and then ran back towards the firelight. My men were all awake now and the raiders were either fled or dying. Tuanthal, Aedh and Gawan all came running towards me. “We thought you, too, were slain.”
“No, little brother.” I gestured to the skies with my sword. “The spirits sent the nightmare to wake me.” I noticed that it was getting lighter. Dawn had broken. “I wounded a warrior by the horses. Bring him to the fire so that we may question him. Gawan, see to our wounded.”
I sheathed my sword and slipped the seax into my belt. We had been lucky. I knew we had lost men but it could have been far worse. Had Gawan and I not been awake then we might all be dead. As I stepped over the bodies of the first warriors I had killed I remembered how the Roman legions would build a camp each night to protect themselves. Perhaps we needed to do the same. We had become over confident because of our successes.
I examined the dead bodies. The warriors had no mail and only poor helmets. I could only see a couple of badly made shields. These were Saxons but they were not equipped like seasoned warriors. My guess, before we questioned the wounded prisoner, was that they were mercenaries. These were warriors without a lord who needed coin. That was a disturbing development; I had assumed that Oswald and Oswiu would be running out of warriors. Little by little we had been thinning their numbers. If they were hiring new killers, that would pose a problem. I needed to question the prisoner to discover the truth.
Aedh and Tuanthal were not gentle as they dragged the bleeding and moaning warrior to the fire. I saw that he was a young warrior. He had seen no more than eighteen summers. His beard was straggly. If he lived he would be crippled for life. I would offer him a warrior’s death. Then I saw the cross of the White Christ about his neck. He would not thank me for that. We would just kill him when we had finished with him.
“Aedh, take some of your men and see if you can pick up their trail. They may have come from the main camp.”
I reached down and ripped the cross from the warrior’s neck. His eyes opened and I saw fear in them. I dangled the cross before him. “You have one chance to have this returned to you before I kill you; you answer my questions. If you do not then I will throw this into the fire and you will not see the White Christ after I kill you.” His eyes widened in terror. He tried to raise his hand but the pain was too much and I saw him wince.
“Where did you come from?” I waved the crudely made cross in the direction of the fire.
“Manau.”
“Is that where you lived?”
He shook his head. “No, we are West Saxons and we followed our lord, Aethelred, to fight against the Welsh. He died and we became bandits when we were left far from home.” Now that his tongue had been loosened he could not wait to tell me all that he knew. Perhaps he hoped to be spared. “Eorl Oswald paid us to become his warriors and he took us to Manau.”
“That is where he has his men?” He nodded. “How many does he have?”
He shook his head, “I am not sure. There were thirty of us who were brought on the ship to find you.”
“How did you know where to find us?”
“The Welshman with the sword told us.”
I shivered, “Saxon Slayer?”
He began to smile, “Yes that is it. How did you know?”
I ignored his question. “Where is this Welshman with the sword?”
“We left him and the woman who has the golden hair like sunset with the ship at the coast.”
“South or north?”
“South. A day’s ride.”
“Thank you.” I put the cross into his maimed hand and nodded to Tuanthal. Even as the youth smiled my captain of horse ripped his blade across his throat. “They must have some horses close by.”
“Where would they get horses?”
“I have no idea but at least we have a direction for Morcar now and we know that he is with Morgause and they still have the sword.” As I stood and looked at the wrecked camp, an idea came to me. “And we know that Oswiu and Oswald are not on the mainland.”
“How do we know that?”
“Morcar still has the sword and I think that the boy would have mentioned them. He told us the truth.”
Chapter 19
The attack had cost us dear. We had but twenty four warriors remaining. With Gawan, my squire and my two captains that left less than thirty of us. As we headed down the clear trail which Aedh had found I spoke with Gawan about what we might face. Tuanthal and Aedh were great warriors but their minds were not as sharp as my little brother’s. He had, like our father before us, the ability to see into the dark places of other men’s minds and discover their plans.
“I think, Gawan, that they are using their father’s treasury to buy back the throne. Remember we could not find it at Din Guardi. It explains why he was able to hide in Hibernia. He bought the protection for the two of them.”
“That would make sense. If you wish to be king then no price is too great to achieve that.”
“As our treacherous cousin proved.”
“Perhaps the flaw was always within Morcar. We did not know him much when he was growing up. We were too busy becoming warriors and serving Rheged. He was indulging himself with his father’s treasure.”
“Was our father wrong to try to make a man of him?”
Gawan got that faraway look I often saw on the face of Myrddyn. “It was ordained. It was meant to be.”
There was some comfort in knowing that everything was decided by the spirits.
The followers of the White Christ had so many rules to follow it was a wonder that they ever got out of bed in a morning. “Will they still be at the ship?”
Gawan closed his eyes. I was not sure if he was doing what Myrddyn did or if he was just trying to be like the wizard. “They will want to know if their attempt on your life succeeded. We found but four horses. I think they were to take the message back. The warrior told you it was a day’s ride away. It would have taken them longer to walk.”
“You are saying that if we hurry we can reach them before they leave.”
I saw a brief moment of indecision and then he nodded. “Yes.”
“Aedh!”
My captain of scouts galloped back to me. “Yes, Warlord?” It felt briefly strange to have this warrior whom I had grown up with deferring to me but I had to get used to it. I was now Warlord.
“Is this trail clear? Could we go faster? My brother and I believe that Morcar and the ship will be waiting for the return of these killers.”
Enlightenment dawned, “Aye Warlord. We will go like the wind and leave you signs if we deviate from a straight line.”
The scouts all had the fastest and most agile horses we possessed. They galloped off and I rode next to Tuanthal. “We are hoping to catch Morcar on the beach with his ship. We must brook no delay if we find him. We need to risk all and stop the sword from leaving these shores. The heart would go from Rheged if word got out that we had lost Saxon Slayer to the men of Northumbria.”
“Fear not, Warlord, my men are keen to avenge the murder of the Warlord.” Resolution and conviction were in his words and eyes. He had served with my father as long as any. I knew he would have given his life for my father without a moment’s hesitation.
I was feeling more hopeful having seen the state of the mercenaries we had fought. If that was the best they had then I could ta
ke them with a handful of warriors. However it could be that the brothers had better warriors who they would have with their boat to guard Morcar and the precious sword.
The land through which we were travelling was flat. It meant the journey was easy but we could not see very far ahead. High hedges and trees were close to the paths and trails we took. We were not moving along Roman Roads. These were tracks made by animals and hunters and they wound around obstacles. I hoped that Morcar had not laid an ambush. This was perfect country for ambushes. We rode with our helmets tied to our saddles. We needed our eyes and ears to find the enemy before they found us. It was, indeed, our noses which smelled the sea before we saw it. The trail dropped down a bank and there, at a tree we saw a mark in the bark. We were to head west.
When we came upon the river we knew that we must be close to an estuary. Despite our need for speed I had to slow us down. Aedh and his men might be hiding ahead and watching for the ship. It proved to be a wise decision for one of Aedh’s scouts suddenly stepped from the trees and held up his hand. We all stopped instantly.
He spoke quietly, “Warlord, the ship is in the estuary. It is one of the small Saxon ships with a dozen oars.”
“Any sign of Morcar?”
He shook his head. “There are eight warriors on the beach.”
I dismounted. “Leave the horses here. Tuanthal, leave five men with them.”
I carried my helmet and my sword. I did not think I would need my shield. I knew that Aedh and his scouts would have bows. They would be our best attack. We trotted down the track and then our guide waved us to drop down and we crawled the last few paces to the small bluff overlooking the estuary. I was glad that I had carried my helmet else it might have alerted the Saxons on the beach to our presence.
I slithered next to Aedh. He began to whisper to me. “The ship is just twenty paces from the banks. It must either have a low draught or the water will be deep there.” He nodded with his head. “Occasionally one of the Saxons walks over here and looks to the north. We hide when he does that.” I could see that the men on the beach were just waiting. I could not understand why they did not have someone watching from the bluff where he could have given them early warning of either the other men or us. It was extremely careless of them not to have someone hidden in the woods to keep a look out.