XXNI - The Crazed and Blood-Thirsty Night Hacker

Chapter XXNI - The Crazed and Blood Thirsty Night Hacker

‘Life is a cruel twister and she takes who she pleases. Why was I chosen to live until the end, until my body can take no more of it. Look at me, my hair is thin and grey, when once it was a full, healthy and golden, but at least I have some hair.

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In the north of Briton Bezon and his two hundred or so men kept tacking south making anywhere between thirty and eighty miles a day. The growing number was made up of the men that had brought them over from Hibernia, some that they had met in Caledonia and stragglers they had picked up on the way. People in the north had heard of his plight and had rallied to his cause. He was the man who had escaped death and more by chance than design defied the might of the empire. Every small settlement they passed through they picked up riders in ones and twos. They galloped through Umbria and it’s desolate plains, they rode through Brigante, running the gauntlet with its ever patrolling cavalrymen and after several more days slowly trotted up to a fortified settlement that stood by a wide river on the western coast. From the settlements hilltops there was a view of the mountains in the kingdom of the Ordovices and the sea that led to Hibernia. Beyond the mountains was the island, Ynys Mon, a Druid stronghold where Wiznia had completed his training many years ago. Bezon knew it was wasting time to stop over, but also knew that his men and horses needed resting. They made a makeshift camp in a field whose only shelter was the canopy of lower branches of a thick line of oak trees. On the second day of their stop over unbelievably the messenger he had sent south came back to him. Had he got the message to Yulla Richards he asked. The messenger had delivered it, but not to her as she had gone on, it was thought to Siluria, but the messenger had seen Bezon’s brother Caratacus, who insisted on taking the message and replying back to him in person.

‘To be honest he was the only one there among all the chaos who could read or write,’ Where was this? Bezon asked, thinking the messenger had only done half a job and it was in the north or the middle of nowhere. ‘In the heart of the city of Arun, a much evacuated place,’ the rider said with a grim smile. Bezon read Caratacus’s message.

My Dear Brother,

You have been long thought dead and so news of you living comes as amazing news. I will try and get your message to Yulla, but I don’t know where she is, as like a lot of people she has fled. Please forgive the shortness of this letter as I am heading north myself to ensure safe houses for the many on the move. (The coward Bezon thought, gripping the thick parchment. You should be heading towards the battle, like me, not away from it, if it hasn’t already happened). I have been trying without any success to move our father, the King away from Arun and the battle scene, but he is insistent on staying there and will not move. Alfos has amassed the greatest army ever seen and it will be needed having heard the reports of the army of Italia that has marched steadily like a disease into our lands.

Your Brother
Caratacus

‘Ahem,’ the rider cleared his throat loudly.

Bezon eyed him evenly, knowing what he wanted. ‘Five gold coins,’ he said flatly. He took his purse from his waist and opened its thick leather drawstrings.

‘Ten,’ the rider said looking Bezon straight in the eye.

‘Yes, you are right, ten,’ five there and five back he thought, but he put fifteen coins in the riders hand.

‘Oh, no,’

‘Seeing as you are so honest, I am paying you in advance,’

‘Yes, Sir,’ the rider said looking at all the sparkling gold. ‘I’m going to have to go home first and bank this with my old lady.’

‘Do it and I’ll have my next message for your return,’ Bezon said losing concentration as he saw out of the corner of his eye Enda directing some unknown armed men his way

‘As you wish,’ the rider said, bowing away.

‘This next person you will definitely be able to find,’ Bezon said with a confident smile. The rider nodded and led his horse away. As he left a band of five men approached on foot. Enda stood behind them looking wide-eyed and showing Bezon the palms of his hands. The most serious of the men, who stood forward from the others walked up to Bezon nonchalantly, but in contradiction looked agitated. He looked around surveying the men and horses that were resting in the field.

‘What’s going on here?’ he said looking around. His men closed ranks behind him.

‘We are passing through, on our way south,’ Bezon answered, trying to make light of their presence. He looked at a big man with jet black hair and beard. All his clothes and armour were black, even his sword sheath and metal helmet.

‘You are trespassing, these are our lands, the lands of Deva,’ the man said. ‘You have no right to ride through unannounced, you need permission to be granted by our king,’

‘We are not doing any wrong, we will be gone in the morning,’

‘Maybe not, but what are you doing here anyway?’ the man asked.

‘We are on our way south to defend Arun against the great invasion from the continent,’

‘Arun? Arun?’ he asked sharply.

‘The kingdom of Arun,’ Bezon said calmly. Enda and Xo came up behind him, giving a show of solidarity.

‘I’ve heard of it, but where is it?’ he said in a booming voice. He looked at his fellow men and they shook their heads blankly, some looked away smiling. ‘Where is this place?’

‘It is a long way south from here, east of Siluria. It is on the great river that weaves its way into the western sea,’

‘I still don’t know exactly where you mean. I’m beginning to think you are raiders. We spend all our time defending these lands against attacks from the Ordovices over there,’ he pointed with his sword at the hills and mountains behind him. ‘And then a band of a hundred or so armed men like you just dance their way in without a whisper. This can’t be allowed. I should impound you all,’

‘We need to get south as soon as we can,’ Bezon said. Some more of his other men had gathered around now.

‘They steal, they destroy and they kill anybody, the Ordovices that is. They take our lands, women and crops,’ the man said putting his sword in its sheath.

‘Your kingdoms are too close together then,’ Enda said.

The man growled and gripped his sword hilt, burying his gloved hand into the metal of it. He glared at Bezon briefly. ‘Keep this place tidy and be gone by the morning, we will escort you out of here then,’ he said.

‘Thank you,’ Bezon said.

‘Don’t leave any waste and clear up your fires,’

‘Of course,’ Bezon said smiling.

‘There is too much damage to the land. There is no respect for nature,’ the man huffed as he walked off, his men followed him.

‘Did everybody hear that,’ Bezon shouted at his men. Some men nodded and others looked blank. ‘Keep this place tidy, we leave at dawn. No mess,’ some of the men laughed openly, not knowing what to make of what he said.

As the evening came the camp settled. The fires made shaky shadows under the boughs of the trees as the pale moon leant over their camp from the eaves. In the dim light that there was Bezon wrote:

Dear Father,

I ride from Caledonia in the far north with over two hundred fighting men and do not know how long it will take to reach Arun. Hopefully we are not too late for the battle. It seems that the tale of my plight in Italia proceeds me and because of it northern horsemen come to join me for the cause of Arun and every day our ranks swell.

I do not know if the gods favour me or despise me as I have faced and narrowly avoided death more than twice recently, but I do know I must amuse them like some child’s plaything. I hope this message reaches you well and that you and the family are safe. If all is as I have heard from Caratacus, Alfos has amassed a considerable defensive army.

I am looking forward to our reunion and victory.

Your loving son
Bezon

As he signed his name the rider approached. ‘Ride hard, ride fast,’ Bezon instructed, drying the ink over the fire. He then handed the rider the warm parchment. The rider nodded and made his leave. ‘How’s your old lady?’

‘Rich and happy,’ the rider quietly said, laughing to himself. Bezon got up and patrolled his men who took camp in the dark shadows, making sure everything was in order with them and saw many unfamiliar faces. Fighting men and women from all tribes and countries had joined him. As well as the escort from Hibernia and the small band of Caledonians, there were groups from remote and unknown tribes. When Bezon approached them they greeted him in the way of their own customs. Some would bow before him, some would shake or kiss his hand, while others would hug and squeeze him like he was their long lost brother. Most spoke to Bezon in the most basic of common words such as: south, ‘talia, to fight, we ride, but some were more eloquent. One man who led a pack of a dozen or more burly warriors shook Bezon’s hand evenly and told his story.

‘We come from the lakes, my name is Casabad and these are my men,’ he said slowly sweeping his hand over them. ‘And those men who just visited you are the Devil’s men, that’s what we call them anyway as they’re from Deva’s edge. They are not to be trusted, please mark my words. I have more horsemen coming from the lakes, they will be joining us later,’

‘How many?’ Bezon asked, expecting him to say half a dozen.

‘Fifty or more,’

‘Fifty,’ Bezon exclaimed. He looked around at the number of men already with him, it was certainly more than two hundred now. Altogether it would make their number more than two hundred and sixty. Instinctively he looked to see if the rider was still about, but he had long gone. He would like to have altered the letter to Duerra to tell him the good news about their number. ‘I am pleased you are all coming, but why do you?’

‘The invaders won’t stop at Arun, they will sweep through the whole of Briton. This is our best chance to win over them,’ Casabad said. He looked over at another bunch of men. ‘I am convincing others the same too,’ he smiled confidently. He had pale blue eyes and a gaunt look as though he had worked hard all his life. ‘Anyway you are famous, Bezon of Arun,’ he laughed.

Bezon didn’t know what to say, he felt embarrassed. ‘Who is the Devil?’

‘Oh, the devil, well the devil is a fallen god, a bad god, one who makes evil,’ Casabad explained quickly.

‘All the gods are bad enough, although I shouldn’t say that in case they are listening. So why should the devil be so different?’

‘He works against the others. He is not a creator, he’s a destroyer and a killer,’

‘I see,’ Bezon said in a whisper, his mind deep in thought, he had never heard of the devil and was glad this devil didn’t reign in their kingdom. As the night settled down to its coldest and the stars came out, there was a quiet over the camp like a blanket of peace. All was still and some time passed. The men took what sleep they could as a light rain blew across them and their bedrolls that they had carved into the hollows of tree roots. Crows barked in the high eaves above as the wind rocked their nests. Some men sat quietly talking around camp fires.

There was a blinding light and a roar of thunder. Quickly followed by screams, heavy thuds and cries of anguish. Horses were galloping around and evil-looking men ran amid flashes of flickering torch lights. Bezon sat up and winced in alarm as screams filled the air, he turned to see one of Casabad’s men getting hacked at by a wiry thin, crazed savage who wielded a large jagged-edged sword. The reign of blows was so intense the man didn’t have time to react and it was like he was just standing there, a spectator to his own demise. Bezon felt so sorry for the man and realised he was letting his emotions get the better of him. Looking around Bezon saw another man fending off a wild creature who was lashing out at him with an large two-bladed axe, that gradually smashed his wooden shield to bits. Bezon got up and grabbed his sword, he roused Enda and Casabad.

‘We are under attack, let’s move,’ he said in a harsh whisper. He indicated to Casabad who was lying near him to rouse his men. At that moment a horseman came at him swinging a broadsword. Bezon managed to dodge it narrowly by falling back on himself in a twist, he then flung himself to the ground and rolled away. The horseman rounded on him again and another horseman followed behind, attacking Enda and Casabad. Bezon got up with his sword drawn, sizing the situation, his instinct was to fight immediately, but he wanted to weigh up what was happening overall. A small group of the wild men were untying a group of horses from their tethers. They got behind them and tried to corral them away by shouting and hitting their weapons together and on the horses’ rumps. Twenty or so of Bezon’s men who had been asleep had now got up and were drowsily getting ready to defend themselves. The man getting hacked down was no more, he was in pieces on the ground, his attacker was laughing madly as he kept hacking away with blood splattering all over him and a crazy look in his eyes. The horseman came at Bezon again slashing and stabbing his sword with renewed energy, but his eyes looked dizzily away as he saw the number of men he’d run into. Some of Bezon’s men had formed up and were standing in a defensive mass. The savage who had been hacking ran to the horseman with his jagged edged sword dripping with blood and the wild creature with the axe did too. The jagged edged swordsman tried to get on the horse, but the horseman moved away.

The defensive mass moved forward and as one surrounded the three attackers. ‘Come on lads,’ one of them shouted. The attackers lashed out wildly and indiscriminately in a reign of ferocious blows. One man fell straight away and a second was knocked to the ground and a third was decapitated, but the other swords of the men lunged in to the three and the sheer number of them brought them down. The horseman spun and fell, crashing to the ground, but still he lashed out, catching legs and arms. Bezon lunged in with one decisive blow, his sword struck at the chest of the horseman, piercing his leather armour, but the blow seemed to make him more crazy, he lashed out randomly, even as blood flowed out from him. Bezon waited for the right moment and then struck again, plunging his sword blade in deeply, putting all his weight behind it and the injured horseman gargled his last breath. Bezon watched as the horseman dropped his sword and fell flat on the ground with his horse stood calmly by watching.

Casabad was fighting the jagged edged swordsman one to one and through a system of methodical set moves he gradually ground him down and the ragged man became exhausted. Casabad blocked and parried, blocked and parried until he got his attacking thrusts in. He injured the man, but he still fought on. ‘These lot aren’t used to people fighting back,’ he cried as he put in a killer blow and the man fell in a heap at his feet.

Somehow the axeman had escaped. ‘Round up the horses,’ Bezon shouted over the confusion. ‘Double the guard,’ At dawn they rode out of their camp and along the way were joined by the men of Deva.

‘Heard you had a visit from the Ordovices last night,’ the big man with jet black hair shouted as he drew alongside Bezon. He was smiling as though it was amusing for him.

‘Yes, I lost eight men and some horses,’ Bezon said angrily.

‘I warned you,’ he said. ‘They probably mistook you for traders.’ Their horses bashed closely together as the muddy road narrowed.

‘They soon found we weren’t,’ Enda said as he drew his horse up and level with them. The man looked at Enda and then turned back to Bezon.

‘Ride with us,’ Bezon said.

‘We will ride as far as the northern edge of Mercia, then we turn back,’

‘We need good men like you, we need fighters,’

‘There is much work to do in our own lands,’ the man said. The horses slowed as they drew up a hill.

‘And there will be none, if the army of Italia is allowed to come. Everything will change. They don’t just colonise countries, they suppress and exploit them, the people they control are nothing more than captives in their own villages,’ Bezon said. The man listened. Bezon talked until they reached Mercia.

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In the south of Briton Severus had detached himself from the southern army that he had led up the river from the White Island and was heading north and west. He headed towards the coast that faced Siluria and further on again Hibernia. The land was difficult to track through and virtually impassable in places. He had brought the first Legion with him as his personal body guard, a small group of builders and engineers to start work on the villa and the road that would connect it to the sea port and a small team of map makers.

‘You know we’re in the middle of nowhere, don’t you?’ Milo said.

‘It is called no mans land,’ Severus replied dryly.

‘I feel like we are lost. People do live here,’

‘Haven’t seen many. We’ve set a true bearing, this is not a big country, it’s no bigger than Italia. We will reach the sea soon.’

Milo went to speak, but thought better of it.

‘Wherever we set down tonight that’s where the villa will be built. I don’t care if the lands not flat or of the right density. That’s it.’

‘Yes, Sir,’ Milo said. ‘I don’t like this place there are no roads.

‘No roads means it’s a blank canvas,’

‘No roads and too many obstacles,’

‘Obstacles can be overcome,’

‘You have to be a local to find your way around,’

‘We’ve brought the map makers,’ Severus said defensively. ‘We will have knowledge soon, which over the years will become experience and then we will be the locals,’ Milo nodded unenthusiastically. ‘What’s up?’

‘Nothing, Sir,’

‘The villa will be perfect as it’s a days slow ride from the south coast,’ Severus said brightly.

‘Perfect,’ Milo replied looking at the setting sun ahead and shaking his head. The landscape had changed to flat lowlands that were boggy under the horses hooves. It made slow going. He sighed deeply.

‘What’s the matter, Milo?’

‘Nothing,’

‘Come on what is it?’ Severus said in a more serious tone. He brought his horse close to Milo’s and looked at Milo closely, analysing his face. ‘You look angry,’

‘Who me?’

‘Yes, you, your blood’s up, anyway there’s no one else around,’ Severus said laughing, knowing he was wrong as they were surrounded by the cream of the first Legion, but also knowing they were trained not to interact unless told to do so. Milo trotted his horse on, keeping his head down. ‘Tell me, I need to know,’ Severus stopped his horse and glared at Milo.

‘If you don’t mind me saying so I think you’re crazy,’ Milo said, his voice was shaky. He stopped and turned to face his leader.

Severus’s mind was racing with reactions, should he be angry, upset, confused or should he listen and learn. He tried to work out what was meant. The column of men behind them ground to a halt. He looked at Milo’s face, it was taught and serious, his eyes roamed thoughtfully. ‘Because we are here?’

‘In short, yes. You are taking unnecessary risks. What if we get ambushed? We should do this house building and sight seeing after the battle is won and in the meantime concentrate our strengths.,

Severus moved closer to Milo so he was in his face. ‘Listen, all is prepared, our armies are aligned and waiting, there’s nothing more we can do. The first Legion isn’t going to make any difference,’

‘On the contrary, they might make all the difference,’ Milo said passively. ‘They lead and inspire the others,’

‘We’ll be back in time to see it all happening, the First will be there and us too,’ Severus said raising his voice so it could be heard. ‘The Southern army are on the borders of Arun and within the next couple of days the Eastern army will be too,’

‘And if something happens to you in the meantime?’ Milo said his voice croaky with emotion.

‘You take over, you know the plan. Cicero has other generals waiting in the wings that will guide you,’ Severus said calmly sweeping his hand in the air. They moved on and travelled a few more miles before the sun started going down. They came to a raised plateau that had firm ground and a high outlook of the land around it. ‘This is where my villa will be,’ he beamed a smile, not able to hide his happiness.

‘You must love her a lot, this wife of yours,’ Milo said feeling a pang of envy. ‘To have a villa built in her honour, a second home, a holiday home,’

‘I do. Have you seen her? She’s a beauty. She makes me feel so light and happy, she has given me so much. I am a lucky man and intend to stay alive to enjoy my life.’

‘I’ve seen her, she is young,’ Milo said smiling. He felt envious of Severus and how he made such bold strides around the world like a god. He had such power and was not bothered by all the normal, day to day things that ordinary people were. Things like money and having enough to eat.

Reviews

[Agyani]

Hey Leigh
I always say that you have a nice plot and idea in mind, because that's what I feel. But the way you write can sometimes make it difficult to see the plot. For example, you throw so many names of imaginary places right in the first paragraphs which can confuse the reader a lot. I understand that your story is set in a different world and different times, but it would be best if you only name as many places and people as are required for any particular story. This is what I feel would help rid the reader of that overwhelming feeling.
Then, you could also put some effort into improving the punctuation. I always feel punctuation is very important, for it adds to the readability of a story. When I say I feel punctuation is very important I don't mean that I get it right all the time myself, but focussing on it will help you see where you get it wrong, and that in turn will help you frame your sentences better. :)

[aubreydiamond]

Very exciting! I like your use of descriptions and the flow of dialogue to the test of the story. I haven’t started from the beginning, but this is captivating 😊

[BL]

Thanks for your review - glad you like it

[wordman]

pretty good chapter leigh,this will keep you up at night

[BL]

Great to hear you are still reading - thanks for your review

[wordman]

you`re welcome