XXXI - As High as the Crows (The Death of a King)

'The pure heart has an eternal light,’

 

'I am old now and my bones are cold, but the warmth from the fire gives me enough strength and in it there is a light, there is a memory and a tale to tell. Looking into the flames, my eyes are taken away and I am in the world of the past. Although it was many years ago, it is a clear and unerring place and it is as though it was yesterday. First of all, I will always remember the place of my birth.'

Part of the detachment of forty men from various sections (most of a forty-eight man unit) consisted of what remained of Thamus's Section Three. Section Three had been split in the rush of the Britons sweeping down the hills and inevitably some had now been killed or were missing.

Thamus himself was uninjured and was in command and control of his section and lower ranking infantry from the other sections. Nos 2 & 3, John Smith and Adam Jones were missing and because they were Briton mercenaries, it was assumed that when the battle had reached a turning point and was not in favour of Italia that they had fled through the countryside back to their families. Zundos and Lenard were there behind Thamus with their shields locked together as was Ducius and Vinci. Ascoli brought up the rear.

'Detachment halt,' Thamus shouted as a large band of native soldiers blocked their way some fifty paces away. He looked with curiosity at the disorganised rabble, there were civilians with farming equipment for weapons, ill-equipped fighting men and at the centre a royal looking wagon, in front of which was an elderly man in a fine silk tunic. He estimated them to be around two hundred and instinctively looked around to call for more men, but there were none now. They were either trapped or had split away in fragments from the main army like they had.

The wind had got up, there was a storm coming and cold rain spat on them. The rabble before them had taken on a fighting stance, ready to attack. 'Form up,' he shouted, stepping away from the men. They made three lines of twelve with a spare four behind in order of their rank which meant that section three were in the third row. 'Lock shields,' Javelins, spears and arrows flew in. 'Crouching, crou-ching,' he said batting away a loose arrow with his sword edge. The men crouched down so their interlocking shields were touching the ground leaving only their helmets peaking over the top. The second, third and fourth rows formed shields to the sides and above making a shell of metal and wood. Thamus watched the enemy and waited, ever looking out for more of them, the cold rain soaking through his clothes and armour. He watched the elderly man by the wagon, he was definitely Arun royalty as he had a man servant who he gave orders to. There was something different about the man servant which caught his eye. 'By the gods,'

'What is it, Sir?' Ducius called from his position.

'That man over there. He's one of ours,' Thamus said.

Instinctively the eyes of the detachment scoured the ranks of the rabble. 'Eyes forward. Look at the man to the left of the grey haired guy,' Thamus said.

'I see him, Sir,' Ascoli said.

'Do you know him?'

'No, Sir, but shall I call to him, he might join us, we need him, we are outnumbered.'

'No, I will. Hey you, what are you doing over there you traitor?' Thamus shouted, pointing directly at Nico with his outstretched sword

Duerra looked at Nico 'What are they saying?' he asked.

'Um, uh, they're asking me what I'm doing and calling me a traitor,'

'They are your countrymen, if you want to join them you can,' Duerra said with a wry smile and a glint in his eye.

'No, it's all right, Sir. I'll stay where I am, if you don't mind,' Nico whispered, his head down in shame. He realised the detachment in front of them were outnumbered and the whole of the Italia army was now in disarray due to the sudden appearance of a massive army apparently led by the long lost Bezon. If all else had failed during the invasion the communications hadn't, they had been reliable and paramount.

'What's your name soldier?' Thamus shouted, realising he had to try his luck as they had nothing to lose.

'Nico,' Nico shouted back.

'Where're you from?'

'Rome,'

'Come and join us. Fight for your country,'

'What is he saying, Nico,' Duerra asked impatiently, hissing out his words.

'As I said before, he wants me to join them,'

'Well, go if you wish,' Duerra said. The two men looked at each other, their eyes searching each other's out.

'I'm staying where I am. You have given me a good life. I am staying here to the end. This is the place I love now. Anyway, if I go with them I'm a dead man,'

Duerra laughed a little and that made him cough, he clutched his chest and took deep breaths. He leant on his sword like it was a walking stick. 'I don't want you talking to them anymore. Launch the attack,' he shouted as loudly as he could. Nico signalled to the men, holding his arm out straight ahead and his hand flat and they all surged forward. As they reached the hardened shell of the detachment they were met with poking short swords, javelins and spears and an object with no give in it.

Some of them clambered on top, only to be dropped in and quickly dispatched. Some tried to prize the forward shields open and fell fallow to those ready behind. Because of their sheer difference in numbers, others just stood around behind with nothing to do. Nico and Duerra made their way up, standing at the back.

'Take out the military first, the civilians will run when they are gone.' Thamus shouted as a rogue spear came in, hitting Zundos in the stomach. He fe to the ground, writhing in pain.

'We need to form a circle. They're all around us now,' Ducius yelled.

'They're behind us,' Ascoli re-enforced.

'Form circle,' Thamus ordered. They re-grouped into an arrangement of concentric circles and as they did a few men were lost in the openings that were made. Thamus stood in the centre, weighing up their options. As they stood there were ferocious, random and sporadic attacks, the grey haired royal looking man stood at the back and he remembered what Severus had said.

- Anyone of significance is to be brought to me and not killed -

He had meant royalty, druids and anything or anyone peculiar to the islands of Briton. There was a prize for a ransom. The circles were beaten down and now only twenty-six of the forty remained. Vinci had been dragged out of the shell by rope at the cost of four Britons and was then hacked down.

Thamus looked around for support, but there was none and so they made a slow retreat back to the main battlefield which they knew was no place of safety. It was only a matter of time before their lines were broken and then it would be hand to hand fighting. And as he predicted the Britons recklessly made a rush at them at great cost to themselves and gouged a route into the closed circle of shields. Like the board game he played, he knew if you only defended you would lose.

'I'm getting ready to run,' Ducius screamed. 'We need to do something. Anything. We are getting battered with hammers and axes,'

'What? What do we do?' one of the others yelled.

'We might as well attack in groups of four so they can bear the brunt, rather than be picked off one by one,' Ducius said drolly. A man ran at his shield which instead of using it to block, he opened, let the man stumble. He took half a step forward, completely exposing himself, ran the man through, then stepped back, locking his shield neatly back into place as though nothing had happened. 'Then the group can retreat more easily,'

'Ascoli, you're up,' Thamus said.

'Yes sir,'

'No not you Ascoli. Lenard and the mast three of row two, you're up,' Thamus ordered, not wanting to use his own men. 'Form a fighting party,'

The four men stood in the centre of the circle and checked their weapons. They were given a short time and then the shield wall was opened for them. They knew they wouldn't be allowed back in until all the enemy were dead. They went out and hacked and attacked into the melee of the enemy until they were all dead, at the same time letting the others slip further away.

'Look, they are sacrificing themselves,' Duerra said as he staggered on his feet. He only was able to wave his sword at them from a safe distance, incapable of joining in the real fighting.

Of the twelve men of Legion 16, Unit 19, Section 3 only three returned to Italia: Thamus, Ducius and Ascoli.

XXNII XXNNI III

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Duerra called out from the back of the wagon and a stranger came to him. ‘Is that you, Nico,’

‘Yes, it’s me, Duerra,’ Nico replied looking at a man as white, shadow of a man.

Duerra second looked him, but saw him no clearer as anyone he knew ‘Are we safe now, Nico?’

‘We are, yes and we needn’t have fallen back, we are winning the battle,’

‘And my sons? What of my sons?’

‘Uh….Uh,’ Nico stuttered.

‘Caratacus, where’s he?’ he said faintly, thinking of the escape route that he had so neatly planned for them all. He thought of Bezon. Where was he? His golden haired son and had he truly returned after hearing the news of his death so frequently over the past year or so. There was no need to worry about Alfos, he was strong and sure to survive as he could negotiate and have himself protected. There was no need for him to be in the thick of it.

‘Caratacus is missing, Bezon has been seen today and Alfos is still at battle,’ Nico lied. He didn’t really know where they were or if they were alive, but he had to tell Duerra something.

Duerra looked over Nico’s shoulder in horror and saw that the sun had turned black, the sky white and fading to invisible and the low sloping hills were folding away. Voices were distant and words indistinct, everything was fading. Only the wagon around him remained, but as he looked up, the cover disappeared and a host of stars stared in. He was in a living nightmare of a collapsing world.

‘The lights are fading, Nico,’

All was darkness, all was still, only the slow beat of his heart and space remained. His heart took its last beat then he felt himself lift off and he was as high as the crows looking down on his royal wagon and a small crowd of people around it. The mists in the tops of trees were low as he ascended, travelling through space.

Reviews

[wuliheron]

Really good, but the first paragraph needs a few comas to reinforce the cadence. Its a little weird with the punctuation reinforcing the cadence, except in the first paragraph. Normally, you might want to provide simple, but very pronounced, punctuation in the first paragraph, then get more complex as you go along.

[wuliheron]

Good cadence, and the only way to improve on it is to add a more complex lexicon.

[BL]

It needs bags of cadence in the next chapter as it’s a massive love scene