Chronicles of the Brittany Kings Chapter 45

 45

 

Uther pulls out the sword from the throat of the Anglo-Saxxon before looking around. He was still with his warriors, although their numbers were fewer. The battle was not going in their favor, the Anglo-Saxons were more than them.

“Fight for your land, Britons!” Uther rallied the warriors. His arms were weary and felt his strength low. He looked at the one around him. The riders were still there, but their numbers like the foot soldiers were fewer. Some had dismounted to fight on foot then.

Uther could not make out the whereabouts of his brother then.

“Regroup!” Uther called out. They need to do that to mount a defensive wall. The warriors retreated on his call. When all seems to be failing, the sound of the horns could be heard over the roar of the battle.

“The reinforcement had arrived,” Uther muttered to himself. He found new strength in his arms and legs. He rallied the warriors to fight.

“For Briton!”

Aurelius in the middle of his battle was paused to rest his arms. The Anglo-Saxons were in confusion then. There were calls then that their leaders were dead. Some called out that the reinforcement of the Britons had arrived.

“We can still fight, my King. Rest here.” One of the Lords approached the King.

“No, I will fight on. Gather the warriors. We press on.” Aurelius raised his right hand holding the sword. “For Britons!”

It was the same with Lord Eidol when he was pushed back by the charging Anglo-Saxons. He left his sword in Hengist when he retreated.

“My Lord, a sword for you.” Lord Eidol was handed the sword. He looked to the one who handed the sword. The warrior was a Briton and was wounded in the chest.

“I will find another, my King. Use mine for it’s the one made by my father, the blacksmith.” The Briton warrior staggered away to find his sword. Aurelius held the sword in his right hand.

“For Briton!” Aurelius charged forward.

The Britons were reinforced from both sides by the Lords that marched there. Their numbers were smaller but they were fresh to the battle. The newly arrived Britons charged and surprised the Anglo-Saxons.

“Retreat! We need to regroup.” The calls went out among the Anglo-Saxons.

It may be the intervention of God that made the reinforcements arrive timely but the weather held well that day with no rainfalls. By the end of the day, the Anglo-Saxons were seen in the retreat once more.

“We won, my King. We won!” Lod Eidol approached the King. “I had my vengeance on the Anglo-Saxons. He dies with my sword in his body. Hengist dies.”

Many of the Anglo-Saxons had surrendered and the call for retribution sounded.

“Remove their heads!” The Britons called out into the coming dusk. Aurelius intervened and halted the call for the kill

“Let us stop the killing now>” Aurelius looked at the Lords. “Let us rest and come morning, we will decide.”

It was an uneasy night for Aurelius who took to walk the battlefield alone. His guards were dismissed but they remained at a close distance. He then saw the solitary figure seated among the dead.

“Merlin, why are you here?” Aurelius asked before he seated next to the druid. He saw the nearby dead warriors were looted of whatever that were of value. The swords and shields were also taken away ob the carts.

“I came here to look not for valuables but to pay my respect to the dead. I knew the dead; the Britons and also the Anglo-Saxons. Both are proud people on their land. The Anglo-Saxons displaced by the Romans and before that by the Gauls seek only refuge for their families.”

“It’s not easy wandering the lands.” Merlin sighed, “All of us need a place to call home/”

“Merlin, you spoke true. We have been battling each other once too many. We can try to live as one.” Aurelius looked to the dead. “Let their bones find a home.”

With that, Aurelius returned to his tent.

The next day, he had the Anglo-Saxon leaders brought to his tent.

“If you agreed to be under my rule, I will grant you land to build your homes on the land.” That call by Aurelius stunned the other Lords. He looked to the Lords. “We have lost many to the war between ourselves. It’s time to end the bloodshed.”

“Are we to cede our lands again?” One of the Lords voiced out.

“I won’t have them on mine.” Another Lord echoed the feelings of the others.

“I say nay. Let us remove their heads now.” The call was unison among the Lords.

“I asked for all of you to remain calm.” Aurelius pleaded to the King. “Hear me out first.”

“I said we will give land but the allegiance is to us, the Britons.” Aurelius made the statement. “They will reside to the north of the kingdom. It’s unattended by any of you and was our buffer with the Scots.”

The land there was mountainous and cold in most seasons. The Britons are there but few. They mostly resided at the coasts or to the south.

“The Anglo-Saxons will have their homes there but under our rule. They will fight for us against the Scots and Vikings. And Danes. There will be no tributes to be given.” Aurelius looked to the Lords.

None of the Lords mounted any protest to it. The surviving Anglo-Saxons agreed to the terms of the offer. Among them was Octa, the son of Hengist and Eosa. Lord Eidol approached Ocrta to enquire about the fate of Hengist.

“He is dead. The wound was fatal and the healers could not do much.” Octa told the Lord. “Our feud ends here.”

Then the reign of King Aurelius was to begin.