49
“I will offer you all chests of gold and
silver.” The figure seated there in the hall soon after welcoming the gathered
made the offer.
“I am Pascentius, the son of Vortigern. “ The
figure there clothed in the kingly garments with the golden belt that held the
sword of his. “I am his third son, sent to stay with my mother for years. I am the
brother of Vortimer, and not a pretender to the throne.”
The hall was in a castle not in Briton but
across the channel at the main continent.
“All of you honor me by attending this
gathering.” Pascentius raised the goblet containing red wine, the drink of the
land. “To our alliance.”
“How are we to cross the channel?” An arrogant
voice by one of the attended then.
“The same as how the Anglo-Saxons had done,”
Pascentius replied. “By ships.”
“I thought the Britons will part the sea for us
there.” One of the pagan leaders added a sarcastic remark.
“Maybe if we add red wine to it. It will part
for us.” Another added. The sneering and sarcastic remarks were exchanged
there, and soon the agreement was to invade.
The news reached King Aurelius.
“Who is the braggart that dares to invade us?”
Aurelius snapped out in anger, He was leading the gathering with the Lords at
his hall.
“I will battle them.” Uther cut in. He was filled
with confidence after the victory at the retrieval of the stones.
“We will battle them. Briton will never be
enslaved by others.” King Aurelius made his stand. “I shall…”
The King had to pause on the words. He was seen
coughing then. Uther and Merlin who was in attendance rushed to the King.
“I am fine.” King Aurelius spoke out when
attended. “I am just out of the wind just now.”
“Aurelius, you need to rest. Your health has
been on the decline for days.” Uther looked to his brother. “I will handle the
battle preparations.”
“My King, you …”
“I hear you, Merlin, but I won’t heed your
words too.” Aurelius recovered from the cough and then pushed the two aside to
address the gathered Lords.
“We will push them back.” King Aurelius called
out. “Sound the horns.”
While the Britons prepare for war, the army of
Pascentius landed on the northern part of Briton and went on a trail of rampage
and pillaging. The army was huge combining different clans of the Gauls who
were there on the promises of the wealth to be gathered. They were joined by
other clans who offered their services as mercenaries.
“We made progress here.” Pascentius stood
looking at the burning village that they had taken over. “Nothing shall stand
in our way.”
“Have there been news from the Irish? Would
King Gillomanius be with us?” Pascentius asked his advisers.
“We heard no words from him. I was told that …”
“Lost their battle and now they cower in fear
there.” Pascentius mocked the Irish King. “Perhaps after Briton, we will take
on the Irish.”
It was then the scouts rushed in.
“My…King,” The scout unsure of how to address
the leader there. “The Britons are marching towards us. They are near to us.”
“Then it will be a major victory for us when we
meet.” Pascentius roared out. However, his confidence was not shared entirely
by the others.
“We have our wealth now. Do we need to battle
on?” Some of the chiefs there for the quick snatch reckoned it was time to
leave. Others did not contemplate the issue and left for the ships.
“Come back, you fools!” Pascentius roared at
the ones leaving him. “We can battle the Britons. Their King is ill. They are
without a leader.”
Words of the illness of King Aurelius did reach
there and that stirred up the mood of confidence. Pascentius seized the moment
to ride to battle. Both the army met at the open fields, with their strength
equally matched.
“King Aurelius, do we wait for reinforcement?
The other Lords are on the way.” The Lord there consulted the King.
“Nay, we will battle today.”Aurelius seated on
the mount looked at the other army. He saw the banners of the different chiefs,
and a few were minor clans of the Anglo-Saxons.
“I can see the Anglo-Saxons are with their oath
to me.” Aurelius smiled.”It may be a worthy …”
Aurelius was soon coughing and the gathered
there rushed over.
“Rest, my King. We will battle for you.” The
Lords urged the King.
“Nay, I will …” Aurelius was interrupted by the
sound of the horns. It was the call for battle.
“Who called that?” Aurelius asked.
“Uther, your brother.” The King was told. “He
rides ahead. The army is following.”
Aurelius heard the thundering hoofs of the
horses and stomping of feet around hum. He then sat up alright and pulled his
sword. He galloped his horse to join Uther without a word to the Lords there.
They rushed to be by their King in battle.
“Slay them all!” Uther roared when his horse
clashed with the other rider. Both the army clashed with spears and swords,
bodies bloodied and limbs slashed at. He
had deflected the slash of the other rider while his sword found the exposed
left ribs a worthy spot to thrust at. The blade of his sword cut in deep and
then with a pull of his arm, Uther had his sword free
to find another victim.
“Arghh…” Utehr cried out when one of the
enemies holding the spear cut him on his right forearm. He held the rein on his
horse to rear the forelimbs of the horse to trample on the spear holder. It was
gruesome when the hoofs crushed the bones beneath the flesh.
Uther rode on before his horse was impaled by
another spear. He jumped off the horse onto the one who wounded his horse. His
sword slashed hard at the face and killed the other. He turned to look at his
dying horse. It was no time to mourn for his faithful mount. He grabbed the
spear and pressed it in deep to end the horse’s suffering. \
“Young Prince, let us find you another horse.”
The warrior next to him called out but Uther was in anger at the loss of his
horse and had charged at the enemies. He was slashing his way at them like a
berserker and left a trail of blood.
Across the field to the rear of the army,
Pescentius was dismayed that his army was being routed by the Britons. He saw
groups of warriors deserting their position to retreat. He called to rally the
others but there were met with death by the Britons.
“Ride, Pascentius. We are done in this battle.”
The chiefs called on him. The decision was taken and the invaders retreated to
the north toward Ireland.
No comments:
Post a Comment