--happy new year all, I hope your 2009 was better than mine. Have fun, be safe, and make some good new years resolutions. See you next year.
Other messengers of our liege were sent to surrounding Caers and villages, and rallied all told, nearly four hundred other men. Added to that was three hundred pledged by Gaer, and our main war host of five hundred, bringing the grand total to a thousand and some-odd men. Even with this impressive army, with enough supplies for several seasons, and horses and armour for all, the act of taking Stucia was sheer folly. It was a fortress reinforced with more stone then several Caers put together, and none had taken it, it being abandoned in the time when the Saxons claimed it for their own. But in our kings madness, I knew he was right, only in order to stop the attacks crippling our shipping and movement of men to the North, we had to reclaim Stucia and her boatyard intact. Once there, we would use the ports to spread Northward, the Picts controlled all land north of the wall, and it was well acknowledged that that would be our next undertaking in order to unite the kingdom. The Saxons sphere of influence was not so much expansive as it was dotted and far-flung. They were nomadic by nature, so they moved to and from, and there were several strongholds of the lords that controlled them, and many warbands. The only way to solve the Saxon problem was to exterminate these strongholds, beginning with Stucia.
We were to march as soon as the troops had amassed. Something ill sat in the bottom of my gut, like rotten meat, or too much ale consumed in a single night, though if it was remnants from Nimue's visit, or the impeding raid, I was unsure. It took all told three days to have the men march in to begin our march to Gaer. I spent those days haunting the ramparts like a wraith, feeling both confused, and angry for no discernible reason. It was well past night fall of the second day when the lithe steps of Cath greeted my ears. I tried to become angry or haughty to drive him away, but one look at his huge, child-like eyes and toothy smile disarmed me. He jumped onto the blocks of stone that formed the bulwark of the wall, though to be honest, I stopped becoming alarmed at his theatricality, him being far too similar to a cat to ever incur harm from falling. He stepped to and fro lightly, observing me as I looked out onto the hills.
"What troubles you, brother?"
I smiled, Cath was fond of calling his friends 'brother'.
"Nothing, Cath, just...unease."
He smiled widely at me and hopped the gap half as long as he was to the next stone. I walked next to him as he continued dancing and leaping from stone to stone.
"Unease concerning Stucia?"
I nodded, watching him wordlessly, he moved with grace and fluidity rarely seen, even in the most agile and beguiling of women. He smiled and spun on one foot in place, leaping to the next stone and landing on his hands, walking about on them for a while.
"The plan we have to attack is quite fine, brother, we have enough men and supplies for a siege, what could trouble you of Stucia?"
I tapped my chin as I watched him somehow jump the gap using only his hands, and landing cleanly, still smiling.
"The dark lady, perhaps?"
I chuckled, news flowed fast, especially from Bliant's mouth when intoxicated on the King's ale.
"Not only that, Cath."
"What else?"
I shrugged, continuing to walk as he now stood in place on a stone using only the tips of his fingers.
"How is it that you are an advisor to the king? You seem much happier defying logic."
He smiled at me, upside down, looking as cattish as I had seen a human being look, his pupils huge and nearly black in the dark, pointy teeth, and a glint of mischief in his eye.
"I am happy defying logic while in the service of our King. And you avoid questions quite easily, my brother."
I laughed out loud, and he finally flipped over and onto solid ground, making the slightest sound of air resettling into the place he had previously been in. He sat down promptly on the stone and stared up at me, gentle bemusement on his face.
"What is it, brother?"
I sat down across from him, the cool stones startling me despite it being a warm and lazy night.
"Something of the Kings plan...it bodes ill with me."
He nodded sagely, his small all-knowing smile still present.
"It is a fool-hardy plan. Many men will die. Do you fear death, my brother?"
I shook my head and smiled, my fears seeming childish despite being the senior between the two of us.
"Nay, I fear neither death nor dismemberment. Merely...failing, I suppose the word is."
He smiled widely at me and popped up suddenly, extending down with his legs and moving straight up.
"You only ever fail, brother, if you resign yourself to. You fight well, better almost than Bliant I would say."
We laughed, knowing Bliant to be secretly insecure about fighting with an equally skilled swordsman and warrior, and superior, being a woman.
"Do not worry, brother, we will be fine, and you will most certainly not fail..."
He was already traipsing away from me into the night.
"...especially not with my genius plan to get you into the impenetrable fortress."
His laughter and light sing-song floated off and away until he was out of sight, and I felt lighter somehow, just being touched by his optimism. Cath truly was a wonder child. I abandoned my restless watch and slept well that night, the dark lady not appearing in my dreams, giving me the best nights sleep I had had in some time since Gaer. I awoke at the first strike of the bell, and was up and dressed just as dawn peeked over the now blooming hills. The warhost had camped in the glen below the castle, and though it was barely morning, the huge sea of tents was swiftly falling, and the collective groan of the war machine began to move. The men were efficiently fed, and the sea of shining, clanking, shouting, singing mass began to empty out onto the main road, leading up to Gaer, and then we would turn to the hills surrounding Stucia, where we would move to war.
The road to Gaer was uneventful, passed by Cath singing, Aglaral telling us stories of his travels to Asia Minor, Rome, and many islands where, he said, "the sun was as liquid honey out of a flask, if I may die in one place, it will be in those beautifully blessed islands". When we arrived at Gaer, all the commanders of the warband were given hospitality for the night, King Scilti even apologizing publicly for being so rude, but I declined, stating I felt more at ease among my men, which was partially true, though in truth, I was terrified to see Nimue the dark lady again. We left, three hundred men heavier in the morning, and started the trek through the lowlands and hills that spanned one hundred or so miles to Stucia. Surely, they heard tidings of our impending attack, and I knew we would encounter strong resistance. It took us longer than ten days to reach the hills surrounding Stucia. The sky in the distance was black as pitch, and fear rose in my throat that they had set fire to the boatyards, which would render any victory as good as a defeat at the hands of those blasted Saxons. We came to rest at the crest of a hill, no more than five miles away from the fortress. Bliant stood next to me, impatient, his bloodthirst beginning to grow by the day.
"Bliant, send scouts to see what that cursed smoke is from, and what fortifications we are against. Then convene in my tent, we are reviewing Cath's plan."
He bowed to me and rode off, while I rode into the makeshift camp we did have set up, my tent biggest of all, if not for ego's sake then just to house our warband council. The fur flooring had just been laid out, and steaming jugs of wine set out as the five of us convened, around a roughly cut table, in our respective hide canvas chairs, me at the head of the table. We had a well worn map of the area spread before us, my Saxon knife stabbed into the table on the location of Stucia.
"Attention brothers! Attention."
The quiet chatter ceased, and the serving boy poured another round of mulled wine before leaving us in peace.
"Are we all clear on Cath's plan?"
They nodded and took silent drinks from their cups. It seemed as if I was not the only one to have misgivings as to this venture for our king.
"We will await the scouts Bliant dispatched to see if the plan may need any changing. The guards have been alerted, and we should all sleep in relative safety tonight."
There was more nodding and sipping, and for a while, we all focused in on the gleaming hilt of my dagger, contemplating the location it had pinned down. I tapped my fingers nervously on the wood, trying to pick out any difficulties that the terrain could offer us. The weather was clear, and felt it would remain neutral and warm for quite some time, the hills were alive with new grasses and plants, and the sea offered no threats to us, this being a relatively quiet time in the season for shipping and raiding. Still then, why this horrible sense of unease...? As if to aggravate my fears, the scouts stumbled into the tent, but several short. I stood up so quickly and violently my wine spilled and my chair fell over.
"Speak you two! What happened?? Boy, fetch water and a doctor now!!"
There was chaos for several moments, until the youngest, no older than me, spilled out hurriedly what had had happened.
"We, we were running and in sight of the Caer, and the sky, the sky my lord..."
He trailed off and stared into space. We turned to the older one, dazed and silent, his eyes glassed over.
"So help me, one of you will speak and tell me what happened NOW."
The youngest continued, still staring, and shaking badly.
"WE NEED THAT DOCTOR! Tell us boy, what was it??"
"They saw us, somehow, my lord, the sky was lit up as if it were as clear as day outside. There were...trees somehow flew into the sky, ground disappeared... my lord, I saw, I SAW Corbenic, he was dismembered as if someone had ripped him, like a giant, a giant had him in his hands, I SAW him fly apart my lord!"
He let loose a string of curses and collapsed, the other refusing to speak. The sinking feeling plummeted. We turned to Lucan, the most learned of us all. His brow was creased, and he looked to be deep in thought.
"Lucan? Do you know of this evil magic that rips a man piece by piece? That lifts the tree as a giant would?"
He nodded, his eyes pinned to the map.
"The Saxons have had dealings with a Briton lord. I have heard it said that some lords on the eastern shore have found and learned to use some sort of...liquid, or powder, or both, that, when heat is applied to it, it as if...as if God is hurling bolts of lightning or balls of fire to the earth."
My blood froze. I had heard of this new discovery.
"But...Lucan, you cannot be suggesting that a British lord has willingly traded this new...thing, for money...or..."
His head sharply rose.
"You know as well as I do who supplied this horror to the Saxon horde. If given enough power, the Saxons will prevent us from ever achieving our lords goal!"
Icy silence descended. I sank into my righted chair.
"We cannot hope to defeat them with magicks such as they have. They will kill more men than what we have."
It was silent for a long while. Cath spoke first.
"Lucan...how would you store these objects, if you were a Saxon, or of their intelligence."
Lucan looked confused and eyed Cath warily, then looked to me. I knew better than to ever question Cath, when he was on the trail of a thought, it was best to let him ride it out.
"Well, Cath, I would choose a dry, safe, place to store everything. If they do indeed possess both forms of this...substance, then it would be both liquid and powdered, perhaps in containers of varying size."
"And how does it work?"
Lucan sighed, and took a long drink from his cup, our wine long gone cold.
"Well, to be brief, it is...able to hold fire, like a torch, but will consume, destroy, and rip apart anything near it if touched by fire."
"So, any spark or flame could cause it to react?"
"Yes, I suppose so, but Cath, what has this to do with our dilemma?"
Cath stood, a smile triumphantly on his face, and I knew he had sprouted an idea. He looked to me eagerly, and I waved my hand for him to begin what his mind had formulated.
"If, as brother Lucan says, it is only kept in a safe, warm, place, say, a shed, in the yard for easy access, we can easily remedy the problem."
I saw where he meant to go.
"But, Cath, how would we even manage to set fire to that storage shed, IF such shed even existed?"
He smiled, as catlike as ever at me.
"Leave it to me, my brothers. I leave to infiltrate Stucia."
He made to leave, but I caught him by the arm, his eyes wide, and his smile glinting.
"Fool! I should have you put to death for even suggesting you leave and get into the castle. Did you not hear what the scouts said? You will be killed before you can touch those damnable stones! And even, by the blessing of God, or any other entities, you would blow the entirety of the Caer! What good is a half charred skeleton of a castle to us?"
He paused, thoughtfully for a time.
"If your qualms are with me traveling alone, come with me, my brother, we will not be seen. I can startle even the King when I so choose."
His lack of thought, or even logic startled me, yet appealed wildly.
"If your qualms are with destroying the castle, then we can arrange to only blow up a key point."
His eyes were wild in the firelight, and briefly, I thought Cath to be mad.
"We would never survive getting into that castle, little brother, what is it you are thinking?"
"What, my brother, have you never seen me scale a wall with my bare hands? The stones used for all castles are old and cracked, I can climb the walls to Caer Legionis in no more than several minutes!"
"What of me, then, little brother?"
"You may wait, I will subdue the guards on the top, Saxons never leave many men to guard, they are lazy and sloppish, you know this!"
I sighed and looked to the others. Bliant looked glowing in the light, his sense of adventure agitated by Cath's proposal. Lucan remained neutral, and Aglaral looked at us all as if we were mad. Lucan spoke finally.
"If...my lord wishes it, we may have a good part of this army mobilized by the time you can set fire to the stones, and make good on the breach you create."
"Are there any other ideas as to what to do?"
I glanced around, all still holding their former countenances. I sighed, and looked at Cath, who looked downright devilish in this light, his mind spinning and weaving intriguing and dangerously hatched plans. It would prove to not be the last time he carried out a crazed and mad scheme. I sighed.
"We cannot wear shields, or even plate armour, the moon is full tonight, we'll have to travel light, little brother."
He let out a triumph shout, and raced from the tent to his, and I sighed, once again facing the gathering.
"...If I do not come back, my brothers..."
I heard a distant excited shout and chatter.
"You can blame it solely on that little one."
Laughter followed me out into the warm, star-studded night. I breathed deeply and secured my scabbard, mail, and boots. Tonight was as good a night as any to die, by my marking.