Series: Semper (3/4)
Rating: PG
Length: Drabble
Character: Tristan
Notes: Title means 'always vigilant'. Takes place after the village evacuation, and before the ice scene. Simargl is the name of what was possibly a Sarmatian war god who was depicted as a griffin.
Semper Vigilans: Tristan
He whistled softly and lowly at the circling hawk, keeping an eye on the scouting party at the bottom of the hill. The lead scout glanced up sharply and he pulled back, the tree branches hiding him again. The Saxon scout was good; perhaps even a match for him. It was a good feeling, that of a challenge. It had been a while since he had had to work so hard to keep from being noticed – it must have been when he was still a child, playing child's games in the vast rolling plains. There was no point in trying to hide from the Woads, they knew the forests better than he knew his trade.
The hawk, Simargl, landed on his master's wrist and flicked his head towards the oncoming army. Tristan nodded back and fed him a scrap of meat. Simargl gulped it down hungrily and took off again, this time heading away from the Saxons. Tristan climbed out of the tree to where his horse waited silently. He mounted, and nudged him gently. He had to warn the camp, the preliminary scouts were less than fifteen minutes away and the bulk of the men not too far behind.