Fulcinia and Alecto were watching the lone figure on the hill. His majestic stance spoke of his faith in the outcome of the battle of good over evil. Fulcinia looked back to where Dagonet was riding with the other knights. She knew in her heart that sooner or later one or all of them would ride up to join their commander even though they were free from their pact with the Roman Empire. No matter which one joined him first, she knew Dag would join him before they were out of sight of the fort. It pained her heart to think she might lose him before she had a chance to know all there was to know about the man she had found in her twilight of life. But she had long ago stopped trying to change the road fate sent her on. It was useless and only caused more grief in the end. It was better to accept what happened and relish the good memories that came along the way.
She kept watching him until the wagon turned a small curve in the road that took him from her sight. She sighed and Alecto placed his hand on her shoulder. He immediately understood her sadness for he felt the same. The men he had come to know the hearts of these men and hated to see them suffer any longer for the sins of his country. But destiny was a thing that neither required nor wanted interference from the puny beings it controlled. He knew Arthur believed in free will, but Alecto had come to the conclusion that free will only reinforced fate. Men chose their own paths according to the paths fate presented them and nudged them toward. He gave one final prayer to his God that these men would be nudged toward the path that led to happiness after so many years of pain and servitude.
When the knights rounded the curve in the road, Fulcinia again saw Dagonet riding with the others. She let the breath she was holding slip from her lips. She had fully expected him to be missing if not all of the men. Maybe she had misjudged him and he truly wanted to start a new life without the killing, but she still believed he would find it necessary to return to his commander one last time. She was brought out of her reveries by the sound of horses whickering and men's voices trying to calm them. She was not surprised to see the knights look to each other for reassurance before they dismounted and headed for the weapons cart.
When Dagonet looked ahead to the wagon Fulcinia was riding in he saw the half-smile on her lips. He flashed her a grin and shrugged his shoulders as if to say he didn't understand it himself. When she raised her hand in a wave and nodded her head acknowledging his decision, he felt a relief he did not know he had been concerned about. She understood him better than he thought she would. He just hoped she understood that he would find her when this was all over. All he had to do was survive and they would have their chance at happiness.
Dag watched the wagon until it topped a small rise in the land and moved out of his line of sight. When he turned back to his friends he found Lancelot watching him curiously. He walked over to him and stood there waiting for whatever comment Lancelot found necessary to say. Instead of saying anything, all he did was nod his head and continue to put on his armor. Dag returned the nod and turned around in a circle looking at each of the knights in turn. They were his friends and had been his brothers-in-arms for as long as he cared to remember.
In a way, Dag felt he was saying goodbye to all of them just in case something happened and one of them didn't make it. Over the years they had all fought together and knew that at times the others had done some great deed that kept another alive. He silently thanked them for the years of friendship and hoped they all had a chance at the life he knew they desired. Having mentally closed this chapter to his life, he mounted his horse and waited for the others. When they were ready, Lancelot led the group across the plains toward the man who had earned their respect and loyalty. When Lancelot and the others rode up to Arthur's side the man did not show any surprise at their appearance. Although they had earned their freedom to choose, he was not surprised they chose loyalty over any other choice. He was proud to stand with them and knew his chances of success had just been upped a thousand-fold.
"Knights, the gift of freedom is yours by right. But the homes we seek resides not in some distant land. It's in us and in our actions on this day! If this is our destiny, then so be it. But let history remember, that as free men we chose to make it so!" Arthur wanted his friends to know that he understood that they had had 'chosen' to stand with him in this battle. They did not do it out of duty. He wanted them to know that he appreciated their loyalty more than he ever had. They were looking to him and he nodded for Tristan to take care of the traitor that had brought the Saxons to their new home.
With a signal from Arthur, Jols opened the gate to the fort putting the plan into action. The Saxon leader sent in the men that were left after the battle on the ice. The gate slammed shut behind them and their actions let Arthur know that they realized their fate had just been sealed. They garnered what bravery they had left and prepared to fight to the bitter end. Arthur gave the signal and Guinnevere and the Woads let loose a stream of arrows that took the army by surprise. They heard the whistling of the arrows flying through the air but because of the smoke from the fires set by the locals they could not tell which direction they were coming from until the first arrow struck its mark. As Arthur and the knights came galloping at full speed toward the group of Saxons they brought their shields up to cover themselves from more arrows. They were not prepared for the onslaught of fierce warriors on horseback and the knights easily took out one or more each.
The Saxons turned to prepare for another assault from the direction the knights had gone in and were hit from behind again by arrows from Woad bows. As they turned to prepare for more arrows, Arthur led the others on a second assault from behind them. With all the smoke and being hit from front and rear it took only a short time for all the Saxon infantrymen to be lying on the ground dead or dying. Save one who quickly and without hindrance made it to the gate and out toward the Saxon leader. Arthur had signaled his forces to let the man go so he could tell his leader what they had to expect inside. Sometimes an army could cause its own defeat just by letting fear take over. He hoped that was the case this time, but he didn't have a lot of faith in that part of the plan.
Ganis opened the gate one more time and the main Saxon army came running into the fort. When the leader sent part of the army to flank the knights Arthur watched so the Woads could cut them off with a stream of fire with their flaming arrows. The only way to defeat such a large army was to cut them into smaller pieces and take them out one small group at a time. When that part of the plan had gone into effect, Arthur led his knights onto the battlefield one last time. From this moment on they would have to fight to stay alive and as in so many battles before they would have to cover each other's backs as much as possible. With one final prayer to God Arthur struck the first Saxon with Excalibur and the final battle to a terrible, useless war had begun.