Chapter 31
"ARTORIUS" being screamed just feet away from where I slept, was my wake up call. I sat up quickly, Gawain was no longer at my side, he must have got up during the night for guard duty. The only man I new that could bellow so loudly was Bors. He was already up and mounted, weapon brandished high.
I looked over to where he was and noticed a crowd had gathered. Dagonet was in the center prepared to do battle with the surrounding mercenaries that had traveled with us, their weapons also in hand. At the word of Arthur they surrendered their weapons, which were promptly seized by Jols.
"It looks like we missed out on all the action." I noticed Galahad and Gawain had just rode up, Galahad looking to be in a more pleasant mood than past nights. "What happened?" He questioned me.
"I do not know, I only just awoke." I said with a sheepish grin.
"Well, I see one dead Roman, so it must not be a bad thing," Gawain commented. I too then noticed that Marius was lying in a puddle of blood on the ground with an arrow protruding from his chest. Based on the bow in hand, and the proud look on her face, I believe I knew who had done it.
I gave the woad girl, Guinevere, I believe was her name, and appraising look. Good for her, the man deserved it, after what he had done to her. She looked much better than she had the previous night, she had washed and changed clothes, the girl was quite a beauty. My thoughts were soon interrupted by the pounding of hooves coming through the trail, it was Tristan, followed closely by several of the serfs.
"How many did you kill." Bors called out.
"Four."
"Not a bad start to the day." He replied with a chuckle.
Tristan threw down a cross bow at Arthur's feet. "Amour piercing, and they are close."
"Then we must hurry." Arthur said, and began to hurry the people up, for we must be on our way.
It did not take me long to pack my belongings and saddle Black. Isolde would be riding in the wagon, so I no longer needed to worry about sharing my horse. I must admit as nice as it was to be close to Gawain, I preferred my own horse and saddle any day.
I rode this time at the head of the line, with my father and Arthur. Tristan looked as if he had gotten no sleep the night before. Dark circles were starting to appear under his eyes. "Did you ride all through the night?" I questioned breaking the silence upon us all.
He only mumbled in answer, and I did not know if it was a yes or a no. "You need some sleep, why don't you head to one of the wagons, and try to rest." I suggested, not really realizing how ridiculous I sounded suggesting Tristan of all people lay down for a nap.
"There will be time for sleep later, I am fine Taryn." He said shortly.
"Well you don't look fine." I tossed back.
"Taryn" He growled at me.
"I am only saying something because I care about you."
"Taryn you are right, Tristan does need some sleep, but the Saxons are close and he knows he is needed, so please quit nagging him for all our sakes." Arthur said butting into our conversation.
I heard a snigger behind me, and turned to give Galahad a dirty look, I was getting on Arthur's nerves, and he found it funny. Probably because it isn't him getting scolded for once, I thought to myself.
"I know you care, and I promise I will sleep when we arrive at the wall." Tristan said softly. It was one thing for him to scold me, but not Arthur, and he new it had bothered me.
I pulled my horse back to ride next to Gawain, who almost appeared to be sleeping in his saddle. "Gawain," I called, nudging him on the arm. "Hmm, what," He said jerking up quickly.
"Were you sleeping?" I asked wondering how in the world he could sleep in the saddle, and knowing Arthur would kill him if he saw him.
"No, just resting my eyes, unlike you I got very little sleep last night." He said with a frown.
"Well you can sleep when we get back to the wall." I said with a grin, knowing he had just missed my whole conversation with my father.
"Where will we live?" I asked him suddenly.
"What do you mean?"
"When we arrive back in Sarmatia, where will we stay with your family, or with mine?"
"I haven't thought that far ahead Taryn. It is custom though that the woman come with the man's family." He said thoughtfully.
"But Gawain, I have only had my father for such a short time, I do not wish to lose him so soon."
"I understand, but I have not even seen my family in fifteen years, and you only just left home in the last year, I really want to see them Taryn."
"But Gawain I don't even know your family, you would love mine, and we would be happy there, we could live in my old home if it is still empty, it would mean so much to me." I pleaded.
"Galahad's family is from the same tribe, you know him, and you will love my sisters."
"Sisters?" For I had never heard Gawain talk of any sisters. "You have sisters."
"Yes four."
"You have four sisters and have never told me about them. You know every detail of my life, and you have never told me you have sisters." I said for some reason this angered me.
"Maybe Taryn, I did not tell you, because you were too busy telling me every detail of your life." He said smartly.
"Fine, I wont tell you anything more about my life."
"Good, because I already know it all anyway."
"Okay, what was my mother's name?" I asked. "I may have told you about my life, but I know you don't even pay attention most of the time."
"Taryn there are Saxons nearly on our tales, can we please discuss this later."
"Her name Gawain."
"This is silly Taryn, I am not playing these games with you."
"It is a simple question, answer it." I said a little more demanding.
He let out a breath in an exasperated sigh. "Tarah." He replied after a long pause.
"Wrong! Sarah." I shouted.
"Sarah, Sarah that is what I said."
"You are lying Gawain, you said Tarah. See I knew you did not listen to anything I said."
"Taryn, I was close, I am sorry if I have a lot of things on my mind right now."
"Gawain, how can you expect us to have a life together when you don't even talk to me or listen about the important things."
"I am not having this argument with you right now, we will talk about it when we arrive at the wall."
"No, we will talk about it now." I said already prepared for a heated argument.
"No we wont, I love you Taryn, but I don't want to argue, about our families, where we will live, or whose told who what. I just want to get you home safely."
"Fine Gawain, we wont talk about this now, but I have already decided, you can live with your family, I will live with mine, now we have nothing to worry about." I did not wait for his reply, I only urged Black forward to ride again at my fathers side. I was being difficult and the argument was really my fault, but for some reason, I did not care.
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After several more hours of travel, none of which I spoke to Gawain we came to a clearing. I came to a stop next to Tristan. The sight before me was overwhelming a giant frozen lake, and it was at least a mile if not longer to the other side.
"Do we have to cross it?" Arthur asked of Tristan.
"There is no other way." He said simply. "Tell them all to get out of the wagons, and spread out."
The people obeyed quickly, no one wanted to be in a heavy wagon, while crossing a frozen lake. I did as Tristan did, and slid down from my horse onto the cold ice. It seemed thick enough, I glanced over at my father with a questioning look, he nodded in reply to my unspoken question, he believed it would hold up.
I walked slowly next to him, calming Black with each step. Gawain had made his way back to my side. "Are you okay?" He said with a caring look on his face.
"I am fine." I said trying to put on a brave front, the ice was frightening, but even worse then the loud creaks, was the sound of the drums growing louder by the minute.
As we neared the edge of the lake the drums were close behind. Fear shot right through me with each beat that echoed on the water. We all came to a halt behind Arthur, who turned to look at the knights.
"Knights," He said, the unspoken question was obvious to all.
Bors was the first one to speak up. "Well, I am tired of running, and these Saxons so close behind, my ass is hurting."
"Never liked looking over my shoulder anyways," Tristan added, I thought how much the statement fit the man, he would take the trouble head on.
"It'll be a pleasure to put an end to all this racket." Gawain added. I agreed wholeheartedly with his statement, these drums were giving me a frightful headache.
"Well finally get a look at the bastards." Galahad said, surprising me with his willingness to stay and fight.
"Here, now." Dagonet grunted, already on the ice preparing for the battle.
They all were determined this pursuit would end now. The villagers were sent on ahead with one of their own, a man named Ganis as their leader. The knights would catch up with them if they survived. I looked over to where Isolde, Bekah, and the baby were. Guinevere the woad was insistent she would stay and fight. This left me to the decision what would I do.
I was honestly scared of the thought of facing what sounded like such a large army seeing as there were only seven knights and a girl, what chances would they have. I looked at the men as they were preparing by scattering piles of arrows across the ice. They may not have much of a chance, but I guess seven knights, and two girls were better than just seven knights and one girl, I was fairly skilled with the bow. Now was not a time for cowardice to take over.
I removed my bow from where it was strapped to Black's side. "Tayrn," my father said questioningly.
"I will stay, Guinevere is right, you need any bow you can get. He nodded in agreement, I knew he would prefer me to head straight back to the wall, but it was a most desperate situation.
I tied Black tightly to a tree quite a distance back, I knew I must be prepared for a hasty exit if the Saxons did make it across the ice.
"You should not be here." I heard over my shoulder. I turned to face Gawain, I did not wish to fight with him anymore, so I merely agreed. "I know." I said with a sad smile.
"If you hurry you can catch up with the caravan." He suggested.
"My place is here." I said simply, I believe I was sounding more and more like my father every day.
I turned and made my way toward one of the pile of arrows, I stood between my father and Lancelot. I looked ahead just as an army of a hundred or so men came around the bend. I could feel my knees tremble, I am not sure if it was from fear, or cold, maybe a combination of the two.
"Hold until I give the command." Arthur said above the roar of the drums.
"You look frightened." I turned to see Lancelot speaking to Guinevere. "There are a large number of lonely men out there." He said his cocky grin in place.
"Don't worry, I wont let them rape you," She shot back at him. The look on Lancelot's face was near comical, I could not suppress the small giggle, even in such a grave time as this. He gave me an evil little glance, which only made me laugh more.
"Taryn" Tristan said with a frown, for now was no time for laughter, one look at the massive army ahead of me, sobered me up quickly. Then from there ranks came one single arrow that landed several feet ahead of us. I looked down the line for the reaction of my comrades.
"I believe they are waiting for an invitation. Bors, Tristan," Arthur said confident in his two knights.
"We're far out of range," Guinevere quickly interrupted, looking at Arthur as if the suggestion was quite ridiculous. Arthur gave a sly smile in reply.
I am not sure what I enjoyed more, the sight of several arrows plunging into those Saxon beasts chest, or the look of amazement on Guinevere's face at the skill of our knights. The few fallen men did not deter the Saxons march, for they kept on toward us in a steady march.
"Aim for the wings of the ranks, make them cluster." Arthur commanded.
I notched the arrow I held in my hand, and silently cursed myself for the shaking of my fingers. I let the arrow fly and watched it as it landed slightly off target, in the thigh of the Saxon.
"Breathe, and fire faster." Tristan instructed.
I did as I was told took a deep breathe, said a silent prayer, and began to fire as quickly as I was capable. Dozens of men fell at the onslaught of our arrows. Arthur was right, the men were clustering in an attempt to be out of the range of our arrows. The ice was creaking loudly but was yet to show signs of breaking.
"It's not going to break! Fall back, Fall back!" Arthur cried discarding of the bow and pulling out his sword. "Prepare for combat."
"Taryn, take your horse, and ride to the wall." Tristan said, still firing arrows as he moved back.
"No." I said firmly, courage renewed. I will fight, I pulled my long sword from my belt and gripped it tightly in my cold fingers.
I saw movement in the corner of my eye, and looked suddenly to see Dagonet running toward the Saxon line, his large battle axe clutched firmly in his hand.
"Dag, Dagonet!" Bors cried.
"Cover him!" Arthur commanded as we all sat there dumbfounded at what our friend was doing. It was only seconds though before bows were back in hand, and arrows were being fired again at the Saxon lines. Dagonet stopped midway between the lines, and brought his axe down on the ice, with a mighty stroke. He was trying to break the ice.
The Saxons also knew what he was trying to do, and their archers made it to the front of the line, our Dag their prime target. I felt a wave of nausea pass over me, as an arrow embedded itself in its side, and then another, but still Dagonet brought the axe down again and again, his whole body beginning to sway. Arthur took off at a dead run across the ice, but he was too slow, Dagonet fell forward plunging through the breaking ice. Arthur skidded to a stop, and amazingly managed to pull the giant man from the water. Bors was running to the waters edge to help pull his friend in.
The roar of the ice breaking was thunderous. The screams of Saxons as they plunged to their death filled the air, as joyous as a sight of our enemies being defeated was all eyes were on Dag. Gawain went forward to help the two men drag Dag out of the arrows range.
"Dag, stay with me! Stay with me!" Bors cried at his friend's side. I ran where Dagonet lay, I took his large hand in mine, a shiver ran through me at the sheer coldness in it. I looked to his face it was near lifeless. "We need to get him warm." I yelled to my father standing behind me. I jerked my cloak from around my neck to throw over my friend.
"Everyone, cloaks now." Bors commanded, rubbing his friends face briskly as if trying to rub the life back into him.
"Bors, Taryn, it is to late he is gone." Arthur said quietly.
"No," Bors argued, "He is not dead, he is just near frozen."
I pulled the cloak back to better inspect the man, there were at least half a dozen or so arrows protruding from his chest and sides. I stood up quickly, unable to bear the sight of him any longer. The knights stood around him looks of shock, grief, amazement at what had just happened.
"Taryn, go and bring us Dag's horse." Arthur said trying to be strong, but it came out in a croaked whisper.
I obeyed immediately, going to the woods were the horses were tied, and bringing Dag's large dark horse to Arthur. It took all seven men to hoist his body onto the waiting mount, the horse so like his master remained calm, and stood still during the ordeal, waiting stoically to do his final deed for his master, carry his body home. The thought made me sick all over again. I looked to my father, Gawain, Lancelot, anybody for support, but they too were all to stunned to offer any comfort.
As we went to our horses, I noticed Guinevere standing to the side, for she had no horse. None of the knights seemed to be paying her any of attention. "Come you can ride with me." I called.
As she climbed into the saddle behind me, I was thankful I had offered, for my cloak was still wrapped around Dagonet, and her body offered some protection from the cold.
I felt an emptiness envelope me as we began our ride back to the wall. Yes we had saved the Roman family, and would all be free to travel, back to our homelands, but was it worth it. What sense did it make? Why should Dag have had to sacrifice himself so everyone else could be free? I know the knights had similar thoughts, for the pain showed on their faces. I believe this would be the longest ride home yet.
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AN: First off, I will start with another apology, sorry it took so long, my life is still crazy busy, and will be for some time, I write as often as it can, but I have three kids, one on the way, a needy husband, and a full time job, oh and 2 dogs, a cat, fish, and 2 lizards. Second, don't kill me for letting Dagonet die. I don't like it any better than you, but I think it is an important part of the story. Dagonet showed the greatest of all loves, sacrificial love, he gave his life for his friends, and I think that is what later makes them all decide to make the sacrifices they make, I will get into that later. Just because Dag died though, does not mean the other characters who died in the movie will still die. And if that explanation isn't good enough in your mind just pretend he is alive, lol. Thanks so much for reading, you all our great.
Knight Maiden: So so so sorry, it probably would have been another two weeks before I posted this, but due to your request, I made the time. Sorry that it ends on a bummer note, it will get better.
Cali: Thanks for the review, sorry no wedding yet, you know me, had to add some more tension, don't worry it wont last long.
Brandy Lebeau: Waiting for the next chapter of yours, I can't complain though, I am taking forever.
Irishfire: Thanks for the review, I love the name Bekah, I can just picture a cute sweet little girl. I will try to update quicker, can't wait for your next update, hint, hint.
Babaksmiles: I am glad you liked my proposal scene, I was afraid it was to sappy. Galahad quit pouting as much this chapter.
Lancelotristanbaby/Sorceress Misha: I think with all that is going on, I am not going to make Tristan upset about Gawain and Taryn, for they will have little time to debate it fighting the Saxons and all. I don't know why, but I threw the Isolde thing in as a sudden whim. At the time, I thought it was just funny, but now I may right a companion story from her point of view if anyone is interested in reading it, she and Tristan wont get together in this story. Thanks for the reviews.
Lady11occult: Thanks for reading my story! Sorry if I disappointed you killing Dag.
Lucillaq: Thanks for the review. I wont kill Tristan, if I did I couldn't write the sequal I am planning, lol. (I could always change my mind though, and let the Saxon finish him off, not)
Elfvamp: I think Gawain will make Tristan the perfect son in law don't you think! Thanks for the review.
Blueskiezrusty: Thanks for the review, hope you like it!