Wolfbane (Historical Fiction Action Adventure Book, set in Dark Age post Roman Britain) (5 page)

BOOK: Wolfbane (Historical Fiction Action Adventure Book, set in Dark Age post Roman Britain)
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CHAPTER FOUR

 

 

Three weeks after Dominic had found the ruins, he had still not seen another mortal soul. Game, though, was plentiful, and already his traps had supplied him with surplus meat which he had begun to salt and dry. The cellar beneath the upper dwelling had proven ideal for storage purposes and provided him with a cool and darkened environment to keep his supplies fresh. As for the aboveground structure, he had completely weatherproofed it, using materials at hand to repair the roof. Inside, he had constructed rough furniture, including a springy, bracken bed covered by several hides and pelts to keep him comfortable and warm at night.

This part of the forest was unknown to him, and each day he explored new ground and set his snares, ever careful to avoid leaving a trail that would lead undesired company back to his base.

The forest had its own weather, absorbing the worst extremities of the elements, so that at root level there was scant change whatever the season. Dominic saw the woods as a physical breathing body—an organic Goddess; a deity who would be generous and forgiving providing he gave her the esteem she deserved. And respect her he did, and trusted her, and loved her—in a way he had never loved any other living thing.

On a quiet morning when he walked deeply into an unexplored part of the woods, his thoughts again strayed to the time he had witnessed the aftermath of a massacre.

 

On that day, two months earlier, he had made his way to one of the villages on the forest edge where he often traded, but when still distant from it, he saw the worrying plume of smoke. He approached cautiously to discover the result of a callous raid. Apart from those taken as captives, all of the occupants of the community were lying dead amongst the smouldering, ruinous buildings. The condition of the victims had sickened even the hardened Dominic—a hunte
r
who was
skilled in the arts of butchery and far from squeamish. He had looked for survivors but found none. Relieved when the time came for him to end his hellish search, he had returned stunned and shaken to the sanctuary of the forest.

The gruesome discovery had confirmed the rumours which had been circulating in the villages: that Saxon war bands had landed on the eastern and southern shores and taken land by force. Dominic was well aware that Saxon folk had, for many years, travelled to south-eastern Britannia for one reason or another. Now some of them had become aggressive and land hungry. He had learned that more of this type had followed and taken more land, forcing many of his compatriots westwards as refugees.

 

The days had passed swiftly since his awful experience in the sacked village, and since then his caution and stealth had been utilised for the avoidance of human, as well as animal predation.

Now, as he walked through unfamiliar terrain, four miles from his base, he sought to increase the range of his hunting and trapping grounds. A sandy, pockmarked mound caught his eye, and here he knew there would be rabbits. Not for the first time, he thanked the Romans for introducing the creature to his isle. Beyond the mound, a rocky bluff reared and this interested him. He knew from experience that here he would find eggs—from rock doves probably. He was about to explore the bluff when the first humans he had seen since the day of the massacre stopped him dead in his tracks.

A man and child were standing beside a pile of bracken. What’s more, and to his utter astonishment, he realised he knew the man; knew him as Murdoc—an extremely agitated Murdoc. Approaching voices warned Dominic to hide. He faded into a stand of nearby shrubbery to watch and wait, his caution turning to deep concern as he saw Murdoc slip to the floor with the girl.

Quickly, he nocked an arrow
.
Hi
s
bow was formidable and a lethal tool. He pointed it to the ground as he drew it to full tension.

First, he heard the snort of ponies and the distant murmurings of men, then he saw the riders as they came into view. They stopped beyond a huge ash that grew some distance away. By their garb, he deduced they were strangers (almost certainly Saxon raiders) and would have little knowledge of the woods. Yet he knew they could not fail to discover Murdoc and the child. Without hesitation, he made his decision to strike, and quickly released an arrow at the leading rider. With a choking, curtailed cry, the man fell backwards over the rump of his pony. Dominic thought of past events and dedicated the slaying—the first of many he intended—to the slaughtered victims of the village.

The kill caused alarm and panic amongst the riders. They dismounted and attended to the fallen man. Armed only with spears, bucklers and axes, Dominic had no fear of any returned arrows from them. He glanced to where Murdoc and the child had hidden. Seeing nothing but the bracken pile, he was satisfied he had bought them time.

He watched as a fat, bearded man stooped over the corpse, then scanned the edges of the glade looking for the attacker. He began to bark orders to the others whilst pointing around the clearing.

Another movement caught his eye. What he saw filled him with concern. Murdoc had merely hidden and not made his escape. Now he knew the riders would capture and undoubtedly kill him and the child in retribution for their fallen companion.

Without hesitation, he cupped his hands to his mouth and let out a piercing wolf’s howl. Again, the men became rigid. He emitted a second howl, intent now on completely taking the men away from Murdoc and the child. Rapidly, he fitted another arrow and stood up, now in full view of the Saxon mob.

Before his bowstring had stopped singing, another man had fallen, causing the others to run for cover. The fat man was again to take charge. Pointing towards Dominic, he gave out another series of orders, angrily repeating them several times before his men retrieved and mounted their ponies.

Dominic ran to an area of thick undergrowth where he hoped he could confuse and outwit them. He vanished from view as soon as he entered the tangle of bushes. The Saxon ponies came quickly upon him but were reluctant to enter the mesh of shrubbery. The men came to a halt as they tried to coerce the ponies through.

Dominic could not see them, but he could guess their position from the noise their leader made as he roared out his guttural tone. Dominic flanked the Saxons and emerged back into the empty clearing. He ran over to Murdoc and the child.

Murdoc gave Dominic a look of complete astonishment whilst Ceola fixed him with a wide-eyed stare. Open mouthed, as Dominic stood before him, Murdoc could only mutter. ‘Dominic, by God, I thought you long dead … where have you come—’

Dominic pulled the bemused Briton to his feet, interrupting him mid-flow. He picked up Ceola. ‘Never mind me, we’ll
all
be dead if we don’t get out of here! Follow me!’

He ran, with Ceola bouncing on his shoulder, towards the edge of the glade. They continued into the gloomy forest, and though unburdened, Murdoc gasped as he struggled to keep pace with the fleet-footed Dominic. Behind them, shouts sounded as the Saxons emerged from the ensnaring shrubbery. Knowing they could not outrun the Saxon ponies
,
Dominic scanned the surrounding woodland looking for a place to hide
.
He noticed a huge tree that had fallen amidst a knot of vegetation. ‘Down here!’ he shouted.

The tree had left a deep basin where its roots had occupied the ground. Dominic jumped in and gently placed Ceola on the leaf-strewn bottom of the hollow. Murdoc quickly joined him. After a quick assessment, Dominic shook his head. ‘No good … this is no good, we need to cover ourselves.’

Seeing a fallen bough nearby, he jumped from the hollow and started to drag it back to the hollow. Dominic joined him and together they managed to heft the branch over the crater, completely covering and partially filling it.

They forced their way through the tangle to the floor of the hollow where Ceola lay curled up amongst the branches. Murdoc gathered her into his arms as Dominic struggled to fit an arrow to his bow. Stippled daylight played upon their faces as they waited in trepidation for the sounds of the chase.

Murdoc noticed that the hard life of the forest had etched a few more lines on Dominic’s scarred face, but his eyes, focused and determined, had not changed.

Dominic caught his glance and smiled bleakly. ‘If we get out of this, I’ll help you and your girl get back to your folks. ‘I’ll make—’

A pony snorted, stopping him abruptly. He silently instructed Murdoc and Ceola to lie flat; his wide-eyed, urgent look telling them to
keep completely still.
Ceola’s eyes squeezed shut as a tear ran down her grimy face, creating a white tracery on her cheek. It was not lost on Dominic.
Stay still; please stay still
, was his silent plea to her.

Above them, the hunters had split, but one now searched close to them—so close they could hear his laboured breathing.

Dominic rolled onto his side, squinting to see through the branches above. He tensioned his bow; ready to release if needs must. The bushes above rustled, but a summoning shout from distance stopped the searcher sharply. The man withdrew from the tree and mounted his pony. Minutes passed without further noise.

Satisfied the immediate danger had passed, Dominic whispered, ‘We stay here till morning and hope they don’t come back. Here’s as safe as anywhere for now.’

Unable to contain himself, Murdoc hugged Dominic. ‘Oh Dom, well met, well met! And I thought you dead long ago.’

Dominic shook his head—his expression dour. ‘No … these days safety lies in the forest not in the fields. I’ve seen what these bastards do, and I thank the Gods that I fled from village life when I did—‘

He stopped when noticing that Ceola trembled and stared wide-eyed at his wolf hat. ‘She’s shaking,’ he said. ‘It’s my hat that frightens her.’ He moved beside Ceola, his tone gentle. ‘Have no fear little one, the snarl has gone from its old snout and now serves only to keep the sun and rain from my silly head.’ He pulled his face, causing her to smile and bury her face into Murdoc’s side.

‘Her name’s Ceola and that’s the first time I’ve seen her smile since the raid,’ said Murdoc as he fondly stroked her hair. ‘She’s my daughter and we were the only survivors from the village.’

Dominic looked crestfallen. ‘Your wife and father?’

Murdoc said nothing, merely looked down and shook his head. After a while he turned his gaze to Dominic. ‘What about you, Dom? Your mother and father? … Your brother?’

‘Da and ma dead long ago from pestilence.’ He paused a while, seemingly preoccupied with an inner troublesome thought. ‘As for Lew; he became increasingly strange, nobody knew why; wrestled with his own inner demons he did. He walked into the forest fifteen years gone and hasn’t been seen since. He must be dead by now, though I hate to think it. I searched for him for a full year after he left—the Romans allowed me time off, and I thank them for that—but I didn’t find him. Even now I keep thinking I’ll come across him, but that hope’s faded almost to nothing.’ He looked at Murdoc and gave a sad little laugh. ‘So here we are, both stripped of our families, although you still have that dear child to keep you going.’ Dominic chanced a quick look over the rim of the hollow. When he sat down again there was anger in his eyes. ‘Who
are
these people and why are they doing this?’ he asked.

‘Invaders from the mainland; Saxon folk and others who have always visited these shores,’ said Murdoc, angry himself now. ‘They come in numbers, and are hungry for gold and land and slaves. They treat us like beasts and delight in killing. Those they allow to live, they sell across the sea. Some say there are even slave markets on these shores now—in their town of Norwic on the eastern coast. Megan and father were butchered before me, and I’ll avenge them—that I swear. I’ll repay the Saxons for what they’ve done.’

Ceola had started to cry again, so Dominic took her from Murdoc and held her close. ‘Don’t worry my little love,’ he said softly. ‘I’ll take you and your da back to my home, deep in these woods, and there we’ll not be found by any of the bad men.’ Ceola warmed to him as he rocked her and soon became silent. After a few moments, he handed her back to Murdoc. Again, he stood to peer over the edge of the hollow. The woods were silent. He sat down again. ‘What are your plans my friend?’

Murdoc sighed. ‘I don’t know—other than to escape from this present nightmare and save Ceola. I’d like to reach some of our kinfolk and settle down again, but it seems like the world’s gone insane. Rumour has it the raiders own kin have started to farm the land near the eastern shore. First, the warriors plunder, then their families settle the empty fields.’

‘Then you must come with me,’ said Dominic. ‘I’ve a permanent base by a track once used by Rome in a deep part of the forest; there’s space for us all at my camp. There, you’ll grow stronger and can stay with me for the rest of your days if you wish.’

Murdoc’s eyes moistened as he listened to Dominic. After some moments, he dragged the sleeve of his tunic across them. ‘Thank-you,’ he said. ‘I thought Britannia had gone bad for ever, but now I know that good men still exist.’ He was thoughtful for a while. ‘You say your base is by an old track. Could it be the trail that runs westward? The one I was looking for?’

‘Yes, the track
is
ancient and does run to the west,’ said Dominic, ‘although I found it the hard way, through the marshes. Why do
you
seek it?’

BOOK: Wolfbane (Historical Fiction Action Adventure Book, set in Dark Age post Roman Britain)
13.82Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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