Chapter IX
Erat magni periculi res tantulis copiis iniauo lnco diminarei
Ut rursus communicato consilio exploratisque hostium rationibus . . ..
It was a very dangerous thing for so slender a force to fight on unfavourable ground . . . Gallic War IV #49
In order that they might take council together, and examine the tactics of the enemy . . .. Gallic War VI #33
Then they entered a hillier land. Trees and shrubs were more numerous. Huge mounds of earth rose out of the terrain in the far distance. Perfect for hillforts, Tylanius thought and again he wondered what he would find at Dracogenia.
Hwarn slowed his mount to a walk and then stopped atop a knoll. Draco and Tranquo were reined in beside him. The remainder of the party halting behind.
Tylanius gave the landscape a cursory glance. His eyes came to rest on a thin veil of smoke far in the distance. “An odd setting for a village or a domus,” he remarked.
Hwarn gave no answer--his eyes were fixed on the smoke.
“Do you know the name of that place?” asked Petrius. “Does someone live alone in the wilderness?”
Still Hwarn remained silent.
Tylanius and Petrius wordlessly exchanged an opinion of his curious behaviour.
"Hwarn--how much further do we go?" demanded Tylanius.
The guide slowly turned his gaze to Tylanius. “What did you wish, master?” he asked before turning once more towards the thin white trail.
“Do we reach Dracogenia soon?” demanded Tylanius, irritated.
“Nay--that is, we reach Cretula first. Visitors are seldom--”
“Do you know lives there?" asked Tylanius, pointing towards the wisps of smoke.
Hwarn swung his eyes to Tylanius and then back in the direction his hand indicated. "Nay,” he offered and prodded his mount forward.
“Let us go there,” ordered Tylanius.
Hwarn halted and swung to look back. “Nay!” he spat. Then he looked away, continued more calmly, “There can be nothing there--everyone live close to his master’s protection. It is probably a fire left from a sudden storm or, at the worst, a raiding party's fire. We are not enough in number to risk a meeting,” he added with finality.
Hwarn's manner caused Tylanius’ to study him closely. He was certain that the man wished to conceal something.
“Nevertheless, that is the direction we take. It cannot be far from the way you would have us travel.” The challenge he expected came quickly.
"It would not be safe,” Hwarn insisted. “I cannot lead you there.”
“Then we go without you.” Tylanius loosened the reins and Draco stepped out.
Petrius and the others followed silently--all passing Hwarn as he debated what to do. It would not do to let the strangers stumble onto the place. But, it was also dangerous for him to be found there.
Cursing the fortune that had allowed the smoke to draw Tylanius’ interest, he plunged his heels into his mount's flanks and rode hard until he was once more in the lead.
Behind him Tylanius and Petrius again exchanged shrugs. They both knew the man would bear watching.
* * *
Because the distance from the knoll was deceiving and the animals not as fresh as at the beginning of the journey, the place they sought was not quickly reached. Trees and shrubbery had gradually thickened into a forest. The smoke could no longer be seen.
The group closed ranks and Tylanius noted Hwarn becoming increasingly uneasy. Several times the guide tried to change direction but each time Tylanius forbade it--his senses his guide now. It had always been true in the pass and he felt Hwarn would keep them from whatever was ahead, if he could.
The pace had slowed to a walk. The odor of smoke was vague in the air, but still marked their growing closeness to the place. The stench of smoke and something more hit them. The mounts and pack animals snorted and fidgeted.
Hwarn swung around to look at those following. Fear contorted his features.
Loosening his sword in its scabbard, Tylanius halted Draco.
Petrius reined in beside him. “What do you make of this?”
“The man’s behaviour is odd.”
“But there is something in the air,” answer Petrius.
"I notice the odor also. I am certain I know what it is, but it fails my grasp now.”
“No, it is more than that. There is evil here.”
Tylanius let loose a bark of laughter--then saw his friend was serious. “You are above such nonsense, surely, Petrius. Come--let us see what it is.”
He quickly caught up to Hwarn. The man was sitting ramrod straight in the saddle where before he had slouched. Tylanius was about to question him when he saw the clearing. The first glance said he was wrong in thinking the odor more than wood for he saw only a skeletal ring of burnt trees. A second glance told him their fire had long since extinguished itself.
Hwarn halted at the edge, forcing Tylanius to swing Draco around him. Draco went reluctantly on to the centre. The horse snorted and tossed his head belligerently as his master halted him before three huge stone stabs.
Petrius reined in beside him and slipped to the grand.
Tylanius dismounted. He nearly stumbled over Petrius as the priest fell to his knees and crossed himself. Catching himself, he looked from the praying priest to the stones. Then he recalled the smell. It was the same as in villages that had been burned. It was human flesh consumed by fire.
The thud of hooves on the forest floor drew his eyes to a sma11 band of Saxons entering the far side of the clearing.
Petrius stood as Tylanius' men joined them.
The two groups stared, each ready to draw swords. Then the leader of the Saxon's spoke in Breton. “Who are you? Why do you travel here?”
Petrius stepped forward, intent upon answering, but was drawn back by Tylanius. “I am Tylanius Varro--son of the Dominus of Dracogenia traveling there by way of Cretula,” he told them in Latin.
The Saxon leader dismounted and stepped forward, a leering smile his greeting. “Hail. I am called Drussus--scribe to Titurius of Cretula. We welcome you.
“But, why have you come this way? Where is your guide?”
Tylanius and Petrius looked behind them. Hwarn had disappeared. “He was inconsequential,” answered Tylanius. He motioned to the stones. “Can you tell me what this is?”
Drussus noticed them for the first time and paled. Walking closer he asked in quavering tones, “Was there anyone here when you came upon it?”
“No.”
Drussus circled the stones warily. Picking up a half burnt branch, he prodded at the glowing coals.
Tylanius watched with interest. “A body was burned here--just the evening past from the state of the coals. Would you know the cause of such a thing?”
“It was a sacrificial offering, was it not?” asked Petrius.
Fear stricken, Drussus shook his head. He pushed the limb through the coals again scattering them. Stepping around the stones, he halted and swept off more of the glowing embers. Watching these as they fell to the ground, he flicked a semi-molten glob to the side. He turned it about with the aid of the branch.
“She wore this the eve past,” he said to himself. He called in Saxon to one of the men with him.
When the man brought a water pouch to him, he said to Tylanius, “The stone is still there. It is the ring she always wore.”
“Who?”
Drussus threw back his head and looked up at the towering giant. “It is the wife of the master of Cretula. Mettella, wife of Titurius.”
Taking the water pouch, he poured some on the glob. “The stone is undamaged--it can be seen.” He poured more water, then picked the glob up with a piece of cloth and placed it in a leather pouch at his waist. After giving instructions to the Saxons in their own tongue, he addressed Tylanius once more in Latin. “We will take you to the master. He must be told of this.”
His eyes swung involuntarily to the stones. “Let us be gone from this place.” Striding away, he mounted and turned his steed from it.
“Why are we pretending to speak only Latin?” asked Petrius in a hushed whisper.
“It may prove of use until we learn what is about. We will discuss matters later.” Mounting, he followed Drussus. The Saxons, surrounded his men as they had been ordered, he observed.
An odd greeting this--a burnt human offering, a mysteriously vanishing guide and a Roman-Breton who employs Saxons. What other surprises lie before me? wondered Tylanius.