Aela Read online

  The men then formed up in line, with Rom placed in the centre and the party proceeded to walk quickly through the forest.

  Oblivious to the capture of Rom, Aela merrily skipped along the pathway back to the cave. ‘I must make haste so that Rom cannot catch up to me,’ she added gleefully.

  Very soon she was at the entrance of the cave and paused to catch her breath. She looked back towards the pathway and strained her ears to hear the footsteps of Rom, but there was absolutely nothing, just eerie silence.

  ‘Rom is playing tricks on me. He is hidden somewhere along the pathway,’ Aela muttered to herself. ‘I’d better go back and see where he is.’

  As she was walking along the pathway Aela started calling out, ‘Rom, Rom. Where are you? I know you are hiding somewhere. Come out and let us call a truce. I am no longer angry towards you. Let’s be friends again.’

  Soon Aela was standing at the edge of the stream and she was looking up and down the water, as well as pivoting herself around, so that she had a view of the forest and surrounding undergrowth. Even though she called Rom a number of times, her voice was lost in the air and there was a complete, gloomy silence.

  Then Aela saw a piece of material lying on the ground and she realised that it was from Rom’s outer tunic and she ran over to pick it up. It was then that she could see that the undergrowth had been trampled, as though there had been a number of people milling around.

  Suddenly, a vision came to her mind and she could see Rom situated in the middle of a group of men walking through the forest. Her instinct told her that these were Brude’s men and they had taken Rom prisoner. With a quick step, she turned and ran back down the pathway to the Sacred Cave yelling out, ‘They have taken Rom. They have taken Rom a prisoner!’

  By the time she reached the Cave she was completely hysterical. People came running out of the cave, including the Head Priest to find out what all the commotion was about.

  Aela fell at the Head Priest’s feet and grabbed the hem of his robe, crying uncontrollably, ‘They have taken Rom prisoner and are walking him back to Brude’s camp. You have to do something to rescue and save him.’

  The High Priest gently took Aela by her shoulders and helped her onto her feet. ‘My child, I will send a message to my warriors immediately and we will certainly get him back alive.’

  With these soothing words Aela quietened down but continued to cry saying, ‘I love him. I love him. I know that now and I will die if he does. I must see him to tell him I love him with all my heart and body.’

  The Head Priest gave out instructions, for two scouts to deliver the message with orders, for his warriors, to rescue Rom.

  ‘Come Aela, you and I must go back into the sanctuary as we must meditate to send a message of hope and cheer to Rom.’

  Instantly Aela realised what the Head Priest meant and she followed him quietly, through the entrance of the sacred cave to the sanctuary. Once inside the two figures walked quickly to the inner sanctum and knelt before the high altar with their heads bowed in prayer. Then the Head Priest rose, lifting his arms above his head and began to chant melodiously in a deep masculine voice.

  Closing his eyes he placed himself into a deep trance, ‘Where are you Rom, where are you? Link into my mind now and show me where you are.’

  Images began to flit across his consciousness, of dark forest trees, thick undergrowth and a group of soldiers with Rom thrust in the middle. In an instant the Head Priest recognised that this small party was very close to the road of the old sacred way, leading towards the Temple of the Sun. ‘What was Brude up to?’ the Head Priest thought.

  Then another picture came into his mind. There was Brude riding on a horse resplendent in his gold armour at the head of a vast army. Also on horseback was Eena leaning towards Brude engaged in an intense conversation, as the horses trotted side by side. What was Eena up to thought the Head Priest, Eena had not consulted him as to her own personal plans.

  Then the image began to fade into a murky mist and the Head Priest heard a voice saying, ‘Can you see Rom? Is he still alive?’ as something was tugging his long robe.

  The Head Priest glanced down at Aela, ‘Yes Aela, he is a prisoner and the soldiers are taking him to Brude, whose army is marching along the old sacred way. I also saw Eena riding on a horse talking to Brude. What is she doing there?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ exclaimed Aela. ‘All I want is Rom safely in my arms, I love him so much.’

  At that moment a soldier came running into the inner sanctuary shouting, ‘The scouts have found Rom and the soldiers on the sacred way and are awaiting your orders.’

  There was a momentary pause before the Head Priest spoke. ‘The scouts are to shadow the party and report back to me regularly their movements along the sacred pathway. Send the orders out that my army is to be at the ready now for combat.’

  ‘What about Rom? They may kill him at any moment.’ yelled Aela.

  ‘That is the risk we may have to take, but Brude must not be alerted we are on to him at this stage. My army is much smaller than his and I do not want him to turn on us,’ coolly replied the Head Priest.

  ‘You are all the same, thinking of strategies of how to outwit your enemy and not caring about the danger Rom is in,’ retorted Aela. She quickly picked herself up from the floor and stormed out of the sanctuary. muttering to herself, ‘Nobody cares about Rom, I will go and rescue him myself.’

  Aela walked straight to her chamber, dressed herself in serviceable clothes that would give her some protection from the prickles and thorns, as well as providing warmth when she would be sleeping at night in the forest. She also took food and a water container, as well as some herbs and medicines to attend to any wounds that Rom may have acquired from his imprisonment with Brude’s men. As an afterthought she slipped a small dagger in a special holster strapped to her right leg and buckled a light sword around her waist, that she had stolen from Eena’s chambers a couple of nights ago.

  Peeping around the curtain she could see nobody was in sight, so she quietly slipped out of the cave and disappeared into the forest Her first thoughts were to find the road of the old sacred route and then make her way to catch up with Brude’s guards who were holding Rom prisoner. Other than this initial plan, she would play it by ear, of how to rescue Rom from the clutches of Brude’s men.

  Rom and the guards continued walking along the sacred way at a steady pace, only stopping every now and again to rest for awhile, sip water out of a flask, before moving on. Rom was desperately trying to think how to trick his captors in some way, so he could escape into the forest.

  As he was sitting under an ancient oak tree with his hands trussed up in front of his chest, during one of their quick breaks, dark thoughts of revenge flitted across his mind of what he would do to these men who had captured him so easily.

  One of the soldiers walked over with a flask of water in his hand. ‘Here have a drink, you must be thirsty, Rom.’ But as Rom lifted his hands to take the flask, the soldier swiftly took the lid off the flask and tipped the water over Rom’s head, laughing loudly all the time.

  At this indignity Rom lost his temper completely, he leapt up, using his head as a battering ram and lunged at the guard with all his strength, hitting the man in the chest. The man fell to the ground completely winded, gasping for breath, with Rom lying on top of him. With a quick lighting move, Rom grabbed for the soldier’s sword which was situated around his waist.

  Unsheathed the weapon with his bound hands, leapt up onto his feet and began running into the thick forest, with the other men in hot pursuit close behind him. As Rom was blindly striding through the trees, he failed to see a ditch in front of him, he suddenly fell headlong into the chasm and disappeared from sight.

  Immediately following behind him, he could hear crashing sound of feet from a number of men running through the forest. They began calling to each other, ‘Have you found the bastard yet?’

  ‘I will kill him when I get my hands on
him,’ shouted one of the soldiers.

  Very soon the sound of the soldiers threshing through the thick undergrowth became quieter and fainter.

  It was a very long time before Rom opened his eyes slowly, then he carefully moved his head from side to side. He realised in a flash that he was in danger, but where were the men who were pursuing him? He strained his ears for any sounds of running feet or bodies pushing their way through the undergrowth.

  But there was a heavy silence around him and Rom could hear the rapid beating of his heart as he lay face down on the earth. He groaned quietly to himself and started to gingerly move his arms and legs and then rolled over onto his back.

  He could see the blue sky peeping through the branches and leaves of the overhanging trees. He must get up now, he thought and hide somewhere before the men returned and discovered where he was lying in the ditch.

  He lifted his head, looking around, to see whether he could find a way of climbing out of the ditch. Much to his relief he discovered the embankment was not very steep, but his hands were still tied by ropes in front of his chest. Where was the sword he managed to take from the soldier? With all his strength he sat up moving his head from side to side, to see if he could see the gleam of the blade of the sword on the ground.

  A short distance from his feet he could just make out the metal object. Rom began to crawl on his elbows and knees towards the sword, little by little he moved forwards until he was able to grasp the hilt of the sword in both hands. By placing the blade between his hands, he began to saw away the rope binding his wrists.

  Every now and again he stopped to catch his breath, then continued the up and down movement again and again. With a quick final thrust the rope gave way and Rom’s hands were free again.

  He gingerly staggered to his feet and walked towards the embankment. Rom crawled up the side of the ditch, reaching the top and lay down on his side panting for breath, but all the time clutching very firmly in his right hand the sword.

  After resting for awhile, Rom staggered onto his feet and cautiously stood upright listening to his heart beating rapidly in his chest. Gradually his heart started beating at a slower pace and then he could feel a surge of energy passing through his body.

  Whilst standing, Rom scrutinized his immediate surroundings and his ears were alerted to any unusual sound of human movement, such as feet being placed on the ground, someone talking or the occasional sound of metal hitting leather. He could not hear anything, so he gave a little sigh of relief in his throat as he placed the sword back into his leather belt which encircled his waist.

  Which way to go? Rom pondered the problem for a moment and looked upward, trying to catch the rays of the sun that were peeping through the thick upper branches of the nearby trees.

  Then giving up, he decided to take off his pendant around his neck and threw it on the ground. He muttered a quick prayer to Athunor the Goddess of the Moon, for guidance as to which direction to start his journey, hopefully back on the track to the sacred cave and into the arms of Aela.

  Carefully examining the pendent, he thought he could see that it was pointing in a particular direction. Scooping up his talisman in one hand he started walking in that direction into the forest and began to feel a little bit more confident that he was on the right track.

  Aela continued to walk along the sacred way, hoping to see Rom or the enemy soldiers that maybe a little ahead of her, or situated around a corner or on a top of a hill. But there was no one in sight so she pushed on.

  ‘I must be catching up with them soon,’ exclaimed, Aela to herself. On a few occasions she stopped to rest and drink some water from a nearby stream. After what seemed like an eternity Aela heard the sounds of marching feet, of metal hitting leather the soft snort of horses and the irregular sound of voices. She immediately stopped in her tracks and held her breath momentarily for a brief period. She then panicked and dived into the bushes at the side of the pathway.

  ‘What was to be her next move?’ thought Aela. There must be a lot of men ahead judging from the sounds she was hearing. This was not just a small party of men with Rom as their prisoner. She must walk very cautiously, in order to see what was ahead of her. She heartily wished Rom was with her to help her with this plan, but he was not, so she had to make the best of the situation.

  Treading warily with her feet Aela made her way through the trees and undergrowth. She walked along the side of the pathway, stopping every now and again to listen for any more sounds ahead of her.

  Very soon, she spotted a couple soldiers walking slowly along the road, deep in conversation with eachother. Aela halted, trying not to make any sound with her feet, before moving on very stealthily like a wild cat stalking its prey. She observed that there were more soldiers ahead as she passed them behind the camouflage of the thick undergrowth.

  Soon she was abreast of the main body of the army as they steadily marched on the road, kicking up a considerable amount of dust in their wake. She recognised some of the soldiers faces, as coming from her village and realized that they were Brude’s men. Why were they doing marching along the Sacred Way? thought Aela

  Then she remembered the vision that the Head Priest had told her, but where was Rom and the small party of soldiers guarding him? Perhaps they had already killed him, disposed of his body and returned home. Aela shuddered at this thought and immediately dismissed it from her mind.

  Then there seemed to be a sudden activity amongst the ranks of the men, as a horse and a rider came galloping along the side of the road, at break neck speed.

  ‘Get out of my way you idiots! I have an important message for Brude,’ shouted the man.

  On hearing this, a number of the soldiers leapt aside, so as to make room for the rider as he thundered on his way.

  ‘I wonder what that is all about,’ growled one of the soldiers as he picked himself from the ground and dusted himself down with both hands.

  ‘It is bound to be bad news,’ uttered another soldier.

  ‘We will hear soon enough, mark my words. Bad news always travel faster than good tidings.’

  There was a general nodding of heads in agreement as the men continued to march along. Then there came a sudden loud command from an officer, for everyone to immediately to stop in their tracks and to stand to attention.

  Within a short space of time everyone was motionless, then another order was barked out and repeated down the line for everyone to relax. With general sighs and grunts of relief the men shuffled their feet as they stood waiting for the next order. A few soldiers cleared their throats, others automatically checked their weapons and gulped down water from their flasks in an attempt to slake their constant thirst.

  When one of the soldiers knelt down, to tighten his sandal strap, he spied through the undergrowth, a flash of blue. He quickly stood up and dived into the bushes, falling on top of Aela, who gave out a squeal of pain with the heavy figure straddled over her chest. She tried to free herself by attempting to wriggle from underneath the soldier.

  ‘Let go of me you great big oaf!’ yelled Aela as she tried to disentangle herself from his rough hold.

  A couple of other soldiers, out of curiosity who had watched the scuffle, looked down on the duo struggling with each other on the ground. ‘I believe you have won yourself a prize beauty, Noah, you lucky dog!’ said one of the soldiers.

  ‘Wait a moment, I know who she is. She is Aela, I know her from my village. She is the one that Brude wants to capture, as well as Rom. Where is the Sacred Sword you both stole from the Temple of the Sun?’ he demanded as he thrust his head close to hers.

  He was greeted with a stony silence from Aela. ‘We must take her to Brude immediately,’ growled the soldier. ‘We will be given a big fat reward for finding her.’

  Aela was dragged to her feet, hustled away and was soon standing in front of Brude with Eena a few paces away glaring steadily towards her.

  ‘Well, we meet again. This time I have the distinct upper hand with yo
u and I will make sure you never escape me,’ uttered Brude menacingly towering over Aela with his hands on his hips.

  ‘Where is Rom, and more importantly, where is the Sacred Sword that Eena claimed she had in her possession?’ Brude shot a venomous look towards Eena.

  Without flinching, Aela replied coolly, ‘I do not know what you are talking about.’

  Brude lifted his hand as if to strike Aela across her face, when a scout came rushing over to Brude, hastily kneeling in front of him. ‘My lord, my men have found Juno’s army they are a short distance in front of us.’

  At this news Brude swung into action, ‘Take this woman away,’ pointing at Aela, ‘Make sure she is tied up and well guarded, so she cannot escape. If she does somehow get away, you will all die a slow and horrible death. Where are my officers? We must prepare for a fight. I am going to be the winner over Juno and his army. Today is my victory day.’

  Aela was quickly whisked away and Brude strode off to prepare his army in readiness for the clash with Juno.

  Almost simultaneously Juno received the same news from his scouts, that Brude’s army was nearby. There was a brief stand-off, then both leaders sent out preliminary parties to parley over where the battle would be staged and to feel out the other side as to whether they would surrender.

  This latter option was rejected by both sides, so it was agreed that the two armies would meet along the sacred way at a designated spot. Neither leader had any intention of sticking to this arrangement. They immediately discussed with their officers as to how best to surprise their opponent.

  Brude decided to send a secret contingent of his men to climb the cliffs that were situated on one side of the track, so they could rain arrows down onto their enemy at regular intervals.

  Juno ordered his men to build a wooden barricade across the sacred pathway and placed his best fighting men at strategic positions at either side of the barricade, with their long spears poised towards the enemy. He placed his elite cavalry in front of the wooden edifice, ready to charge at the enemy as they advanced towards them. Other soldiers were positioned in strategic positions behind the barricade ready for combat. Now it was a waiting game, with all ears straining to hear the steady tread of men marching towards them.