Saxon Fall by Griff Hosker

that a band of warriors was marching up the road through the forest.  These were not hunters!
    I turned to one of the squires, “Ride to Myrddyn and bring him and the others.  Tell them we have found warriors!” He galloped off.  “Aiden, how many are there and where are they?”
    He pointed to the south.  “About a mile and half down the road and there are forty of them at least.  They are leading pack horses.”
    “Are they wearing armour?”
    He shook his head, “Helmets only and they are not fastened for war.” When warriors were travelling they rarely wore armour, especially if they thought that they were safe and helmets might be pushed to the back of the head to allow air to their faces.
    This was where I needed Myrddyn or Gawan.  They could untangle these puzzles in an instant.  I set a trap while I worked things out.  “I want equal numbers on both sides of the road.  Hide yourselves and do not move until I yell ‘ Saxon Slayer ’ and my archers release.” I would bring the wrath of the Saxons on me and it would allow the other men to attack unprotected backs. Why did they have pack horses?  Then it came to me.  They were travelling from some distance away and I remembered that Myrddyn had spoken of a wedding. It had not taken place yet and these were the guests. That made things much easier for they would not be expecting trouble.  They were close to their destination and they would be relaxing.
    All was silent.  The birds had departed. Then I heard the sound of singing.  It was the Saxons.  I recognised the song as one of their story songs.  It told of a great warrior who fought and killed a dragon.  I smiled to myself and looked at the dragon standard carried by Llewellyn.  If he rode hard then they would hear the dragon as it wailed.  That would have to wait for another day.  Today we needed surprise. I had five archers with me.  There were four on the other side of the track. I tapped the one next to me on the shoulder and he drew back his bow. We were still and the undergrowth, which was thick with leaves, hid us.  It would not impede the horses when we moved but it was a barrier between us and our prey.
    I spied them.  The scout had been correct.  The ones at the front were nobles.  They had plaited hair and their beautifully made cloaks were adorned with fine brooches. Their shields were slung over their backs and none had their weapons drawn.  I waited until they were level with the archers next to me. It was an irregular column and it would have been impossible to seal off both ends. I would just have to take my chances. I wanted the nobles dead.
    I nodded to the archer and, as they loosed their arrows, yelled, “Saxon Slayer!” My fifteen equites burst from the cover of the undergrowth.  My archers had loosed a second flight before the first had hit and now the other four loosed theirs.  Five Saxons fell. They tried to grab their weapons.  I rode at the ones who had the best cloaks.  They were the nobles. I swung Saxon Slayer horizontally and it sliced through the shoulder and chest of one of them. His body fell, to be trampled by Star. One of the nobles tried to grab my reins and pull me to the ground.  I punched him hard with my shield and I heard the crack as the boss broke his nose. I wheeled Star to the left and swung my blade vertically to split both his helmet and his head.
    I saw the warriors at the back trying to flee back down the road with the pack horses.  There were five horses and their value was inestimable.
    “Get those horses!”
    Unfortunately all of my equites, save for Osgar, obeyed my order.  I was left with just four of us and my archers. The archers had no targets for we were in the way.  The surviving fifteen ran north, along the road. There were just four of us but we pursued them anyway. We would easily catch them. I realised that this would be Pelas’ first combat on a horse.  I hoped he was up to it. As we rode so the dragon