Excalibur by Peter Gibbons

Author:Peter Gibbons [Gibbons, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books

14

Arthur ran across the beach, wet sand slapping beneath his boots and his breath coming in short, cold gasps. The tide was out beyond sight in the deep darkness, leaving the bay a vast swathe of cold, ridged sand beneath Dun Guaroy’s mighty crag. He wore Excalibur strapped to his belt, and the scabbard banged awkwardly against Arthur’s leg as he ran, threatening to make him trip and fall amongst the war band, who eyed him with suspicion since Merlin’s departure. Forty warriors ran across Dun Guaroy’s bay under cover of darkness, their weapons clanking against their shields as they dashed across the sands. Earlier, Octha’s campfires had been as numerous as the stars in the sky, but now all but a few had gone out as the Saxon army slept in the deep of the night. Fifty boots slapped on the wet sand. Men shushed each other if a spear clanked on a shield, or a warrior spoke. Three thousand Saxons lay across the bay, and more inside Dun Guaroy. To be heard or spotted was to die, so every man in the war band ran with fear in his belly and the hot thrill of danger in his chest.

The fortress loomed above them, the sharpened stakes of its unfinished palisade lit by burning torches at intervals around its perimeter. Arthur ran alone. He had kept his distance from Kai, Balin and Bors after Merlin’s departure. They would have questions for him, and he did not have the answers. Everything Merlin had said roared in Arthur’s head like the sea crashing against rocks in a storm, and he knew not what to do about it. All he knew was that Merlin and Nimue were gone, and he had an ancient sword, Merlin’s trust, and the suspicion of a war band who had welcomed him so warmly into the ranks.

Balin and Bors took the lead, and the warriors stretched out behind them like a flock of starlings. Their best hope rested on the fortress not being closely guarded. Balin had spoken to that hope before they had left the dunes. Balin believed that Dun Guaroy was so deep within Lloegyr that Ida would not fear a Saxon attack on his new stronghold. Octha’s army would only add to that hubris. That, along with Bors’ utter fearlessness, brushed away some of the shock of Merlin’s departure and imbued the men with courage once more.

Arthur gulped in mouthfuls of chilly night air as they reached the far side of the beach. The rock upon which Dun Guaroy stood loomed above him, much higher and more formidable than it had looked from the distant dunes. The war band leaned their backs against the damp, lichen-covered rocks that the sea would cover when the flood tide came. Each man took a moment to catch his breath, staring up nervously at the hard rock and grass-covered plateaus stretching above them in the darkness. The feel of the rock beneath Arthur’s hand sent a shiver running up his back.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.