The Battle of Deganwy

"Are you sure you heard correctly Merlin?" asked Blaise.


 
As soon as Merlin had heard Vortimer give the order that they'd be attacking within the hour, he had ran as fast and hard as he could back to camp, and had burst into Blaise's tent. Blaise had asked Merlin what the matter was, and after hearing had gathered together the rest of the War Council to hear what Merlin had discovered.


 
"Yes, I'm positive I did," replied Merlin hastily, eagerness in his voice as every minute that passed was another minute wasted, another minute closer to Vortimer attacking.


 
Blaise look over at Uther, whose head was hung low. "Uther? Is it true? Did Vortigern have other children? Are they really commanding this army?"


 
Uther looked up at Blaise, looking much older with red eyes. "Yes, Vortigern had several children, his eldest, Vortimer, starting the war with the Saxons. Both Reli and me knew that, but we had thought Vortimer was still in Kent, not here in the Kingdom of Gwynedd, so Reli assumed it was Vortigern attacking. It made so much more sense, so I'd never thought to question it."


 
Everyone was quiet for several minutes. Uther was genuinely sorry, and tears were flowing down his face into his unkempt beard. No one in the tent had seen Uther cry before. The large man had always seemed so strong and warlike. Now here he was crying.


 
After a long silence, Blaise spoke. "Get the men ready. We fight as soon as possible. As we speak here, Vortimer is gathering his men to assault Deganwy, and the battle won't be one easily won."


 

***

 

Not more than ten minutes following his departure from the tent of the War Council, Merlin was leaning on Caedmon, dressed in full battle armor, including a helm from a foreign land called a spangenhelm. Caedmon himself wore his own specially crafted horse armor. Together, the two would charge into battle. Soon as it was to be.


 
Merlin was waiting between the hills that the army had arrived between, staring out to Deganwy. The view was breathtaking in the setting sun's light, even more spectacular than had it had been that morning. Light reflected off the face of the sea surrounding the small peninsula that Deganwy was situated on, bathing Deganwy in a golden glow. The one thing that ruined the picture was the army in front of it.


 
"Beautiful, isn't it Merlin?" Blaise asked from behind Merlin.


 
Merlin simply nodded his head without turning to face Blaise.


 
"The army has begun the march, Merlin. It's time to join them."


 
Without another word, Blaise turned around and began running to the army. Merlin didn't follow. It wasn't time yet.


 
Ten minutes later, Merlin mounted Caedmon. A silent message passed between rider and ridden in less than a second. They would protect each other in the battle ahead. Neither would die without the other by his side. Their fates were intertwined, and both knew it. Not speaking a word, Caedmon galloped with Merlin on his back to join the army in time for the battle.


 
The next several minutes were long and agonizing. Not a bird flew in the sky. The only noise to be heard for kilometers was the muffled sound of feet and hooves walking through the grass. It seemed as though the world had stopped to watch the battle of Deganwy.


 
The leaders of the army stopped half a kilometer away from Deganwy, and turned to face the army. Merlin thought Blaise was going to speak, as he had before, but instead he patted Uther on the back, and walked to a vacant spot in the lines.


 
Everyone looked at Uther expectantly. What words of wisdom did the great warrior have for his men?


 
"Men, women, wizards, and others," Uther began in a deep, booming voice that carried even to the back of the army. "Many of yeh will die this day. But know this: if yeh die, yeh will die honor'bly, fightin' the tyranny of Vortigern and Vortimer. If yeh die here this day, yer name will be remembered forever, and the children whom yeh've left behind will live knowin' that their ma or pa died for a worthy cause: to unseat the tyrants that rule this once beautiful kingdom!"


 
Uther's words were met with a cheer of approval from the army. Drawing his sword, Uther delivered the final words of his rallying speech.


 
"Before the day is out, Deganwy will be safely in our hands, our enemy fleeing with the blood of their own spilled upon this battlefield! This day will be ours!"


 
With those final words, Uther turned his mare around and began riding towards the army besieging Deganwy. The army quickly followed behind him.


 
Everything became a blur for Merlin, as if he were in a trance. Merlin barely registered that the armies had collided, and the fighting had begun. He saw everything, but heard nothing. He saw men falling in a voiceless scream. Swords clashed without their familiar clangs. Merlin realized that this bloody carnage was war. War was not the glorious grandeur that everyone said it was. It was a horrifying bloodbath over trivial causes that could and should have been resolved otherwise.


 
Merlin fought without thinking. If he thought about the people he was killing, he would not make it through the day.


 
As Merlin mindlessly sliced the man in front of him, he turned to see the armed forces of Deganwy engaging the flank of Vortimer's army. There was no turning back now; this battle must be won, or else Deganwy would fall.


 
Merlin took a brief moment to survey the battle around him. Vortimer was winning. Despite the tactical advantage of Uther's and Aurelianus' forces, Vortimer simply had far too many warriors on his side.


 
There was only one way this battle would end: if Vortimer died. Merlin knew this as well as any other man on the field, but no one else fighting knew what Vortimer looked like. Merlin was the only one who could end this battle.


 
Riding around the battlefield at dangerous speeds on Caedmon, Merlin searched for Vortimer.


 
"I see him Merlin," Caedmon said in Merlin's head at the exact moment that Merlin spotted Vortimer himself. Vortimer, dressed in full armor save for a helm, was fighting next to the biggest man Merlin had ever seen, even bigger than Uther. This man had no need for armor, and indeed, was wearing nothing but a loincloth around his waist that hung down to his knees. His upper body exposed, Merlin could see the man's veins coursing up and down under tanned flesh. The man was wielding a giant double-edged battle axe, at least twice as big as the one that Uther carried. Merlin estimated that from end to end, the blade was at least three feet wide, and another four feet long from the handle to the end of the head. The weapon must have weighed a ton, but the giant of a man swung the axe one-handed as easily as if it were his own arm.


 
The man was at the very least seven feet tall, towering over the men around him. The man appeared invincible to all, and surely would inspire fear amongst the army he fought. Surveying the man from head to toe, Merlin noticed something rather odd about the man: his head was too small for his body, and the only normal sized body part to be seen; even the man's neck was muscular!


 
Merlin hesitated. He didn't want to fight this man. It would be suicide, no, slaughter. But in a show of great will, Merlin rode Caedmon into the fray.


 
Vortimer never saw Merlin coming. But the man fighting beside him did see Merlin, and before Merlin could get any closer, he swung his meaty left arm into Merlin's abdomen, throwing him off Caedmon to fifty feet away. Merlin felt like the man had broken every bone in his body, and wouldn't have doubted it if someone had told him exactly that.


 
Merlin felt a strong hand picking him up off the ground. Turning around, Merlin saw the hand belonged to a grim Uther. Merlin turned to look in the direction that Uther was, and saw the man protecting Vortimer.


 
"Look at that beast of a man. Bet yeh never'd seen the likes of him before!" Uther said with a tone of wonder and awe.


 
"I don't believe I have," said Merlin with a touch of resentment in his voice, as was to be expected after being thrown by the giant of a man. "He's protecting Vortimer. He's the one on the giant man's left."


 
Uther looked over at the smaller man, who looked to be an effective warrior himself. Vortimer was swinging a long, elegant scimitar around him. It seemed no one could even touch him. Thought that may have been more from his bodyguard than his actual skill.


 
Not saying a word, Uther rode further into the crowd. His intent was obvious: kill Vortimer and bring an end to this battle and restore his brother's honor and dignity by placing him on the throne. Uther would die if he had to. It was written in his face.


 
"Merlin, I need yeh to fight Vortimer while me distract his guard," Uther said as they drew nearer. Merlin nodded his consent. Only Uther had a chance of holding off the guard long enough to kill Vortimer. That left Merlin with the job of killing Vortimer.


 
"When I say 'now'," Uther continued, "I want you to use the momentum to jump over the guard and fight Vortimer and while the guard is momentarily distracted, me will surprise 'im.


 
Seconds passed between then and when Uther said now, but it felt like ages. Merlin could have sworn time slowed down purposefully simply to build up the suspense of the moment. Once again, Merlin had the feeling the world was watching this battle, unsure of what to make of it, but clearly interested.


 
"Now!"


 
Merlin launched himself into the air with a powerful leap worthy of a lion, somersaulting over the giant man and landing on Vortimer's left lightly while swinging his sword over his head to hopefully sever Vortimer's head from his shoulders in one move.


 
Merlin's blade was met by Vortimer's scimitar with a loud clang! Merlin looked up to see Vortimer smiling wickedly at him. For the briefest part of a second, the two held their gazes. Then Vortimer broke the blade-lock and swung his scimitar in a round house. In response, Merlin jumped three feet into the air, just above the swinging blade, caught it, and pushed off of it, allowing him to corkscrew over Vortimer. In retaliation, Vortimer tried to kick Merlin in the stomach while he turned around, only to find that Merlin was sliding between his legs and regaining his feet behind him. Merlin braced himself as Vortimer delivered a powerful overhead strike against his sword. It wasn't enough. The force of the below had all of Vortimer's weight behind it. A risky move, but it crippled Merlin's defense, what with being on the ground from the force of the blow.. Now Merlin was at Vortimer's complete mercy. Vortimer pressed his scimitar to Merlin's throat, almost drawing blood.


 
    "Your last hour has come. You die in blood," Vortimer said as his arm muscles tensed to deliver the final blow that would end Merlin's life. Merlin hoped it would be painless.


 
Merlin kept his eyes open as the fatal stroke came, staring deep into his killer's eyes. He would die staring into those cold eyes.


 
Neither Vortimer nor Merlin ever heard or saw what was coming. Out of the midst of battle, Caedmon reared up on his back hooves and kicked out at Vortimer. On Caedmon's armored back was Shiroix, swinging his own sword at Vortimer. In defense of the surprise attack, Vortimer threw his scimitar at the most direct source of danger, which he deemed to be Shiroix. Merlin heard a faint scream in the background as he watched Vortimer fall beneath Caedmon's hooves.


 
Within seconds of Vortimer's defeat, the guard was beside him, scooping Vortimer into his giant arms as if they were a cradle.


 
"STOP!" the guard roared to the world as though it would actually listen to him. In a way, the world did listen to him. Over the span of maybe a minute, all the clanging and screaming and fighting died away. Realization struck Merlin; the battle had actually stopped because this man had told it to.


 
The giant man looked at the fragile figure in his arms as a tear sprung from the corner of his eye and travelled down his cheek and off his chin. Then he recomposed himself and with immense hatred, glared at Merlin.


 
"You!" the man said in an unsteady voice, "You killed Catigern's brother! Now Catigern will pay for his brother's death in your blood!"


 

Putting Vortimer's body on the ground gingerly but quickly, the guard assaulted Merlin, waving his battle-ax high in the air. The man wanted revenge, he wanted compensation for Votimer's death.

 

Merlin ran. What more could he do? He ran for his life from the devastated ax-wielding man. The men of both armies cleared out of his way.

 

"Come back here you coward! Catigern must kill you to restore his dead brother's honor! Come back!"

 

The urge to look back finally overcoming Merlin's common sense, Merlin saw that the guard had collapsed on the ground and was trying to get back up to attack Merlin without success. Tears were streaming down the guard's face as he clawed the ground in a last desperate attempt to pull himself to Merlin. The man was experiencing a full emotional breakdown. Merlin didn't run any farther as he realized that he was to blame for this man's pain and suffering. It was his fault, and no one else's.

 

Merlin approached the giant of a man cautiously while the man himself sobbed uncontrollably and mourned Vortimer's loss.

 

"Catigern," Merlin said, assuming that the man he was approaching was Catigern. The man looked up, confirming Merlin's assumption.

 

"What does Catigern's brother's murderer want?" Catigern asked.

 

"Vortimer isn't dead," Merlin said, "He's only unconscious."

 

"Liar! You feed Catigern lies! Well Catigern won't listen to you! Catigern won't fall to your blade like Catigern's brother did!"

 

Merlin resolved that there was nothing else to tell Catigern. Catigern blamed him as Vortimer's murderer, and Merlin wondered if he really had killed Vortimer.

 

Slowly, Merlin walked around Catigern, his eyes never leaving the massive man weeping on the former battle ground. Then he ran when he was safely around Catigern. He ran and didn't stop. He ran past the grounds where the army had set camp, he ran past the forest, he ran past everything until he could run no more. He stopped running by a tree, a giant maple tree that covered Merlin from the world. There Merlin sat, and he wept. He wept for the possibly dead Vortimer, for the emotionally broken Catigern, for everyone he had abandoned today when he couldn't put up with the world any longer.

Hours later, Merlin stopped weeping. He stopped weeping, but his pain didn't subside. Even though it had been hours since it happened, he could still hear Catigern's screaming and crying in his ears.