Chapter 5

The Druid Fraticus shared all that he had heard about the battle of Mons Graupius and to those that Sardi had shared details of his nightmare it was all hauntingly familiar.

The Roman Governor, Agricola, had sent his forces North embarked on a great fleet of ships. They had timed their invasion to coincide with the end of the grain harvest and had targeted the granaries of the Caledonii. Realising what the loss of the grain would mean, the leader of the Caledonii, Calgacus, had no choice but to meet the Romans with his full force. The superior tactics, weaponry and experience of the Roman forces had proven too much for the Caledonii and, as Sardi had foreseen, many thousands were lost when the Caledonii were routed.

Sardi could tell that his father purposefully avoided him over the next few days, the truth of his visions now proven. The boy had expected such a reaction, however, and he shrugged it off. He had other things keeping him busy and they took his mind off of his crumbling relationship with Frace. He did take note of the amount of time his father and Fraticus spent huddled together though, there seemed to be much that the two Druids had to talk about.

The hiatus created by Fraticus’ appearance allowed Sardi time to go amongst the people of Lindum and to quietly dissuade them from pushing for his selection as Headman. The proof that his visions were real and the demonstration of what he was capable of by gathering the wild grain also had a positive effect on Aelfi. His best friend was at last showing signs of coming out of the funk that she had been in since her father had left to join the Roman auxiliary forces.

Two days after Fraticus had arrived, Sardi also secured the promise of help from the core of his group of friends - Aelfi, Lifene, Taroc, Nati and Calem – for a task that he had not yet shared the detail of.

“Just be up and ready by the barn at first light tomorrow morning,” he urged them all.

“What are we going to do?” asked Taroc.

“We’re going on an adventure that will help save many lives,” was Sardi’s enigmatic response.

Calgacus, leader of the Caledonii tribe sat with his head in his hands. He had watched as his forces were routed by the Romans and thousands of his friends and tribesmen had been slaughtered.

From cover he had witnessed with despair as two of the largest Caledonii granaries were emptied. His scouts had confirmed that the Romans had systematically targeted the locations of all of the other granaries and those too had been cleaned out. The Caledonii chief knew that twenty wagons were even now transporting his grain away southward under heavy escort. Without the grain he knew many more of his tribe would not last the winter.

Calgacus was a huge brute of a man. He stood well above average height at 5’11”, with a barrel chest and heavily muscled arms and legs. His unusual strength had been for naught against the Romans though. He shook his head and his long brown hair whipped in the wind.

“What am I to do Galni?” he asked. “Already thousands lie dead and with the loss of our grain thousands more will starve over the winter.”

“The Romans will depart soon,” replied Galni, a Druid who advised the Caledonii leader. “Already our forces harry them at every turn and there is no doubt they have what they came for. Their plan all along was surely to take the grain and see us weaker after a harsh winter.”

“Any fool can see that!” barked Calgacus. “What can we do to ensure we remain strong so that we can stand against them in the spring? I need ideas man, not statements of the bloody obvious!”

The Druid didn’t flinch at the quick anger of the giant by his side; he had witnessed it many times in the past.

“A priority must be to find and kill the traitors in our midst,” the Druid now advised. “Someone told the Romans where our granaries were based and passed word to our enemies of when the perfect time to strike was.”

The Caledonian leader held the Druid’s eyes for a long moment, the distaste and anger evident in his own.

“Traitors?” he asked. “You believe so?”

“How else could the Romans have known so much, have been so well prepared?” replied Galni.

The Caledonian giant stood and swung his sword viciously at a nearby tree, hacking a large chip from the trunk with his brute strength.

“Find them!” he growled. “Find them for me and I will tear them limb from limb with my bare hands!”

The Druid nodded his assent.

“As you say, without grain many will starve over the winter,” Galni now continued. “So we need to find grain. The Romans might have emptied our granaries but they haven’t touched those of the Vacomagii, Taexalii, or Venicones. That makes me wonder if the two aren’t connected.”

“What mean you by that?” asked Calgacus.

“What I mean is that perhaps the traitors are from those tribes,” Galni added. “None of them have ever been real friends to the Caledonii. What better way to weaken us than by betraying us to the Romans?”

“But each of those tribes sent men to help us in the battle,” Calgacus argued.

“Few in number my Lord,” the Druid countered. “No, the more I think on it the more it makes sense. We have been betrayed by the Vacomagii, Taexalii, and Venicones. In any event, we need grain and they have it. We need to take it from them.”

“By the Gods, if they have betrayed us then we will smash them!” Roared Calgacus.

The Caledonian giant didn’t pause to question why a Druid – a group sworn to serve all of the tribes – was openly encouraging one tribe to attack three others.

The six young Damnonii gathered beside the barn as the sun rose in the east. Although Sardi hadn’t as yet shared any details of his plans, they were all excited as they now knew just what their friend was capable of.

“Ah, good Taroc, I see that you have brought your bow and spear. Somehow I think you are going to be the luckiest of hunters on this trip,” said Sardi.

Taroc raised an eyebrow in question but Sardi ignored it. Aelfi was just as curious as the others and she pressed her friend on what he had planned for them.

“What plans does the mighty Seer of the Heralds have for this fine summer’s morning?” she asked, giggling.

The others giggled too at the pompous tone she had used to ask the question. Sardi shrugged off the mild teasing.

“We are going for a walk, a long walk,” he replied and then moved off north and east. His friends hurried to keep up with him.

“Where are we walking to? And could you slow down a bit, not all of us have long legs like you,” gasped Lifene.

“Patience,” Sardi answered.

An hour of walking brought them to the drove road that paralleled the loch-side for a few miles. Sardi led them northwards along the road, his eyes casting from side to side as if looking for something. At last they came to a point where there was a rocky promontory jutting out into the loch. Sardi led them off of the road and over to the rocks.

“Okay,” he said. “We can wait here and rest.”

“Wait for what?” asked Nati somewhat impatiently.

The others also seemed impatient to know what Sardi was up to.

“We are meeting someone,” Sardi replied. “Well perhaps more ‘relieving’ than ‘meeting’. All of you stay low so that you can’t be seen from the road.”

Grumbling at being kept in the dark, Sardi’s friends nonetheless complied with his request and lay or sat below the ridgeline of the rocks. Sardi meanwhile began to scrape together some of the rock dust that was scattered around them. He soon had a small smile in front of him and he seemed rather pleased with his efforts.