Chapter 9

As Eoric slept another vision played itself out in his head. This time it took the form of a series of clips featuring Eochaid. The first scene was in Dalriada and showed Eochaid on his horse, his yellow hair glinting in the sunlight almost as much as the blade of his sword, as he drove his men forward into battle. The scene ended with Eochaid clearly victorious and climbing the pathway that led to the summit of the hill-fort at Dunadd, a brilliant smile on his face.

The second part of the vision was set in a landscape that wasn't familiar to Eoric. There was a range of very high mountains, snow capping their peaks and a loch surrounded on one side by a forest. The forest was made up of trees of different types and Eoric's subconscious appreciated the subtly varied shades of green that created a patchwork. The loch and the mountains framed an undulating field of yet another shade op green and here the tranquillity of the scenery was rudely contrasted by the brutal and savage battle that was taking place.

Eoric might not have recognised where the battle was taking place, but he easily identified the foes that Eochaid was striving against - they were Picts, hundreds, perhaps thousands of Picts. Eochaid's forces seemed to be outnumbered, but he had the advantage of several hundred mounted men and he used these to maximum effect. Two columns of cavalry swept the field and trampled the Picts down into the soil. After each sweep, infantry dashed forward and finished the job the horses had started.

The scenery was vivid in its colours and the battle was no less so with the deep red blood pouring from cuts and slashes making it clear that men were losing their lives on this killing field. The use of the cavalry meant that the exchange didn't last long and Eoric saw Eochaid rein his horse in, clearly victorious once more and in command of the battlefield.

The third and final scene was set in another location that was unknown to Eoric, this one looked like a mountain pasture in late autumn, the ground turning a burnt orange colour as the vegetation died off in the cold atmosphere. Once again there was a battle raging, but Eoric had no idea the manner of men that Eochaid was fighting this time. It was sometimes difficult to pick out the King as a large number of his opponents had similar coloured hair to his own and in the melee all became confused.

Eoric was in no doubt however, when the vision focussed on Eochaid Buide and he saw an opponent rent his skull open with a glancing blow from a battle axe. He saw the spray and fine droplets of blood bloom outwards from the wound, a piece of scalp and bone hung limply and Eochaid's eyes went glassy as his body crumpled and fell to the ground.

Eoric woke and sat up, feeling sweat running down his body as if he had just finished a long run in the sunshine. He started to shiver and his body shook, waking Gemma who was curled up beside him. Gemma quickly put her arms around him and cradled his head, bringing it to rest on her shoulder.

"What is it, Eoric? What's wrong with you?" she asked anxiously.

Once he had managed to calm down a little, Eoric began to explain to Gemma that he had the power of sight. He knew he couldn't tell her everything his vision had contained, but he did share with her some of the things he had seen. He put his night sweats and shaking down to the brutal nature of the battle he had witnessed. The savagery, the hatred chiselled on the faces of the combatants and most of all the gore and blood that flowed in abundance. His description made Gemma shiver too and she accepted what he told her as being all that he had seen.

The pair lay down again and Gemma was soon sleeping once more. Eoric had the vivid pictures from all three parts of the vision playing before his eyes and he found it impossible to sleep in the circumstances. He slipped from the bed and crossed to pull the heavy drape back from the window, gazing up at the star jewelled sky.

Eoric realised this was exactly the approach he had instinctively taken with Gemma. He saw the wisdom in what Merlin was saying, but could also feel the weight of carrying such knowledge around without sharing it with anyone. Once more he began to realise the abilities he had inherited were not all wonder and light; they carried some staggering responsibilities.

"Well now you know there is at least one other person you can share your burdens with. I know to my cost the weight and responsibility you are thinking about for I have had to shoulder them for fifty years or more. If you feel the need to share yours, then I offer myself, Eoric."

With the offer made, Eoric felt the connection to Merlin break and he was left alone once more with his own thoughts. He realised Merlin had identified Eochaid's killer as a Saxon from reading his thoughts. He had never looked upon a Saxon before and was now able to put a face to the danger that he felt threatened all of the Celtic tribes and clans.

There was at least one crumb of comfort to be taken from his vision he decided - it looked as if Eochaid was guaranteed of success in cleansing Dalriada of the men of Strathclyde and also in defeating the Picts. So long as the campaigns to achieve that were ongoing, Eochaid would be safe. After that he would be living on borrowed time.

Nimue looked intently into her glass ball and focussed on the man she wanted to carry out her work for her. After a minute or so the face of the senior druid from Dalriada appeared in the glass.

"Garth, well done in completing your task of poisoning Eochaid Buide and helping King Beli invade his lands. I have more work for you to do now. I don't have much to go on, but I need you to identify and locate a young man of about sixteen years of age who lives in Dalriada. He will be a boy with some talent and no doubt that will make him stand out. He may have been an apprentice of some kind, but I don't know anything else about him. It's extremely important that you find this boy for me," she said.

"My lady, I don't think I need to look too far. I'm sure I already know of who you're looking for. A young apprentice blacksmith managed to save Eochaid from my poison and helped spirit him away before King Beli and his men could capture him. His name is Eoric, but he hasn't been seen in some weeks. I assume he is in hiding somewhere with Eochaid, plotting some revenge on Beli no doubt," Garth replied.

"So, he has already thwarted some of my plans has he? Find him for me Garth, find him and let me know where he is. He and I need to meet so that he can explain himself to me."

They crossed the North Channel in a flotilla of small boats, landing on the very foot of the Kintyre Peninsula. They passed the island of Sanda before pulling into a small natural bay at Keil, running the boats onto the shingle and then leaping out onto the beach itself.

Eochaid had chosen this spot as it was highly unlikely that the men from Strathclyde had penetrated anywhere near this far into his Kingdom and he hoped to be able to muster more troops as he marched northwards. In particular he was anxious to secure horses, as the crossing in small boats had precluded them from bringing horses with them.

From Keil they marched up Kintyre, between two ranges of hills and on towards Ceann Loch Chille Chiarain (modern day Campbeltown) where they stopped at a large settlement for two days, waiting for levies to join them.

Having swelled their ranks by several hundred, they continued northwards, past Lussa Loch and on until they hit the west coast of the Peninsula. Their route continued along the coast as it became Loch Tarbert and they rested for the night at Tarbert itself, a smallish walled camp.

The long march had left the troops weary, but Eoric was as usual full of energy almost as if he hadn't exercised at all. He had never visited this part of Dalriada and had worn a broad smile all day as he connected with the various elements of the landscape - feeling the hills, lochs and glens. He helped with the foraging for the force by going out and using his abilities to have a small herd of deer follow him back to the camp where others butchered the animals and began to roast them over open fires.

For some reason this act made Eoric feel guiltier than he ever had before when taking animals for food and when he was offered some venison he found he had lost his appetite.

"Your connection with nature is growing stronger and it is becoming increasingly difficult for you to kill - particularly if it is not mainly for your own survival. We think that you will eventually avoid all meat, as none of the four faeries you have within you ate it. The Uruisge survived on fish, the Gruagach on milk, the Ghillie Dhu on nuts, berries and other plants and the Heather Pixie mainly on honey."

As soon as this sentiment was raised by his inner voice, Eoric recognised the truth of it and he left the camp to go in search of some fish. Gemma looked at him quizzically, but he simply shrugged his shoulders and began trotting off towards the head of Loch Tarbert.

The next day their line of march was up the east side of Kintyre along the shores of Loch Fyne and Loch Gilp, with more men joining them all the time. When they reached the head of Loch Gilp, Eochaid had some two thousand six hundred men, two hundred of them horsed and they were a mere three miles from Dunadd. They were now seeing signs of despoilation around them, some small fields that had been growing grain had been burned and numerous herders' huts had been roughly pushed over.