Carack

Carack Ch14 p1

Chapter 14 The Mural

As they approached Widnbrea, after three days of travel, Meendhu’s pace increased and eventually he left them as he ran on ahead of everyone, he was so anxious to see what was happening at the castle. When Euny, Gerent and Brunnstan came to the top of the last hill, to look down onto the plains and castle of Widnbrea they pulled up to take in the view. Gerent, raising his drooping head could hardly believe his tired eyes; in front of him lay a scene of total devastation. The lush grass around the castle had been trodden down to near non-existence; the whole place was eerily quiet, without the sound of pheasants or other birds apart from the harsh calling of rooks and crows.

Gerent could smell a strange odour and he sniffed the air, realising it was the wispy ends of wood smoke that were drifting across that he could smell. From what he could see all of the settlers wagons and tents had been burnt or torn down, there were charred patches and the remains of pieces of wood scattered across areas that had once been green grass but was now a dust bowl of bare earth. The wind whipped up dried foliage and red soil and sent it spiralling upward sending dust showers before it as it drove across the blighted valley. Gerent could see amongst the devastation that there were a few bodies lying around but he could not believe what had happened to the tall grass he had ridden and farmed in only three weeks ago.

‘Is it usually so barren?’ Euny said staring around. Neither Gerent nor Brunnstan could reply, Brunnstan wiped a tear from his cheek, Gerent was gazing at the castle on the white bluff, and there was not one banner on its walls.

‘Don’t worry Brunnstan,’ Gerent tried to reassure the Brownie, ‘I’m sure it’s not as bad as it looks. Let’s see who’s in the castle.’ Gerent, with his heart sinking, spurred his horse forward and slowly the two mares picked their way across the battlefield.

‘There are bodies here, but not enough to indicate strong resistance or even a hard fight, not enough to indicate that Sancret even had an army.’ Euny said quietly as they rode through the devastated settlements. Euny came to a halt, then signalled Gerent to do the same and scanned the battlefield around them, standing in the stirrups to do so.

‘It is odd, there are a few soldiers lying here who were obviously Madron’s men but the others, it looks as though those who have fallen out here, for Sancret, were not fighting but running and the closer you get to the castle the less bodies I can see. But if a battle had been fought there would in fact be more bodies by the castle walls than anywhere as the defence there should have been the fiercest and strongest.’

‘He did have an army, and it would have fought, N’zar was, is- I don’t know,’ Gerent trailed off hopelessly. Euny dismounted and went to examine a nearby corpse, disturbing some crows in the process. Kneeling Euny rolled the body over, Gerent turned his head but the view in the opposite direction was just as bad. He saw the bodies of fallen men lying half over a torched wagon, which was still smoking, so he looked back to see what Euny was doing. Euny was rummaging through the clothes of the fallen man, head bent, intent on the search.

‘I thought you said there were refugees and settlers here.’ the knight said quizzically while rumaging.

‘I did,’ replied Gerent, ‘there were, what are you looking for?’

‘If there were settlers that would indicate that women and children would have been out here, but all of the fallen that I can see are male and,’ Euny finished searching and got up, ‘seem to be made of straw!’ Euny held out a large bunch of dried stalks that had just come from the body on the ground.

‘Straw! I don’t understand, how could straw people be killed, where are the real people? Straw men couldn’t fight!’

‘With Sancret they might have been able to, it is as if these were decoys while he did something to save everyone – I don’t know, if he had won or survived the battle where is he? Where are all the people you say were here?’ Euny remounted Fogbow, ‘I suppose we will only find out by going to the castle.’

‘Brunnstan! Can you use your powers and get to the castle to see what’s happening there?’ Gerent said urgently.

 Brunnstan sniffed and said sadly, ‘Lordling, I cannot use my magic within Widnbrea at this moment any more than I could out of it, I cannot travel to the castle as a Brownie should, I cannot even feel anyone inside the castle.’

‘No one, no other Brownies, not even-?’ Gerent couldn’t bring himself to say Sancret’s name, he felt totally crushed. Brunnstan just sniffed again and Euny looked up at the castle in front of them.

‘May as well go on, no point in putting it off, ever since Sancret came here I’ve been promising to come and see him, now it looks as if I am too late.’ The three of them rode on in silence taking to the track that gently wound up around the side of hill to the castle perched on the white cliff. The sound of their horses’ hooves echoed ominously around the silent walls as they entered the courtyard of the castle, Euny stared  around and looked to Gerent, who dismounted and led his pony to the stables, Brunnstan shuffling beside him. Stones that had been torn from the walls and cobbles from the ground lay scattered in all directions. There was no cheery Hrosstan emerging from the stalls to greet them, no grey ponies snuffling in fresh hay, it was empty and quiet. The saddles and bridles had been ripped and torn apart, the pieces of leather strewn everywhere. Sadly, Gerent slowly led the way into the castle, it had been sparsely furnished before but now it felt like an empty cave, the three of them stood in the entrance hall and stared around. There were scratch marks in the walls, water on the floor and doors swung on a single hinge. Gerent then wandered out onto the walls where the banners should have been snapping happily in the breeze but the torn down poles were empty. The only sound they could now hear was that of the carrion birds feeding out on the plain. Gerent sat despondently on the wall, he had no inclination to do anything more, he felt immensely worn out, as though his inner core strength had all been eaten away. He felt that his bones were the only thing holding him upright and that they would crumble at any minute. Brunnstan sat beside him, Gerent felt despairingly that they were too late, it was all gone, Sancret was gone, his only hope to get home had gone and Madron had won.