Merlin's Gold

Merlin's Gold - Chapter 31 - Merlin's Tomb

Chapter 31 – Merlin's Tomb

Of course, it wasn't that simple, and there was much to do before they could go home.

Kurs and Arthur had met several times since their initial talk, and both proclaimed themselves happy with the remaining terms hammered out over the hours that followed. Bishop David was used as a witness to events, and scribe to the accords agreed by both parties.

Once the relief column from the south had been fed and rested following their forced march from the south coast, they were redeployed. Leodegrance, Bedivere and Bors took a large portion of the new men to accompany the battered and demoralised Saxon forces back to their enclave to the south-east. The rest of the relief column was immediately put to work with the other uninjured men digging a mass grave for the Saxon dead, and a separate grave for the men who had died defending the now peaceful-looking Silbury Hill. Those men previously buried in shallow graves on the side of the hill were reburied properly with their companions, and votive offerings were made to send them on their way. 

Grayle stood in silence, the grey clouds of the day mirroring the darkness of his mood. Iseult stood with him, her hand clasped firmly in his, her other arm supportively linked with Gawain's. The three of them looked down at the fresh patch of earth, a crudely carved wooden cross marking the spot where Daniel now lay. Bishop David had carried out the service earlier that day after conducting a brief service commemorating the fallen, sprinkling Holy Water over the site of the mass graves to the south and east of the hill.

A brisk wind blew Iseult's hair in dancing ribbons around her face as she held tightly to Grayle. So few of them had escaped injury, and all of them would bear the wounds from this battle for life, both internally and externally. Even she had been lucky, only Elyan's brave actions saving her from serious injury at the hands of Morgause.

Mark had given a grim account of the casualties that morning before Leodegrance, Bedevere and Bors had left for the trip to the south with the Saxons. Almost two hundred souls had formed the original compliment of men at Silbury Hill: one hundred and fifty fighting men; twenty ancillaries including camp cooks, fletchers, a smith, pot boys, stable hands, and several trackers; various members of the aristocracy, and of course Cadan and his twenty strong band of diggers. These had been followed by two hundred more fighting men who'd arrived with Arthur, Guinevere, and Iseult. Of those four hundred souls, only one hundred and fifty now remained.

They had lost almost half of the Cornish miners, a few through accident, most through their heroically unskilled defence of the west quarter of the upper fort. Of the ancillaries, only Elyan, the smith, and a fletcher remained. But of course, the soldiers had borne the brunt of the deaths. A mere twenty of the Exeter men had survived, some thirty of the Tintagel men, with the remaining Camelot men also heavily reduced. Very few had managed to escape unwounded, and most sported a variety of cuts, amputations, or broken bones.

Ecrivain, although late to arrive, had also taken heavy losses due to Hengist's quick decision to form the fighting wedge. But the sorest of these losses for Grayle and Gawain was Daniel.

And then there was Merlin.

Cadan had inspected the Pit following the dramatic eruption of dust during the battle. The northern chamber roof had mostly collapsed, blocking the entry to the room, but the massive stone beams in the shaft had held, the narrow entry to the chamber acting like giant bellows, forcing the air and dust out under pressure to rise so dramatically into the sky.

Arthur had discussed the burial with Cadan, insisting that once he had said a final goodbye to Merlin, the foreman and his fellow miners, along with a small guard, would remain behind to reinstate the hill to its former state. The Pit would be filled in, and the defences and other manmade alterations to the mound removed, leaving it as a hill once more. Cadan had instantly agreed, happy to be able to pay a final homage to the man he had learned so much from during his time at the site.