Lonan woke up to a gust of wind brushing his face. He sat up, to his surprise it was quite easy, he was used to having to struggle for every movement. He looked around and as he saw the the ashes around him. His memories came back to him. All the death and the fire. How was he even still alive. He looked down at his hands to see if he was burned but not even a scratch was to be seen.
After inspecting his body for a while, he stood up to just get away from all the death. He started walking westwards. To the east would be the coast and to the south the roman forts. So westwards he continued on.
He had been walking for a few hours by now, judging by the sun, and his legs still felt fresh and he didn't feel hunger quite yet when he reached a small lake in the middle of the forest. He was still completely naked, as his cloth had burned away the day before and his skin was black from the ashes.
He slowly walked into the lake and started washing away the ashes until his clear skin was visible again. As reached his chest he noticed parts of the black surface just staying on his skin no matter how hard he scrubbed. But as all the other stains were washed off and he looked at his chest again, he realized that it couldn't be just dirt. The black marking was in weird form, he wasn't when he looked down himself but it looked like the bird he had dreamed of in the flames.
Lonan tried to call back how the bird looked and he started remembering more and more, the bright comforting light, the eyes and lastly the essence at the end. His thoughts were interrupted as the water around him started bubbling and steam started to rise from the surface.
Even though he didn't feel uncomfortable he could tell that the water started to boil.
"Well that's weird." he mumbled to himself but got out of the water. This phenomenon was clearly not natural and whatever had happened to him he had to get the help of the druids.
So Lonan started wandering west to reach the holy site of the druids to ask for help.
He had walked for a few days now, only stopping to sleep, and somehow he still felt good. His feet didn't hurt and his legs were still going strong. He didn't even have to gather anything to eat as he wasn't feeling any hunger. Even though he would've loved to have a nice meal now. He had mostly walked through forest and had avoided the swamps. People got lost way to easily in those.
Today was like the days before, in the morning thick mist had gathered between the trees and navigating was hard. But by midday the mist had given way to a few rays of sunlight that were peeking through the treetops.
Songbirds were whistling their songs and from time to time a rabbit or deer hushed away when it heard his footsteps, but today the songs of the birds got fewer and fewer the further he went and he even spotted footsteps on the wet forest floor. But he didn't care too much he'd follow the sun west and wouldn't let anything lead him of track.
A few minutes later he started to hear loud voices in between the trees. As he got closer he recognized that they weren't speaking latin or greek so he approached.
Lonan stepped out of the treeline into a big clearing. Makeshift tents were put up, a few fire were crackling and he could smell the scent of stew cooking. Armed man were hustling around, some were sharpening their weapons others wandering around drinking.
In the middle of the clearing was a big tent, out of which he could hear shouting but didn't understand the words as he was too far away.
He acted as if he belonged in the camp and confidently walked up to the big tent. Some of the men pointed at him and talked to their neighbors often accompanied with an approving nod.
Lonan thought that most of them thought him a brave young warrior. As the bravest warriors often went into battle naked, not needing the protection of armor because they didn't fear death.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
As he got closer to the tent he could understand the voices better.
"You have to see it. They slaughtered the Iceni, their allies. If we send messengers to the tribes now we could build up a strong enough army to send them back to their shores. But we need to act now and fight them openly. Attacking their supply lines brings no glory to our warriors." said a deep scratchy voice.
"Merfyn, we won't win an open war against the legions. You have to understand that. We need to resist them but not in open battle. We have to let them march forward, let them make territory fast and then swoop in and take over their supply lines and backup. Cut them off for the winter and their legions will freeze to death without us losing all our men." replied another more youthful voice.
"If you say so. But don't forget my words when you lose the support of the tribes."
Lonan wanted to listen a while more as a hand grabbed his shoulder. "Boy, what are you doing here? Aren't you a bit young?" Lonan turned around and saw a tall, burly man standing there. His upper body was bare except for the leather strap tightening the sword to his back.
"Who are you?" Lonan asked, proud that he didn't stutter.
"How do you not know that?" the grip tightened further "Seems like we got us a little spy." he said and shoved him into the tent.
Inside the tent stood two man, one of them clad in armor with long blonde hair and red mustache, the other clad in dirty leather cloth with a crown made out of thorns. Lonan recognized the man with the thorny crown as a leader of the druids and as he thought about it, the man in armor was probably a leader of the resistance. One of Caratacus Generals.
"What are you doing Tasciovanus? And who is that?" asked the man in armor, to the man that had shoved Lonan inside, who was apparently named Tasciovanus.
"Caught this little one spying on you, outside the tent."
"He looks weird, but not like a roman. I've never seen anyone with that eye or hair color." replied the armored man.
That was weird, thought Lonan he had brown hair and eyes, like a lot of the british tribes had.
"Hmm yes, quite curious." said the druid and stepped towards him. He put his hand on Lonan hair and stroked it and then with a sudden motion yanked at it. "Seems to be his real hair."
"Who are you, boy?" asked the man, who seemed to be in charge.
"It, it's rude to ask for a name without giving your own." replied Lonan managing to say it almost without a stutter.
"Hah," the man laughed "a feisty one. I like him." he said to the other two. "I'm Caratacus King of the Catuvellauni tribe and leader of the resistance. So who are you?"
Lonan was shocked for a few seconds. Caratacus the one that had fought the romans since they landed, the legendary warrior who even wielded druid magic when fighting.
"I'm Lonan."
"Well Lonan what brings you here?" the man, Caratacus, asked him.
"I was on my way to the druids, when I stumbled over your camp." he replied.
"Well luckily for you we have one right here, don't we Merfyn?" Caratacus looked at the druid.
"Yes, so what did you need a druid for boy? Any chance it has anything to do with your bright red hair and eyes?"
"I come from the Iceni and... Wait what do you mean red hair and eyes. My hair is brown, same as my eyes." he replied in wonder.
"As far as I can see, they are red as fire, boy. I don't know how they looked in the past but right now they are red." replied the druid.
"Doesn't matter!" interrupted Caratacus "You said you come from the Iceni Tribe. Tell us what happend."
So Lonan told them the story of what happened in his village, leaving out the silly dream of the bird.
"Interesting. Maybe you were right Merfyn... We can't sit still while the romans slaughter our old neighbors but we also can't engage them in open battle. This situation sucks!"
"So that is what happened at my village but I need your help." said Lonan to Merfyn. "Do you see this on my chest?" the three men nodded. "That isn't a tattoo or birthmark it just appeared there when I woke up..." he continued telling Merfyn how weirdly his body changed and how the water started boiling.
"It can't be a coincidence that you ended up here, boy. Clearly the spirits of nature sent you our way. It seems like you have absorbed the essence of this mystical bird that is depicted on your chest, say do you remember ever seeing it?" asked the druid. So Lonan told the whole story about the dream of the weird bird.
"I've never heard about such bird but it must be a sign." said Merfyn.
"Do you think you would be able to control the power the essence has given you?" asked Caratacus.
But before Lonan could reply, Merfyn leaned over to Caratacus and whispered something in his ear. "No! We won't do that. We are not that desperate and we will never be desperate enough to do that!" shouted Caratacus to whatever Merfyn had told him. "Tasciovanus, take the boy out and get him some food and a place to sleep. I'll have to talk to Merfyn."