Roma Arthuras (Low fantasy Arthurian legend SI)

[Leektheratking]

"Llywarch, come now, son and follow me" old man Twrch said, simple and calm in the way he had always been. The way that silenced the shouting of the people around the village.

Steadily, I was helped up, the binding strips of leather taken from my hand as both the father-son duo of Broch and Hywel lifted me up, the cudgels in their hands held unsteadily, I looked between them, despite the circumstances of my binding, they were good men, they just wanted to protect themselves.

"Sorry" I whispered as Broch took a flinching look to the black spot growing steadily on my cheek, mirrored easily by the blood-soaked rag stuffed haphazardly in his mouth, even as I looked at the injury the man had the cuts on my hand ached, I'd need to wash it soon. Yet for now, I followed the old man.

He really was old; I saw it now all the more. The stooping of his back, the shake of his hands onto his tall walking stick, I had no estimate of truly how long I had been in the past, but over the years after my birth, I had grown to see the man´s once dusty blonde hair turn grey, then silver, his aquiline nose had gone from a once dignified straight to a now crooked spear from the oak that was the man´s scarred face.

Even as people spoke behind us in the village and as circulation finally began to come back to my hands, I could hear them. The oldest amongst the people turning away at best, the youngest outright hurling insults.

"You fool, you've damned us all playing hero, who do you think you are! Cyning Uther?" the kids of Gwengen yelled out, the pig nosed little shits hurling small stones as I walked, almost hitting old man Twrch as we moved, I felt a stern shout building within me as one of the stones clacked in front of the frail man, sparking against its fellow stone in a way that caused the crook backed man to stop, yet it was for naught as the man spoke first.

"Come here, boy!" he ordered, simple and proud in a way that defied his appearance. The boy slowly moved forward until he stood before the man. Even while crooked, he stood taller than the boy.

Twrch, wuddenly gasping with a ragged breath stood upright with a start dashed his hand forward in an instant, his hand clapped across the boy's head, an echoing slap that impacted solidly with the palm, the boy's shout stifled instantly as Twrch began to talk.

"You do not stop a horse when it's on a run, boy, you lead it. you'll get hurt otherwise try to stop it, now go crawl back by your fire you fox, I'll speak with you later" as if on cue Gwengen appeared, a comely toad of a woman with squat mole pocked jowls on her face, about to say something to the man before he pointed a bent finger to her.

"I'll get to you next. Come on Llywarch, no more distractions." Twrch spoke, and so we walked without pause for what felt an hour. beyond the edge of the village in the clearing. The small plots of grain passed by without difficulty as the setting sun turned the horizon to flames.

And even then the two walked, into the nearby woodland. By stepping over twisted root and breaking branch further then I had even dared by myself to walk, yet just as the fire on the horizon began to fade and the dark started to set in, the two men came across a small hut in the middle of the woods.

"What.." I began, confused, before Twrch once again spoke.

"Start the fire, boy" he spoke, pointing to a well-used firepit, a nearby pile of wood and tinder making it easy to light the flame. I warched carefully as the old man entered the hut I grew worried as the fire bellowed brightly to a roar and the shadows deepened. A clacking of clashing items within the hut made bubbles of worry crawl up my throat for a second before the old man returned holding something.

"Firstly, Llywarch, I must offer only my greatest thanks for what you did, though the repercussions will be swift and surely harsh, you did only what was right and I cannot blame you for your actions" Twrch said she sat down, the hefty, long box placed with a thump onto the dirt between the two of us, the old man pushing it towards me with a huff.

Opening the box, I was first confused by large glinting collection of metal within, thinking it at first a box full of silver coins until I saw the contents, a copper-covered steel helmet with large cheekguards and having a very distinctive neck protector.

A very roman neck protector.

Lifting the helmet from within, it felt nicely made, nary a nick or scratch in its surface, appearing freshly polished.

Placing it lightly onto the ground, I noticed that where a crest of hair should have been, was empty, the remnants of long-decayed hair gone.

"It served me well, though the plume needs replacing, it should protect you" Twrch said simply as he leaned over to scrub a speck of dirt from the helmet.

Looking further into the box, there was a large pile of rattling chain, like a shimmering silver fish that, when pulled from the box, unfurled into a fine coat of ringlets, freshly oiled and scrubbed of any debris.

"My old hamata. It's chains have kept me safe in a hundred battles, I hope it will do the same for you" Twrch said slowly and I froze.

"Why are you giving me this?" the question that began to burn was asked. I waited as I looked to the old man, his deep-set eyes showing a sorrow that dug a pit in my heart.

"You've done a great thing today, but you cannot stay, we cannot protect you. But we can deny you ever were amongst us. It will ensure the safety of both you and the village, even now I have my sons leading false trails for any dogs brought" Twrch said, looking sadly as he reached into the box, under a thick padded coat and the other things within. Pulling out a richly ordained spatha that shone brightly when drawn into the firelight.

Handed the blade, I held it reverently as Twrch began to speak, his words disappearing into the distance as I felt my hand grip comfortably around the handle, the firelight dancing along the sharp edge of the blade with a fervour that defied the soggy wood that hissed and popped in its heat. The dusty gems, the deep yellow of a rough-cut topaz in place of the bottom of the hilt sat firmly tightened in with bands of a shining gold like metal contrasted tightly to the white of the pearls studding the crossguard.

Twrch seemed to notice my quizzical look as I thumbed over the dusty gem and its setting into the ivory hilt of the sword, speaking with his rough voice.

"Electrum, lad. sword was made by a great smith owned by my family at my domi back beyond the waves. He was a genius with the material, he made that sword in its totality, carved the tusks of a mighty beast, a horn nosed thing from Africa, took nearly twenty men to kill it you know? Fed us for a week." Twrch spoke, rambling on into a story as I felt my hand moving over the sword and its scabbard, finding a word embossed into the flat of the green leather that surrounded the wood core.

"Ah, yes. That would say..." I heard Twrch speak slowly, though cut off by my own words

"Felix…is that your name?" I finished his sentence as I looked at the shining embossed word, written clearly in the language I had learned first in a previous life unlike this one, I barely remember it now, I realise. It hurt to think on that.

"You were always like that, lad. huh? Knowing things you shouldn't. Never useful things either. you shit. Can't toil a field to save your life or neuter a sheep, but someone needs a joist cut you're on it like flies to shit" Felix…no, Twrch said, laughing as he poked repeatedly at my chest with his walking stick. Which all the same made the old man pause, before quickly getting up and re-entering into the shack unsteadily as I held onto the abandoned walking stick.

Looking to the stick, the familiar painted banding of colours stuck out all the more on the old rod. Red, yellow, black. One large, one thin, one large. On and on down the length of the shaft like a coral snake, almost like a ghost. However. as I was looking at the shaft, Twrch came back, holding the long blade of a hasta spear, inserting it on the far end and securing it tightly. the weapon was complete once again.

Handed the complete spear, I sat there silently as Twrch began to explain how the clothes were to be put on and taken off, before with a quick motion that defied the old man's shaking limbs, he dashed a clump of dirt into the fading fire, finally having myself become nearly fully dressed in all including the armour.

In the quick moments as my head was ducked, placing the chainmail hamata over my head, the flame was extinguished and the scuttling of his old legs against the stones and roots, finally as the hamata was fully over my shoulders and sitting comfortably, the dark came. Though failing to hide the way home, the implication was clear.

So, I picked up the arms and tied them tightly into a bindle, adjusted the armour and padding as it sat on my shoulders and headed on the out in a direction, the copse of trees clearing eventually as I found myself not in the village, but upon the open road.

So, I began walking, the light chill of the night kept cleanly at bay as I moved.