The Temporal Knights (18 page)

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It was already evening when Rice finally returned to his tent. Leoforic was there waiting for him and looking at detailed maps of various countries.

“Canna I stay with
ye?” Leoforic asked with a hopeful look. “School be verily grand, even Harden twas excited by it,” he added without waiting for an answer. Rice smiled at the young man and patted him on the head.

“They’ll be back tomorrow?”

Leoforic nodded.

“You may stay,” Rice told the energetic youth and sat on the edge of his cot, suddenly tired, more emotionally than physically. It had been the most rewarding day of his life. “Are you hungry?”

Leoforic nodded again, but then frowned, thinking. “Docktor Rice?” he asked and began to study the computer screen while Gordon changed into clean clothes. They both were expected at the Ealdorman’s for supper in about an hour. The doctor could hardly wait. He was famished.

“If ye be from Colorado, how did ye get here?” Leoforic asked thinking that Colorado must indeed be an enchanted place. He wondered why anyone would wish to leave it to come to Somerset.

Rice scratched his head and stared up at the boy, who was tall and painfully thin with a shock of brown hair that had that wild, just out of bed look. But to be fair, such a look was the fashion of the time, or at least the end result of the times, since there were few mirrors, and those only for the very rich.

“Well, that’s a complicated thing, and not easily explained,” he answered staring at the boy bluntly, whose face was eager but his expression also carried a touch of apprehension. Rice nearly decided against the truth but then took a deep breath. If anyone was going to accept them for who they truly were, it was Leoforic.

‘Might as well try the truth out on the young,’
the doctor thought with his own dose of apprehension.

“You see Leoforic we are not from this time,” he began, but could tell right away that the boy was not catching his drift. He paused for the briefest moment, remembering how the previous day Leoforic had run screaming from this very tent...but once more decided to go on, after all the boy was eager to learn.

“Do you know what year it is?” Gordon asked.

“Yah,” Leoforic said looking up, now curious, “tis the year 893, after the death of our Lord, Jesus Christ.”

“Well Leoforic, we come from the year 2027 after the death of our Lord, Jesus Christ.”

The boy stared at his new friend for a moment, and then his eyes suddenly grew very large as he finally comprehended what was being said to him.

“In that year,” Gordon continued, “nearly all the people of the world were dead...all the women, all the children, and all the men...except what you see here, now at Athelney. We were attacked and killed by beings from the stars. We call them Skawps because of the sound they make, but we don’t really know what they are, or where they come from, or even why they attacked us. Our only chance was to move back in time and teach humanity, and hopefully grow strong enough to repel the attack when it finally comes again.

Leoforic was very quiet, thinking hard...these were concepts no one in the year 893 even considered, and they made his head hurt.

“The Skawps must have been fierce men,” he finally said.

“Not men at all,” Rice said coming around behind the lad. He touched a few buttons on the computer and called up a rather clear picture of a Skawp warrior. It was large and dark in color, and was covered with a hard exoskeleton. The creature had seven limbs in all, four of
which were always on the ground, plus two higher up that ended sharply like teeth and finally a large arm full of long, thin tendrils. But what stood out was the creature’s six eyes all grouped closely together in the center of its oblong head. Black and emotionless, the eyes stared blankly at the camera, positioned just above a long mouth filled with hundreds of sharp tiny teeth. Rice shivered. The Skawp in the picture seemed to be looking directly into his soul. The creature was holding a laser weapon designed by the beasts. No hint of intelligence came through the face, but Rice knew intelligence was there. He shuddered again, vividly remembering the death and terror. He clicked off the screen while Leoforic turned and stared at him, his mouth open in horror.

“Ye fight monsters?” he asked thinking the beast in the picture must have been some sort of dragon.

“Yes.”

Leoforic paused for a long moment, then. “I will learn...I will help,” the youth whispered with a gulp, trying to be brave.

Gordon smiled, shaking off the last of the horror and felt his eyes grow moist. “Thank you Leoforic,” he finally managed to say, and then after a moment they headed off into the rain to join the others braving the elements and making their way to the Manor Hall.

They just reached the Hall when a call came in that riders were approaching from the north. General Peebles ordered his men to stay put and do nothing, but to keep alert and defend the camp if attacked. Then he informed the Ealdorman that he would soon have more visitors, and in fifteen minutes the group appeared out of the dark and rain, though the sun had not yet set. It turned out to be Leoforic’s father, Sir Æthelred, the Earl of Mercia, along with twenty-two of his knights, and even though the day was foul and dark, Æthelred made due note of the many men and tents around the Ealdorman’s town.

The Lord of Mercia and his men entered the Hall, wet and confident, as the Ealdorman’s servants scrambled to set up yet another table and more chairs. The seating arrangements were also being shifted as Æthelred stopped and studied the many strange men present. No one said anything as the Ealdorman approached and greeted the King’s bother-in-law with the respect due one of greater social rank, and Æthelred, who was a tall kindly, older man, returned the greeting with a smile and a clap on the back.

“Ye
be hidin’ an army out here, Sir Æthelnoth?”  Æthelred asked looking about and noted the strange dress of some of the men. Then Leoforic, his youngest son and child, rushed up to him with wide eager eyes, clearly excited.

“Greetings Da’,” the boy said formally, though it took all of his self-control not to take his father’s hand and drag him off to meet Dr. Rice.

“Greetings boy,” the Earl of Mercia answered mockingly and grabbed his son, whom he doted on and gave him a large bear hug. Æthelred was reassured by the sight of his youngest. There was great talk out east about rising trouble with the Danes in the west. Rumors were growing of Ubba laying waste to much of Devon and Somerset. But Æthelred could tell instantly from his son’s manner that there was no danger here, unless of course, it be overt and hidden from the boy’s eyes.

“Da, I’d like ye to meet someone.”

“Yah, yah,” the Ealdorman interrupted. “Ye must be meetin’ our new friends,” he added and led his Lord to the head of the table, where General Peebles was standing and waiting. Æthelred followed along, very curious and a little on edge when he realized the man before him was enormous in size.

“Genaral Peebles, this
be Sir Æthelred, brother by marriage to King Alfred of Wessex, and Earl of Mercia.” Sir Æthelred, who was tall and thin, stood out in sharp contrast against the squat and wide Ealdorman. Both men were heavily bearded though Æthelred managed a modicum of control over his facial hair, where the Ealdorman let his grow wild.

“Sir,” the large stranger said and bowed in greeting.

“Genaral....” Æthelred answered with a nod, his tongue tripping over the unfamiliar title.

“The Genaral be the leader of the strangers. They
be willin’ to help rid us of Ubba’s Danes on the Hill,” the Ealdorman explained at his Lord’s questioning tone. “His men be Curnell Lemay,” who nodded at the introduction, “Mayjor Thane, Doktor Rice and Masters Robertson, Jefferies, and Sadao.” Æthelred noticed that all of these men were giants, though some bigger than others. They were all very serious, with the hard, cold eyes of warriors, though none carried swords or seemed to be armed at all. The Earl of Mercia was very troubled despite the easy calm with which the Ealdorman and his son seemed to accept these strange men. They spoke peculiarly, and there was only a single reason to bring an army onto the shores of the English…and that reason was never pleasant for the people of this land.

“Father they be friends,” Leoforic whispered to him, sensing his caution. Æthelred was inclined to trust the judgment of his son, who was clever, but still he was cautious. The Earl then introduced his men, including his eldest son Sir Æthelstan, and his top warlord and knight, Sir Beonoth.

Everyone was duly respectful, but the feast started off tensely. Æthelred soon relaxed however, when he noticed that the Ealdorman and his men treated the strangers with respect and friendship, though the stories they told of the flying dragon, and wagons moving without horses, could hardly be believed.

Despite his caution, everyone in the hall seemed to be enamored with the strangers, from the serving wenches, many of whom shared a wink or a quick caress with one or more of the strangers, to the Lady Ellyn, who was fawning over one of the taller strangers, apparently with her father’s acceptance. It had been his wish to see the Lady Ellyn married to Leoforic, but he saw now that his plan might have to be altered, though he would do so grudgingly. Sir Oldalf was rich and ran his lands well; his daughter would make a fine match for his youngest.

The Earl sat stiff and quiet as he studied the proceedings around him, but noticed that Sir Elid, always a serious man looking for a fight, was also laughing and enjoying the company of two odd looking strangers at the far end of the Hall. His eldest and the rest of his knights soon relaxed in the warmth of the Hall as they filled their empty bellies with food and mead.

But what impressed the Earl the most was the behavior of his son Leoforic, who was talking animatedly to one of the strangers. It was the man called…Rice, he believed. Strange names for these strange men, though they could be Danes with their size and height. However Æthelred had never heard of a clean shaven Dane and they didn’t appear to be goin’ a-viking at the moment. Leoforic was smiling and laughing and talking but more importantly he was looking up at the man with true adoration. Up to now it was a look Leoforic had reserved only for his father. The Earl was thoughtful, and silent, missing little, but then one did not stay alive very long in these times if one was not wise and observant.

“Genaral Peebles,” the Earl finally spoke just as the entertainers came out. “How be it that ye come to these lands?”

The General paused for a moment. This was the first thing the Earl, who was sitting directly on his right, had said in nearly three quarters of an hour. Peebles had spent the time trying to size up the elderly Earl. The man had a serious streak and a watchful eye, something the
General could appreciate. But his demeanor was in sharp contrast with the Ealdorman’s, who was for the most part open and easy to read. No doubt the man was cautious, and he wished for a brief moment that Dr. Rice was nearby for advice, but then he shrugged.

“We come from far away. We were forced out of our lands by invaders, so we know how you feel about the Danes,” he answered, knowing that it was an awkward beginning, but it couldn’t be helped now. He raised his eyes to Colonel Lemay, who was seated across from Peebles with his back to the main floor, in order to make more room for chairs around the tables.

The answer was awkward for the Earl as well because he understood very little of what was said to him. He noticed the look the General gave the large man across the table and frowned. He was the sword arm of the General, he was sure. The man had hard eyes…the eyes of a seasoned killer. He cast a warning glance to Sir Beonoth, who sat on Lemay’s right and his man gave the slightest of nods.

These strangers spoke Anglish for sure, but it had a very strange cadence to it that made it hard to pick up the meaning of what was said, though the Ealdorman and his people seemed to be having no difficulty at all. In the end, he just frowned and said nothing, and it was several moments before the General realized that the Earl hadn’t understood.

“I am sorry. Our accent makes it difficult to communicate, I know. We had the same trouble with the Ealdorman and his men at first. What I said was we were driven from our lands by invaders, like the Danes.”

“Danes?”

“Like the Danes...” Peebles corrected and looked to the Ealdorman for help, but he was deep in conversation with Lee Robertson.

The Lady Merwinna, who was also following the conversation stepped in and translated for the General. He smiled his gratitude, and she nodded back in return.

The Earl turned back to Peebles after the translation. “Then ye be returning someday to fight off these invaders?” he asked with mock innocence, noticing off-handedly that two of the strangers had joined the entertainers at Sir Elid’s insistence. Exceedingly odd, but they were quite good.

The General nodded. “Oh yes, we will be returning, though it may not be for a long time.” Again Merwinna translated.

The Earl turned quiet once more, just watching as the two strangers pulled Sir Elid to his feet and out onto the main floor with the entertainers. He glanced at the Ealdorman, who did nothing but guffaw and clap his hands. The Earl looked about and noticed that his knights were equally surprised by Sir Elid’s behavior.