7 - CUNTIGERN

Cuntigern got woken up suddenly by a scream and he realised that he had dozed off in the middle of the prayer. Lord forgive me, he thought. Then he heard other shouts.

"What is it?", Serf asked him from behind the cloth which separated the room.

"I was going to ask you the same", lied Cuntigern, trying to wake up completely.

Now the noise outside was louder and louder. Cuntigern had almost fallen asleep knelt on the floor, and he felt his joints ache when he tried to stand up.

What was all that commotion in the middle of the night? He walked to the entrance and watched outside.

He immediately crossed himself, as he saw some houses burning, not very far. People and even horses were running around, inside the ramparts.

"What's going on, Mungo?", said Serf coming at the entrance. Then, watching outside, he answered himself, in a whisper: "It's an attack on Alt Clut!".

The first thought which occurred to Cuntigern was how unlucky they were: they had been staying at the Rock only since a few days, and this havoc had to happen just then! But suddenly he realised that remaining at Mellindenor could have been even more dangerous. That small village might be already destroyed by now, who knows.

"Mungo, let's stay inside and pray hard", Serf said. The darkness of the night was lit up by the flames, and in that moment Cuntigern saw a woman running and falling on the ground, not far from him. Without thinking, he ran to her and helped her stand up and together they ran back to the dwelling. Once they were inside, Cuntigern made the sign of the cross over her forehead. She stared at him with horror and he understood that she wasn't a Christian.

Serf, behind him, talked to her: "Good woman, whom were you running from?".

Tears ran down her cheek when she answered: "My daughter is staying in one of the huts that are burning! I must go save her!".

"There is havoc out there", replied Cuntigern.

"I don't care, I must go!", and she moved towards the entrance.

"Wait!", said Cuntigern, "very well, I am coming too".

"Mungo!", Serf called him from the house, but he was already outside in the open air, following the desperate woman.

They got as close as they could to one of the burning huts, but the heat of the fire was too much to bear.

The woman was shouting her daughter's name, while people were still running around, in and outside the light casted by the flames.

Cuntigern was thinking to walk around, while in that moment he heard a scream, not far. The woman immediately bolted that way. When Cuntigern reached her, on the ground next to her there was a young woman who must have been her daughter, because the older woman was hugging her tightly. The danger was still all around them, so Cuntigern, after asking the mother permission, quickly checked if the girl was injured and if she could move. The girl's cloth was torn and she looked like she had been beaten. He helped her standing and, together with the mother, they walked her to the abode where Brother Serf was waiting for them.

The girl seemed to be in shock. Once inside the hut, Serf helped Cuntigern to board up the entrance with whatever was of use, while the mother was tending to her daughter. The noise outside was lowering now. For some reason, it looked like they didn't want to attack every house. Leaning against a plank used to block the entrance, Cuntigern whispered to Serf: "Could it be that they want to attack the royal abodes on top of the Rock?". The old monk looked terrified, as he answered: "I don't know, Mungo. Right now, someone who maybe knows something more than us might be those two women, but they look in no condition to talk to us".

Thanks God, in the room there was a pot which still contained lukewarm water. The mother used a cloth to wash her daughter with that water. The girl looked too shocked to speak, so the two men stayed next to the entrance, to be sure to hear any approaching noise.

Hours passed.

Cuntigern suddenly woke up coughing and he realised that outside was daylight already. He didn't remember when he had fallen asleep. Serf was still crouched next to him and by the look on his face he had been woken up by Mungo's cough. The air was filled with the smell of burnt. The girl was apparently sleeping, though not peacefully, and the mother lay next to her, apparently asleep too.

Cuntigern stood up and moved away some of the barricades they had used to block the entrance. He carefully watched outside. The fire was extinguished, no doubt someone had thrown water on the flames, but the smoke saturated the lower yard and it was even impossible to see through a short distance. All around there was a deathly silence.

The monk, without even looking at Serf, decided to go outside. He walked in the smoke and with horror he saw several bodies on the ground. Most of them were soldiers, but here and there he noticed also some villagers. He kneeled next to some of them to check if they may be alive, but no one was, so the only thing he could do was to bless their souls with a sign of the cross on their foreheads. Some dead soldiers, judging by their garments, weren't from Alt Clut: they were the enemy. He was looking at one of them, trying to find out where the attackers came from, when he heard: "Hey you! Don't move!". They spoke the language of Hibernia!

A violent shiver ran through his body as he saw two soldiers emerging from the smoke. They were pointing their swords at him.

He could speak a bit of their language, so he spoke: "I am just a Christian monk. I don't mean any harm!".

The soldiers didn't reply. One of them got closer and quickly searched him. The armed man smelled bad, or maybe Cuntigern was smelling himself, he was too scared to say. Then the two soldiers exchanged words that he couldn't understand, because of their thick accent. Eventually, one of them grabbed Cuntigern and he told him to walk - this time he could understand his words.

The soldier pushed him in the direction of the inner ramparts. Walking next to the hut where Brother Serf and the two women were hiding, Cuntigern forced himself not to look at it. Maybe Serf could still save himself.

As for Cuntigern, he tried to speak to the soldier, who was following him with his sword pointed at Cuntigern's back: "I speak your language, as you can hear. I have travelled several times within the borders of Dál Riata, learning Ériu's language and customs. I can be of help as a translator... Just tell me, where are you leading me?".

But no answer came from the soldier's mouth. They were approaching the inner ramparts, where a very steep climb of stone steps led to the top of the Rock. Where were they going? Maybe the soldier was just bringing Cuntigern to a place where to kill him without having to carry his body.

Instead, once they were past the ramparts, the soldier with his sword pushed him to climb the steps. The ascent was hard and soon Cuntigern found it difficult to breathe. His heart was pumping hard, because of the climb and no doubt also for the fear of being killed or tortured soon. The walking itself became a torture. Cuntigern began to wish that he could shout or fight, or even cry, but he didn't find the strength for any of that.

After endless time, they crossed one more rampart and they reached the saddle between the two summits of the Rock. A very sad scene opened in front of Cuntigern. Smoke was rising from the remains of a burnt house. Enemy soldiers were running up and down, transporting dead bodies or injured people. Many houses bore traces of destruction. No people from Alt Clut were in sight, not alive at least. Virgin Mary, Mother of God, my time has arrived, I entrust my soul to you, Cuntigern prayed.

But no one came to kill him. The soldier spoke to an official in their strange accent, and the official disappeared from sight. After interminable time, he came back together with guards of the Rock that were escorting someone who, by the style of his clothes, looked like a high rank young man from Alt Clut. He had a short beard and dark cold eyes. "I am Gwrast map Guipno", he said with a loud voice. "There has been a change in Alt Clut, during the night. The guletic is no longer Tutgual Tutclyd. It is now Neiton map Guipno, my elder brother". He paused, to allow the new reality to sink in. Then he continued: "I understand that you are a Christian priest. Since you are here, let me tell you now that all Christian priests or monks will be banished from Alt Clut, from the day after tomorrow. You can tell your companions about this new rule".

Cuntigern was stunned. He was expecting to die, and instead he had to face this hard truth. He didn't know what to say.

"Any Christian priest or monk who will be found in Alt Clut in two days from now, will be subject to the rules as traitor and disrupter of our traditional customs and beliefs", continued Gwrast map Guipno.

Cuntigern would have liked to ask that young man what had happened, why he seemed to be allied with an enemy warband, what had been of King Tutgual and his family. But it didn't feel wise to do so. Therefore, he only said: "I will obey, I will go back to Cathures".

"No", the chief replied, "I mean that you must leave the Kingdom of Alt Clut, not only the Rock. Remember, you have two days". And without waiting for a reply, he turned and walked away with his guards.

All the Christians banned from the Kingdom of Alt Clut? New rulers and an enemy army from Hibernia or Dál Riata had occupied the Rock, Tutgual's and his family's fate was unknown, most probably they had been killed... This was a total disaster.

The soldier interrupted his thoughts, shouting at him to go away, back down the steps.

Cuntigern, totally confused, crossed again the rampart and started downhill, stumbling every two or three steps.

He had to tell Serf. They were all in danger.