Together

Then again the warrior called upon the gods and again he dipped into the pile to draw the Rune of Action. This one did not read as clearly as the first. As the sign was _tunas_ Cathbar could see that the gods were foretelling a journey for Gyptis and him. The question was to where? And what part, if any, would the God of Death be playing? After another prayer, the young warrior allowed the power flowing through him to guide his thoughts.

"We should travel to a distant land," he declared, and was answered by a surge of energy. The spell had confirmed his words. It was also telling him that there was more. "And we will face many perils on the way." Then it faded, and he knew that that all was all for this prophecy.

One last rune, the one for Outcome, and the ritual would be complete. So, Cathbar draw again and stared at the rune: _Beabhar_. In spite of his surroundings, he smiled. The sign of the beaver. Despite the dangers they would reach their destination. "Lugh is with us," he cried. "We are going to make it to the Northern Isles and be together for the rest of our lives." As the spell died, the young warrior suddenly had a feeling of having incorrectly read the last rune. It was not a case of saying too much, not too little. Still, it would be a bad omen to announce that the runes had been misinterpreted and to say so would precipitate disaster. So, Cathbar remained silent and prayed that his doubts had not brought doom upon them. In spite of the divination, they would still need all the luck they could get.

That night they slept in each other’s arms beneath the boughs of the grove and became man and wife.

Days later they were approaching the road to the Causeway when Gyptis spotted the fort. It stood there high above the forest like some malevolent predator waiting to spring down on them if they remained on their present course.

She immediately pointed it out to the warrior. He stared at it for some time, dreading it for all it stood for. Then, he spoke.

"I had no idea that the Romans had come this far north. Still, there can’t be many of them around here; otherwise we would have seen their tracks.

"We will have to circle it by going through the forest. Don’t worry, it is just another peril that the runes warned us of, my love. We’ll overcome it, like the others because the gods have decreed it " HHHe then took her hand and squeezed it.

They left the path and began moving silently through the trees. Progress was slow as often obstacles would block the trail and the lovers would be forced to backtrack to go round them. Low boughs made them stoop at times and there were moss-covered logs to send unwary travelers flying. However, the warrior and the young woman had lived in woodland their entire lives. Thus, they avoided many a pitfall that would have brought low anyone less experienced.

In late afternoon, they returned to the path, glad to be free of the forest. Having gone without food all day, except for some mushrooms that Gyptis had picked, they stopped by a stream for a meal. They ate it cold because of the risk of smoke from a fire being spotted and were just finishing when they saw the Romans. A small group of them were marching on the path in their direction and moving at a cracking pace. At the same instant, one of the Romans saw them too. He barked a command and the soldiers broke into a run. The remains of the meal were discarded, packs were shouldered and the lovers fled.