Grey Morning

Daniel noticed the world begin to lighten somewhat as he stood there. And after a time, more of the men began to stir finally. Few had slept- either through nervousness or the distinct lack of comfort. Looking east, Daniel could now discern the wide field before them, the one that would soon be the site of their death.

Five days of marching. Heavy mud, incessant rains, and bitter cold. Dogged every step of the way by raiders. When men dropped by the side of the road from exhaustion, they marched on. When men died from cold, they marched on. When men collapsed from hunger or sickness, they marched on. They marched on knowing that when they stopped, they would die, and so would die their dreams.

But they would march no more. Without a word from the their captain, they had stopped, and made camp. It was as if with an unspoken agreement, all three hundred men had decided that they could go no further. This was the place they would stand, and this was the place they would die. And so they had stopped.

And here they were still. There could be no doubting it, morning was upon them, and so was their destiny.

Daniel felt the sudden realization hit the rest of the camp. It was time. No horn was blown, no order given, but each man of the camp rose and with few words, gathered their swords and spears and prepared for the inevitable.

Like the previous encounters, the men with armor formed a front line. These were the karls, the professional soldiers who faced this whole event as if it were a part of their daily jobs. They lived for such moments, when they would die heroically. They stood at the top of a slow, gentle rise at the edge of their camp that looked over a valley, at the south end of which a bend in the great highway could be seen. The foreigners would come from there.

Behind the front row karls stood the fyrd- the citizen army, or what was left of it. Daniel fell into line with them. These were the men of the countryside who gathered to supplement the mighty karls, and came untrained, poorly armed, and unready for the entire experience. They were three deep, and could not have stretched more than fifty long. The karls in front seemed fewer than the last time they had gathered. Daniel guessed there could not have been more than fifty of them all told.