Footsteps in Time (The After Cilmeri Series Book 1)

Footsteps in Time (Chapter Twenty)

David

At CrychenForest, Llywelyn turned north to Buellt. With a small compliment of men—the initial nine, plus ten bowman from Llywelyn's force—David rode east, into the rugged mountains of Brecon. They would provide a base for his campaign against the castles of Brecon, ruled directly by the Earl of Hereford, and Bronllys and Hay, held by the Clifford family, Hereford's vassals. The area was heavily wooded, with many rivers and streams. Fortunately, one of his bowmen was from the area and could guide the company. Without him, it would have been much more difficult to maneuver.

BreconCastle sat on a hill, overlooking the confluence of the Usk and Honddu rivers, with a little village crouched at its foot. It was dusk when Bevyn, Ieuan and David first gazed down on the village. Though the sun still shone on the castle, shadows had fallen on the huts below. As David looked at it, he had a sinking feeling in his stomach. Many of the villagers worked for the English but were not English themselves. Attacking the castle was one thing, but what they were about to perpetrate on the countryside could be hideous.

"We need to be disciplined about this," David said.

"The men know your mind, my lord," Bevyn said. "We can begin by firing the fields. The smoke will bring people out of the houses and reduce the loss of life. We're here to annoy and harass, not to kill Welshman."

And so it began. The fields were still green, this being June, so the fire didn't spread as quickly as it might have in August. As the people left their homes to fight the fires, however, the bowman unleashed their fire arrows—not at the people, but at their houses. This was only the first step. The intent was to cause some damage today, and then retreat, moving down the valley to Bronllys. In a few days, they'd return to cause more damage.

They didn't even stay to see the results of their handiwork.

The next night, it was the same thing again. The town and castle of Bronllys weren't on their guard, not knowing what David's men had done to Brecon. They fired the fields and then the village. Like Brecon, Bronllys was built at the confluence of two rivers (the Llynfi and Dulais), so the rivers limited the spread of the fire, but it devastated the village nonetheless. Because only eight miles separated Bronllys and Hay, Bevyn suggested they break the pattern and move on immediately, hitting Hay a few hours before dawn.

Hay was different from the others in that it was a walled town fronting the WyeRiver on the English border. Llywelyn Fawr had burned the town, once upon a time, before the stone walls were built. Now it was much more defensible. Bevyn, however, saw no reason for that to stop them. The fields were still outside the walls, and the roof of the buildings were made of thatch. Like the other villages, it burned. The fire arrows arced through the murky sky. They were as beautiful as fireworks, until they hit.

Even from a distance, David could see the panic they caused. An arrow would hit the thatched roof, begin to smolder, and then catch. The red flames grew, licking at the wood. Each bowman shot only five arrows, but within fifteen minutes, they'd severely damaged the town.

None of the villagers fought back. How could they? There was nobody to fight as David's men disappeared as quickly as they'd come, retreating north along the Wye. At dawn, they turned west and picked their way to the wooded foothills just shy of the plateau of Mynydd Epynt. They camped there the rest of that day to give everyone a well-deserved rest, though Bevyn posted sentries and sent out scouts to ensure that nobody followed or discovered them.

Two scouts traveled to Brecon the next day. On their way there, they met a caravan. Since the burning of the village, Hereford's castellan had evicted the victims from their land and forced them north, hoping to burden Prince Llywelyn with refugees.