The Adventures of Prince Micheal: Episode 22: Wagon Train

 AMBUSHED!

Duke Stephen welcomed his nephew home and praised him for his successes against the Huns. Then he asked if Micheal was ready for more adventure. In the morning he was leading a convoy south to the wall and could use a commander for the rearguard.

The convoy was in sight of the wall when the Picts and their Saxon allies struck from all sides. The Duke was in the thick of the fight and his men responded and fought stubbornly.

The fighting was fierce and bloody and the enemy managed to snatch some of the supplies. Micheal and his companions had to dash left and right in turn to hold off the Pictish cavalry which was attacking from the rear.

For a few minutes disaster loomed over the column but the soldiers fought fiercely and a rescue force of cavalry was beginning to make its presence known. Behind the column though, the rear guard had held off three times their numbers of enemy cavalry and given the convoy time to cross the hill, in the end they paid dearly for their exploit.

The Saxons also paid dearly as they strove to reach the wagons. When the bolts and arrows from the garrison began to rain down on them, they reluctantly gave up the chase.

Dearg Mohr drove his men forward until the wagons disappeared through the gates. Only then did he turn and retreat with the few spoils they had managed to grab.

It was only when the gates closed that Duke Stephen had time to look  for Prince Micheal. At last a soldier was found who had seen the last stand of the Prince and his companions. Reinforced by the garrison, a party went out to retrieve the dead and wounded. There at the scene of his desperate fight they found the wounded Prince pinned beneath his horse and playing dead until the Pictish cavalry had left. In short order he was rescued and assisted back to the great hall where a feast was being prepared.