Chronicle of Ages by Traci Harding

of her face to direct her bleary eyes his way. ‘Thou shalt pay for that, my Lady.’ He grabbed hold of a clump of her hair, dragged her to her feet and flung her at the iron bunk bed. ‘Thou shalt pay for it dear.’
    As Cara collided with the timber hull and slid down onto the bed, she was coherent enough to realise that her death was imminent. Never again would she make love to her husband, hold her child or laugh with her friends. Goddess make it swift, Cara prayed as Conan’s shadow fell over her.

4
The Mists of Gwyn ap Nudd
    F rom up above the scattered cloud at Craig-y-Ddinas, Maelgwn was granted a greater insight into the developing situation in Gwent Is Coed and Dyfed. Waves of mist billowed forth across the landscape from the heart of their designated landing site. Through the dense, white, fluffy blanket below, belts of blue energy radiated out from the mist’s centre in circular, wave-like pulses every few moments.
    â€˜Dear Goddess!’ cried Maelgwn, and bethought the dragon beneath him: What hast happened here? I have never seen anything like this.
    Etheric world leakage, replied Rufus casually. Judging from here, one would guess Gwyn ap Nudd hast gainedcontrol of territory well into Dyfed. I wonder what he wants there?
    Maelgwn considered the dragon’s question a very good one. Take me down.
    It will be thy funeral. Rufus complied with the King’s wish.
    On the ground the mist was so dense that Maelgwn couldn’t see his hand in front of his face. The blue pulses of energy were not at all apparent from down here, but the atmosphere had an eerie stillness about it that was very unsettling.
    â€˜I cannot see a damn thing!’ Maelgwn grumbled, fearful of putting a foot wrong and stepping off a cliff.
    Rufus inhaled a deep breath and then blew, creating a gale force wind that cleared the mist for some distance ahead.
    It was hard to believe the scene the mist concealed. Hundreds of men lay mutilated around the construction site, all impaled on their own tools and materials.
    â€˜Goddess forbid,’ Maelgwn uttered. Even the bloodiest battlefield he could recall did not compare to this slaughter. ‘Who hast done this?’
    Rufus eyed the carnage, refraining from licking his lips. Looks like the handiwork of the Tylwyth Teg.
    â€˜The folk?’ Maelgwn looked at the dragon in disbelief. ‘Nay, they do not maim like this.’
    True, Rufus conceded, but they can drive a man to such distraction that he would mutilate himself in this manner. The Tylwyth Teg en masse would be capable of this and much more.
    Maelgwn was momentarily stunned by the threat this posed to his kin. As he watched the misty veildescend once more to cover the holocaust around him, the King sensed a movement behind him and drew his sword. ‘Who goes there?’
    Rufus exhaled in the direction that concerned Maelgwn, and the mists parted to disclose a lone figure. It was Selwyn.
    Maelgwn strode towards the Druid, who was very obviously exhausted. ‘Selwyn. Praise be. Thou art alive!’
    â€˜Put the sword away,’ Selwyn beseeched him, ‘and do not draw it again in this mist. It will kill thee.’
    Maelgwn committed his sword to its scabbard at once. Was that why Selwyn was the only man living on the landscape, for as a Druid he carried no tools or weapons that could inflict mortal injury? Maelgwn was distracted from his thought as he noted the tears that were streaming down Selwyn’s face.
    â€˜Hurry.’ Selwyn began to hobble back in the direction he had come.
    â€˜Stop.’ Maelgwn caught the Druid up and pulled him to a standstill. ‘Tell me thy woes first.’
    The Druid shook his head, his emotions bursting forth so that he could hardly speak. ‘How can I tell thee Gwyn ap Nudd hast stolen thy wife, and it wast on my account that he did so.’
    It took a moment for the statement to really sink in, but when it had Maelgwn grabbed