Eagle Byzantium

"Stephen Gawain."

The tax collector Phiobis grunted, and wrote the name of this obviously barbarian in the column of the register in Greek with a fancy signature.

Peter walked up to Gawain, his face full of sorrow and uneasiness, "You are my armed attendant. If you replace this village and serve in the Roman Empire's army, how can I return to the Frankish land?"

"There's nothing we can do about it. Doesn't the Lord demand justice? We can't just watch everyone in this village be destroyed in the hands of this shameless and hateful tax collector." To be honest, Gawain also made this decision out of curiosity. Due to a certain impulse, but he felt that in this situation, he was the only one who could save everyone, and he did not feel any regret.

"You can only save them for a year, or even less. Sooner or later, this village will be destroyed, whether it is the exploitation of the emperor's tax collectors, famine and plague, the plunder of the Turks, or natural decline. May God have mercy on you. "Peter sighed and drew on his chest Cross, "That's good. I can be your follower and go to the military camp with you. After this war is over, if we are lucky, we can return to the Frankish land, respond to the Lord's call, and make an armed pilgrimage to the holy land of our dreams." , a lifelong wish.”

Hearing this, Gawain was a little bit dumbfounded. He really couldn't understand the fearlessness and persistence of people like Peter in these years. "You are old, you might as well stay in this village and help the villagers complete their tasks." Icon painting, I am a man of great destiny. I will come back to you after the battle and I will never break my promise.”

At this time, there was suddenly a sharp and murderous howl. Everyone was stunned and turned their eyes to see a black shadow on the high ridge behind the village, quickly passing over the white peak. , rushed to the sky above the village like an arrow, then hovered twice above the heads of everyone, and then got lower and lower, and landed lightly on a rafter extending out of the church. He closed his wings with a hula, and then Like a warrior wearing a cloak.

The bird turned its head instantly, its gray eyes were extremely sharp, and it looked down at the poor creatures standing under the church. Its dark feathers spread like swords and halberds, like a king in the sky. The people in the village The poultry instinctively sensed the approach of natural enemies and screamed noisily. Soon they all fled into the chicken coop and never dared to make a sound again.

In the biting cold wind, Gawain saw that this was an extremely beautiful and clanking falcon. He saw the eyes of this most proud bird and was completely fascinated by it.

"Quick, hurry up and grab some meat to entertain this nobleman's flat-feathered envoy. It must be raised by some grand duke or high-ranking noble!" Pheobis shouted excitedly, waving the whip in his hand, urging He was not willing to let go of any opportunity to curry favor with the villagers and go to the peak. It must be some great general or bureaucrat who came with a military team to inspect the terrain of Prusa. He had to do a good job of entertaining them.

"But..." A younger villager pointed at the arrogant falcon tremblingly, "I went to work secretly as a day laborer in the farm of the Emir of Nicaea last year. This eagle has a white tuft on its head. The feathers seem to be Emir Zahas’s eagle!”

"What!?" Feobis screamed. Zahas's eagle actually flew here. Could it be that the emir had already led his army to pounce? The tax collector no longer mentioned the hospitality, but flew into his masonry house and never came out again. He seemed to be packing up his belongings and preparing to escape to the city of Prusa, where there were towers and walls. , much safer than this remote place.

"Coming, coming." Another villager pointed to the winding mountain road above his head like a lost soul. Under the flying white frost, a group of people in gray and black cloaks rode horses also covered in cloth armor. , was walking towards here quickly, the gravel kicked by the horse's hooves continued to roll down the hillside, making a rustling sound.

"Take out the meat from the cellar and the well." The elder of the village was wiser. When several villagers took out the meat according to his instructions, the elder immediately separated the meat and put the meat from the well on a table. Fresh meat, a table with cured meat stored in the cellar, and then the elder immediately put on the wrinkled set Ba was dressed in formal ceremonial clothes and led all the villagers to kneel down in front of the Falcon. "Hey, you guys, hurry up! Before the cavalry team comes here, run to Prusa as soon as possible. Don't worry about us. , The Turks will not kill the people of the Book at will, not to mention that the eagle that pleases the Emir means pleasing the Emir himself.”

"Go quickly, go quickly." The Pecheneg cavalryman and Peter both took Gawain's arms and urged him to get on the road quickly. A villager even ran to bring Peter a small donkey.

But Gawain's eyes were fixed on the group of people approaching, and then he broke free from the pull of the two men, moved the ladder, and quickly climbed to the top of the church. The falcon standing on the rafter turned his head and saw the nearby Gawain, who was so close, thought to himself: How could this man be so bold, and dare to approach the incomparably noble me? So he screamed angrily and threatened, "Go down, go down! Stand obediently with those ignorant creatures who have the same two legs as you. Sir, I don't need you to come and worship. You are too close. It is really rude and rude." "

But Gawain ignored it, which made it feel lonely for a moment. Gawain carefully stepped on the tiles and supported the gable of the church. Then he shouted, "You have all seen clearly, the horses and cloaks of those people are on the wall." , all embroidered with the shape of a cross, they should not be Turkic cavalry who believe in the Crescent Religion, let’s not run away randomly!”

Half an hour later, the team of men and horses, controlling the bridles of their mounts, slowly came to the entrance to the village church. Then the leader jumped off the horse, stood there and made a sign of the cross with his hand towards the church, and then used a somewhat stiff The Greek shouted, "Is there any priest, we need worship."

Then in the wind, the leader waved his hand, and the falcon on the rafters screamed again, then flew down obediently and landed on the leader's arm, making him laugh, and then he made another hand to hand fight The hood was lifted, revealing the deer hair fluttering on his shawl and the shiny armor. This man had a fair face, sunken eye sockets, a high nose, his hair and beard were dark red, and his eyes were cold and deep.

"We are all pilgrims to the Holy Land, Normans from Taranto," he introduced himself.

Then the cavalrymen behind them also dismounted and lifted their hats. Some were bare-headed, some had the back half of their heads shaved, and some had hair hanging loose. Their faces were all covered with scars, and they looked like half-soldiers, half-bandits. There are sharp swords on the belts, and the chain mail hidden under the cloak jingles.

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