Pen-y-crug, Powys, spring 733 AD
Coelwald drew his cloak closer to his chest to shield him from the biting westerly wind sweeping over the summit of the hill known to his scouts as the Crug. This fortress dated from the dawn of time. Where once stood stone ramparts, he imagined, with wooden palisades, rose five grassy banks interspersed with ditches. They presented a formidable barrier to any enemy wishing to struggle up the steep slope from the land, nine hundred feet below, where the River Usk twinkled in the sunlight.
The primitive builders had contrived to build one entry to the south-east and Coelwald had placed men to guard it well. From the highest vantage point, his eyes scanned the surrounding terrain, not for the Wealisc enemy, encamped in the flood valley, but for the arrival
