Map of Bones/Prologue

Prologue
The holy relics were granted to Rainald von Dassel following Emperor Barborossa's sacking of Milan.

March 1162

The archbishop's men fled into the shadows. Behind them, sounds of war and fighting. Friar Joachim and Franz were on the run.

The wagon got stuck, but the horses slowly pulled it out. Each delay had costed time. The three large stone sarcophagi slid against the ropes.

The relics couldn't be taken to Rome. The priests had to reach the German border. They were no longer safe on Italian soil, especially with the pope exiled to France and the false pope residing in Rome. The sounds behind him died completely, signaling defeat of the rear guard.

Joachim looked, but saw shadows and a long figure. He did recognized it as the black pope's lieutenant. The Saracen had taken the christian name Fierabras, after one of Chaelemagne's paladins. The Saracen just stood in the light, not chasing. He knew it was too late.

The wagon managed to get out of the ridge and onto the rutted dry trail atop it. The Saracen drew a bow and fired. The arrow truck and shattering into the center most casket.

The sarcophagus's lid cracked. The wagon was stopped so that the crates could be stopped from crashing into the ground. One of the crates tilted too far, crushing a soldier beneath. Franz joined, yelling they need ropes. More hooves were heard from behind as they were the Saracen's men:; they were identified by the black they wore.

Looking at the sarcophagus, Joachim and Franz were surprised at their predicament of the spilled sarcophagus. They were empty. Now they realize the truth of the situation; their caravan had been a ruse, a ploy to draw off the black pope's men. The true courier had been gone a day ahead, with a mule team, bearing the true relics wrapped in rough-spun cloth and hidden in a hay bundle. Looking back, Joachim and Franz come to terms that the Saracens's men would have blood, but not the relics. Never.