Kings of the night

Kings of the night by Robert E. Howard is a fantasy short story written in the early 20th century. Set in ancient Caledon, it blends heroic warfare with sorcery as Picts, Gaels, and Britons face a Roman incursion. The likely topic is a desperate, time-bending alliance forged to repel Rome, probing the burdens of kingship and the eerie nearness of past and future.

Bran Mak Morn, king of the Picts, must unite fractious tribes and a sullen band of Northmen to ambush a Roman force. His wizard Gonar, using a primal jewel, draws Kull of Atlantis out of the distant past; Kull proves his right to lead by defeating the Northman Wulfhere in single combat. With Kull and three hundred vikings holding a narrow gorge, Bran arrays Pict archers along the slopes, Briton chariots beyond one ridge, and Cormac of Connacht’s Gaelic horse behind the other. The Romans under Marcus Sulius drive into the pass, only to be trapped as arrows darken the valley, chariots scythe their ranks, and Gaels smash their flanks. The Northmen die to a man, buying the time needed to collapse the legion, while Bran kills Sulius and the tribes win a brutal victory. At the height of the fighting, Kull, bloodied and unbowed, vanishes like a vision, returning to his age. In the quiet after, Bran grieves the cost of victory and Gonar muses that time and life are woven of dreams, even as a free Pictish nation is born from the slaughter.