STORYLINE
In 711 AD, the Berber general Tariq ibn Ziyad landed on the southern coast of Spain, near present-day Gibraltar, and defeated the troops of Roderic, last king of the Visigoths, on the banks of the River Guadalete. Within the space of three years, Tariq’s Berber troops and the Arab troops of Emir Musa ibn Nusayr and his son Abd El Aziz had invaded the whole of Spain, with the exception of Asturias, Cantabria and part of Vasconia.
Some time later, a Visigoth nobleman called Pelayo recruited men from the high, snow-covered mountains of Asturias to make a last stand. His example was followed by Petro, Duke of Amaya, the ancient Roman stronghold in the Cantabrian mountain range.
At Valle de Autrigonia, on the border between Cantabria and Vasconia, Judge Hernando, brother-in-law of Duke Petro of Amaya, and his son Toribio are anxiously living out the declining days of Roman and Visigoth civilisation. Hernando is still a pagan, like many of the inhabitants of those remote villages, but his son has grown up in the Christian faith and been educated at the court of Amaya in accordance with the wishes of his mother Goswinta, a Visigoth noblewoman and sister of domnus Petro. Sadly, Goswinta died of plague when Toribio was only ten years old.
When Gunderic, a messenger sent by Duke Petro, comes to visit them one spring day, Toribio Del Valle does not yet know that Petro intends to invite them to fight in Asturias under the command of Pelayo. More importantly, he is still ignorant of the mission that will be entrusted to him by the Apostle James (Santiago), guardian of the Ruby Cross. This sacred symbol is to appear at the Third Event, to turn human history in favour of the love of God and away from Evil. The fateful battle of Covadonga is approaching. If Oppa’s demons succeed in finding the cross and preventing a Christian victory, the Church will go into terminal decline and Spain will never experience a Reconquest.
Thus father and son, in the company of the Byzantine monk Valerio, begin their journey through the mountains and valleys of northern Spain, and the deserts and sierras of the centre of the peninsula.
In a cave, they meet the apostle, who delivers to Toribio the fateful Ruby Cross, which he has forged with his own hands. They are then guests of Duke Pelayo at Cangas de Onis, where they meet the gathered leaders of the Asturian and Cantabrian tribes. Toribio falls in love with Agasinda, Pelayo’s daughter, and makes friends with her brother Fafila.
Subsequently, after the failure of peace negotiations with the Berber Munuza, governor of Xixon, Toribio manages to save the Ruby Cross from the hands of Oppa, who had impersonated the bishop of Toledo in order to take part in the negotiations.
Toribio then rejoins Agasinda at the Abbey of Sacri Montes and is welcomed charitably by Verosinda, Pelayo’s sister, who is the abbess.
Toribio and Agasinda make love, but this represents an impure act (unacceptable before marriage in those days)that results in Toribio losing the Cross and jeopardising the mission entrusted to him.
The demons succeed in having the boy kidnapped and brought to Toledo, where they fail to wring his confession on the location of Ruby Cross and they hand himover to General Tariq, prime mover of the Islamic invasion. Agasinda ends up in the harem of the lascivious Munuza, while Verosinda, rather than be raped by Oppa’s henchmen, prefers to die by throwing herself out of a window.
The kidnapping, and the fate of the victims, is revealed to Valerio in a dream, and immediately Fafila sets out to besiege Xixon and free his sister, while Hernando and Valerio, with the help of four other horsemen, descend on Toledo.
Having freed Toribio with the help of a terrifying red lion sent from Heaven, the seven horsemen hurry to Amaya, now under siege, to assist Duke Petro and Duchess Teodosinda.
When the city falls to the catapults and battering-rams of the enemy, the survivors flee to Valle, where Teodosinda gives birth to Alfonso, the future king of Spain.
After raising an army of one thousand Cantabrians, our heroes return to Cangas where, in the meantime, Pelayo has fallen under the evil influence of Oppa’s demons and remains confused and helpless as the powerful army of Emir Musa and his son Abdul approaches the gates.
But Toribio manages to arouse the Visigoth leader from his torpor and Oppa and his demons are finally put to flight after a furious skirmish with twelve guards, who are none other than the twelve apostles in disguise.
So it is that three thousand Christian warriors under the orders of the reinvigorated Pelayo hide away in the high mountains of Asturias, where - legend has it - the extensive woodlands and caves are an ideal place for an ambush.
There they clash with the six thousand Saracens led by Musa and son, and Tariq’s ten thousand soldiers, who take them from behind in the Valley of Cyclamens.
As the battle begins to turn against the Christians and Pelayo is about to fall by the blade of Tariq’s scimitar after an epic duel, Toribio loses his way and is reunited with Agasinda on the banks of the mysterious Lake of Fate. Here, the Ruby Cross is handed back to him by Verosinda, who rises like an angel from the waters.
The ruby explodes in all its rich-red glory and the cross is transformed into a nail that plants itself permanently on the Earth to conclude the mission of the Third Event.
Immediately after, the Virgin appears on the summit of MountAuseva, where - according to legend - she is seen by all, both Christians and Muslims.
As if by magic, the hearts of all are changed in favour of peace and tolerance. Tariq lays down his arms and the Saracens leave the field of battle.
Pelayo proclaims victory, calling it the victory of the Cava Dominica (Cueva Dominga, nowadays Covadonga), and all rejoice, except for poor Toribio, who discovers the lifeless body of his father in the arms of his tearful Uncle Petro.
In the epilogue, we again find Toribio and Valerio on the Pico Blanco, as at the beginning of the book, where they have come to found the parish church the young man wants to build for his mother. But, to their greatest surprise, they find a beautiful little church all ready and waiting. Hearing a roar, they look heavenwards. However, it is not a red lion that meets their eyes, but Toribio’s mother and father greeting him from heaven, flanked by St. James and the other apostles.
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