Hawk Quest (62 page)

Thorfinn walked towards him. His chain vest left his forearms bare and he carried his helmet under his left arm like a metal skull. He stopped twenty yards off and Vallon studied his face. Chalky blue eyes bathed in a bloody humour, sand-coloured teeth, stubble like copper filings. No trace of fear. He lifted up his helmet and in one movement transformed himself into a savage god.

Vallon raised his sword and angled it down behind his right
shoulder. He flexed his knees and balanced with his legs shoulder-width apart, right leg leading, weight centred. He gripped his shield by its lashings, partly supporting its weight against his left ribs, and held it edge-on towards Thorfinn.

Thorfinn roared and charged with his loping run. Vallon shifted his feet so that he could move in any direction. He watched Thorfinn wind up his arm and then floated left, cutting down at the Viking’s exposed arm. Missed by a foot, whereas the axe came within a whisker of unseaming him with the same brutal cut that had killed Helgi. Vallon skipped and grimaced. He wasn’t going to settle it quickly. Thorfinn’s reach was so long that he couldn’t penetrate the Viking’s guard without opening himself up to even the crudest swipe.

‘You smelled that, didn’t you? Next time you’ll taste it.’

Vallon evaded the next dozen attacks with barely a counter, all his attention concentrated on avoiding the axe. He used the fallen trees as cover, dodging between the trunks. Thorfinn’s men roared their disgust. They’d gathered for a bloody clash between champions; instead, it was like watching a man with a cleaver trying to catch a chicken. Vallon’s side hardly uttered a sound.

Thorfinn bared his teeth. ‘You said you wanted to fight.’ He leaned his axe on the ground and cupped his hand. ‘Fight and die like a warrior or I’ll cut your life away limb by limb. Come on, faggot. Fight!’

Vallon saved his breath. He feinted and retreated, dodged and sidestepped, his feet treading an eccentric black path in the frost. His breath grew short before he noticed that the weight of Thorfinn’s axe was beginning to tell. The Viking grunted with the effort of lifting it and his recovery time was a bit slower after each swing. The axe was so heavy and carried so much stored energy that even a man as strong as Thorfinn couldn’t alter its course quickly. It was an affectation, a boast of his strength, and it would be the death of him.

Thorfinn pulled his next attack, then followed up with a short chopping move that forced Vallon to parry with his shield. The axe struck the iron rim with a blow that almost dislocated his shoulder and numbed his arm from elbow to fingertips. He scampered back, working his hand to restore feeling.

Thorfinn followed up swinging. Too hasty. Too rash. Vallon drew himself in and swayed away from the whistling arc. Its momentum twisted the Viking’s torso round. Vallon had anticipated his opening
an instant before it presented itself and he thrust into the humped muscle of Thorfinn’s shoulder. The tip of his sword penetrated the mail as if it were cheese and he felt steel jar against bone.

Next moment he was on his back, flattened by a reverse sweep that glanced off his helmet and scrambled his senses. He rolled away blind, sure that the next thing he would feel would be the axe cleaving the life from him. The blow never fell and he managed to stagger to his feet and get behind one of the fallen trees.

The Viking laughed breathily. ‘You fight like a girl, Frankish.’ And he mimed limp-wristed thrusts that roused anxious laughter from his men.

But Thorfinn was hurt. He ceased his rushes and began to stalk Vallon, his head lowered like a bull. Vallon let himself be herded, using the fallen trees as walls when pressed too hard. Blood from Thorfinn’s shoulder ran down his arm. Drain him of strength, Vallon thought. He closed in, using his superior technique to threaten attacks that he didn’t press home.

Blood dripped from Thorfinn’s fighting hand, sliding down the haft of his axe, making it slippery. He hefted it to shorten his grip, reducing his advantage in reach and halving the power of his strokes.

‘Decided to split kindling?’

The next time Thorfinn swung, Vallon had room to parry, slashing splinters out of the axe haft. Before the Viking could disengage, Vallon chopped another wedge out of the handle. Thorfinn clashed his shield against Vallon’s and swung his axe to hook Vallon’s ankle. Vallon reacted just in time, using the pressure of shield on shield to spring back. Thorfinn’s scooping sweep threw him off-balance. Vallon darted forward, hooked his sword’s cross-guard over the edge of Thorfinn’s shield, pulled it down and then, in a continuation of the same movement, brought the sword down on Thorfinn’s head.

The blade clanged off the helmet and Thorfinn recovered fast, swinging his axe like a scythe and nearly taking Vallon’s legs off at the knees. Again Thorfinn left himself open and Vallon aimed another cut at his axe arm. The Viking was expecting it and jumped back, giving ground for the first time. Vallon followed up as he retreated down an alley created by two fallen trees. When Thorfinn reached the end he threw away his shield, gripped the axe in both hands and charged with a bellow.

Vallon realised his mistake. The trunks blocked him in, leaving hardly any space for manoeuvre. Thorfinn’s rush was the do-or-die effort of a berserker. Vallon couldn’t avoid the attack and his shield was too flimsy to ward it off. Thorfinn held his axe like a demented forester, making no attempt to guard himself. Vallon knew that he could run him through, but not before the Viking had cut him in half.

The axe swung and he darted back and to his right, the direction he’d calculated Thorfinn would least expect. He’d read him wrong. By a massive effort, Thorfinn checked his stroke, corrected for Vallon’s dodge and brought his axe round in a flat crescent aimed at Vallon’s midriff. Vallon’s feet were grounded. All he could do was suck in his stomach and arch back like a cat.

He heard a faint snick. Nothing more, and then he felt a cold burning in his belly. Thorfinn’s attack had pulled him through a semi-circle, but Vallon was too flat-footed to counter. He used the time it took Thorfinn to recover to retreat into open ground. He glanced down. He’d seen men in the heat of battle continue fighting with their entrails spilling down to their groin. What he saw was bad enough. Thorfinn had sliced through his hauberk, leaving the lower part of the gash hanging in a flap, the padded undercoat sucking up blood.

‘I can see your guts, Frankish. I’ll strangle you with them.’

Thorfinn’s men whooped, urging him to finish the fight. Vallon pretended that the wound had drained his strength and courage. He moved clumsily, his uncoordinated efforts just enough to avoid the death blow. Thorfinn’s face contused, first with triumph and then with frustration. Every time he thought he had his opponent at his mercy, a blundering move carried him away. Vallon lurched as if one leg had grown shorter than the other. His sword wavered. Thorfinn’s eyes lit up. In his lust to kill, the Viking charged in too fast. He skidded slightly on the frozen ground, enough to make him drop his axe a few inches. Vallon danced forward and delivered a reverse sweep into the Viking’s right hip.

‘You’re dead.’

Thorfinn loosed one hand on the axe and felt the wound. He tossed his head.

They circled each other, both of them wounded, aware that the
contest was in its final phase. Thorfinn tried to bring it to a crushing conclusion by making another charge. Ten feet from Vallon he let fly with the axe. Vallon ducked and the blade whirled past his head, nearly decapitating one of the Vikings before skidding to rest somewhere outside the arena.

Before Vallon could take advantage, Thorfinn drew his sword and ran to recover his shield. Vallon walked toward him. He had no idea how long the contest had lasted. The sun was beginning to break through the mist and meltwater splattered from the trees.

Every sword fight has its own rhythm, yet there are only eight basic moves. The skill lies in stitching them together. First hypnotise your opponent without hypnotising yourself. When he’s sure what your next move will be and has half-committed himself to countering it, change the line of attack. It’s like scissors and stone played for lethal stakes and with many more variations.

Vallon was fully engaged now, trading blow for blow. The blades skidded and clattered, bit and battered, Thorfinn’s sword striking in clanging contrast to the ringing chime of Vallon’s blade. Back and forth, round and round, until the ground underfoot was trampled and greasy. Vallon had Thorfinn’s measure and was using the technique called ‘soaking in’ – mirroring the Viking’s moves.

He stepped back and switched his sword to his left hand, his shield to his right.

‘Does your sword arm weaken?’ Thorfinn panted.

‘On the contrary. My left hand is my strongest.’

He attacked Thorfinn in all four quarters, aiming at his shoulders, his legs, his arms. The Viking could only defend, staggering back, holding out his shield and sword at arm’s length. Vallon cut him across his shield arm, made a lazy pass that sliced his thigh. Vallon’s eyes were the only fixed points in his body, while Thorfinn’s stare had begun to dart like a hunted animal’s.

The Viking rode the next stroke and brought his shield round in an attempt to punch Vallon in the face. His lunge ended in empty air. Vallon was a move ahead of him and delivered four strokes in less time than it takes to blink twice. With the last of them he cut all four fingers off Thorfinn’s sword hand. The weapon dropped to the ground.

‘Pick it up.’

The Viking threw his shield at Vallon and grabbed his sword in his left hand. He blundered like a beast, chest heaving, mouth dragging in snot. His supporters had fallen silent. Vallon heard Caitlin calling on him to kill, kill, kill!

He feinted to the head, making Thorfinn cock his sword. Feinted again, forcing the Viking onto the tips of his toes. And then as Thorfinn bellowed and charged to embrace him in a death clinch, he locked his right knee and rammed the point of his sword through mail and muscle and bone until the hilt was flat against Thorfinn’s chest. The Viking’s sword cartwheeled out of his hand. Vallon felt the weight of his opponent bear down on his sword. He braced one foot against Thorfinn’s thigh and pulled out the blade.

Thorfinn dropped to his knees and slowly raised his head. A worm of blood crawled from his mouth. One hand groped behind him. Pink spittle popped between his lips. ‘Finish it, Frankish.’

Vallon stepped in and raised his sword and in the same moment Thorfinn drew his scramasax and lunged up to find his enemy gone. He was still blinking around when Vallon at his back cut off his head. Thorfinn’s body dropped into a kneeling position, two fountains of blood spouting from his neck. His hands groped at the ground as if he were trying to get up. Vallon shoved him on to his side. Thorfinn’s heels drummed and then he stopped moving.

The Vikings and the company surged forward and then stopped. The two sides came into Vallon’s focus.

Raul jabbed with his crossbow. ‘I’ll shoot any cunt who moves.’

Vallon began walking towards the Vikings. Blood squelched in his boots. He lifted his sword. ‘Thorfinn died as he lived. Bravely. The Valkyries will welcome him into the shield hall to take his place with all the other heroes.’ Vallon pointed his sword. ‘He swore that you’d acknowledge me as leader if I defeated him. Break that oath and I’ll send you down into the hellpit where the walls are woven from serpents.’

‘If we join you, we want a share of your silver.’

The speaker was the lieutenant who’d shared the rock in the river with Thorfinn. His name was Wulfstan.

‘You’ve done nothing to earn it. Food is the only thing I’ll give you, and you won’t get that until you’ve released the prisoners.’

‘The slaves are all the treasure we have.’

‘If you want to keep them, you’ll have to kill me.’

Drogo tugged at his arm. ‘You aren’t in any condition to fight again. Leave it to me and Fulk.’

‘I’m not going to fight,’ Arne shouted. His companions rounded on him. ‘What’s Thorfinn brought us? Nothing but pain and hunger. We’d be better off serving the Frank. You’ve heard how he outwitted his enemies and gathered riches in the home of ice.’

Vallon was feeling sick and faint. He caught Hero’s pleading look before turning back to the Vikings. ‘You’ve got until sunset.’

Vallon retired from the field in a stumbling crouch, blood squirting through the seams of his boots. Hero and Richard attempted to support him, but he flapped them away. ‘Can’t let them see how weak I am.’

He reached the place where he’d spent the night and sank to the ground. ‘It doesn’t hurt much. Probably looks worse than it is.’

Hero took charge. ‘Let’s get your hauberk off.’

He and Richard dragged the mail over Vallon’s head and stripped him of the blood-soaked gambeson. Then Hero pulled up Vallon’s sopping red tunic. Thorfinn’s axe had sliced through the iron mail and padding, severing the stomach wall for a distance of nine inches and exposing a bulge of intestine. Hero tested the depth of the wound. He grimaced.

‘Bad?’

‘It could be worse. No major blood vessels severed. The blade nicked your large intestine but didn’t cut through. Half an inch deeper and we’d be preparing your burial shroud.’

‘Let me look,’ said Vallon. He sat up with Hero’s assistance and examined the grey tube of gut with a lop-sided smile. ‘It’s a sobering thing to see your own innards.’ He flopped back.

‘I have to clean the wound. Richard, fetch the cauldron.’

Mosquitoes roused by the sun homed in on the reek of blood, speckling the wound as fast as Hero could clear it. He wiped his face on his shoulder.

‘Light some smudge fires.’

‘Just swab it and stitch it,’ said Vallon.

Hero spat out a mosquito. ‘There’s a lot of foreign matter in the wound. Let me do it my own way.’

Vallon cuffed him and closed his eyes.

The company got two smudge fires going. Hero tweezered out fragments of metal and textile, bits of bark and pine needle. ‘Richard, sprinkle some sulphur on the flames to purify the air.’

Vallon coughed on the rotten-egg atmosphere. ‘Hero, your cure is worse than the cut.’