Saxon Fall (10 page)

Oswiu’s banner was a white one with a red boar upon it.  I saw it above the hedges as they made their way towards us. I raised my sword; it was the signal to be ready.  When I lowered it then we would charge. As soon as I saw the horsemen appear I lowered my sword and we galloped towards them. A sudden gust of wind sent the pall of smoke from behind us so that, when the dragon standard began to wail, the smoke from the fire joined us and wreathed us in black and grey clouds. It masked our numbers and made us even more terrifying. I roared, “Saxon Slayer, and Rheged!”

We thundered down the slope towards them.  The horsemen had turned and fled.  Saxons rarely used horses and they certainly never fought from their backs. The narrow track way made it almost impossible for the warriors to prepare lines to meet us and avoid their fleeing leaders. When the arrows fell we hit them.  The track was wide enough for four horses and I rode with three lances next to me. We scythed through them. I raised my sword and brought it down on the helmet of a Northumbrian who was trying to spear the equite next to me. It was pandemonium as the Northumbrians turned to flee. That was our undoing. We could not get beyond the bodies of the dead and the dying. Although forty Northumbrians perished, their leaders and fifty odd others fled. We simply could not reach them for the wall of dead and dying.  It would have tired the horses to no good purpose.

I sent my archers back to the Belisama. They needed to replenish their supplies of arrows. If they passed the captured animals and slaves they could escort them. “Wait on the Belisama.  I will send word to you if I need you.” The archers rode off and we headed north.  It had been another victory but it tasted bitter.  I had had Oswiu within my grasp and the slippery eel had escaped. His death would have to wait for another day.

We managed to capture one wounded prisoner who could talk. He boasted that the two brothers were coming for me and that they had plans to burn my halls on Mona. After we gave him a warrior’s death I spoke of this with the others. “This sounds to me like the two brothers boasting to their men. I cannot see them risking their own warriors to best me.”

“The Warlord is right.  Their aim is to gain the throne of Northumbria and then defeat the alliance of the west.” Myrddyn’s words confirmed my own thoughts.

We had bought ourselves valuable time.  We had bested both Edwin and Oswiu.  Oswald had been hurt. I sent Daffydd to Belisama to collect more arrows and led my small, but highly mobile force of equites north to Morbium.

We passed no inhabited farms on the way north but we burned every building and hut we found.  We could not take the animals with us and so we ate well and scattered what we could not eat. The land between Eboracum and the Dunum would be laid waste. As I watched the halls and fields burning I had to keep reminding myself that I was doing this for Rheged.  We needed to starve the beast that was Northumbria.

When we reached Morbium we found it empty. There was nothing to destroy.  We had a roof over us as we slept beneath the first autumn storm. Myrddyn explored the fort.  This was where my father had discovered the nails for the caligae.  Such a small find and yet one which had such a profound effect on his life and the way that we fought. Myrddyn made an equally dramatic discovery.  He found an empty ship moored by the bridge.  When he examined it he found, within it, a few remnants of a cargo of iron ore.

“We have taken their food, Warlord, why not take their iron?” I must have looked puzzled for he continued, “East of here there are iron mines and they smelt and forge their weapons. If we could destroy their forges and steal their iron then they would have fewer weapons.”

“How far away are they from here?”

“Less than half a day. We could go on the morrow and sleep here tomorrow night.” He stroked his beard.  “And as the forges are on the northern shore we could do so with impunity. He pointed to the empty boat.  “They must use this as a distribution point for the north and the south.”

“Then tomorrow we will ride east!”

I was not expecting much opposition at the small port on the northern bank of the Dunum but the workers there proved to be made of as strong a metal as the one they worked.  We galloped through the open gates and the Saxons within grabbed hammers, axes, shovels, indeed anything which might be used.  It was brave but it was futile. They were not warriors, they were craftsmen and they died.  Their deaths were as important as any warrior we had killed for they were harder to replace. We burned the settlement and threw the pig iron into the river.  There were some sword blanks which we took and carried them back on the horses which we found. We had not planned the raid and yet, in the long run, it proved to be crucial. The Saxons took a year to begin to produce weapons again.  Of course, at the time, we did not know that.  We just returned in high spirits to Morbium to enjoy the food we had taken and the barrel of beer which had been discovered. And the following day we began our journey west and to the River Belisama.

We crossed the bridge and used the southern side of the Dunum.  We would pick up the Roman Road which led from Cataractonium just a few miles down the river. We did not look like the glorious mailed warriors who had landed just a few weeks earlier. Our horses looked thinner and our mail was flecked with rust. There had been flaws in my plans; I saw that now. We needed a base from which we could launch our attacks on Edwin. We needed spare horses.  I remembered that my father had kept three horses.  I now saw why.  There had been a time when I had kept two and now I was down to one. We needed more horses. I knew that there were fine animals in Frankia.  Time was we would have sailed there and bought them.  Now we could not afford to be away from our island home for the eight weeks the voyage would take.

We only burned four farms on the first day of the ride west.  The farmers fled when they saw us coming. Once we reached the crest of the hills which divided Rheged from Northumbria we turned south west and left the road to follow the ancient tracks. Autumn had arrived with a vengeance.  The winds, thankfully, were from the east and pushed us along but the wind and the rain permeated our clothes. We were grateful to find abandoned houses in which to sleep. The next day we pushed on. We reached the Roman Road which ran down the western side of the country. If we pushed the horses hard we could reach the Belisama in two days.  I would take three. There was no hurry.  There were no Northumbrians on the west of the divide. My men I had sent west earlier would be at the Belisama now.  Daffydd would have fortified the old fort on the river.  We were not being pursued and there were no enemies to worry about.

It was mid afternoon when Aed and Felan galloped in. “Warlord! We have seen Hibernian ships off the Lune. They are slavers!”

“How many boats did you see?”

“There are ten of them in the estuary. I estimate more than a hundred warriors although there were not those numbers by the side of the river. There looked to be just sixty or so warriors.”

I turned in my saddle, “Arm yourselves. Myrddyn and the squires watch the horses.”

My wizard mused, “I wonder if this is the dream we had?” He looked at Gawan. 

My brother looked concerned, “In which case the rest might be just around the corner.  I fear the worst.”

“Then do not!” Myrddyn barked his words at my brother. “You are privileged to see the future.  Your duty is to tell your brother what you dream.  Think of the people of Rheged first and not just your family.”

Gawan recoiled at the words. “That is because you have no family!”

I saw Pol and Lann Aelle start at Gawan’s reaction.  No one spoke like that to Myrddyn.  Miraculously he did not look angry, he looked sad. “I wish that were true for then there would be no sadness in my heart at the loss of Brother Oswald, Myfanwy and my dearest friend, your father Lann. I have to make my heart cold.  If I did not then I would go mad. This gift you have Gawan, son of Lann, is also a curse.  Remember that. I will wait here Warlord.”

He seemed smaller and sadder as we rode south towards the estuary where the Hibernians sheltered with their boats. Aed had told me that they had slaves already. “I think there must be warriors out hunting more of our people for there were not enough men to crew the boats.”

“When we reach the estuary you and Dai find the others and shadow them. We will deal with the ones at the river first.” We halted in the woods just half a mile above the river.  The estuary was wide at this point but it was also shallow.  They had the boats well out in the river.  We saw the tethered slaves.  There looked to be twenty of them and there were animals too.  It looked to me as though they were waiting for other warriors to join them.  The tide was out and they would need to wait for the high tide to load their ships.  I could see no more than fifty warriors.  Aed was right.  From the banners they were the
Uí Néill
.

I turned to my warriors. “We charge them and drive them into the water.  Pelas and Llewellyn, you secure the slaves and protect them.”

It was a crude plan but the absence of half of the warriors meant we had to strike quickly.  In a perfect world we would have approached silently and taken our time.  We would inspire fear instead. I drew Saxon Slayer.  The edge needed sharpening and it required a good clean but it would still bring death to these slavers.

I raised my sword and, leaving the trees, we galloped down the gentle slope towards the beach.  It was the dragon standard’s wail which alerted the Hibernians. They are brave warriors but they do not fight as one warband.  They crave the glory of individual combat and they raced towards us and their own death.

We were not riding boot to boot.  There were fifty of us and we were spread out. I saw Pol’s lance as it speared a warrior with spiked and limed hair. The force of the blow shattered the wooden lance but the warrior hung like a piece of meat as the tip dug into the ground. The screams of the slaves married with the war cries of the Hibernians and above it all was the eerie wail of the dragon.

A heavily tattooed chief who was bare-chested and swinging a two handed sword advanced towards me whirling the blade above his head. If I approached him then Star would lose his head. I feinted to the right with Star and as the warrior adjusted his feet I wheeled to the left. He would expect me to keep my shield between me and him.  I was risking a mortal blow by exposing my right side. The tip of the sword whirled desperately close to my leg but it missed and I swung my sword at his unprotected neck.  Had my blade been sharp then he would have lost his head.  As it was it bit down and ground into his collarbone. He screamed his pain and tried to swing his sword at me again. Star had kept on moving and the wound had slowed the warrior down.  I made a back handed slash and this time my blade bit into his neck and he fell to the floor in a puddle of his own blood.

My equites were driving them into the shallows and the waters turned red with their blood. The unarmoured warriors flung themselves into the sea and began to swim out to their ships. I had just turned when Dai galloped in waving his arms.  “Warlord the rest of the warband is just behind us!” I saw Aed turning in his saddle and releasing arrows.

“Reform! Leave the wounded!” The well trained warriors wheeled and followed me as I left the sea. We were now at a disadvantage for we had to charge uphill. As we trotted towards Aed the warband appeared. There were as many as we had already fought and we were tired.

As soon as the leader of the warband saw us he tried to form his men into lines.  I did not think it would work for they were Hibernians.  We now had a mere five lances and spears but we were fighting men without armour. I sheathed Saxon Slayer and took out my mace.  I had been given the weapon by the Emperor of Byzantium.  It was a beautifully made and well balanced weapon. I slipped the leather thong around my wrist and yelled, “Charge!”

It was hardly a gallop but we had momentum. I held the mace behind me and as I charged I began to swing it. A warrior in the front rank tried to spear me and I lifted the shield to the right side of Star. The head slid harmlessly along the leather wolf and my mace connected with his face.  His face disappeared in a red mush.  Pieces of skull and brain showered those behind. Star crashed into the side of a warrior who was trying to stab Lann Aelle. I brought the mace down on to the skull of the Hibernian next to him.  The metal flanges smashed through the metal helmet and broke his head.  He slumped to the ground, dead.  I found myself through the warband. There were tethered slaves ahead and two warriors guarding them.  I galloped towards them. Both men dropped their ropes and ran towards the river.  They had had enough.

Star was winded and I reined him in.  I dismounted and cut the rope of the first few slaves.  “Release the rest and wait here until they are all accounted for!”

I left the slaves to free themselves, remounted and returned to the fray. The Hibernians who had survived were already in the water, swimming to their waiting ships. I saw that over forty of their fellows lay dead on the beach or bobbing up and down in the water. This had been
wyrd
.  We had been directed here so that we could save the villagers. I counted thirty eight of them.  They were mainly women and children but there were some men amongst them.

We watched the Hibernians sail away.  They barely had enough crew to man their ships.  I could not see the
Uí Néill
raiding again this year.  I had met them twice and bested them both times.  They would curse my name in the long nights of winter. When I reached the beach I saw Myrddyn attending to the wounded. Pol put his arm on my shoulder.  “We lost two more equites, Daffydd son of Aiden and Scanlan the Bold.”

I nodded.  It might be a small price to pay but it was one we could ill afford.  The villagers had been saved but the cost had been high.  We discovered that the villagers had all come from two settlements just up the river.  Men had escaped and warned a third village.  The raid could have had far worse consequences.

My squires escorted the villagers back to their homes and we camped by the estuary to bury our comrades and reflect on the day. Pelas tried to put an edge on my sword using some of the stones lying on the beach.  It was better than it had been but it would need our smith to repair it properly.

Rather than heading back, east to the road, we crossed the estuary at low tide the next morning. It took just a few hours to reach the fort where we found Daffydd and the booty.  We told him of the Hibernians.

“We did not see them” He pointed to the north.  “Of course they would have been sheltered by the headland.”

“Any sign of our ship?”

“Not yet but the squires have returned from Deva; the message got through. We just need to wait for them, Warlord.”

“It will do the horses good to rest for a few days and eat this fine sea washed grass. We will make the fort habitable while we wait. Did you see the villagers at Aedh’s village?”

“Aye Warlord.  It looks much more defensible. They have improved since we were last there.”

“Take them some of our arrows and some of the weapons we took from the Hibernians. They are not the best but they are better than what they have.” He nodded, “Scout the land to the east in case the Saxons have pursued us.”