Viking Raid (17 page)

He nodded.  He was honest and knew me well. "Aye, Jarl. I have had my father in my thoughts.  He speaks to me, much as your mother speaks with you." I understood such thoughts. "My father settled that land and he thought it a fine place to farm. It should be farmed now.  There should be our people living there.  My father drove the Saxons hence."

"When we return to Cyninges-tūn we will ask if there are those who wish to travel south.  Some of Pasgen's people may wish to go. It is not far from their land."

He was silent. He held his helmet in his hand. "I would go, Jarl."

"You would leave the Ulfheonar?"

"If you would let me then yes." He pointed to Eystein and Asbjorn standing nearby. "You have fine young warriors now to replace us older ones and it is time."

"I understand Sigtrygg and you have my permission.  I make you Jarl of that land.  It will make our southern borders safer."

He looked relieved, "I worried that I might have offended you."

"I will miss you for you are my shield but this is how our lives change.  The Norns weave.  They showed you the empty land and put the thought in your head. It is all good.  Wolf Killer will be close to you and that is part of the Norns' plans."

Snorri and Bjorn returned, "There are huts outside the walls of Caestir. They have guards on the walls and warriors within but most of the people and the animals lie outside the stone walls."

"Have they improved the walls since we were last here?"

Bjorn the Scout shook his head, "No Jarl.  The gate looks the same as when we last broke in.  It is merely repaired." He laughed, "And from a distance it looks like they have made a poor job of it."

"Then we go this night and let King Coenwulf know that we are abroad."

Following Snorri we ran over fields which had grown wheat but which were now stubble. We moved silently like a black shadow moving over the ground. We smelled the huts before we saw them.  The smells of their cooking fires drifted over to us. I waved Haaken to the right and Sigtrygg to the left as we drew closer to the homes. They would lead my Ulfheonar and I would lead the rest of my warriors. We passed the animal pens.  We were so quiet that the animals merely shuffled away from the periphery as we passed them. The huts suddenly loomed up out of the dark.  There were no sentries watching for us and we entered the huddle of huts. Behind me pairs of men disappeared into the huts as I moved forward.  The silence of the night was ended by a scream as the first of the villagers woke. I kept going, heading for the old Roman fort. Once it had been a mighty edifice but successive attacks by Saxons, Welsh and ourselves meant that it was now just a shell. Its stone structure made it appear strong but that was an illusion. Guards appeared on the walls and shouted the alarm.

I held up my shield as I saw something flying from the walls towards me.  It was a spear. I turned the shield as the head hit and it bounced to the side. I ran to the gate.  Bjorn had been correct, it was poorly repaired. I turned and, keeping my shield above my head, shouted, "Fetch axes."

There were the sounds of fighting and shouts from the village and from the southern gate which Haaken and Sigtrygg were now assaulting. Three warriors appeared at my side. They all had axes.

"Leif, protect them with your shield. Sven and Lars, break it down with your axes!" I stood to protect the right side of the pair while Leif held his shield above their left. Stones and arrows rained down upon us but we were so close to the gate that we were protected by the fort itself. The two men with axes worked purposefully and aimed their blows at the gap between the two doors. They soon made a hole in the two doors and began to hack at the bar. The bar broke and I pushed the gate with my shield.  It creaked, cracked and then opened; half a dozen warriors ran at us. I lifted my sword and charged them.  They had not expected a single warrior to do so.

They wore no mail and they held spears and small shields. If they thought their spears would keep me at bay they were wrong. I took the first spear on my shield and then stabbed upwards with Ragnar's Spirit.  The warrior was struggling to hold his shield up for he was slightly off balance. My sword ripped through him and I turned to drop his body from my blade.  A spear was punched at my head. I moved my head to one side but the spear glanced off the cheek plates of my helmet. I slashed sideways.  The edge of my blade sliced into the unprotected side of the man. A sword swung at my back as I finished him off.  Although it did not penetrate the armour it was a well struck blow and it hurt.  I swung my shield around and caught the warrior on the side of the head. He fell at my feet and I pierced his neck with my sword.

My three warriors with axes had finished off the others and I looked around for more enemies. Ahead of me I saw Sigtrygg and Haaken as they drove the last of the defenders towards us.  We were soon engaged in a violent fight with the surrounded Saxons.  We were hard pressed and when the two horses burst out of the stables to the left of us we were taken by surprise.  The two riders raced out of the open gate. King Coenwulf would soon know that the wolves were in his sheep pens.

With the last of the warriors disposed of we moved through the fort taking whatever we could. The weapons, although poor, could be melted down and each Saxon warrior had some treasure with him, no matter how small.

"Siggi, see if you can find a cart. Asbjorn go with Eystein and secure the captives." I looked to the east.  The sky was already becoming lighter. Snorri and Bjorn scout the surrounding areas.  See if there are more treasures for us to find."

Haaken took off his helmet and approached me.  I took off mine and shook my head free from the aventail. He pointed to the gate. "They did a piss poor job of repairing the fort."

"I know." I smiled, "Let us make it even harder for them eh?  Let us fire this fort.  It will leave a message for Coenwulf."

"Do we raid more?"

I shook my head, "We were only asked to attract Coenwulf's attention.  The raid on Prestune might not have done so but this will. It will take time to take so many captives back to our drekar and I have no doubt that Coenwulf will send Eorls here to deal with us. If the two men ride hard then they can reach Tamworth by the end of the day.  We have three days to strip this land of anything worth having."

"You will stay another two days then?"

"It serves the King of Dyfed and it serves us. We take the captives to the slave markets of Dyflin and, in the spring, we will have much gold to spend." I pointed north.  "The wheat fields we passed have just been harvested.  We will find the grain and take that back too."

Haaken nodded, "I will organise the rest of the Ulfheonar to lead small parties of warriors and hunt out the wheat."

I went out to see the captives.  There were many of them. "When Siggi returns with carts have the captives fill them with the treasure.  As soon as the carts are full then the captives can pull them back to our ships. Haaken is looking for their wheat."

Asbjorn nodded, "It is always as easy as this raiding the Saxons?  Even the men of Galicia put up more of a fight."

"Sometimes they fight well if they are well led." I waved my arm to the east.  "I think they were poorly led.  The two who escaped must have been their leaders."

I went to the river to wash the blood from my hands. As I returned through the village I saw that the huts were newly built. The ones who had lived here had only recently been evicted.  If I had been the eorl given the task of defending the Dee I would have made a stronger fortification. By the time I reached the fort again Asbjorn and Eystein had a line of captives loading the three carts Siggi had found.

Haaken waved. He and Olaf Leather Neck were returning."There is a granary close to the river on the sea side."

"Have the captives pull one of the carts and they can pack it at the granary."

"There is more than one cart will hold."

"Then rearrange the goods in the other two.  We only found three carts."

This was indeed a rich haul.  It seems we had come at the perfect time. The proximity of the granary to the river meant they were using that to transport the grain. Our people would eat well this winter while Mercia would have to tighten its belt.

Snorri and Bjorn arrived in late afternoon. By then the carts had been loaded but there were still many sacks of grain in the granary."We found many farms but all fields which have already been harvested."

"Any carts or animals?"

"A couple."

"Then take the Ulfheonar and capture them. I will remain here with the rest of my warriors."

As my wolf clad warriors departed I gathered the warriors around me.  "While we wait I want this fort and the huts destroying.  We will burn everything." I pointed to six warriors.  "You come with me and we will begin fires.  The rest watch the captives."

We returned to the fort and I went through the buildings to make sure that nothing had been missed.  I found two good cooking pots which I sent back to the carts.  There were still glowing embers in the cooking fire. "Build up the fire and make torches. Leif Arneson, you come with me." I picked up a pot of seal oil which they had used for cooking.  We had more than enough of that at home. In fact this had probably been traded by our Norse cousins from the islands.

I took the young warrior with me.  It was his first raid and he had acquitted himself well. When we reached the north gate I began to pile up the remains of the wooden gate.  I placed it beneath the gatehouse. "Go and find anything which will burn." I looked up and saw that the Romans had used wood when they had built the frame of the gate.  The fire beneath would burn whatever remained of the wood as well as weakening the cement and the stones.  I hoped to make the gate collapse so that it could not be repaired. We soon had a mound of wood which almost reached the top of the gate.  I poured half of the seal oil on the wood.

"Go and fetch a brand.  You can have the honour of the first fire."

The other warriors joined us; each held a burning brand in his hand. Leif thrust the torch into the wood and it soon caught.  We stepped back as the flames, slow at first, suddenly flared up when a gust of wind touched them. "Go into all the buildings and light fires.  Leif, we will go to the southern gate.  We will light it when the rest of the fort is on fire."

By the time we left the fort fires were burning all around the ancient building.  I handed the last of the seal oil to Leif.  "Now burn the huts."

In the time it had taken to burn the fort darkness had fallen and my Ulfheonar had returned with the carts, more slaves and some animals. I had intended to head back to our ships but it was too late. "Slaughter some of the animals and we will eat.  Then we make camp." I pointed to the fires, "We have plenty of fires to use eh?"

The men were in good spirits.  We had lost none; we were eating well and we had plenty to take home. All was good. I divided my Ulfheonar so that they supervised the warriors who kept watch.  I did not think the captives would run but I would take no chances.

My men insisted that I sleep without having to watch. I was tired and I did not argue.  Perhaps that was the reason I dreamed. It was one of those dreams which came in flashes as though lightning was striking and showed you a moment in time. I saw a fleet of drekar and I saw women weeping and crying. Finally I saw warriors on horses with long lances; their hooves drummed on the ground and I suddenly awoke.

It was still dark and the night was silent.  Rolf Tryggson and Ulf Olafsson were on duty.  They looked concerned when I stood.  "What is it Jarl. Does your wound pain you?"

"No my sleep did.  Have you heard anything?"

Rolf laughed, "A while ago Ulf thought he heard thunder. The skies are clear."

That decided me.  I shouted, "Awake! Ulfheonar we move!"

Although everyone was surprised, not least of all my oathsworn all woke and prepared for battle.

"Snorri, lead the way and head for the drekar.  The Ulfheonar will be the rearguard.  Have the captives pull the carts." The Saxons were pushed and prodded to make them move. They had soon adopted the docile acceptance of captives.  They were now slaves.  I had seen it when I had been captured. The one or two who had fought against it had soon died.

Sigtrygg said, "What worries you, Jarl?  It was quiet when I watched."

I pointed to Ulf, "Ulf here heard thunder and I dreamed of horses. There is a clear sky."

They were all convinced, "Get spears!" Haaken knew as well anyone the value of spears when horses were close by. Although horses will not willingly attack and charge men warriors had been known to break in the face of a line of charging, snorting horses.

"Bjorn the Scout, keep a mile behind us and give us warning of any pursuit."

We gave the carts a head start and then moved along the Roman Road.  It would become a greenway soon but we would make good time whilst we could. As we walked Haaken asked, "How could this be Saxon horses?  Tamworth is many miles hence."

"Aye but there are burghs twixt Caestir and Tamworth. We know that the Mercians have horses. I tarried too long."

"Do not berate yourself, Jarl. We have much to take home and to trade.  We cannot expect to escape without any risks being taken."

As a damp and grey dawn broke from the east I calculated that we had travelled six miles or so.  We had caught the carts despite giving them a start. "We will wait here for Bjorn.  It will give the carts a chance to reach the Maeresea." I worked out that we were about half way from safety. The knoll which rose above the river would give us somewhere to defend if we had to. I still hoped that we would escape without being caught.