Viking Vengeance (14 page)

"Archers, release!"

I heard Erik Wolf Claw as he took charge of the men from Cyninges-tūn.  The arrows, all forty of them rose high in the air and plunged down on to the Saxons. They struck them when they were a hundred paces from us. The mailed men were not hurt but the horses were and those without armour were struck. More arrows followed.  The wounded horses bucked and reared.  Their flailing hooves smashed skulls to pulp and shattered bones. We had achieved more already than I could have hoped.

The leader, I took him to be Eorl Beothild, did not panic.  He rose and, after slitting the throat of his dying horse began to organise his men into a shield wall. I heard his voice as he shouted, "Form a line.  Kill the horses who are injured. Edgar, take men into the woods and outflank them!"

All the time he was speaking his men were dying.  The arrows rained down.  Men hid beneath any shelter they could get.  Most had small shields which were of no use at all.

"Forward!"

They came at us in a wedge.  We had locked shields and swords held across the top of them. The wedge began to spread into the sides of the road, into the ditch.  The ankle breakers were in the shady part of the forest.  They would see their chance to outflank us. The Eorl Beothild was not in the front rank. He and three others were four men back.  The five at the front were mailed and I saw battle rings around their arms. They held spears and their helmets were well made.

I waited until the leader was close to me and  when he jabbed his spear at my head I did not bring my shield up. I had no need to.  Our shields were locked and we had a barrier of wood and iron before us.  Instead I moved my head away from the spear thrust, it glanced along the side of my helmet and then I rammed my sword into his open mouth as he roared his triumph. I twisted as I pulled it out and he fell.  Two more men fell to my Ulfheonar.

"Fall back!"

We took a step back as they adjusted their front. Two men came at us.  This time they were warier. They tried to hit me in the face with their spears.  They could see my mouth and they aimed at my throat.  I had a coil of mail around it but they would not be able to see that. Olaf and Haaken's swords darted forward as I used Ragnar's Spirit to deflect the two spears. I broke the head on one spear as both men were stabbed by my oathsworn.  Both dropped to their knees.  They were wounded only but their pride would keep them in the battle and would kill them.

"Fall back!"

My archers were still releasing arrows and men's attention was on the skies and not on their feet. Some at the side were eager to escape the misery of the arrows and they left the wedge to outflank us.  I heard their shouts as they found the ankle breakers and the traps. The point of the wedge had now disappeared.  There were six men facing us and they filled the road.  The next time they surged forward we would be equally matched.  I saw that Eorl Beothild was in the second rank.

"Fall back!"

They had not reached us when we fell back. The step took them by surprise and Eorl Beothild must have thought that we were fleeing his wrath for he shouted, "At them!" They charged.

"Brace!" We all put one leg behind us and leaned forward as the Saxon ran at us.  Had we been in the open they would have pushed us back but the ditch and the hidden traps caused confusion as men fell into those trying to push.  The traps did not kill but they hurt the enemy. The front rank struck us.  Some of these had swords. We kept our shields locked and they took most of the hits.  The rest were taken on our swords. I saw the look of surprise on the warrior before me as his sword bent when he hit Ragnar's Spirit. I head butted him and brought my sword down on the side of his head.  Although we were too close for a good strike I stunned him and I felt him slip to the ground.

"Fall back!"

We had now fallen back some ten paces into the woods. Another five and I could signal the attack. One of those with a good byrnie and sword stepped into the gap created by the last fallen warrior. He was young and eager to get to me.  He shouted, "Come, let us show these Norsemen that the men of Wessex have guts!"

As he swung his sword at me I shouted, "And you will spill them here whelp of Wessex! You fight the Wolf Warriors!"

I had his attention, "And you fall back like women.  Stand and fight!"

Next to me Olaf had more space and be brought his sword high above his head to smash into the helmet of the warrior next to the arrogant young man.  Olaf's mighty sword split the helmet and the young man was spattered with blood, brains and bone. Distracted by the blow the young warrior's eyes flickered to the side and I stabbed forward. Being young he had quick reactions and his sword came up to block but he had no mail mittens and my blade sliced across his knuckles.  Two fingers were hacked from his hand and he stumbled.

"Fall back!"

Each time we fell back we left a line of dead or wounded men and the Saxons had to slow as they approached us and clambered over the bodies. I gambled that we had moved back far enough and as the Saxon line lurched forward I shouted, "Gunnar!"

Even I was taken aback by the roar from a hundred and twenty Vikings who roared their war cries and charged the flanks of the Saxons.

"Men of Cyninges-tūn, now is your time!" We unlocked our shields and ran at the stunned Saxons.  The maimed Saxon looked up in horror as Haaken swept his sword towards him, his head hit Eorl Beothild who looked stunned by the sudden reversal in fortunes. I took advantage of his hesitation and distraction I swung Ragnar's Spirit towards his left shoulder.  He hurriedly tried to get his shield up.  He might have been as Lady Aethelfled had said, a mighty warrior who had fought many battles but his reactions were slow.  It slowed the strike of my blade, it did not stop it. It bit into his shoulder breaking the mail. As I drew back the sword I saw that its edge was bloody. He knew he was hurt and he desperately struck at my head with his long sword.  I had quick reactions and my shield blocked it.

The handful of mailed men who stood near their Eorl were fighting hard against my Ulfheonar but elsewhere the battle was going our way as my men hacked and slashed their way through the demoralised fyrd of Wessex. With little armour and poor weapons they were no match for Wolf Killer, Asbjorn and their battle hardened veterans. Erik Wolf Claw was leading the archers around the flanks of the enemy to cut off their retreat.

I feinted at the Eorl's weakened shoulder.  As I had expected he tried to raise his shield to counter it. The effort cost him dear.  I stabbed forward with Ragnar's Spirit and he managed to bring down the edge of the shield and he blocked it.  I realised that the bone across his shoulder had been broken.  Not only was he bleeding; the jagged ends of the bones were grating together.  He was a brave man as he stoically endured the pain.

"Surrender and I will give you the warrior's death!"

"I am a Christian and I will send you to hell, pagan!" He launched himself at me with his sword.  He put every ounce of strength left to him into the strike.  All of his years of experience struck where he thought he would do the most damage.  It was a mighty blow and my shield shivered but it cost him dear. Before he could even withdraw his sword I had darted forward with my blade and put my entire weight and strength behind the strike. My sword had a sharp tip. It tore through the mail links and entered his leather byrnie.  I pushed harder and the leather suddenly gave way.  I felt warm fluids flood over my hand and I twisted as I stabbed.  I heard a grunt from him.  Our faces were almost touching and I saw a tendril of blood begin to seep from his mouth.  I thought he was smiling and then I realised he was dead.  I pushed the body from my sword.

Around me my Ulfheonar stood with bloodied swords and the bodies of the vanquished lay around us. The battle ahead had moved on and the Roman Road was strangely quiet.  There were just the moans of the wounded and dying punctuated by the panting of my warriors. We were too tired to pursue.  That would be left to the archers and the warriors of Wolf Killer and the other jarls.

Olaf was tending to Erik who had taken a savage cut to his face. "The women love a scar.  You could have a blue one like Thorfinn."

Erik snorted, "I will just have a scar.  I am ugly enough without making it blue!"

I saw that Gunnar had also been wounded albeit slightly. Had I fought alongside any other warriors then it would not have gone as well as it had.

I took off my helmet.  One or two of my warriors from Cyninges-tūn were going around ending the pain of our badly wounded warriors and despatching the Saxon wounded.  There were many of our men who would survive if we could get them back to Aiden who would heal them.

"Gunnar, gather the wounded who can be healed and take them back to Wintan-ceastre. Tell Aiden we have won a great victory.  We need food and medicine.  We will start back when my son and the other jarls return."

Haaken pointed his sword at the men around the Eorl. "They fought well.  Had there been more like that we might not have had such an easy victory."

I looked down at the body of Audun Red Hair.  He was but seventeen summers old. For him it was not easy. "And when word reaches Egbert he will bring many more warriors like this and they will be fresh from the slaughter of the men of King Mark."

"How soon do you think he will be here?"

"Even if a rider had left yesterday when word reached Eorl Beothild it would still take three days to reach King Egbert. We have at least seven days to empty this land."

"You will sail before he returns?"

"Perhaps. We came here to punish King Egbert and not to die."

Olaf Leather Neck shook his head, "It does not do to run from our enemies.  It becomes a bad habit."

I reflected on those words.

It was almost dark when we warily reached our destination.  Men were laden down with the treasure they had captured.  To many of the poorer warriors this was a byrnie, a helmet, a sword but all had some coins and many had the arm rings they had taken from the more experienced Saxons. Our warriors had pursued them for some miles.  I doubted that they would be in any position to fight for Egbert for some time to come.  Some of the crops which still lay in the fields would lie there until they rotted.

I was relieved to see Snorri and my other two Ulfheonar when we reached Wintan-ceastre.  He looked worried as we entered the gates.  "We were worried, Jarl.  We should have been at your side and not acting as nursemaids for this puling, whining Saxon." I noticed the Eorl and his wife were sulkily sitting together and the Eorl had blackened eyes. Snorri saw my examination and said, "He annoyed me and I shut him up. Had you not given your word I would have ended his life."

"Was there much treasure?"

"Aye, two chests of it.  He offered us a small one but Ulf has a nose for gold. We found it all...eventually. We took a little longer to return as we had to dig up five large pots which contained his treasure."

I stared at the Eorl, "I should have you executed out of hand, the both of you ! I said I wanted all that you had!"

He cowered, almost hiding behind his wife, "You gave your word!"

"Aye and unlike you I keep it." I pointed to the gate, "Leave now before I forget my promise."

"Leave?  But there may be brigands out there! We will leave in the morning."

I laughed, "If there are brigands they are Saxon and you are an Eorl.  You leave now or I sell you."

They stood and hurriedly headed for the gate. I neither saw nor heard of them again. I walked with Snorri to the fire which was burning,  My men were roasting the ox we had slaughtered.  "Did you learn much?"

He nodded, "They have few fortified burghs.  There are many halls and farms. The Eorl lives at somewhere called Werham. There is an old fort close by.  I am guessing that if we raided they would retreat there. It looks ancient with space for their animals. It could be defended and we would lose many men trying to take it."

"It seems to me that we have more than enough.  We will raid for the next couple of days and hopefully our knarr will have returned by then."

I felt very dirty, bloody and in need of my sweat hut on the Water.  The Saxons did not appear to be keen on being clean.  I sought Hrolf, he was always close to hand. He seemed keen to impress.  "Hrolf I need water to bathe."

"Aye Jarl.  There is a well by the church.  I will haul the buckets for you."

I followed him to the Saxon church.  It had already been stripped of everything which was of value. My warriors were seeking out the empty houses which they would use to sleep. Animals were already butchered and the smell of cooking meat permeated the air. Were it not for the lack of decent beer my men would think they were in a perfect world.

I stripped naked as Hrolf pulled up bucket after bucket of water.  I doused myself in its icy grip.  I felt alive.  Wolf Killer approached and he joined me. "The Saxons need to take a lesson from those in the east and build bath houses.  At least we are close to the healing waters at home."

"This will do."

"It was a good victory today, Jarl."

"Aye my son.  It went better than we could have hoped."

"Egbert will not be so gullible.  He knows how we fight.  This Eorl did not give you enough respect."

"Perhaps it was the quality of the men he led.  Less than half were warriors."

Hrolf said, "When I am a jarl I will lead the best of warriors."

Wolf Killer laughed, "You have some years to go young Hrolf."

"The men say that you and your father were jarls before you had seen twenty summers."

It was my turn to laugh, "He is right, my son. Besides, it is good to have dreams and ambitions."

"You are right Jarl Dragonheart and one day I shall return to Neustria and conquer it.  I shall have a land such as yours."

Wolf Killer towelled himself dry with his wolf cloak. "You would not wish to be jarl of Cyninges-tūn?"

"That will be yours when the Dragonheart is gone and I would not fight fellow Vikings. The Jarl did not fight Vikings to take it did he?"

Wolf Killer shook his head, "You are too wise for one so young."

"When you are a slave you grow wise or you die. Is that not right Hrolf son of Gerloc?"

He grinned, "It is Jarl."

I handed him my sword and a silver penny, "Here sharpen my blade. We have not finished harvesting Saxons yet."

"I need no coins to sharpen this magical sword."

"Nonetheless I will pay you.  Every man is worth his price.  You are not my oathsworn and I pay all others."

"I am your oathsworn, Jarl Dragonheart, Hermund and I both swore."

"I realised you were too young to make such a promise.  I do not hold you to it.  Do not make such hasty decisions.  If it is meant that you go to Neustria then you need to be your own man or serve a jarl who wishes to carve out a new home.  I am content with Cyninges-tūn.  I will fight to keep it but I will not fight to take another's Cyninges-tūn."

"But I may follow you?"

"I am honoured that you do."

"Then it is well."

I left, the next day, with the bulk of my men for Hamwic. Gunnar Thorfinnson remained at Wintan-ceastre with Gunnstein.  The two of them would raid the surrounding area. I intended to use my drekar to raid to the west and to the east. We would strike from the sea. If we left in the dark of night we could use surprise as dawn broke. We carted all of the treasure, grain, animals and slaves we had captured, back to Hamwic. If danger threatened then we could send our gains back by knarr.  It would not do to have lost what we had gained.

I rode with Aiden as we headed the few miles south.  "We have gained treasure, grain and weapons.  Have you gained knowledge?"

He nodded, "The monastery had many books which have valuable information for me.  Some wrote of the time of the Romans.  I now know where more of the Roman Roads were built.  Others gave cures for some ailments. There was one parchment which told how to alleviate brain fever by drilling a hole and allowing the bad vapours to leave the head."

"That sounds a little hard to believe."

"We have both seen men who have survived savage cuts to their head with parts of the skull missing.  It seems it is what is within the skull which is more important.  However I believe that part of our success has been that we protect our men's heads with helmets.  When I return home I have ideas about helmets which will afford better protection."

"The monks wrote about that?"

"No Jarl but they have things written by Romans.  I do not think the monks had read them.  They were dusty and buried beneath well read pieces about the White Christ. They have much knowledge that they are not using." He shook his head.  "They study their religion too much.  We just follow our ways and live good lives. They seem to hold the rituals in higher esteem than the purpose."

"That is too deep an idea for me.  Just so long as our people benefit and are happy then I am satisfied."

We used two ships to raid; our biggest ones.  I headed east with
'Heart of the Dragon'
.  We used warriors from Cyninges-tūn.  Wolf Killer took '
Wild Boar'
and Ketil's men to augment his own and they went west. We left enough in Hamwic to protect it and our supplies.  Aiden remained poring over his books.  He had identified two targets for us.  There was a port to the east with a good harbour.  It was not far down the coast. Wolf Killer's target was a huge port.  I was more interested in it as an anchorage but we knew from the books that it was used to land cargos.  There were warehouses.

I sent Asbjorn over land at dark of night.  We rowed with stepped mast to the east. Thanks to Aiden we knew the precise position of the town and port. Erik slowed the drekar down and allowed the tide to take us close to it. The burghers of the town, Aiden said it was called Portesmūða, must have heard there were Vikings close by for they had put a thick hawser across the harbour to stop ships entering at night.  It reminded me of the Golden Horn in Miklagård. Had it been made of metal then it might have stumped us.  As it was we soon sawed through it with our blades and entered the harbour.

There were many cargo ships; they were Saxon versions of the knarr.  More importantly there was no palisade.  They obviously felt secure. As we sculled towards the ships I began to think that we would have another easy time of it.  That was until the shout went up.  They had a town watch and we had been seen.  We were less than a hundred paces from the jetty when the shout went up. We had enough way to drift in and my warriors shipped their oars and grabbed their shields.  A few arrows and spears clattered off the side but only one man was hit.  I stood at the prow.  My hand touched the dragon's head.  It brought us luck. 

As soon as we touched I leapt ashore with Haaken and Olaf by my side.  A moment later Snorri and Beorn jumped from the stern.  I ran directly at the town guard who were rushing to push us back into the sea. I did not break stride as I swung my sword sideways to hack into the thigh of the bowman.  I cut through to the bone and he fell to the cobbles blood gushing from the wound. The effect was to start a panic back to the houses where the townspeople were arming themselves to repel the raiders from the sea. I heard a distant shout and knew that Asbjorn and his men had arrived. My Ulfheonar and the men of Cyninges-tūn, led by Erik Wolf Claw despatched the thin line of poorly armed warriors and then the rest threw themselves to the ground pleading for mercy.

"Let them live!"

Olaf Leather Neck shook his head, "We need no more slaves.  We have sent enough to the market and they will fetch a lower price."

I smiled, although in the dark no one saw it, "I have a better idea.  We will use the method we tried with the Eorl."

Haaken was curious, "What is that?"

"We let them buy their freedom. It will save us time and effort searching for it. I lived in such a village and these people will find devious places in which to hide their gold and silver. Gather them all."

Dawn was breaking by the time the population of Portesmūða had been assembled. My men made them drop to their knees. I had silence imposed and then I began. "I could have all of your heads taken.  I could have your women raped. I have conquered you and you are mine to do with as I wish."

A greybeard said, "Spare us, Viking.  I beg of you."

"Then should I sell you in the markets of Dyflin?"

A woman wailed, "Better to kill us than give us to those pagans."

I let them all wail and weep before I shouted, "Silence!" It became quiet save for an occasional whimper.  "Or you could buy your freedom."

The greybeard said, "Buy?"

"You all have money hidden away.  Give me the money you have and I will let you live and not sell you to the men of Dyflin."

He snorted, "You will take our gold and kill us anyway."

Snorri smacked him about the head.  I said, unsheathing my sword, "This is Ragnar's Spirit, the sword touched by the gods.  I swear by this sword that if you give me your coin then you shall live.  I am Jarl Dragonheart and I am never foresworn."

I saw the greybeard look at some of the others.  He nodded and said, "I have heard your name.  They say you are a wolf but an honest wolf. We would live."

My warriors watched them as they went to their homes and brought out their coins.  We took them, every one. I kept my word.  Even those who had but two silver pennies were allowed to live and to remain free.  We took their animals and their grain and we sailed back to Hamwic.

As we sailed in to the Itchen I thought about sailing home.  The thought was fleeting but I should have heeded it.  I might have come up with excuses that we waited the drekar or we had not been defeated but in my heart I knew that we should have sailed and we did not.

My other jarls had equal success. Gunnar and Gunnstein sent cartloads of captured grain, animals, weapons and treasure.  My son returned with fine mail and slaves.  Yet we still waited for the knarr. Five days later the knarr had not arrived and the weather was worsening. I summoned my jarls from Wintan-ceastre.  When they arrived, a day later, laden with booty I said, "We leave two day's hence even if our knarr have not arrived."

Aiden nodded but said nothing.  Haaken spoke for all of my jarls. "We should stay.  We have not yet milked this Saxon cow dry."

"None the less we go for I have decided."

I was Jarl Dragonheart and my word was law. We prepared to leave. The Norns must have heard my words or perhaps the gods decided that we had enjoyed enough good fortune for before we could leave King Egbert and his army arrived. I had withdrawn my men to Hamwic and Wintan-ceastre, our sentry, had been emptied.  Our attention was to the south and west.  We sought the sails of Siggi and his knarr. It was the sentries from the gates at the north who sounded the alarm.

"Saxons!"

As soon as I heard the words I knew that I had delayed too long.  The drekar were not ready for sea. We had loaded nothing. I went to the jetty and, cupping my hands, shouted, "Erik prepare the drekar for sea."