Viking Vengeance (8 page)

"And I have been honoured to be served by you.  I will care for your family as though they were my own.  I will see you in Valhalla." I plunged Ragnar's Spirit into his heart and with a sigh he died. "Have his tokens and his sword taken back for his son." Karl nodded.  They had been friends.

Aiden and Hrolf entered the gates soon after we began burning the bodies of our dead.  If we had buried them then they would have been despoiled by the Saxons.  Their heads would have been placed on spears and their manhoods placed in their mouths.  It would not hurt the dead but we would not afford them that satisfaction. The mail from the dead warriors we had slain was distributed.  Everything of value was put on carts and the few horses we found were attached. We chose only the captives who would be of use to us.  There were boys who would work in our mines and girls and women who would be of service in our homes. The rest we left. They would tell others no doubt of our presence in Mercia but by then we would have reached our ships. We headed north and west.

Aiden had been disappointed in the finds.  The church had no Holy Books worth taking and there were no maps or writings. The Eorl of Nantwich had not been a literate man. Hrolf tagged along behind Aiden.  He listened as we spoke. "We have a great deal of salt and barley now, Jarl."

"Aye, I shall send it back with Siggi and the knarr.  The captives can be taken too.  The animals we captured we will eat."

"We leave for the Clwyd?"

"First we rest and then we head to the Clwyd.  I will send Wolf Killer in his drekar to wait off the mouth of the river. I would have you go with him. That way we attack from two directions. If they flee they will head into our fish trap."

When Hrolf became a great warrior and leader, many years later, it was the education he had listening to us speak which gave him a knowledge that could not be bought.

It was a slower journey back for we had carts but we were not bothered by our enemies.  I saw horsemen watching us but we were too great a host to attack. Caerlleon was many miles away.  Even if they sent warriors we would have reached our drekar before they could intervene. We loaded the knarr as soon as we reached the Maeresea and those who had wounds were sent with Siggi to guard the prisoners. There were wails and tears as the captives saw their fate.  They would not be rescued.  They were to be taken to our homeland and there they would end their days.

I sat and ate with Aiden, my jarls and my captains. "We sail tomorrow for the mouth of the Dee. Aiden will go with Wolf Killer. The rest of us will land and head across country to the head of the Clwyd Valley. The drekar will go to the mouth of the Clwyd.  We will sweep down the valley and Wolf Killer will land and head up the valley. St. Asaph is close to the mouth of the river.  Wolf Killer will capture and hold it." He nodded.  "I have no doubt that they will have a watch tower and they will see the drekar.  They will assume that we land a large force and will flee up the valley."

Sigtrygg laughed, "And they will run into our arms."

I nodded. "I hope so but if not we destroy all hope when we appear at their monastery."

Asbjorn was a thoughtful warrior. "Who will we fight?  Are these Saxons or the men of Gwynedd?"

"A good question.  Coenwulf and his Mercians have captured this land but I do not think those whom he defeated will see us as saviours. We fight everyone." A Viking had no friends.

We left at dawn to sail around the piece of land which separated the two rivers. I knew that we would be seen and our movements reported to the Mercian garrisons but I knew what they did not. I knew where we were going. The tide was in and that was a relief.  We disembarked three of the drekar leaving a skeleton crew on board. Even though it was high tide the mud of the estuary still sucked at us as we headed to the dunes.  Thanks to Aiden's Roman maps we knew that it was no more than ten Roman miles to St. Asaph but we would have to go fifteen miles to get up the Clwyd valley and in position. We did not use the roads but ran across the fields, through the woods and down the greenways. I wanted us to be as hidden as we could be.

After two hours of hard running we reached the Clwyd.  Here it was narrow, less than twenty paces from bank to bank and fordable.  We drank while we gathered ourselves.  Snorri and Beorn leapt off like hares. As we rested we heard from the west the sound of a tolling bell.  It did not sound like an alarm bell but one summoning the monks of the White Christ to some prayers.  They seemed to do it both day and night. Satisfied that we were close we crossed the river.  There was another river, the Elwy, about a mile ahead.  I had seen it once. Snorri and Beorn would tell us exactly how close it was.

I split us into our war bands with mine in the middle.  We were the largest and we had the Ulfheonar. We moved more slowly now for we had obviously formed the trap and the drekar had not been seen. Snorri and Beorn returned.  "The river is half a mile to the west of us and the monastery just two miles north of us."

"Good.  Asbjorn, take the right.  Sigtrygg the left."

We spread out in a long loose line.  We were not trying to be a shield wall but a line of hunters waiting for the game to come to us.  Hopefully the human prey would come to us. When I heard the alarm bell I could tell the difference.  It was strident and accompanied by shouts which we could hear.  We could not see the monastery.  The ground was undulating. We could, however, hear the monks and those who had fled the monastery as they ran towards us. We stopped and held our shields before us. The first ten ran into our blades. The cries of the dying arrested the others and they turned and ran back to the monastery.

"Erik Wolf Claw, take four men and search the monks for treasure.  They have crosses around their necks.  Often they are made of silver or gold."

We moved towards the monastery. After half a mile it came into view. It had a low wall around it; it was meant to keep out animals and not Vikings. As we approached I saw the monks fleeing north and west.  My drekar were there.  I remembered that the King of this land had had a palace at Rhuddlan.  Perhaps the Mercians had defended it. It made no difference we would sack the monastery.

We climbed the slope and I shouted, "Only kill the priests if they fight.  They are worth gold to us." I knew that the Danes and some Norse killed them out of hand.  It was a waste.  They were literate slaves and could be sold in the slave market. The monastery was not just a church. There were many buildings and houses.  My men began to flood through them gathering anything of value.  The animals were being herded together and the ones who had been slain were stripped of anything of value.  I went with Haaken to the church. 

Some of my men were carrying out the fine linen, curtains and candlesticks.  I sought other treasures. We did not have Aiden with us but he would have told me where to search if he had been with us; beneath the altar. It was their most holy place.  Often they buried their saints there.  The relics from such saints were worth gold too.  I did not understand it myself but we had profited from such sales before.

Men moved the wooden rails which surrounded the altar and lifted the carpet. The red woven carpet was also worth taking.  Beneath it we found what I had sought; a trapdoor.  It was not obvious.  You had to know what you sought but there was a line around the stone which showed where it had been lifted and replaced. I laid down my shield and took out my seax and ran it around the edge.  Once the accumulated dirt had been removed I nodded to Haaken. He placed his seax on the opposite side of the stone to me and we both began to prise it up.  At first I thought it would not move and we would break our blades but it began to rise, as though spirited up and we pushed down harder.  As soon as we could we slipped our hands beneath it and lifted. There was a rush of cold and musty air.

I grabbed one of the burning brands and held it in the hole.  This one was deeper than most of the Roman ones we had discovered.  I saw that there were steps leading down.  I took off my helmet and placed it on my shield. Taking the torch I descended.  It was not high enough to stand but it was extensive.  I saw pillars supporting the floor of the church above me.  There was a stone tomb.  I only recognised a couple of the letters but I guessed that it was the tomb of the saint after whom the monastery was named.  If we found nothing else then I would desecrate it but it took time to open such tombs.

As I swept the torch around I saw the treasure we sought.  There were boxes and chests.  Some were small but one was large. "Haaken, get down here.  We have treasure."

Between the two of us we were able to manhandle the large chest to the entrance and lift it out.  The smaller ones we managed a little easier.  I left the saint to his rest.  His bones would not be disturbed; at least not this time. I slung my shield on my back once we reached the church. I shouted for my men to return.  We gave them the boxes to carry. "Snorri, are there any horses?"

"No, Jarl.  The monks fled with them.  They have gone to the fort just down river."

"Then we carry what we have.  Let those without mail carry the boxes."

"Do you not wish to see their contents?"

"No, Haaken, that can wait.  They would not have hidden them if they contained nothing of value. It will be better if Aiden is there when we examine them."

"Aye Jarl Dragonheart."

"Any sign of our drekar?"

"No Jarl but the fort is on a piece of high ground and blocks the view of the river. They would struggle to come this far."

Had I brought the small drekar,
'Red Snake'
then we would have managed it. Perhaps I had made an error of judgement.

I led my warriors down the river towards the distant fort.  Asbjorn took his men to the right and crossed the river.  I went along the northern bank while Sigtrygg stayed on the south bank.  We found discarded objects as we went.  There were fine garments and tapestries.  They had managed to get them thus far and then fear of capture made them hurry.  We gathered all that had been dropped.

Then I saw the mast of a drekar.  I knew that it would be my son's.  I hoped that the Saxons had no machines of war or they could damage the drekar.  We needed all four of them. We began to climb up towards the wooden wall which encircled the hill fort. "Have the treasure taken to my son's drekar." I had no idea how many men were within the walls of this burgh but I doubted that they would be able to defend it for long. I had enough men with me to do as we had at Nantwich and attack all four sides at once. We also had time on our side.  If the garrison at Caerlleon had been summoned they would have gone to Nantwich first.  We had a whole day before any help would reach this valley.  We would make them sweat and then attack at night.

As I crested the rise arrows headed in my direction.  I brought my shield around but not before one had struck my helmet. I heard a cheer from behind the walls.  I raised my sword and my men yelled, "Dragonheart!" It was an answer to the defenders.  It would take more than an arrow to kill me.

We formed a shield wall.  My Ulfheonar were the front rank with the others behind us. I peered over my shield to view the gate and the walls.  There was a ditch running around the outside of the wall and a bridge across it.  They would have archers in the two gate towers.  It would have to be my Ulfheonar who attacked.  We had mail. I turned, "Archers, clear the towers and the walls.  Snorri, organise them."

Sigtrygg brought his men from across the river to join us. "A sturdy burgh."

"Aye, have your archers join Snorri.  When Asbjorn and his men reach us we will see if we can clear the walls."

Soon we had the archers from our three bands releasing shower after shower of arrows.  The Saxons were poor archers and they did no damage to us.  Our shields were as solid a defence as the walls behind which they sheltered. In contrast they were not armoured and the archers decimated the walls. I saw men pitch to their deaths before us and others who fell into the burgh.

Suddenly the gates opened and ten horsemen galloped towards us followed by a host of spearmen. They would outnumber us until Wolf Killer brought his men from the drekar. With our archers sheltering behind us we had but forty warriors to face them. "Lock shields!" We had fought horsemen before.  They were not as fearsome as many believed.  Lacking the stirrups they used in the east they could be easily pulled from their saddles.  The danger lay in the hooves of the horses. They were the killers.

As I expected the horsemen did not charge our wall of shields but tried to get around the rear of our lines. The spearmen ran at us with their weapons held before them like a hedgehog. The secret was to watch the spear and use a sword to break the shaft.  It was then a useless piece of wood. The ones who made the mistake of attacking the Ulfheonar paid a heavy price. I watched Haaken contemptuously smash the ash shaft of the spear before bringing his sword around to take the warrior's head. I knocked a spear head up with my shield and then eviscerated the warrior with my sword. Inevitably the combat broke into small groups.  I led my Ulfheonar forward.  The gates were open and the Saxons before us fled.

"Come we can take this burgh!"

We began to run up the hill.  Suddenly I heard, "Jarl Dragonheart! Beware!"

I turned in time to see two of the horsemen who had survived galloping towards me.  I braced myself. Rolf Eriksson, who had shouted the warning raced over to attack the horsemen.  He had the long Danish axe given to him by Olaf.  He swung it at the leading horse and it bit deep into the beast's chest.  The rider was flung over the dying animal's head and landed at my feet. As the second horsemen tried to swerve out of the way Rolf raised his axe high over his head and brought it down on the horseman.  It chopped through his thigh and into the horse. The rider fell screaming to the ground and took the horse with him.  As I slew the Mercian at my feet Rolf took the head of the other rider and then ended the horse's suffering by taking its head.