Viking Shadow

by Griff Hosker

  Push your arms

  Row the boat

  Use your back

  The Wolf will fly

  It was not a straight river and the twists and turns made it hard for Erik who had to keep us in the centre channel. Sven Svensson was at the prow watching for sandbars. I walked between the rowers. I saw that Lars and Sámr had an oar and they were both determined not to let down Erik. Sámr would need Aiden’s salve for his hands would be red raw! I saw the fishing boats ahead of us. They would not escape us for we were faster. They did not know that we did not wish to harm them. We wanted water. They put ashore and landed on the bank to our steerboard. That told me that there was a citadel close by. I tied a piece of cord to a horn and I trailed it in the river. I pulled it up and tasted it. It was slightly brackish still. Another few lengths and we would be able to turn.

  Sven was clinging to the dragon prow and he shouted, “Captain, the river narrows ten lengths upstream!”

  I heard Erik shout, “Steerboard oars in! Larboard back water!”

  We turned in our own length. I put the horn back in the water and this time, when I drew it, found it to be sweet. We could fill our barrels.

  Tostig who was atop the mast shouted, “Jarl there is a citadel. It looks to be three miles or so away.”

  “Keep watch!”

  With an anchor thrown out most of the crew began to help fill the barrels. “The rest of you get your bows. We may have company soon.”

  It was not an easy process to fill the barrels in a river. The large barrels we used for storage could not be dropped over the side and so we had to use smaller barrels and leather pails to haul up water and fill each barrel. When the six barrels were filled we would fill every other container. We could always catch food at sea but we were going to a sea where the rain was unpredictable and it was hot.

  “Jarl, I can see horsemen. They are getting closer!”

  “Archers, to the stern. Sámr, we will see just how good you are with a Saami bow. I hope the oar has not taken the strength from your back.”

  “It has not, Jarl Dragonheart.”

  The horsemen were Franks. They had banners and helmets. They had shields. I saw just one who was in mail and he rode at the head of the column. He was their lord. They were descending down a path which zig zagged down the valley side. I saw that five barrels had been filled. “Sámr, when the one with the mail gets close hit his horse. If that does not stop them then kill him.”

  Ráðulfr Magnusson rubbed his chin. “That would be a prodigious hit, jarl. It must be more than two hundred and fifty paces.”

  “Show him Sámr!” My great grandson pulled back and, letting his breath out slowly, released the arrow. The arrow flew and hit the horse in the neck. It pitched the horseman from his saddle. He waved his arm and one of his men dismounted. The lord mounted the horse. He had just grabbed the reins when Sámr’s arrow hit him in the shoulder. It was not a mortal wound but it worked. They began to back up the hill.

  “That is a fine bow! Where did you get it?”

  Sámr pointed to me, “Great grandfather gave it to me. It costs as much as a byrnie. I am honoured that he gave it to me.”

  “Secure the barrels. Pull in the anchor. Take the oars and let us keep her way.”

  It was a sedate cruise down the river. I saw Haaken. He was drinking something from a goblet and was seated on a chair on the quay. We tied up next to the quay and I said, “I see you are taking it easy!”

  “With you away it meant I am the eldest warrior. I am just delegating. We found some sheep. Olaf butchered them and they are being cooked. They will be bringing down the little that we found. There was some food, pots and drinking vessels. There are also six fowl. We found cages. We may have eggs! There is a great quantity of freshly smoked fish. We have had a good raid… considering that we did not raid!”

  Ráðulfr asked, “Will the horsemen not come?”

  “They may do but it will take them longer and next time we use a shield wall backed by bows. I am not afraid of thirty horsemen!”

  We loaded the ship with the pots, fowl, smoked fish, ale and wine. We found some coils of rope. They would always come in handy. Tostig shouted, “Jarl, the horsemen are returning.”

  I shouted, “Olaf, Aiden bring the pots with the food!” It did not matter if the food was not yet cooked. The boiling water would continue to cook it for a while. Beggars could not be choosers. Olaf carried one pot himself while David and Aiden struggled with the other. “Tostig, is it just the horsemen?”

  “No, Jarl. I think they have the fishermen with them too.”

  That did not make any difference. They could have a thousand fishermen. If they had archers then we might be in trouble. “Load the ship. Archers be ready to discourage them if they come close.” I glanced at the sky. The sun was already at its height. We could make a few more leagues south but then we would need a beach. The real danger would begin when we sailed the coast of the Caliphate of Córdoba. Once the two steaming pots were aboard the ship’s boys began to untie the ropes while Sámr and Lars started to lower the sail. The Franks chose that moment to attack. I picked up Sámr’s bow and joined the eight or so archers. I nocked an arrow, pulled back and sent the missile into the midst of the horses charging down the path towards us. I saw a horseman tumble from his saddle. Two others were hit and one horse began bucking and biting as an arrow sank into its rump.

  “Oars push off!”

  There were just ten men on the larboard side and they used the oars to push us away from the quay. Sámr and Lars slid down the backstays and then ran to secure the forestays too. As the wind caught us we moved more swiftly and the Franks gave up. The wind had veered slightly and now came from the south and east. While we travelled west that was not a problem but we had to head south. Luckily the wind was not a strong one. Once we had turned Erik shouted, “We row until we find a beach. Haaken, get them moving along at pace eh?”

  “Aye Erik!” He chose the song of the sword. Every warrior in the clan knew it. Haaken and I were about the last two who had witnessed it. The rest were dead. Partly for that reason it was still a powerful chant.

  The storm was wild and the gods did roam

  The enemy closed on the Prince's home

  Two warriors stood on a lonely tower

  Watching, waiting for hour on hour.

  The storm came hard and Odin spoke

  With a lightning bolt the sword he smote

  Ragnar's Spirit burned hot that night

  It glowed, a beacon shiny and bright

  The two they stood against the foe

  They were alone, nowhere to go

  They fought in blood on a darkened hill

  Dragon Heart and Cnut will save us still

  Dragon Heart, Cnut and the Ulfheonar

  Dragon Heart, Cnut and the Ulfheonar

  The storm was wild and the Gods did roam

  The enemy closed on the Prince's home

  Two warriors stood on a lonely tower

  Watching, waiting for hour on hour.

  The storm came hard and Odin spoke

  With a lightning bolt the sword he smote

  Ragnar's Spirit burned hot that night

  It glowed, a beacon shiny and bright

  The two they stood against the foe

  They were alone, nowhere to go

  They fought in blood on a darkened hill

  Dragon Heart and Cnut will save us still

  Dragon Heart, Cnut and the Ulfheonar

  Dragon Heart, Cnut and the Ulfheonar

  We sailed swiftly south towards the hot lands of Al Andalus. First, we had to pass the mountains which divided Leon and the Asturias from Vasconia. We would seek a beach when the sun began to set. Aiden and David ben Samuel stood with me and we stirred the two pots. The meat was almost cooked. We had eaten mutton raw before now. I saw David ben Samuel observing me, surreptitiously. “What is it?”

  He shook his head. “Sorry for staring. You are old. You older than
Isaac.” I nodded. “But you fight! You pull a bow!”

  I spoke slowly so that he would understand me. “I am a warrior. I have spent all my life fighting. It is what I do.” I looked at him. “Tell me David ben Samuel, what do you do?”

  He hesitated and then said, “I am a merchant.”

  I did not believe him but it made no difference to me. I had been well paid for my complicity.

  “Aiden says you are ill. You bleed?”

  I glared at Aiden, “He talks too much.”

  My galdramenn shrugged, “He needed to know Jarl Dragonheart. How else will we find a doctor? He knows the city, I have discovered much since we first spoke. He is a clever man and he can help us.”

  David had picked up some of the words and he nodded, “I know doctors. I do not know if they can help you.”

  At least he was honest. “So long as they try then I will be satisfied.”

  Tostig’s voice came down from the mast head, “Beach ahead, Captain, it looks deserted.”

  I turned to Erik, “This time we make certain! I am too old to be attacked with my breeks around my ankles.”

  When we landed I went with Olaf and four other men to climb the cliffs and check that there was no immediate danger. As the sun was setting it was easier to see the glow from any hut with an open door. By the time we reached the beach Aiden and David had organized the mutton stew. I saw that our passenger was pleased to be eating something other than fish. I was not certain if his diet would improve during the next fifty days. I had taken my blankets to the beach. I was embarrassed about the blood stains I left on the deck. The ship’s boys cleaned them but it still disturbed me. I would stain the sand. Most of the crew also slept on the beach but David chose to sleep under his canvas. I lay next to Aiden.

  “What have you learned?”

  “That he keeps secrets well but I am used to that. I listen to that which is below the words. Being a merchant is how he earns money but it is not what he does. He knows the Regent of the Empire.”

  “Theodora isn’t it?”

  “Good, you have remembered. Sometimes I think you just nod when I say things and do not actually take in the words.”

  “I remembered because I thought it strange that such a large empire was ruled by a woman.”

  “It is not uncommon. The Empire, from what our passenger says, runs itself but there are people with power. The fact that he knows Theodora is more than interesting. What was he doing in Bruggas? He said he was staying with his uncle but Bruggas is tiny compared with the other trading centres. Lundenwic would have afforded him more trade and he would have been made more welcome there. No, he came to Bruggas from the Frankish Empire. Louis the Pious was a weak king, his son, Charles the Bald, is equally weak. I heard in Bruggas that the Clan of the Horse have taken land from him and he is helpless. He cannot take it back. Even the Bretons are beginning to take his land. King Charles is a descendant of Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor. I think he is an emissary from Theodora to Charles the Bald.”

  “That may be but how does it help us?”

  “Knowledge is power, jarl. You can never know too much! By the time we reach Sicily I will know more and by then my Greek will enable me to find out more when we are in Miklagård.”

  “Do not tempt the Norns. We have far to travel!”

  Chapter 4

  Over the next two days we saw the landscape to larboard change dramatically. It was not just that the land looked drier, rockier, with fewer trees it was the buildings. They were not Frankish. We had found the land of the Arab and the Moor. We were in the land of the dhow. They were very fast ships which could dart out from a bay and be upon an unsuspecting ship before they could run out oars. For that reason, we were standing well out to sea. The delays with the replacement of the yard and the water had added a day and half to our voyage. It was the Norns. Had we not been delayed then we would not have come upon the Viking drekar being attacked by dhows!

  Lars was lookout and he was the most experienced of the ship’s boys. “Jarl there is a drekar inshore of us. She is being attacked by four ships. They are small and filled with dark skinned men. The drekar is down by the bows and there is some wreckage there.”

  When you are a leader you need to lead. You have to make decisions quickly. Even as I took in the information I was running through the choices we could make in my head. We could continue on our journey as though nothing had happened and leave the Vikings there to the Arabs. We did not know the crew. They were not of our clan. The second choice was to risk all and try to save the crew. I made the obvious choice. The Norns had placed this drekar in our path and we ignored it at our peril.

  “Erik, come about and let us shift these pirates! Clan of the Wolf, arm yourself. We go to war. Ship’s boys you will need your bows.”

  None argued although, as Aiden explained it to him, our passenger looked mystified. This was our code. It bound us and every other Viking who sailed the seas. I strapped on Ragnar’s Spirit and Wolf’s Blood. I donned my seal skin boots. Then I went to the bow to see the situation. The dhows were like little terriers attacking a bull. I saw, now, the wreckage of a ship as it floated away on the current. The drekar had rammed and sunk a dhow. The drekar had suffered damage and was clearly down by the bow. The Moors or Arabs, I could not differentiate, were swarming over the ship. The crew would not surrender. There was no point. They would be enslaved. This way they would fight to the end and die with a sword in their hand. They would reach Valhalla.

  “Lay us next to the nearest dhow. We will use it like a bridge and it will keep the others from us.” I watched as Sámr carefully laid his bow by the steering board and then joined Lars and Siggi to climb the mast. They would have to take in the sail quickly to take the way off us.

  Olaf Leather Neck and Haaken joined me. They wore their helmets. Mine had a mask. On land I would have worn my helmet but, on a ship, I needed to be able to see and hear well. The dhow had a pitching deck and you did not shut off any sense willingly. Olaf pointed his war axe at the Vikings, “They are in two groups. One is by the steering board and one is by the prow.”

  “Then you lead half the men to the prow and I will lead the other half to the steering board. Go and divide the men.”

  Haaken stayed with me. Aiden and David ghosted up to my shoulder. Aiden said, “You do not need to go, Jarl.”

  “Of all those on board this drekar you, Aiden the galdramenn, know that I must. If I do not then the Sisters will put something even more dangerous in our way. I would rather use Ragnar’s Spirit to fight some half-naked savages than risk losing the ship to some other danger on the voyage.”

  David ben Samuel said, “You fight these Arabs?” I nodded. “You are their leader! Why?”

  “Because I am the leader.” He shook his head in disbelief.

  We were rapidly approaching and the Arabs had seen us. There was little that they could do about it for they were bound and tethered to the sinking drekar. I drew my sword and used the backstay to pull me up onto the sheerstrake.

  Haaken laughed as he joined me, “This will make Odin laugh. Two old men with more white in their beards and hair than a mountain in Norway are going to leap across a sea and fight men with skin blacker than the night! This will be another song, jarl!”

  “Then I hope I am here to hear it!” I said wryly.

  Erik shouted, “Take in the sail! We come about!”

  We all knew there would be a collision. Erik was using our side to absorb the blow. We had left the shields on the sheerstrake and if there was damage to us then the shields would take it. We could make new shields; a damaged drekar was harder to repair! Despite my age my balance was still as good as it had ever been. As we collided I heard the crunch and crack as the dhow’s hull was damaged. I went with the motion. Arrows flew from our yard and deck as the ship’s boys sent arrows to clear the dhow’s decks. There had been six men there. As Haaken and I jumped down there were none left alive.

  I landed on something
soft. I saw that it was a robe covered Arab. He must have been the captain for the rest of the dead were dark skinned and half-naked. They had obligingly left the ropes they had used to scale the sides of the drekar. I sheathed my sword for I would need two hands to pull on the rope. The drekar was lower in the water now but the dhow was sinking. As I climbed I shouted, “Erik, pull us closer!” As I walked up the side of the drekar two ropes with hooks flew over us and secured the stern of the drekar. The dhow was crushed into splintered wood as Erik and his son pulled the two Norse ships together.

  I was almost decapitated as I swung my leg over the gunwale. A half-naked warrior with gleaming black skin swung his curved sword towards my head. Suddenly a goose fletched arrow appeared in his head and he fell back. As I drew my sword and glanced back I saw Sámr nocking another arrow. My great grandson had saved my life. Wyrd. The press of warriors at the steering board was being attacked on all sides by a motley crew of warriors. Some wore leather mail while others were half-naked. Some had dark skin and some had skin the colour of David.

  The Vikings could see little of us and we could see nothing of them. There were too many between us. I shouted, loudly and in Norse, “Clan of the Wolf! May the Allfather be with us!”

  It was to rally my men and give the Vikings hope. If they knew that brothers in arms were close they could fight their way to us. As I brought my sword down to split open the back of the nearest warrior I drew Wolf’s Blood. I lunged into the side of the warrior next to me. Our attack had taken them by surprise. They had thought their rear was safe. Even as they turned to face us I brought Ragnar’s Spirt into the neck of the Moor who turned to face the new threat. As sticky warm blood gushed over my hand I felt Haaken One Eye join me to my right and Knut Snorrisson join me to my left. The three of us began to carve our way to the beleaguered crew at the steering board.

  “Jarl! Hurry! The ship is sinking!”

  I now knew who the attackers were. I was aware of water around the dead at my feet. Our sudden attack had killed more than ten of the men of the Caliphate of Córdoba. The pressure on those at the steering board had lessened. I could now see helmets. A Norse voice shouted, “Wedge! Let us join our friends! Clan of the Bear we fight for Jarl Beorn Beornsson!”