by Griff Hosker
Viking warriors fighting back
When we passed the port we saw that the harbour at the citadel was filled with ships. There were dhows, galleys and merchant men but we were so swift that none stirred. I had no doubt that the sight of a dragon ship would upset them.
Sven Stormbringer shook his head, “Our raid would have ended here. We would have sailed through at full daylight and just used sails. When my brother and our oar brothers died, it was wyrd.”
Chapter 5
We were down to the dregs in the water barrels. We had rationed but, now that we were through the straits, then we needed to raid and find water. Unless we wished to risk the African coast, it would have to be in the Caliphate. We were in the hands of David ben Samuel. Almost as soon as we were through the straits we noticed a difference both in the water and in the heat. That first day in the Blue Sea, as we headed north to find a river, we felt the effects of the hot sun. Erik had his boys soaking the decks with sea water to prevent them drying out too much. We passed an island with a small port but there appeared to be no river. We were not concerned about raiding. We needed water. The men were tiring for it was almost noon and they had rowed, in shifts, since dawn. Once we had the water then we could take advantage of the wind which blew from the north and the west.
Ten miles or so north of the island we had passed Siggi spotted the river and the white mud houses which huddled on one bank. “Captain, I see a river. It is two miles off the larboard bow! There is no wall and no tower!”
Beggars could not be choosers. Even if this was a small beck we would have to use it. The men were exhausted. Erik put the steering board over. David stood with Aiden and me. He stared at the straining rowers and asked, “How are these men able to row so long? In the Empire they use slaves and few last more than a handful of voyages. I did it briefly and look at my hands.” His hands were red and raw from the oars
“We are trained to row from an early age. Sámr, my great grandson will probably end up taking an oar before we return home.” I turned over my palms. “These have not rowed for some years but feel the skin. It is like leather.”
He touched my palms and almost recoiled. “Now I see why you are feared. Even in Caesarea we have heard of you.”
I nodded, “And one day Vikings will come here to raid. It will not be one ship such as I brought, it will be fifty or sixty ships. They will not be crewed by a handful of men as mine is. They will have fifty or sixty men.”
David shook his head, “That is a terrible threat and yet, on the voyage thus far, I have met with nothing but kindness.”
Aiden smiled, “That is the Viking for you. They make wonderful friends but are the fiercest of enemies.”
“You are not Viking?”
“Not by birth. I was taken by the Dragonheart from Hibernia as a child. I have become a Viking in my heart.”
“You do not resent being taken?”
Aiden laughed, “It was the best thing that ever happened to me!”
As we had seen in Vasconia the sight of a dragon ship inspired terror. When we neared the handful of huts and tiny fishing ships we saw the people fleeing. They drove animals up the river. There were trees there. We had seen few such stands of trees since we had picked up Sven and his men. If we had still needed it we could have hewn timber for the yard. Arne Eriksson hurried back from the prow. “The river is not wide enough for us to sail up it. There is neither quay nor jetty.”
Erik nodded glumly, “Then this will take time!” He looked meaningfully at me. We would have to prepare for war. The men were not ready for a hard fight. This was the Norns’ web at work.
I turned to Aiden, “I need you, David ben Samuel and Sven Stormbringer to search the village. Sven’s men will need clothes. I know these are not what they are used to but they will be better than what they have. Find food and bring any animals.”
Aiden nodded, “You fear trouble?”
“Aye.”
David said, “But this is a small place. What danger can lie here?”
On our journey from the straits we had seen at least three citadels. We had only travelled twenty miles since Tarifa. “We are Vikings. We prepare for danger and if it does not come we have lost nothing.” I walked towards the seated rowers who were still pulling at the oars. “We are going to land but I fear that you will have no rest. We will have to bring the water to the drekar. We cannot sail up the river. There may be danger. Bring your shields and your swords when we land. If no danger comes then we will have a pleasant afternoon lying on this white sand.”
Galmr Hrolfsson shouted, “And that is unlikely to happen.”
Siggi Long Face, his oar brother, nodded, “A fight would suit me. I have sat on my arse too long as it is.”
They all seemed happy about the prospect of a fight. I hoped it would not come to that. We had been lucky so far and not lost a man but we had barely begun our journey. We had been sailing for less than fifteen days. We still had forty-five days to go and the Blue Sea was a wide and dangerous stretch of water.
There was less movement in the water here in the Blue Sea. Compared with home they barely had tides. Erik laid us parallel with the beach. While the larboard oars kept us steady the steerboard rowers jumped ashore with the ship’s boys and pulled the drekar so that she was as close to the beach as possible. When we landed we would have to wade to the beach but our ship could easily pull away when we needed to.
I took my sword and went ashore first with Olaf Leather Neck, Ráðgeir Ráðgeirson, David ben Samuel, Aiden and Sven Stormbringer. Olaf and Ráðgeir Ráðgeirson both had their shields. I did not. The soft sand sucked at our feet as we headed up to the huts. Leaving Aiden and his two assistants to search the huts we went up the slope. Below us I saw Haaken organising the rowers while Erik had his ship’s boys fetching water from upstream. It would take the whole of the afternoon to fill the barrels.
We could see the villagers disappearing into the trees. It was now obvious that there was a road of some description heading inland. Olaf Leather Neck swung his shield around his back. “They are going to a place of safety. That means a wall.”
I nodded, “And a wall means warriors. This is a good place to watch. You two stay here. I will have food sent to you.”
He nodded and then added glumly, “And these follow the religion that forbids ale! It will be water!”
I laughed, “I fear we will not find ale again for four moons.”
Ráðgeir Ráðgeirson was an optimistic warrior. He was more like Haaken than the dour Olaf, “And think how much sweeter it will taste after that time without it! It is almost worth the wait!”
Olaf’s snort was eloquent!
I walked back to the beach. No one was slacking despite the exhaustion which was apparent on all of their faces. The ship’s boys were all stripped to the waist as they filled the barrels from the human chain of warriors. The weapons and shields lay close to hand. We had hung the horn from a spear planted in the ground. If danger came we could sound it quickly.
Erik shouted down, “They are working hard, Jarl Dragonheart, but this will take time. Are we in danger?”
“Olaf Leather Neck and Ráðgeir Ráðgeirson watch from the west. Let us hope that the men of these parts are cautious.” I looked north. We had seen nothing south of us and when we had pulled into the beach I had seen nothing north of us but there was another bay. It was hidden from us by the headland. “Lars Long Nose and Siggi Eainarson, take your weapons and walk to the next bay. I would know if there are enemies there.”
Grateful to be relieved of the task of passing pails they took their weapons, shields and headed north along the beach. I went to the huts to see what my men had found. I saw that Sven Stormbringer had slaughtered an old goat. It had, from the look of one leg, been lame and the villagers had left it. He was butchering it. He grinned as I passed, “Our passenger will enjoy this no matter how tough it is!”
In another hut David and Aiden had found some pots which would be useful. T
here was also a quantity of food. I did not recognise it but David did. He said, “This is good food. The rice will need cooking and the Bulgur wheat too but they are both nutritious.”
I had tasted the two cereals when in Miklagård but I knew that my men would find it a strange taste. They had also found lemons, oranges and pomegranates. These would not last long for I knew that they were delicious. The sack of dried figs and the larger one of dates would last a long time and we would ration those. I left the two of them and returned to the beach. As I passed Sven I saw that he had put the goat on to cook and was drying the skin. We would not fully cook the goat but as with the Vasconian sheep we would take the pot on board.
Erik shouted, as I neared him, “We are halfway there!”
There was no sign of Lars and Siggi. Olaf Leather Neck would shout if there was danger from that quarter. David and Aiden brought down their supplies. It took a few trips for they had found, in what must have been the headman’s hut, a chest buried in the floor. It contained dinars! It was probably their tax money. It was not a fortune but would be added to that which we had already collected. The last thing they brought down were the clothes for the Clan of the Bear. I smiled for they would be unhappy to be wearing the flowing robes. It would make them look like Arabs. Then I saw an advantage in the disguise for we could use it if we had to enter a town.
We had almost finished when Lars Long Nose came racing down the beach! “Riders! Riders!”
I ran for the horn and sounded it. Everyone recognised the danger. The boys grabbed their bows as the men with the pails raced to the drekar. Aiden and David ran back to help Sven with the pot. I saw that Lars was less than four hundred paces from us but, just two hundred paces behind him was a line of horsemen. They would catch him. I could not allow him to die alone.
“Sámr, to me, warriors follow me.” I ran towards Lars. The fact that I could not see Siggi meant he was in Valhalla. We had lost our first man. Sámr easily caught up with me. With my sword and dagger in my hand I shouted, “When you are in range then kill the leading horsemen. Do not risk yourself. Keep falling back to the drekar. Your task is to slow them.”
“Aye Jarl.” He stopped.
I continued to run and Galmr joined me. He had a shield and a spear. The leading horseman also had a spear and he was less than twenty paces behind Lars. He leaned forward in readiness to skewer my warrior. I heard the twang of the bow and the hiss of the arrow. Sámr’s arrow hit the horse and the rider flew over the head of the dying beast. He did not rise. A second arrow followed so quickly that it surprised even me. This time it plucked a rider from his saddle. The rest slowed and pulled up their shields. Lars reached me and turned. I was now flanked by Galmr and Lars. Others arrived and we made a shield wall. I was the only one without a shield.
Sámr’s arrows continued to fall but the mounted, robed warriors used their shields for protection. He only struck the flesh of one of them. He changed target to the horses. We prepared for the shock of the charge. They were all armed with long spears and they rammed them at us. The rest of my men blocked them with their shields. I had none. I fended away the spear head as it came towards me. It nicked my arm. Stepping forward, as the rider withdrew his spear for a second strike, I rammed my sword into the throat of the horse. The blood spurted and the other horses became agitated. I stepped back.
“Walk backwards!”
Even as we began to walk I heard the horn. We had recovered our men. Another rider charged at me and this time it was Sámr’s arrow which did the damage. His arrow struck the horse in its head and it catapulted the rider from its dying back. I heard a shout from my right as one of the enemy spears found flesh. Galmr then fended off the strike from the horseman with the mail vest and rammed his own spear into the warrior’s leg. He twisted as he pulled it out. The horseman screamed and wheeled his horse away. The movement broke up the press of men and we managed twenty paces closer to our ship. There had been more than forty horsemen. There were still more than twenty-five who were horsed and unwounded. I would have risked glancing over my shoulder to see how close we were but I knew that such a glance could be fatal.
Olaf Leather Neck’s voice carried to me, “Two hundred paces Jarl. Bring them a little closer and we will send a shower of arrows!”
Aiden shouted, “Sámr is safe. He is with us!” Aiden could read my thoughts, even in a battle!
I shouted, “On my command, step forward and aim a blow at a horseman and then take ten steps back! Keep in line!”
“Aye jarl!”
“Now!”
The horsemen had grown bold and we all stepped as one. The shields of the others blocked the Córdoban spears. I used Wolf’s Blood again to block the blow but this time the spear sliced into my cheek. I tasted salty blood as I swung my sword at the head of the rider’s horse. It reared, turned and bucked. The rider was dumped at my feet. I lunged down with Wolf’s Blood and sliced across his throat. I stepped back. I was the slowest of my men and it almost cost me my life. The Córdobans came for me.
I heard Olaf Leather Neck shout, “Release!” and ten arrows descended. Four men were struck. Two had mail but the other two did not. Four horses were hit and they careered off. The horsemen halted. Had we wished we might have been able to charge them and make it a true victory. That was too risky and so we marched back to our drekar. We climbed aboard.
As soon as Aiden saw my face and hand he grabbed his satchel. “Those wounds need tending!”
I looked at my kyrtle. It was covered in blood. We pulled away from the beach. The sun was lower in the sky. We had survived but we had been lucky. “Haaken, did we lose any men?”
“Just Siggi and yours is the most serious wound.”
Lars came over, “It was my fault Jarl. There was a hut and while Siggi went ahead I investigated. I heard him shout and when I came out I saw him being speared by those Córdoban horsemen. I would have gone to his aid…”
“But it would have been too late and you thought of the clan. This is the Norns’ doing. Lars. Had you not gone into the hut then you would have both been surprised and killed. The horsemen would have been upon us and who knows what might have happened. Everything has a purpose. We will honour Siggi.”
We gave Sven and his men the robes. Surprisingly the normally dour, not to say unpleasant, Pridbjørn Ellesefsson seemed delighted that he had the change of clothes. Like the others he immediately took off his dirty, sweat and blood-stained clothes and donned the clean ones. Sven shook his head, “It is a pity we could not have taken the mail from those Moors. I would feel less naked amongst you.”
Haaken One Eye shook his head, “I am sorry, Sven, we just thought to save or lives but next time we will strip the bodies for you.”
Everyone, including Sven laughed. We had filled almost all of the barrels. We had food and we had reached the Blue Sea. It was good. With the wind behind we did not need to row and with three watch keepers we could sail all night. David, Aiden and Erik all agreed that the next landfall would be the islands off the coast of Italy and that would take twelve days. So long as the wind held then we had nothing to fear and we would have little to do. My face ached from the stitches Aiden had put in but that too actually helped. The fresh pain took away the gnawing ache in my guts.
Olaf Ulfsson, one of the Bears asked, “Will we land in Italy?”
David ben Samuel answered. He had grown in confidence during the voyage and his Norse was as good as any foreigner I had known. “If we reach the island of Sicily or Italy itself then that will be the land of the Empire. We will be safe.” He looked at me, “However, there will be suspicion. Some of the Rus Vikings have raided the Holy City of Constantinopolis. They will be wary. I beg you allow me to speak when we meet Imperial officials or soldiers.”
Aiden nodded, “I have spoken with Erik Short Toe and done the calculations. We have enough water for twelve days. That is how long this voyage to Italy will last. We cannot afford to raid the Empire. Unless we go to Africa then we hav
e made our last raid on this voyage. We will have to visit a port and buy what we need.”
Everyone nodded. Pridbjørn Ellesefsson asked, “Then I could go ashore there in safety?”
David said, “Aye.”
Aiden had a questioning mind, “I thought you had an oath to fulfil. Is there not a man you have to kill? I assumed he was in Miklagård.”
Pridbjørn Ellesefsson gave a thin smile, “I did not say where he was. Let us say that Italy will afford me a better opportunity of fulfilling my oath than Miklagård.” Enigmatically that was all he said. I saw Sven Stormbringer frown. I caught his eye and he shrugged. The Clan of the Bear had not been as rigorous in their crew selection as we were.
With little to occupy me, save an increasing worry that my illness was worsening, I spent a great deal of time with David and Aiden studying the map. I had begun to realise that if we sent a couple of knarr and drekar that we could trade in these waters. We had seen little so far that would threaten us. We now knew the problems. On the next voyage we would take more water barrels. The Blue Sea teemed with fish. We scattered a couple of fishing fleets not long after leaving the coast of Córdoba and caught the fish they had been seeking. They were different fish to the ones we normally ate but the men enjoyed them.
I found that if I ate less then the bleeding was not as bad. It was getting hotter and it was not hard to limit my intake of food. Aiden had told me that the condition would worsen. He had warned me that the potion would lose its efficacy and he was correct. David thought that it would take us just over a moon to reach Miklagård. The time we had lost we had made up with the wind which sped us across the Blue Sea. I found it was better when I had something to occupy my mind and so I sat with David and Aiden.
“Once we have passed Italy then the voyage has less human dangers but more natural ones.” David pointed to the map.
“Natural ones?”
There are many natural obstacles we have to face. “We have to pass through the Greek Islands. There are thousands of them. The alternative is to sail further south and that risks taking us closer to Africa. We have been lucky so far but the Moors of Africa would like nothing better than to take this drekar. You Vikings would make perfect galley slaves.”