by Griff Hosker
Men laughed.
“I will take thirty-two of you with me. All must have a byrnie.” I saw the disappointment on Sámr’s face and Snorri Gunnarson and his men. The rest will guard the drekar. These are dangerous times and I would not lose all that we have while we are helping David ben Samuel. If any do not wish…”
I got no further. They all stood. To a man they said, “We will come!”
“Olaf and Haaken will choose the men. Sámr, a word.” I saw the disappointment etched all over his face. “Olaf Leather Neck told me that you became a warrior on the last voyage. That is good. You have coin of your own and when we reach Whale Island then you can buy a byrnie or have Bagsecg’s sons make you one. Erik and Snorri will have few men left to guard our drekar. I need you here, with your bow, so that we can reach our home.”
He nodded, “I understand, Jarl Dragonheart. I am young.”
I shook my head, “Age has nothing to do with it. When we go to do whatever David wishes of us then we must look intimidating. We must be mailed, have helmets and shields. They think we are barbarians and for a short time we will be.”
He suddenly took in my words. “You will be with them?”
“Who else would lead the Clan of the Wolf? Perhaps you when you are older eh?”
“But your wound.”
“Is healed. I shall wear my mail and I will carry Ragnar’s Spirit. It is wyrd.”
The men were mailed and armed in no time at all. Germund fetched me my shield. He had a sword and a helmet which Haaken had found for him. Already he looked like a Viking warrior. Sámr said, “Germund has no mail.”
“But he can speak Greek. We will not be taking Aiden with us. Who else can we take?”
He shook his head, “I should have spent the voyage here like Aiden and learned the language. Then I could have come with you.”
I waved Haaken over. “Divide the men into three groups. It will attract less attention. I will take the first one.” The people who lived close to the harbour were used to seeing small groups of Vikings walking their streets. Thirty odd would be a little too many.
Ptolemy looked shocked as we entered the gate. I smiled, “Your master asked my men to come. There will be more.”
Shaking his head, he hurried off to arrange refreshments. Aiden was in his chamber. “I have gathered my things. I think it best if our chests were taken aboard. I know not what he has planned but it may be that we need a hasty departure.”
“You have all that you need?”
“This will be my last visit to Miklagård. There is more that I would like to take but I have enough. Perhaps Ylva might come and finish my work.”
Just then David ben Samuel arrived. He looked serious. “It is worse than I feared. Bardas has sent men to seize the young Emperor. They entered through the gate of Charisius. We are fortunate. He will have a longer distance than we to travel through the city.”
“And the palace guards?”
“The Empress is uncertain of the loyalty of some of them. I have men on the gate whom we can trust but the palace is large.”
“Then you have no time to waste. Lead on.” As he waved to his four men I had the opportunity to examine them. They were not young warriors. They were mercenaries. With overlapping mail armour, good helmets and oblong shields they were men who knew their business. They led and we followed in lines of three.
We ran at a steady pace. David ben Samuel’s men cleared our path as we ran the relatively short distance to the palace. The ten men at the gate allowed us through. David ben Samuel said to them, “Do not let anyone else in. If Hetaereiarch Bardas comes with his army then you can do nothing. You will have to join us in the Imperial apartments.”
As we moved into the palace proper I wondered how he thought a handful of Vikings could hold off an army. I had given my word and I could not go back on it now. Even as we hurried towards the buildings which made up the Imperial apartments I saw Greeks fleeing the palace. They would run now and then return to make their peace with whoever held power. The Greeks were a pragmatic people. This was the world of the easterner and not the world of the Viking.
Our entry to the main quarters was barred. I joined David ben Samuel as he spoke with the officer there. Germund was next to me and he translated. “The officer says that half of the guards who were supposed to be on duty have failed to turn up. There are less than thirty men inside.”
David turned to me. “You had better bring your men inside. We will be the last bastion. The guards here and at the gate are loyal. They will give their lives for the Emperor. It will be up to your men to stop the young Emperor being taken.”
I had thought David ben Samuel’s home was spectacular but the palace and the Imperial quarters were something even more awe inspiring. I had seen them when a young man and they had been improved since then. The Emperors spent their coin on luxury. We had no time for that. They should have spent it on loyal troops.
Empress Theodora, young Michael and the eunuch, Theoktistos were waiting for us in what we would have called the Great Hall. I knew not what they named it. The latter, Theoktistos reminded me of Ptolemy. He looked dismissively at us, “These barbarians will save us?” Sarcasm oozed from every word. I had enough Greek to understand that.
Empress Theodora had her arm around her son, Michael. She snapped, “Theoktistos!” I could not follow the rest of her diatribe but I got the gist of it. I was looking around the room in which we found ourselves to see if we could defend it. I saw that there were just two doors in and out. One was the large double door through which we had entered and the other was a small, innocuous door at the back. There were eight guards in the room. I was suddenly aware that all eyes were on me.
Germund said, quietly, “The Empress asked what you will do?”
I pointed to the small door. “I want that locked and barred. Put any tables you can find against it.” David ben Samuel translated. “The palace guards will guard the Emperor and my men will make a shield wall. They enemy has to come through that door. It is wide enough for four men at most. No matter how many men they have they have to face us four at a time. We will outnumber them.”
When David translated Theoktistos snorted in disgust but the Empress nodded and spoke. Germund said, “She says that you are a confident warrior. She has spoken with your doctor who says you are a remarkable man. If you hold off the enemies then you will need a second ship to carry back the gold you will be given.”
I smiled and bowed, “Tell her I will be happy to get home with my life. Now bar the door and form a shield wall.” I turned to Germund who had finished translating. “You guard the boy. If we fail then you can die a Viking!”
He nodded, “It has been an honour.”
We left the palace guards to bar the doors. David said, “Where would you like my men?”
“They can be between us and the palace guards. We will try to take as many of the enemy as we can. How many will there be?”
“It is a small force he has sent. No more than two hundred men.”
“Then let us hope that some of the loyal guards thin their numbers for us.” A thought struck me. “There will be loyal troops coming to aid us?”
“The Theme of Thrace and the Theme of Macedonia are both loyal Bandon. They are on their way. You have to hold them until dark.”
I saw that my men had formed a shield wall, three men deep. They had not left a space for me. Olaf saw my face and he said, “You can be at the back, Jarl Dragonheart. If we fall then you get to fight. Knowing that Ragnar’s Spirit is behind us is enough. The doctor did not heal you just to be killed by a rebel warrior. Trust us.”
Haaken One Eye said, “Jarl, you would not want a warrior to die because he relied on you and your wound stopped you being you, would you?”
He was right. There could be no weak links in a shield wall. I could hear commotion in the palace. The doors and the walls were effective at masking it but there were shouts and screams as well as the clash of steel. We had not ba
rred these doors and they were flung open as the last three guards ran in. I saw that they were the ones we had spoken to at the gates. David ben Samuel shouted something. They came and stood by me. We would be the last line before the Emperor and his defenders. I saw that their blades were bloody and their tunics bespattered with blood. One sported a wound to his arm.
There were still men fighting in the corridor. We could hear the sound of sword on sword and men dying. Olaf Leather Neck shouted, “We are the Clan of the Wolf. Haaken let us tell them who we are!”
We had learned that the sound of our chants could put fear in the hearts of our foes. They would wonder what they faced. On an open battlefield it was bad enough but the sound would be emanating from a room. It would echo and be amplified. The first ones in would have to face that fear. Regardless of that a chant put strength into our men. As we chanted we banged our shields with our sword hilts.
Viking enemy, taking heads
Viking warriors fighting back
Viking enemy, taking heads
Viking warriors fighting back
Viking enemy, taking heads
Viking warriors fighting back
Viking enemy, taking heads
Viking warriors fighting back
Viking enemy, taking heads
Viking warriors fighting back
Viking enemy, taking heads
Viking warriors fighting back
Olaf had placed the men just five paces from the door. There was one row of twelve and two rows of eleven. The first three men ran into the room. They wore scale mail shirts which only came to their waists. On their heads they wore round helmets and they carried an oval shield. Their swords were the long spatha used by horsemen. They had fought with their blades; they were bloody. They would not be as sharp as ours. Olaf had my place in the middle of the front rank and, using his axe two-handed he swept it in an arc to take the heads of all three men. The first had his head removed while the other two were hit in their faces. The first head hit the door and bounced into the corridor. The headless body fell. The other two dropped like stones. The three bodies were a barrier.
“Clan of the Wolf!” When he was in this sort of mood Olaf Leather Neck was the equal of a berserker.
The next skutatos who entered was wary and he stopped in the door. He shouted something down the corridor. The next ones we fought would not die so easily. The Greeks did not use shield wall as we did. Their shields were not locked. They came together and fought as individuals. With the exception of Olaf every other shield was interlinked with their neighbours. Our shields covered most of our bodies and our byrnies hung below the shield to cover us to the knees. They formed their version of a shield wall and stepped forward. I leaned into the back of the third rank and said to the Greeks on either side of me, in Greek, “You too!”
Our lines became one metal mass. I could see, over Halmr’s shoulder, the next four men die almost without raising their weapons. Olaf’s swinging axe made them raise their shields and Haaken and the others gutted them. Their mail went to their waist only. Outside I could hear orders being shouted. More men appeared and they tried to push into the room. The ones at the front were a sacrifice. Their bodies were held by the ones behind. Our second rank thrust their swords through the gaps in the front rank and Greeks died. They had more men now and gradually our line bowed. I felt my feet slipping back on the marble floor. It did not matter for when the skutatos entered they were surrounded on three sides. Eventually they would shift us but by then I hoped to have thinned out their best men.
As we were pushed back our lines spread and I found myself, with the three Greeks, in the third rank. Haaken, Olaf and the others in the front rank were still butchering the Greeks but we were also taking casualties. I saw Arne Longwalker fall. He was struck four times and yet he still took two of his killers with him. Others fell wounded and they swapped places with those in the rank behind. When Leif Longshanks was cut in the leg I said, “Change places!” He did so and I was in the second rank. I lifted Ragnar’s Spirit so that it was between Haaken One Eye and Sven Stormbringer. I saw a Greek face and I lunged at it. My sword took him in the eye and went into his brain. My scar hurt as I did so but I could live with the pain. Someone had ordered the skutatos to use their spears. One was rammed at Sven Stormbringer’s body. He flicked his shield at it. The spear came straight for my head. It rang off my helmet and I saw stars. It was a warning.
Despite the deaths we had inflicted they were pushing us back into the hall. The Greek warriors who were behind us were suited to fighting on a battlefield where large numbers of men would determine the outcome. Here it was every man for himself and we used whatever means we could to attain victory.
A Greek voice from the corridor shouted out an order. Feet sounded in the corridor. He was sending everyman he had. When we were all pushed back I knew what it was. It was a last throw of the bones. He sought to overwhelm us and capture the Emperor. The fact that he might lose most of his men appeared to be a gamble worth taking. The sudden weight of men had an effect. Our double line became single and I found myself fighting alongside two of the palace guards. I could not rely on their shields. I was aware of my scar. On the outside my body was healing but what of inside? Was I risking all by defending a boy? I smiled. I was fulfilling an oath. I had no choice.
The skutatos who ran at me saw a white beard and a man who had been in the rear rank. They were always the softest of warriors. He came at me confidently with his shield held loosely. He struck at me and my shield flicked up to knock the sword away. We were not in a tight formation and I had the room to bring Ragnar’s Spirt from on high. He barely had time to block the blow and he reeled. I punched at him with the boss of my shield. The muscle in my side ached but the boss did its job. His nose spread across his face and I lunged at his thigh. Twisting as I pulled the sword out against the bone he fell writhing on the ground. Even as I was withdrawing the sword I brought it up under the arm of the skutatos fighting my Greek shield brother. His arms were bare and my sword tore through muscles and tendons. His sword fell followed, two strokes later, by his body.
The lines were no longer clear. This was a free for all and that would suit my men. I saw Olaf’s axe rise and fall. I heard the exultant roar of Galmr as he brought down his blade to take another foe. A skutatos and his shield brother came at me. I was isolated and I stepped back. I knew that there was a palace guard there. One side would be protected. As it happened there were two. I later found that the third had died. Our small shield wall seemed, to the skutatos who were advancing, that we were the last line of defence before the Emperor. Others joined them.
I angled my body so that my shield covered my side and I poked Ragnar’s Spirit over the top. I could see that my men were winning but eight men had chosen to break through our shield wall. Jarl Dragonheart might get his wish of a glorious death and a place next to Odin. As they came towards us I knew that I was not ready to die. I had been to the Otherworld and this world had more to offer me.
I took the first blow on my shield and rammed my sword forward. I was rewarded first by flesh and then by bone as Ragnar’s Spirit tore into the warrior’s mouth. I tore the sword out sideways and it sliced into the neck of the next man. Another warrior steeped forward to take the place of the man I had slain but the press of men was so much that neither of us could use our swords. I pulled back my head. My helmet had a nasal and a mask. When it hit his face, his nose broke as did his cheekbones. A piece of metal ripped out his eye and he fell back screaming. A sword came from behind and scored a line across my helmet.
Suddenly there was a roar from my side and I saw Germund and David ben Samuel lead the men I had left guarding the Empress. They fell upon the skutatos. It was too much. I heard Greek words being shouted. I later learned it was. ‘I surrender’! They were pragmatic warriors. They would now join the winning side. Bardas’ attempt to take power had failed.
As the Greeks threw down their swords so my men began banging th
eir shields with their swords and they chanted, “Dragonheart!” Over and over.
Seven of my men lay dead. Others, Olaf Leather Neck and Haaken One Eye included, were wounded. David ben Samuel took charge. He sent men to seal the gates and to fetch a physician. The skutatos were disarmed and the guards mounted a watch on the gate. I took off my helmet and turned to the two Greeks who had fought alongside me. I nodded and said, “Thank you!”
They both grinned and gave a half bow. The captain of the guard shouted an order and they left me to stand watch. For the first time I had fought alongside someone who was not Viking. It had gone well. Perhaps it was a sign for the future. As I cleaned my sword on the tunic of a fallen skutatos I thought back a few moments to the battle. I had chosen life over death. My journey into the shadows had been necessary. I had thought that, because I had a white hair and beard, that my time in this world was done. I had glimpsed Valhalla and knew that a place of honour lay there for me. Yet this world still had more. Sámr and my other grandchildren and great grandchildren were important. I wanted to see them grow.
Germund came over. His tunic was covered in blood and his sword was notched. I nodded to it. “Choose yourself a better weapon, Germund! You have earned it.”
He nodded, absent mindedly as though that was not important, “I have seen Jarl Dragonheart and his men fight. I do not deserve the honour of joining such a clan.”
“You deserve it more than any. You could have watched yet, without mail you came to our aid. Yours was the greater act of courage this day.”
David ben Samuel came over. He was smiling yet he too had blood upon his tunic. “We could not stand and let you be butchered. The Empress said that we had to join this band of heroes. She called you Spartans! She is right. The Theme of Thrace are at the gates. They will be here soon.” He turned as cloaks were laid over our dead. “I am sorry that you lost warriors.”
“The men who came with me from the Land of the Wolf chose to come and expected to die. All were single men. The ones who return will honour their memory. I have seen Valhalla and know that they will be happy. They are but a little way from here and the door is opening. They will see old comrades and they will be eager to tell them of this battle.”