by Griff Hosker
“He has left with some of his guards and gone hunting.” He smiled maliciously, “it seems the disgraced Bladud has been given the task of commander of the sentries for the next three days. How sad!”
I left and headed for the training ground. Ywain would be there and I could tell him. I did not want any to think I was shirking my job. As I left the gate I saw the men in two wedges. Gildas and Ywain were trying to get them as close as they could to each other. Even as I watched some of them fell over the feet of the men before them. The shield wall always seemed to be a simple formation but it required great skill to make it work effectively.
I hid my smile as I heard the king’s son swearing like a blacksmith. “You dozy buggers! Cannot you stay on your feet? If we were Saxons then Lord Gildas and I could have beaten you on our own!!” He saw me and looked to the heavens in supplication. “Lord Gildas carry on with the training while I go to talk to the swimmer.” The story had been passed from the guards at the gate and was now all the way around the fort.
“I was looking for your father. He said he wanted to speak with me at the feast the other night.”
“He went hunting. To be honest Lann, he was not sure if you would be up and about today.”
I laughed. “I have a hard head and it takes more than a blow on the back of the head to make me slow down. My men will be making longer bows over the next few days”
“Good.”
I felt obliged to add a little more information.”I did not want you to think ill of me, that I was shirking my job.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Did my father not make it clear the other night? You are a commander. As yet it is but forty men but soon you will be as I am the leader of a hundred. Then when I have a thousand men, should the army become that big, then you will command more. Yesterday did nothing to diminish your reputation. It was enhanced. Bladud has never been bested and you did it with consummate ease and little technique. I know, from our bouts, that I am not in your class but I can show you how to improve.”
“I didn’t know,” I added lamely.
“There are quarters for you in the main building you know, with Gildas and me.”
“Thank you but I think I will stay with my brothers. I hope you are not offended.”
He clasped my arm, “Of course not. They are family and family loyalty is more important than anything else. I know that. Soon my brothers will be fighting alongside me. When that day comes then no-one will stop us."
By the time the king returned the bows were all made and were maturing after being treated. We had taught the archers how to make arrows and, although they had only made two each, they had the technique and it was a job they could do in the long winter evenings which were drawing closer. We had also had many more recruits; these were men who had heard of our victory over the Saxons. After so many defeats it was a sign that the tide was turning at last. Our barrack block was full and a second was half filled.
I was summoned to the king’s private quarters on the evening of his return. Ywain was there too and I stood awkwardly until the king asked me to sit.”I am sorry for Bladud’s attack on you. It was uncalled for and he has been punished.” I shrugged. “You should know that he is a fearless warrior and I owe him my life but he is, shall we say, strong minded. I have spoken with him and it will not happen again.”
“It is forgotten.”
“Good, now before I turn to the main reason I wish to speak with you, could you tell me about this report of you retrieving a sword from the lake?”
I found myself blushing. At the time I had thought it necessary, I suppose I still did but I wished that I had been more discreet. “My mother was someone who understood dreams. When I was knocked out I dreamed she came to me and the sword was under water. It was lost. She told me how to retrieve it. When you told me the story of the legend of the warrior with the blade I felt I needed to test it and I did.”
The king looked at me curiously. Those who worship the White Christ believe many magic things but not of people; for them the magic is the work of God. My mother believed that people could work magic too. “Surely you saw where you threw it and then went directly to it?”
“Why would I do that? That would not prove anything would it?”
The king and his son exchanged an incredulous look. “You mean you risked losing the magnificent sword to see if your dream was true?”
“Of course.”
The king shook his head. Ywain was more curious. “How did you find it?”
“I closed my eyes and saw it.”
“How could you see it with your eyes closed?”
“It was in my head and I saw it as clearly as I see you now. I put my hand down and the sword awaited me. I now know that it is a powerful weapon. We have named it Saxon Slayer although there must be another name it was born with. That is now lost.”
“May I see the blade?” I handed it to the king who took it from its scabbard. He hefted it from hand to hand. “It has a fine balance and I can see that it is well made. It does not look Roman.”
“No, I have not seen another like it.”
The king handed it back. “I have. There are swords like this one in Hibernia but none are as well made as this one.” He shook himself as though to break the spell of the sword. “I know my son has spoken to you of our plans for you. I will need leaders when we fight larger armies. I need leaders on whom I can rely. We watched you in the battle against the Saxons and you kept your head and you led well.” He glanced at his son. “We would make you a lord.”
“Thank you, your majesty, but I need no title. My rank is enough. Will a title make men fight better? No, they will fight because I am one of them and they know me.”
“Not the answer I expected but a good answer.”
“What I would say, your majesty, is that I would like my archers armed with more than just bows. There were times, at the Roman fort, when they were watching because the combat between the swordsmen was too close. We have few enough men to allow them to watch their comrades fight. The next Saxon helms we capture I would like for my archers. Six of the ones who died were struck in the head. Had they had helmets they might have survived.”
“Very well.”
”Can I ask if you have found any Roman arms in the fort?”
“Some, why do you ask?”
“I discovered boxes of Roman equipment buried beneath the fort on the Dunum. It would give, all of our warriors helmets and armour.”
“Then we shall explore that possibility. Brother Osric may be able to help. I am pleased that we spoke for I now know your heart and that makes me happier.”
By the time the first snows had fallen the archers were fully trained and could send an arrow over a hundred and fifty paces and hit their target each time. They all owned a sword and a dagger and over half of them, the ones who had fought with us, owned a helmet. Aelle’s slingers too, were well trained. As we had a hundred archers and slingers I was now commander of a hundred and Ywain had five hundred men to fight in a shield wall. The king had managed to recruit ten more horsemen which swelled the whole army to six hundred and fifty. A sobering thought was that that army we had defeated was only a little smaller than that and it was one of the smaller warbands. We would have to rely on tactics and better warriors to defeat them.
Bladud and I had not seen each other since the bout. For my part, I had not avoided him but we just moved in different circles. I was busy with Ywain and the training of the army whilst Bladud and the king were frequently away showing the people of Rheged that they still had a king. Now that the days were shorter we spent less time training but Ywain and I used one of the empty barracks to practise our sword skills. Although I was much stronger than he was, he had more subtlety which I knew I would need. I also discovered deficiencies in my armour and helmet because the blow which had felled Bladud had been successful because he had no nasal and my armour, effective though it was, did not extend below my thighs. I knew that I would need more pro
tection. The one aspect I was happy with was my shield. Despite Ywain’s attempts to get me to use an oval one I persisted with the one my father and I had made.
Eventually I took him outside. “Go and set your shield and mine over there by that wall and then return here.” While he set them up I went for my bow. I paced out a hundred paces and loosed an arrow at my shield and then one at his. I marched us forwards fifty paces and repeated it. When we reached the two shields and turned them around Ywain let out an audible gasp. The arrows had both penetrated his shield, one by three fingers but the other by a hand span and a half. “That would have pierced me.”
“Or at least hit your mail.” I showed him my shield; neither arrow had penetrated the shield and the first one had penetrated so little that I pulled it out easily. “It is the construction of the shield which gives it its strength. There are two layers with the grain going in different directions and the leather cover helps but the most important part is the large number of nails I have used. The arrow has more chance of striking metal than anything.” I shrugged. “I agree with you that the shape of yours is better but mine gives me what I need, protection.”
We carried the shields back to our rooms. “We have visitors next week Lann, important ones. King Morcant Bulc and King Rhydderch the Generous are visiting for the Christmas celebrations.” I gave him a blank look. He could have been speaking Greek for all that I understood him. “They are the two kings, one from north of here and the other from the north east. They are allies of my father and they come to plan the spring offensive.”
Ah, but what is this Christmas? Is it another White Christ thing?”
He sighed with exasperation. Despite the best efforts of the king, Brother Osric and Ywain himself my brothers and I were immune from the attraction of Christianity. “It is the celebration of the birth of Christ.”
“Ah yes, like our Yule festival.”
“No nothing like that.”
“So you do not drink and eat well.”
“We do that, yes.”
“You do not spend it with friends and family.”
“Well of course we do but there is nothing similar otherwise.” He reddened and I knew I had angered him. I enjoyed the game of baiting him about his religion. Brother Osric had explained well but I could see no advantage. I did not deny the existence of this White Christ but he did not appear to be any stronger than my gods. In fact this turning of the cheek to enemies seemed like a real disadvantage to a warrior.
Rhydderch the Generous arrived first and I really liked him from the moment I met him. He was a huge red headed bear of a man; he was already an old man but still hale and hearty. His lands bordered ours to the north but he was a staunch ally of King Urien. He marched down from his lands with his twenty bodyguards. All of them carried either a mighty war hammer or a double headed axe. They were fierce looking warriors but, as I pointed out to Ywain, they could not defend themselves against arrows or a swordsman who was agile and swift. I did agree however that facing them might be a little frightening.
King Morcant Bulc was more of an enigma. He was younger than the other two kings and I judged him to be but little older than us. His kingdom was the most under threat from the Angles and the Saxons. His coast was constantly raided and I had heard that one of his island strongholds, Metcauld, had been taken. Now that the Saxons controlled the Dunum it was only a matter of time before they swallowed him up too. My problem was that I wondered why he had not aided us when had fought in the autumn. Even though we had beaten the enemy it had been a close run thing. That apart, he was like Rhydderch, a very affable and approachable man. I was introduced to them as one of the senior officers and they both expressed much interest in the story of the sword and the prowess my brothers and I had shown with bows. Neither king had a weapon which could match it.
At the feast we held to welcome them Rhydderch said, “My lads like to see a man’s face before they smash his skull in.” He looked admiringly at his bodyguards who were busily gorging themselves on venison, “aye they are fierce fighters.”
Morcant Bulc was more amenable to the idea of bows. “I would use them if I had them. Perhaps King Urien you could loan me the brothers to train up men such as your archers?”
“Aye well we will have to wait until my men are fully trained and ready for war and when we have finally defeated these Saxon bastards.”
I then listened with interest to their ideas. Rhydderch seemed happy to go along with the other two king’s ideas but Urien and Morcant appeared to have slightly differing views. Morcant was all for a spring offensive against Metcauld but King Urien, wisely in my view, wanted to eliminate the enemies who lay before the island; those who had taken the centre of the land. “I would hate to be trapped against the sea with enemies in my rear for then we would have no escape.”
“But all the time we delay they are growing stronger.”
Rhydderch burped, “Aye laddie but we canna fight in the winter. It is no done. When the snows have gone then we can go.”
Morcant was not convinced but he could see that he had been outnumbered. “I will have to harass them on my own then until your armies arrive.”
“Don’t waste your men uselessly.” King Urien gestured towards me, “do as Lann and his brothers did. They ambushed the Saxons who took their land and they killed many of them before they had to flee. If three warriors could do that then perhaps twenty or thirty of your more determined men might do as well.”
Although he did not say anything then I could see his mind working. He fixed me with a stare, when I saw, it he turned it to a smile and I wondered what was in his head. I was even more disturbed when I saw Bladud sidle up and speak privately with him. It did not bode well for me.
Although the feasting went on for my days my brothers and I soon tired of it. The bodyguards of the three kings seemed to enjoy trying to best each other in drinking contests. Ywain and Gildas were also weary of it but their relationship to the king meant that they could not escape their duties whereas we three could and we did. Winter has few animals to hunt but hunting is easier as you can see their tracks when there is snow on the ground. Using our wolf skins we left the fort just before dawn with only the sentries to witness our departure. We had heard the wolves howling in the night and knew that there was a pack seeking food. Aelle often looked longingly at our cloaks and Raibeart and I wanted to hunt a wolf for him. We were close as brothers and, although it was a fancy, we all wished to dress alike. I had even begun to think about painting a wolf on my shield complete with red eyes. I wanted warriors who fought me to know who I was.
We tested the wind and travelled south with the wind in our faces. The hills to the south were filled with lakes and forests which were perfect for wolves but had few people and animals. The packs were forced to forage close to the houses and homes of our people and therein lay our opportunity. We had taken Wolf with us and he relished the opportunity to do something active once again. He had a fine life in the fort for he was well fed and given fuss by the archers but he was a working dog and he needed to do something. He quickly picked up the scent of the pack and, as the ground began to rise we found the tracks. We strung our bows and each notched an arrow. Wolf’s ears went down and he lay supine on the floor. The pack was close. I gestured for him to stay. A pack of wolves would tear him to pieces. Raibeart went to my right and Aelle to my left. It soon became obvious to me that they had retreated to their den which looked to me to be in a small dell hidden by a jumble of bushes and rocks. The smell of the pack drifted into our nostrils; it was a pungent mix and made us even warier. We needed to make them run; I mimed loosing into the air and into their den. They both understood and nodded. We aimed high and three arrows plunged into the den. Even as we heard a yelp we had notched another arrow and waited for the pack to erupt. While most of the pack fled south two huge male wolves, teeth bared raced towards us. My arrow struck the second wolf in the shoulder while my brothers’ arrows took out the first. My wounded beast
still hurtled towards me and I dropped my bow and took out my dagger. I had my bracer on my left arm and I held that before me. The wolf’s teeth sank into the leather, penetrating through to the skin but my dagger slashed across its throat and its life blood gushed over me.
My brother’s were concerned about me and raced over to pull the dead wolf from me. Raibeart looked at my left arm. “You were lucky brother. The teeth almost penetrated the bracer.”
I took the leather bracer off and saw the teeth marks on my arm. Another few moments and he would have drawn blood. “You are right but it has given me a thought. Suppose we had bracers on both arms with pieces of metal sewn in.”
Raibeart’s brow wrinkled. “How would that help our archery?”
“It wouldn’t but it would give us protection from sword and dagger blows. And it would not impede our arrows.”
“If you had the same things for your right hand brother then it would protect it during combat.”
“It would indeed Aelle. I will try to get some soft leather which can be lined with iron. And now let us get these beasts back.”
We gutted them there and we gave some of the offal to Wolf who voraciously consumed it. While he ate we sacrificed their hearts to Vindonnus and said a prayer of thanks to the god of hunting. Raibeart and I hefted the carcasses on our backs while Aelle, after retrieving the two arrows he could find, carried our bows and we made our way back to the fort. The sentries shook their heads as we entered. “You brothers, you are mad as fish. Who else would track a wolf pack on foot and then kill them. Mad!”
I detected the admiration beneath the jokes. “Well my little brother could not be the only one without a wolf skin could he?” Their laughter was still ringing in our ears when we headed for the workshop close to the kitchens. There was a gully which ran under the walls and it was the area used for butchery of animals. We could swill the wolf blood away after they had been skinned. I let my brothers skin the dead wolves for the last time it had been father and I who had done so. It was a skilful task, especially if you wanted the head intact as I had. It took some time and Ywain and Gildas wandered over their eyes and faces red and puffy from a night’s carousing and wassailing.