by Griff Hosker
Garth and I were on patrol and I had left Blackie at the fort. It did not seem equitable to ride while my men walked. It was not as though we could go any faster. “Are the people pagan or Christian Garth?”
“They are a mixture. Why do you ask my lord?”
“I was wondering if they celebrate the White Christ’s birthday or the winter solstice.”
“They do both but their celebrations tend to be on a small scale. The people hereabouts are poor.”
Then I had an idea. “They could come to us. The men will want to be with their families and we could hold the feast in the fort. If we hunted on the days of Prince Ywain’s patrol, then we might bag some larger game.”
The look on Garth’s face told me that it was a good idea. “They will all bring what little they have and it will be a good way to celebrate our first winter in the fort.”
Garth was the bearer of the good tidings and I sent a message to Brother Osric asking from some wine. I made sure the messenger boy explained why I had made the request and when he returned he was grinning. “The Brother said that if it was just for you then you would wait until hell froze over but as part of the King’s initiative he would send a wagon tomorrow.”
The days until the festival flew by. The offer had been greeted with joy and gratitude; if only for the fact that they would have shelter and be feasting on the shortest days of the year. Osric did more than send the wine; he sent some onions and garlic from the fort’s supplies as well as a small jug with King Rhydderch’s fiery liquid. Brother Oswald had embraced the idea and had suggested that we make it a two day feast or they would have to leave in the dark and the wolves had been howling again. I did not mind and I made sure that the warriors had cut plenty of wood for the fires. It had ten days to dry out and would provide a cheery atmosphere. As we went hunting, all my warriors and the three despatch riders I felt strangely sad. I would be the only one without his family but that came with the title; my new family were my people.
We had a successful hunt. Having so many hunters we were able to spread out further and we managed a wild boar, two small deer, a dozen rabbits and five brace of wild birds. We would eat well whilst we feasted on the shortest days of the year.
The farmers and villagers began to arrive with their families just after dawn on the shortest day of the year. Some must have begun walking in the middle of the night and they were grateful for the blazing fire my men had lit. Every family which arrived brought something, either food, or a bowl they had made or something they had woven. Some even brought their animals. I did not mind. There was room a plenty in the fort. Soon the smell of the roasting meat wafted across the land and the community began hurrying in. It was an emotional time for some of them lived ten or more miles from the fort and had not seen their sons and brothers that were my warriors. The mothers of the despatch riders wept openly when they saw how much their bairns had grown. As the sun began to dip behind the western hills we began to eat. Brother Oswald and the Christians all said prayers to their God while we pagans saluted the gods who had delivered the bounty. I had watered down the wine to make it go further but added a small amount of King Rhydderch’s fire and we all drank a toast to King Urien. Before I could start to eat Garth stood, “And a special toast to our lord, Lord Lann the Wolf Warrior and the Saxon Slayer.”
I was touched by the response which was as warm as the fire which blazed merrily away. I sat back and watched the scene, happy and sad at the same time; this was the time I missed my family. I listened to their songs after the food had disappeared and we had eaten the puddings and treats that the women had brought. I knew some of them but others were strange to me. Some were so funny that I wept with laughter while others evoked a sad memory of my mother and father and I wept with remembrance. Most had never had wine and they all fell asleep as the fire slowly slumbered to a glowing pile of ash. Like me Brother Oswald had not had too much to drink and we walked the fort, making sure that the gates were secured. “It was a good day Brother Oswald.”
“Aye my lord, and it is a good thing that you have done.” He looked at me with a mischievous look upon his face, “And a very Christian thing too, my lord.”
I peered out at the stone covered land and listened to the wolves howling. “I will ride out just after dawn and do the patrol alone. The men will appreciate the time with their families.”
Garth had been dozing next to us and he had heard me. He slurred, sleepily, “I will come with you my lord.”
“You have a family too besides I can cover more of the land on horseback than you can on foot.”
There was a warm fug in the hall and huddles of bodies beneath blankets. The snores and flatulent noises spoke of people who had enjoyed themselves. I led Blackie from his stable. Garth stirred himself. “You could have slept on.”
“No my lord, I will bar the gate after you have gone and I will light the fire. We have more feasting today before they depart.”
I shook my head. They certainly knew how to enjoy themselves. I had my bow with me and I looked towards the river as I crossed the bridge; it was bubbling away well which suggested there was rain or melting snow on the hills. Any kind of game would come in useful but, more than that, it kept up my skill with a bow for I did not want to lose the skill I once had. I saw little and the fresh snow covered the ground completely. I could see no tracks which boded well for that meant the wolves were not close to the fort. I swept south for a few miles and still saw nothing and then I spied a dirty patch of snow. From a distance it looked like a herd or a pack had crossed that way and I urged Blackie on to investigate; if I could get a couple of deer then we would eat well for a week. His ears pricked and that told me that the smell in his nostrils was either wolf or man! When I saw the tracks I knew what it was; man! The Saxons were here. I could see from a quick look that there were many of them for the snow was quite deep and they had marched three or four abreast. The ground was visible as a muddy morass. They were heading for the road.
I jerked Blackie’s head around and rode back the way I had come. I did not want to come across them while I was alone and before I could warn my people. When I judged I had travelled far enough north I turned west and really gave Blackie his head. The soft snow made life easy for him and he flew. I felt relief when I saw the walls of the fort still stood. Garth had posted sentries and they waved cheerily as they opened the gates for me. “Bar the gates and stand to. Saxons!”
I dismounted and called over one the despatch riders. “Ride to the capital and tell them there are Saxons near to the fort.”
He looked terrified but he gritted his teeth and went for his horse. I regretted their youth for I would have loved to send one to Aelle to warn him but it was too dangerous. The trail south ran perilously close to the place I had seen the tracks. As a second boy took care of Blackie, Garth strode up and he looked concerned too. “Is it true my lord? Saxons?”
“I crossed the trail of a warband. Arm as many of the men as we are able, and man the walls. Get the women to bring food to the men on the wall. It will keep them busy and it will help keep up the men’s strength.” Not all the people round about had come to the fort and we had fifty men only. There were boys who could help but only thirty five of the men had been trained as warriors. Until we could count them we were blind. “Keep watch. I will go and arm. Unfurl the standard above the tower.” I wanted the Saxons to know who they fought.
Brother Oswald came over. “I will prepare hot water and get the women to make bandages.” He cocked his head to one side, just as Brother Osric did, “It will keep them busy and stop them fretting.” He was young but he was wise beyond his years.
When I returned Garth pointed to the south. “Look my lord.” There was a plume of smoke from the south. They had raided a farm.
“Who lives there?”
I breathed a sigh of relief when he pointed to a greybeard on the wall, “Tan.” He saw the question on my face. “And his family and animals are within.”
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bsp; “Good then the Saxons will be disappointed.” I looked to the skies. Whoever had put the thought of the feast in my fort had had the gift of prophecy for there would be at least one dead family had I not done so. The villagers and farmers soon heard of the danger from the busy scurrying of my warriors and the arming of the men.
“Over there my lord. Another fire.” Further to the north and east of us another plume of smoke arose.
I turned to Garth who anticipated my question. “They are here too my lord.”
“Good. Go around and make sure our warriors are evenly spread out with the farmers and others between them. Put the boys with slings around evenly and make sure that everyone is armed. Even if is just a hatchet or a knife.” We would die hard if that was our fate.
I stood on the top of the tower closest to the bridge. The Saxons might be making for the fort but the bridge would make just as good a target. One of the women climbed up the ladder with a hunk of cold boar meat in a wooden bowl and a beaker of river water. “Here you are my lord; Brother Oswald thought you might be hungry.”
I was not hungry and I needed to focus but this woman had been kind enough to bring it to me. “Thank you, I am ready for this.”
I took them from her and she bobbed her head. “Will they come for us my lord?”
“They might come for us but so long as I wield Saxon Slayer they will go away empty handed, that I promise you.”
Her smile beamed like a flame in the night and she descended. Some other women must have been below for I heard her say, “We will be safe Lord Lann has promised me.”
I shook my head. How could they have so much confidence in me? I was much younger than the old woman who had brought me food and the greybeards around me knew much more of life. I glanced down into the fort and saw the woman and her friends watching me. I bit into the pork. Surprisingly, I was ready for it and I wolfed it down quickly and drank the water. I must have pleased them for they all smiled and went about their business. As I watched another spiral of smoke climbed out of the grey sky to the north east. It looked to be close to the river. I knew why they had confidence in me, I was a warrior, I was a killer and I would kill for them.
Garth came running down the ramparts.”That is the home of Scanlan and his wife. They are old and chose not to come in. She sent the apple pudding you enjoyed.” The look on his face told me that he knew them well. They would have died but, they would, if they had been captured, have told the Saxons of the fort and the warriors; if King Ida wanted my death, he now had the means.
“Prepare the men it will not be long now.” I hoped the despatch rider had made good time but it was a long ride to the king and the two men might be out on patrol. I just prayed that they were celebrating the White Christ’s birthday.
I saw some movement in the trees to the east and one of my warriors at the far corner yelled, “Saxons!”
I strode down the rampart to see with my own eyes how many men we faced. By the time I reached the corner they were streaming from the woods. It was a large warband but it did not look to be an army. The leader wore a helmet similar to mine but more plainly decorated and I saw a torc around his neck. They halted three hundred paces from the walls. At first I wondered why and then I saw them pointing at the standard above the tower and then at me. They knew who they fought and they remembered my arrows. This was good. It would buy us time. What I did not want was a night attack for that would only serve them and not us.
“How many Garth?” I had counted but I wanted a second opinion.
“Over a hundred.” He grinned. “The odds are in our favour my lord.”
I laughed and strung my bow. They were three hundred paces away and thought that they were out of range but I was high above them and they were tightly packed. “Let us test their courage Garth.” I drew back and let fly. The arrow soared high into the air, disappearing against the white. Then it plunged down and, fortuitously, it must be admitted, it struck a warrior in the neck and he fell dead. The effect was instantaneous. The rest all fled to the safety of the trees, all that is, except the leader who steadfastly stared at the walls.
The effect on the garrison was also immediate. They all cheered as though I had slain a hundred men rather than the one. “I want no one trying to emulate me. We loose the arrows on my command.”
The Saxon leader turned to his men and I could hear angry shouting. They emerged reluctantly and held their shields before them. Urged on by their chief they raced across the snow towards the walls. The snow was our ally that day for it hid the traps in the ditch. I knew that we did not have a great supply of arrows, that task was to have been the work of the winter and so I waited until they were thirty paces short of the hidden ditch. “Loose.” We had but fifteen bows and yet they were effective. Even the ones who took arrows on their shields had a greater weight to carry. The boys with the slings were even more effective as they had a direct trajectory and were able to score hits on many of the Saxons. The barbarians closed up behind the shields and pushed on. I was aiming my bow carefully and each arrow found a victim. My men kept pulling and loosing until I knew their arms were aching fit to drop. Raibeart’s men would have halted the attack. These were not archers; these were farmers with a bow. When they reached the ditch I heard the screams as some had their ankles broken by the fall and others stood or fell on to the spikes we had cunning laid there. Even there my novice archers and slingers caused casualties. When the raiders tried to clamber out they found the banks a slippery morass of mud. We constantly wet it. The men found it funny each night and each morning to piss on the bank and now they laughed as the Saxons struggled to climb up the treacherous slope.
Their leader was a foolish man. Had he spread his men around the walls then he would have suffered fewer casualties instead he concentrated on one wall but now, climbing over those dead or wounded, his warriors steadily approached the walls. Here they were a danger. “Get ready with your spears!”
The bottom part of the wall was stone faced with turf and they began to clamber up. Once they reached the wood they had a problem for it was too high to climb. The noise of the battle stopped me from hearing the chief’s words but suddenly pairs of men held a shield for a third warrior to climb upon. They were now the same height as those men on the ramparts. “Archers to the towers!” The towers were both higher and the archers could continue to rain death upon the Saxons but now it was down to the work with swords and axes and these Saxons were all warriors.
I laid down my bow and drew Saxon Slayer. I descended the tower and stepped on to the rampart just as a farmer was pushed to the ground below. I had the advantage for my opponent’s sword was on the rampart side and he was forced to bring the sword down to allow him to make a thrust. I had no such obstacle and I swung my blade upwards to sever his leg above the knee. He fell to the floor of the fort where the angry women, literally, tore his body to pieces. I saw a Saxon head appear above the wooden walls and I swung the sword to take his head but now the rest were pouring over the walls and my men were falling to the superior weapons and armour of the Saxons. The boys were sill causing men to fall with their stones but, my three trained men apart, we were ill matched. I stabbed a Saxon through the spine as he tried to decapitate Garth and then I leaned over the wall to put Saxon Slayer through the neck of a man who was about to be launched over the wall.
“Now I will claim the reward for King Ida when I bring back your head in a bag.” I sensed the weapon striking my unprotected back and I thrust my shield around. The axe bit into the leather and was held tightly by the nails. I stabbed below his shield into his knee and twisted the blade as I removed it. He screamed. Regardless of the result of this combat he would be a crippled for the rest of his life. “You have no honour Wolf man!”
“I fight honourably against honourable warriors not Saxon shit like you!”
He pulled hard on his axe to remove it from my shield and almost overbalanced. I stabbed forwards and felt the blade cut through his mail shirt and along
his side. It was not a killing wound but it would slow him up. I almost slipped on the blood which was flowing freely from his knee but I kept my balance. Suddenly one of the boys in the tower shouted, “Lord Lann! Duck!” I quickly lowered my head as the stone flew from his sling and struck the warrior behind me full in the face, throwing him to his death. The chief was becoming reckless and he swung his axe at my head as I raised it. Had it struck me I would have died instantly but the edge of my shield caught the handle and the blade flew harmlessly over the top of my helmet. The momentum carried the blade around and I took my chance; I stabbed my sword into his neck, below his facemask. The axe fell and he crumpled to the floor.
Before I could turn to face another warrior I heard a voice from the tower. “It is the Prince. He comes!”
I looked over the walls and saw Prince Ywain and sixty horsemen plough into the Saxons waiting to climb into the ditch. With their chief dead and enemies to their rear they fled, pursued by Ywain. Few would return home. “Garth! Finish the wounded Saxons!
All around me were the dead Saxons. None lived. I looked over the wall and saw that the survivors had all fled. We had survived. I looked to see how many of my men still lived. It was hard to tell. The women were tending to their husbands, brothers and sons and that meant that more of the wounded would survive but it had been a close run thing. I could see Brother Oswald calmly bandaging a man’s arm. He caught my eye and smiled; I thanked Brother Osric for sending me such a reliable cleric. I picked up the chief’s dagger and went up to the tower. “Who shouted the warning?”