by Griff Hosker
He nodded fearfully; they all knew I was a man of my word. I casually threw the dagger so that it landed in the sand between his legs and grinned, “There is payment for you.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
“Come with me Seara, and I will remove your yoke.” I had suffered a yoke and knew how painful it could be. “Kneel down.” Once she had knelt down I used the pommel of my own dagger to knock out the wooden pin securing it and the two halves fell to the floor. Her neck was red and angry. It would take her some time to fully recover. I held my hand to allow her to rise. “That is my ship, ‘Wolf’. You can sleep on there.” I pointed to the spare sail which was rolled up close to the bow. I saw the unspoken question in her eyes. “You will be safe. My men are Ulfheonar and they are honourable. Your time of suffering is at an end.”
“You are Saxon too.”
“I was and I was a slave like you. Now I am a Norse and I have put my former life behind me. You would be advised to do the same. You can never recover what you have lost. It is better to start anew.”
“And yet you seek your family which is lost to you.”
“You are wise, Seara. True but they are not yet lost and we will find them. Come let us see what food they have to serve to us.”
The next day, before we left, we towed the fishing boats out into the bay and, filling them with stones, we sank them. We did not destroy them. They would be able to recover them but it would take them some time. We had Aidan but I still not trust the headman. He did not seem bothered that we had taken the silent Aiden. He just watched all that was going on. He did not appear to be afraid. We sailed south. Aidan and Seara were on my ship and the boy seemed remarkably calm. He reminded me of me when I had been captured by Harald One-Eye. The difference was that he was alone and I had had my mother.
Seara’s description of somewhere half a day’s journey south was not as helpful as it might have been. We sailed slowly down the coast and kept well out to sea. Our sails were furled and we would be hard to identify as Norse from the land. We needed to find somewhere to land close to this unknown slave market. We eventually spied the town. The smoke spiralling from their fires marked it clearly. It looked to be a much bigger version of the one from which we had rescued Seara. More importantly we saw the masts of ships. It was impossible to see if one was a drekar but it was worth investigating.
We passed the inlet and sailed until it disappeared from sight and then I headed due west. We saw no other signs of habitation and I beached my ship in the shelter of some sand dunes. This time we had to set up a camp proper. We did not know how long we would be here. Sweyn organised sentries while the ships were turned around ready for a speedy launch should that prove necessary. Eric, Butar and I met while the rest of the men busied themselves.
“It looks like the place but we need more information before we try to rescue them.”
Both Eric and Butar looked at me and I nodded, “The Ulfheonar.”
“You are perfect for this role. How long will you need?”
“Although it is not far we will have to be careful. I would not expect us to be back before morning at the earliest.”
“Good. Then gather your men.” He clasped my arm, “Take care, my son, I would not wish to lose someone else as precious as your mother.”
I smiled, “Remember Prince Butar, Ragnar still watches over me.”
Chapter 3
I led the way. In the Ulfheonar we had no leaders; we were all young men who had grown up as warriors together. Sweyn had been our leader but he was much older and now led Prince Butar’s oathsworn. The rest were of an age with me. We did not move in a single file but walked in an arrow formation. We moved like a wolf pack. Each person protected someone else. I had good reflexes and was able to react quickly which was why I was at the front. Unlike the rest of the warriors we went to war quietly. There was neither banter nor bravado. Our shields were slung behind our backs and our swords remained sheathed. I ran without a helmet; it hung from my shield. I needed my eyes and ears as well as my sense of smell.
We had never crossed this land before but we knew in which direction the settlement lay. We kept heading in the right direction. We would smell it before we saw it. The smells told me that it was not far away. It was the smell of smoke mixed with animal and human dung. By an hour after noon we were within sight of it. There was precious little cover close to the water but I spied a wood not far inland and we trotted there. There were no farms on this southern side of the palisade. It made it less likely that we would stumble over anyone when we approached for a closer inspection. Once inside the cover of the wood we halted and took a drink from our water skins. It would be a long day.
“How do we get in? If we try now we will be stopped and if we wait until after dark then the gates will be barred.”
Cnut was right and I had no immediate answer. Haaken came up with the only solution which we thought might stand a chance of working, “If we all crawl closer to the walls and watch then we may gain more information that way. We only need to find out if there are Norsemen within those walls and, if they are, then is it Tadgh’s band.”
Harold Blue Eye was not certain, “It is a long time to wait. We would have to be very still and very lucky.”
“I have done this before Harold. I have hidden in plain view. Choose your watching place wisely and blend into your background.”
There were no more questions. We slipped to the ground and began to crawl towards the distant walls. I had learned to move sinuously like a blind worm. It made fewer disturbances and looked more natural. When moving through grass it simulated the action of the wind. The trick was to get as close as possible and wait without being seen. I had taken the position at the end of the line of warriors and I was the closest to the sea. Its sound made listening more difficult but I knew that it would be my eyes which would tell me more. I moved so slowly that sometimes I stiffened as I spied out the land ahead and sought out the hollows and the limited cover available. I found a small depression which gave me the opportunity to creep faster towards the wooden walls. I could not see the others but I knew that they were doing as I was. After what seemed an age I saw some gorse bushes forty paces or so from the walls. They masked my approach and, when I was safely ensconced beneath their prickly protection, I was hidden and I was safe.
Sometimes you wait for hours and see nothing. We all knew we would have to lie there until dark and then make our way back. That day however I struck gold within the first hour. Not only did I see warriors armed and dressed as we were; I saw Tadgh himself. He was dressed in fine clothes; he had neither armour nor helmet. That made it easier to identify him. He now braided his hair and his moustache. The sword which hung from his baldric was a long one of Frankish origin. He was with two other mailed warriors. From their deference I deduced that he was some kind of leader. The next question was, if he was here where were the captives?
My view was limited to the side of the settlement close to the boats. As such I could see that they were preparing the nearest ship for a voyage. She was a drekar. I assumed that she was Tadgh’s ship. Now that I had the information that this was the correct village I set to counting the warriors and the men. If this had been one of our villages then every man would have been a potential warrior but the Hibernians were like the Saxons and had elite warriors. They were easy to identify as they all wore a sword. I counted thirty such warriors. At least half of them were warriors such as we had while the rest were Hibernians. It looked like they had farms from the carts which came in filled with produce. This was an important town.
Dusk seemed to take forever to arrive. I was in such a prominent position that any movement would give me away. As soon as the gate was shut and barred then I knew that it was safe to leave. I still had to be careful for the drekar was crewed and ready to sail. I backed out and kept going that way until I reached the depression. Once there I rolled down and moved a little quicker to the woods where I hoped my brothers would await me.
“No Haaken, but I had the furthest to go did I not?”
“Enough! We have some way to go before we are safe and we have talked too much already.” Egill hated wasting time and we left duly chastised. Egill loped along at the head of us. We hoped not to meet anyone on the way back. The Hibernians were a superstitious people and the dark places were avoided at night.
We reached our boats faster than we had taken to reach the walls. Prince Butar, Eric and Sweyn were eager for news. As we had not shared our information with each other all of the Ulfheonar were present. We each had some information and none knew which was valuable and which was not.
I began because I could give them the vital information they needed. “Tadgh is there and the drekar too. They are preparing her for sea.”
A murmur ran around all the men. Prince Butar held up his hand. “Let us hear from all of the scouts.”
From the rest we learned that there were, at least, come of the captives there. They had been seen. We calculated that there were at least thirty warriors such as us and another forty or more Hibernians. The numbers did not worry us. We knew there would be more inside that we had not counted. It was how many there were like Tadgh.
“You have done well, Ulfheonar. Go and take food and drink while we ponder what to do.”
Haaken could not resist having the last word. “If the drekar leaves tomorrow then we should go back now. Strike while they sleep.”
Prince Butar sent him away with an irritated wave of his hand. “We will travel when I say, Haaken One Eye!”
Jarl Eric smiled, “He may have spoken out of turn but he is right.”
“I agree,” said my stepfather, “but there are two considerations. One, if we went back and attacked at night then we do not know who we might harm by accident and two, the Ulfheonar will be tired and need a couple of hours sleep at least.”
I stood defiantly, “I could go now!”
Smiling, Prince Butar said, “I know but if Tadgh sails it is unlikely that he will take the captives with them. It is probable that he raids somewhere else.”
“I want to kill Tadgh!” I was aware that I sounded like a petulant child but I was angry.
“Yes Dragon Heart. As do Eric and myself but first let us get the captives. If not then we might be dooming our families to a life of servitude and slavery.”
I knew that he was right but it sat hard with me. I nodded and Eric put his arm around my shoulders. “Get some food and some rest. We will be leaving before dawn.”
I knew that the two of them would have planned the rescue while we were scouting it out and assumed this was the place. It was a little annoying to be left out of the planning but I was still younger than any of those who made the decisions. I would have to bide my time. One day it would be me who would plan how to use our men. I would give the orders and not just take them.
It was decided that the Ulfheonar would attack the drekar when we reached the town. That suited me. I wanted to deal with Tadgh sooner rather than later. The rest of the warriors would slip over the palisade and use surprise. We had noticed that it was just like the one we had seen when we landed; just the height of man. They were easy to scale. Two men held a shield and a third vaulted over. A good palisade was twice the height of a man.
We moved quickly over ground that we had travelled twice the previous day. Although not familiar with it we knew where the cover was and used it to our advantage. It was still dark when we saw the settlement. We did not know how many guards they had but we were confident that we could overcome them. They would not have expected us to find them so soon. Meeting Seara had been an unexpected event which had brought us good fortune. The Ulfheonar left the main band and headed towards the sea, which we could smell, and the jetty. The sky was pitch-black and we could see nothing. I drew Ragnar’s Spirit and hefted my shield before me in preparation. With our black mail and wolf skins we were invisible in the night. Suddenly I realised that we had reached the sea and the drekar had sailed. I had been within touching distance of Tadgh and missed him. There was no point in berating myself we could now join the attack proper.
“To the gates.”
Prince Butar had decided that we would leave the gate alone; it would be too well defended. I was angry that Tadgh had fled and I decided that the Ulfheonar would destroy the gate. We moved like wraiths as we left the harbour and ran towards the gate. The sentries were either asleep or absent for they did not see us. Suddenly I heard the clamour of battle as the rest of the warband attacked the walls. It may have been that the sentries at the front gate were distracted. Whatever the reason, we reached the gate without hurt. “Hit the bar!”
We saw that there was a gap between the gates and Haaken and Cnut took it in turns to hack at the bar which held the gate in place. Within a few moments it was destroyed. We put our shoulders to the gate and burst in. Immediately we entered we had our shields and swords ready to defend ourselves. We were all alert to danger and to the captives. Our priority was to kill warriors and then rescue our families.
A half naked Hibernian warrior launched himself at me wielding a double handed Danish axe. It looked a fearsome weapon but it was easily avoided. I angled my shield and dipped below the blow. The edge of the wicked looking weapon caught my boss but by then I had ripped open his bare midriff with my blade. I pushed him out of the way and leapt forwards. Two men had spears and were charging towards me. I just tucked my shield tighter to my body and ran towards them. Perhaps they had thought I would retreat. They did not know who they fought. Their spears hit my shield and splintered against the nail studded oak. I slashed at one and stamped on the head of the other as he slipped beneath my feet. One of my comrades would despatch him. I raced on as I was anxious to find my wife.
A warrior leapt at me from the side. He swung a skeggox with his two hands. It was a powerful blow and had it connected it would have ripped through my mail. I dropped to a knee and braced myself behind my shield. The blow shook both my arm and my shield. The tip stuck in the shield and, as he struggled to remove it I stabbed him in the chest. After I had removed the axe I looked around and saw that the gate behind me was secure. Two Ulfheonar guarded it. No-one would escape that way. Cnut and Haaken were by my side, the blood on their weapons testament to their endeavours.
“Let us find the captives.”
We ran through the village like a small wedge. No one could withstand us. The weight of our arms and armour were too much. Clutches of warriors ran at us but they fell to our blades. As we passed each hut we peered inside looking for our kin; they were not in the first ones. Then we began to shout, “Erica! Eurwen!”
We were halfway through the huts when we heard a cry in our own language. “In here!”
We darted through a door and found some of our women folk and children tethered to the walls with ropes and with hands tied. We quickly freed them. “Thank you lord!”
“Where are my wife and my child?”
In answer they pointed towards the large hut which looked like a warrior hall at the far end of the village. “They were taken there, along with your slaves.”
“Make your way back to the gate. You are safe now.”
Even though we had seen Tadgh, until that moment I did not know, for certain, that this was where my family was held. Although the wily and lucky Tadgh had flown I could still recover my family. By now Eric and Prince Butar’s men were flooding over the wall and the Hibernians were retreating towards the large hut. They were herding their women and children inside in a forlorn attempt to protect them. It would serve them no good at all. Once they had captured our people they had lost any chance of mercy. They would either die or become our slaves.
As we made our way steadily towards them, despatching the wounded we found, their warriors began hurling insults at us in their unintelligible language. The fact that we remained silent must have given them confidence, suggesting we were afraid. It was a
mistaken assumption. We did not need words to make us fight; we were warriors and fought because we could.
One enormous Hibernian, a hand span taller than me swung his two handed sword above his head. He was clearing a space in front of him. One of Eric’s men rushed towards him and mistimed his attack. His severed head rolled towards us. The Hibernians took heart and cheered. I could not wait for someone else to break through and I raced forward. I relied on my speed and the strength of my weapons. He grinned as he shouted at me. He raised his lethal weapon once more as he prepared to decapitate another Norseman foolish enough to come close. He could keep anyone almost three paces away from him.
I held my shield up higher than I normally did. He took the bait and swung at my shield. I dropped my shoulder and leapt towards him. The blow would not strike my head. I knew that I would have to take a savage hit on my shield but I counted on the strength of my well made shield. It was a race against time; I saw the arc of the mighty weapon as it closed with me and I struggled to reach him to strike a killing hit. I saw him grin in the anticipation of another victory and then he saw Ragnar’s Spirit as it sprang at him like the tongue of a dragon. His sword struck my shield but, by then, I had lunged forward and my own weapon found his unprotected middle. The blow to my shield had unbalanced me and I fell sideways with my sword embedded deep within him. Its edge sliced him open and his entrails and guts flopped out like bloody eels as my blade emerged, having eviscerated him.
One of the warriors next to the mighty Hibernian took the opportunity to stab down at me with his spear as I lay like a stranded fish. Haaken’s sword was quicker and it flicked death. The death of the warrior was like the flood when the dam is breached. We fell into and upon them slaughtering all before us.
When none remained alive I followed Prince Butar into the large hut. It was filled with women. Half of them were keening and wailing while the others had smiles upon their faces. The ones who smiled were our people.