Viking Slave

by Griff Hosker

  I drew my sword and nodded at Alf. He did the same. We had no shields with us but I wanted to be prepared. We moved silently, albeit slowly, through the field which had yet to be harvested. It was a wheat field and came up to my chest. It would be a good crop. Our silence was rewarded when I heard the voices. It was the hunters and they were on the other side of the hedge.

  “I am sure that I saw someone in the woods.”

  “Get away with you. You haven’t seen a game bird all morning so how would you see a warrior?”

  “A warrior is bigger than a game bird. He was in those woods yonder.”

  “Well who could it be?”

  “I bet it is those Welsh bastards again. They have been quiet for a while.”

  “You could be right. Sigismund, you go to the fort and tell the captain that we are going to look for some Welsh warriors who might be hiding in the woods.”

  “I’ll show you and you will apologise.”

  “Yes well the morning has been a waste so far. If we can find some Welshmen then the captain might reward us.”

  I guessed that Sigismund moved off for the other three spoke. “Well Ardoch, show us these Welsh warriors that no one else could see.”

  When they moved down the lane I knew that it was my two comrades they had seen. I gave them a few moments to get ahead and then we slipped from the hedgerow into the green track. “We will have to follow them. When I give the word use your sword and do not flinch. We will have the advantage for they will not know we are behind them.”

  I knew where the three Saxons were headed and that helped. They would only slow down when they neared the hiding place of Wulf and Olaf. Although we walked down the green sward we kept to the hedgerow. The two sides had grown together so that it was like a green tunnel and my black armour, wolf cloak and helmet made it hard to see me. Alf trotted behind, hidden by my mass. I heard them talking and I stopped.

  “Through there, near to those beech trees. That was where I thought I saw them.”

  “Oh so now you think you saw them.”

  “He is right. Look. I can see the shape of a man.”

  Their voices lowered as the leader said. “Ready an arrow and we’ll have these Welsh boys for breakfast.”

  I gestured Alf forwards and we ran down the lane. The three Saxons were heading through the woods and were spread out. We were thirty paces behind. I hoped that Wulf and Olaf were keeping a good watch for I would have to wait until they had loosed their arrows before attacking. Their leader was a big man and he pulled back his bow. I thought that I could see our men and they were not moving. They were asleep! There was no alternative; we had to attack.

  “Ulfheonar!”

  I leapt forwards as the leader turned around. He was quick for one so big and I saw him adjusting his aim. I jinked left and right to put him off. He loosed the arrow and it pinged from my helmet. By then I was close enough to jam my sword into his middle. I took out my second sword as I withdrew Ragnar’s Spirit from the man’s body. I heard a cry from behind me and saw Alf clutching his arm. The third Saxon was swinging his bow around to face me. I threw myself at him and my second sword struck him in the neck. I rolled to the right as an arrow thudded into the ground beside me. The last Saxon was drawing his seax. I jumped to my feet and swung Ragnar’s Spirit at his head. He was no warrior and moved too slowly. The edge of the blade ripped open his throat and he slumped to my feet in a bloody heap.

  Wulf and Olaf had emerged from the woods with their swords in their hands. I would have words with them later. I turned and ran to Alf who was lying in a pool of blood. I ripped the hem from the dead Saxon’s tunic and tied the arm above the wound with it. The flood of blood became a trickle. Alf was barely conscious and so I broke the flights from the arrow and pushed it through.

  “You two grab Alf and head south.”

  “But the boat is north!”

  “Do not argue with me! I am already angry with you for sleeping on watch.”

  I grabbed the weapons of the dead men. It is what the Welsh would have done. We had to lay a trail south towards Wales and then we could cut back north. We had only gone four hundred paces when we struck the river. This was another disaster. “Head east! Run along the river bank!”

  I was looking for somewhere we could leave the river without a trail. Suddenly, a little way ahead I saw that a huge tree had fallen and lay half in the river. “Halt at the tree!” I also needed to loosen the tunic or the poor lad could lose his arm.

  “Take your swords and cut down some branches from this dead tree and then lay them to the north.” This time there was no argument. There was steel in my voice and fire in my eyes. I loosened the band and blood dripped from his arm. I tightened it again.

  His eyes opened, “I am sorry Dragon Heart.”

  “It was not your fault and you’re a brave boy. The other two will carry you for you are weak.” Wulf returned. “Now carry him across those branches and when you get to the other side make sure that Olaf steps in your footsteps. Look for rocks on which to stand. We leave no trail. Go!”

  As they left I looked down and saw that Alf’s blood had dripped on to the log. I broke a damaged branch off the tree and walked to the river’s edge. I stuck the branch in the water and muddied it and then threw the branch in the river. I hoped they would see the muddied water and assume we had gone across. I had to buy us time. When I reached the branches laid by Wulf I walked backwards and collected them as I went. They had done a good job and had covered ten paces with them. I turned and put my feet in the marks left by Wulf. They could find our prints but it would take time. I dumped the branches and followed my companions.

  It was now a foot race. Wulf and Olaf took it in turns to carry Alf. I kept stopping to listen for pursuit but I heard none. We found a stream and I halted us again. I check the wound and then led us along the stream. After two hundred paces I left the stream and we headed north. The afternoon was slipping by and I was worried about Alf. His wound needed stitches. Then I smelled the sea and knew that we were close to the estuary. We burst through the hedges and saw the Maeresea ahead. Now all we needed was the ‘Ran’. When I saw her mast I almost wept with relief. This was the first time I had led men and it had nearly ended with our deaths. I had learned a valuable lesson.

  We were the last to return and Bjorn was looking anxiously towards the shore when we trudged up the river. Egill’s face showed his distress. “It is just an arrow in the arm. He will live. He is a brave boy.”

  Egill nodded his thanks and took his son. Bjorn said, “What happened?”

  I jerked a hand in the direction of Wulf and Olaf who were looking very sheepish. “These two fell asleep and we were nearly found by the Saxons.” I told them what had happened. Bjorn’s face was a mask of anger.

  “You two will be punished when we return home. Now get out of my sight.” After they had gone he asked, “Are we in danger then? Do they know we are here?”

  “They think we are the Welsh and I led the trail south. It is why it took us so long to return here. I think they will lose the trail well south of here.”

  “Good, you have done well. And did you get the information?”

  I took out the two tally sticks. “Here!”

  “Then we eat first we will get all the information from the others too.”

  I was ravenous and ate everything that the cook had prepared. Then the Ulfheonar sat with Bjorn. We each told what we had seen. Because Alf and I had both used tally sticks our numbers were slightly more accurate than the others.

  “So it would seem they have a captain, twenty Housecarls and thirty or so warriors. We had come with that figure by counting the men on all of the walls, the ones I had seen at practice and then adding ten. “The numbers seem to tally with what Scanlan said.”

  Bjorn nodded, “I think we can take it.”

  Haaken grinned, “I think it would be easy. The gate in the northern wall is not the original gate. It looks to be a poor replacement.”


  “And it appears that it is an attack from the south which they fear. They see the Welsh as the danger and not their brothers.” I suddenly had an idea. “We could march in.”

  “What?”

  “We are armed and dressed much as they are. If we marched down the road they might think that we were reinforcements. Jarl Butar speaks Saxon. All we would need is some indecision and we could enter by deception.”

  “That is dangerous.”

  Jarl Bjorn stroked his beard. “I am not so sure. What have we to lose? If we attack the wall by our usual tactics then we would have to approach the gate anyway. This way we might get closer before they see who we are. I will sleep on this and when Jarl Butar and the others return we can all make the decision.

  Wulf and Olaf kept out of my way. Haaken and Cnut were as angry as I was. We did not expect other warriors to match our standards but we did want them to do their duty. Alf, a young boy, had been wounded because of their dereliction of duty. I went to see Egill to apologise for the wound suffered when his son was in my care. He waved my apology away. “My son has told me what happened and it is the other two who should hang their heads in shame. You killed three warriors! What a feat!”

  “They were not warriors. They had bows and they had swords but they were the fyrd. They were brave men but they were not warriors.”

  Egill nodded, “I understand and yet others would add warrior bands.”

  “I need no warrior bands to remember the men I kill.”

  Chapter 15

  The Ulfheonar were sent by Bjorn, the next morning, to scout the vicinity and ensure that we had not been followed. I took them to the stream we had crossed but we saw only our tracks and not the tracks of any Saxons. It looked like they believed our deception. We could see the smoke from the fort when we reached the stream.

  Haaken rubbed his eye patch. “The fort is close.”

  “Aye, when we fled south to deceive them we found the other river, the Dee. The land is not good to land an assault from but I spied a bridge. If we capture the fort then we can sail the ships around and make loading the grain and plunder easier.”

  “That is a large mouthful to swallow. How do you think we can take such a fort? We hew men not stones. If it was a wall made of wood then I would be more hopeful but not a stone built fort. We would be slaughtered.”

  “I don’t know. They seem to be thinly spread around the walls.” I shrugged, “it will be Jarl Butar’s decision.”

  By the time we reached the camp the other two ships had arrived and the four Jarls were in deep conference. Bjorn summoned Haaken and the rest of us over. “Are we safe?”

  “Aye my lord. They did not follow our men.”

  Jarl Butar shook his head, “We were lucky. Wulf and Olaf nearly ruined what was a good plan.” He looked at me. “Now Bjorn seems to think that we can just walk in? Is that your plan?”

  I felt embarrassed with everyone looking at me. “It just seemed to me that you see what you expect to see. If you see a horde of men rushing at the walls and shouting you assume it is an enemy. If, on the other hand, you see men strolling along and smiling then you give them the benefit of the doubt and think they are friends.” I could see they were not convinced. “We know that their gates are weak and if we can get close to them without losing men then we have a chance.”

  Haaken stoutly came to my defence, “No-one knows us here on the mainland. Aella and his men never left Manau. They will have no idea that he has lost the island.”

  Eric said, “It seems to me that we have nothing to lose. We can still send men along the river to attack on the bridge side and use a small band of warriors to try to gain entry this way.”

  “We would be drawing their attention away from the bridge in the south to the gate on the north wall. Haaken has told us how few warriors they have. They will struggle to man the perimeter.”

  Butar sighed, “It seems I am persuaded.”

  Cnut put his hand up, a little like a naughty boy would, “Jarl Butar, if the raiders on the bridge side came by boat it would make the loading of the grain easier.”

  Olaf slapped Cnut on the back, it almost knocked the breath from him, “Aye and it will save a long walk too.”

  We left two ships on the Maeresea with skeleton crews aboard. The ‘Ran’ sailed for the Dee and Jarl Butar led Bjorn, the Ulfheonar and twenty chosen warriors. Each warrior had been endorsed by their Jarl for this would be worthy of a saga if we pulled it off. We all wore our shields over our backs and kept our hands free so that we appeared friendly. As soon as we found the main road we marched boldly down it. We did not hurry, we sauntered. Part of the plan was to allow Olaf and the ‘Ran’ to reach the Dee and then disembark the rest of the warriors. We did not see many people but, whenever we did, Jarl Butar and I would be the only ones speaking and we would speak Saxon. I am sure that the fort would soon know that we were coming. Their reaction was another matter.

  The road we were using was a Roman one and it was straight. We saw the fort and it was a mile away. Our accuracy in the distance was down to the Roman markers. Butar said to me, quietly, “Now we will see if the gods truly smile on you, my son. This will be the longest mile we have ever walked. We could be walking to our deaths.”

  “I do not mind what the outcome is Jarl Butar. I am with men I admire and my oath brothers. It will be a good day to die.”

  “When you are as old as Olaf and I am then it might be a good day to die but even then I doubt it. Since your mother and sister came into my life I find myself clinging on to it even more. I would prefer it if this was a good day to live for all of us. Let the Saxons do the dying.”

  “We will not die this day Jarl Butar. I believe we will sail home to my wife and mother.”

  “I hope that you are right.” The Jarl turned to the men behind us. “Start laughing and joking. We are happy. We are Saxons who have marched a long way and look forward to a hot meal and a bed for the night.”

  We saw men on the walls but the gates did not close. When more men appeared, I was delighted. That meant fewer warriors for Olaf to face. The two guards at the gates were joined by four mailed Housecarls. These looked at us more suspiciously. We were two hundred paces away. Jarl Butar shouted, “We are glad to see you brothers we have marched many miles today.”

  I added, “Our feet are sore and our bellies are empty!”

  The sound of two Saxon voices seemed to make them less suspicious and the guards smiled at each other. Under his breath Jarl Butar said, “Be ready to run on my command!”

  I suspect that our small numbers lulled them. After all what could a handful of men do? In addition we looked and sounded like Saxons. They could not see the emblems on our shields and our helmets were almost identical to their own. The only difference was the black armour of Cnut and me. In the end that was what gave us away. I saw the frowns on the faces of the Housecarls. Suddenly one of them shouted something to the others and I saw them try to close the gate.

  “Charge!”

  Even as we ran we pulled our shields around and drew our swords. We had been ready for the command and there was no delay. This time they did not even get the bar down on the gate before we struck it. It shattered as though it was glass. My stepfather and I were at the front and it was us who faced the two Housecarls. They had their axes and they swung them at us. It was easy to avoid the blow if you had room to move out of the way and we did. We both ducked and feinted to the side. As my opponent’s axe flew over my head I hacked Ragnar’s Spirit at his side. It sliced through some of his rings and into the leather shirt he wore beneath. From the grimace on his face I also thought that I had broken a rib or two. I punched him in his injured side with my shield and hacked down with Ragnar’s Spirit. He held the axe up to deflect the blow and my blade sliced the bottom half of his handle off. I punched again with my shield and he fell backwards. I stabbed him between his mail shirt and the coif of his helmet.

  The rest of the garrison were now racing towards us. I s
houted, “Ulfheonar!” and the five of us formed a barrier around Jarl Butar who had just killed his opponent. With our shields forming a wooden wall we held our swords above them. The Saxons rushed at us; they seemed eager to die. There were too many of them to swing axes effectively and when the blows did hit our shields they were weak and ineffective. Our swords darted out to stab faces with little protection or smashed down to crush poor quality helmets. After the initial onslaught they reformed their lines. I heard a wail go up from the southern wall and knew what it meant. Olaf and the rest of the men had arrived.

  We were now pressed back against the gate for they had brought many men to kill us. I saw some of our warriors lay dead but the Ulfheonar and Jarl Butar were like a rock around which the sea of Saxons broke. I had swung my arm so many times that the muscles in the shoulder ached but we had to hang on. Olaf would not let us down and he would reach us. Suddenly I saw an archer on the walls and he was aiming for us. I watched the arrow as it flew towards us. I knew that it would miss me but it would strike another of my comrades. I lifted the shield and took the arrow on my shield. As I did so one of the Saxons stabbed forwards with his spear and I felt the head slip into my side. I killed the warrior with a mighty blow from Ragnar’s Spirit and, as the pressure lessened, took out the spear and threw it to the ground. Cnut saw it and yelled, “Dragon Heart is wounded! Push!”

  The survivors of our attack all heaved and pushed so that the Saxons had to recoil. At that moment there was a roar as Olaf and the rest of our comrades fell upon the rear of their lines. There was a frenzied attack and then the Saxon garrison lay slaughtered. We had won. As soon as the last warrior had been despatched Jarl Butar and Haaken laid me on the ground and lifted my mail shirt. My leather jerkin had deflected the spear head from any vital organs but it had pierced my side and I was bleeding freely. Cnut brought a white tunic he had found and he tore it into a strip. Haaken wrapped it around my body. It hurt when he tightened it but I knew that it was necessary for it stopped the bleeding.