by Griff Hosker
I had been considering that for some time now. “I think we will cross the river here and join Garth.”
“What of the Roman Bridge?”
“I think our men can hold them there but I think they will try to cross the river. We must be ready. Your father should have the news by now and he will let us know what he is to do. If King Morcant Bulc does not rush south to defend his borders then he has no right to be king. With the army of Bernicia behind us we could hold the Saxons off until the rest arrive.”
“I am in agreement with that but I am not sure about crossing the river.”
“It is easy. I will lead my archers first. You swim upriver and the current will take us there.” I pointed to a shallow beach with a gentle slope behind it. I turned in my saddle. “Archers, which of you fancies a little swim before we eat?” Their cheers told me that they were in good spirits and I jumped my mount into the water. It was icy but, in a strange way, enjoyable and I urged him on. It was only in the middle of the channel where he had to swim and I hung on to the saddle. Our bow strings were safely wrapped in an oiled bag and we would soon dry out. The archers fared better than the armoured horsemen but only one equite fell; into the water and a laughing Miach pulled him out. The cheers, jeers and banter told me that I had no need to worry about my men’s morale.
By the time we had eaten, my archers had dried off. I sent Adair to scout ahead. We would need to rest but I wanted to be with my warriors and Garth when that happened. We would be too exhausted to defend ourselves. We needed at least one day of rest and I was hoping that the Saxons, too, would need time to repair their camp and their boats. It was late morning when Adair returned to say he had found them and, two miles later,we entered their camp complete with ditch, wall and warm food. We were safe, at least for a short time.
When I awoke I saw the smiling face of Garth and behind him Riderch shaking his head. “I understand from Miach that you were a little foolhardy last night, my lord?”
I grinned, “Even an old wolf can behave like a cub now and again.” As I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and took the proffered ale I asked, ”Any sign of the Saxons?”
“The scouts say they are still at their camp. You managed to destroy over thirty ships. Their blackened timbers line the banks and, from the funeral pyres, you killed many of their men.”
I shook my head. “I need to know if Aella has moved.”
Patiently Garth said, “No my lord. He is still there.”
“Good for we need time to recover our strength. I believe he will come across the river in the next two or three days.”
“Before the tide?”
“Before the tide. He does not know where we are. The sooner he can invade Bernicia then the sooner he can reward his new allies. Send some scouts to find the Roman Road which goes north. We can ambush him there.”
“He still outnumbers us.”
“And he still has neither horsemen nor bows.”
Prince Ywain limped over to me. He pointed behind him to the south; it was hidden by a levee, bushes and high grass. “They are busy as bees over there. They have had to clear away the remains of the burned ships but I think you are correct. They are making preparations to cross.” I could see that he looked worried but I was not.
Garth returned with some stale bread, ale and a hunk of two day old meat. He gave an apologetic glance at the food. “We will have to ration soon. There is little but rabbits here and I did not wish the men to fish.”
“No! I want us hidden. Aella may suspect we are here but if we can keep him guessing and uncertain then it works in our favour. I want no fires or smoke to alert him. The men only have a few days to suffer. They were well fed over the winter it will do them no harm.”
Garth nodded. “Riderch and I have the scouts lying next to the river, they are small and in clothes which blend in. I do not think they will be seen.”
I relaxed. It was now in the hands of the Saxons and we had done all that we could to delay them. “Do we just wait then?”
I smiled at the suddenly belligerent and impatient prince. “We will not have to wait long and our next move is determined by Aella’s. If he chooses not to cross but to attack the Roman Bridge then we reinforce the bridge. If he attacks here then we contest the crossing.”
“We cannot hold off that mighty host. We would be defeated.”
“True but when a boat lands then we can hurt those who are trying to get ashore. They cannot fight back. True, they will overrun us if we allow that but their bravest warriors will be dead. This is a war of attrition. We grind them down little by little until they are small enough for your father to defeat. We will not fight long here; just enough to make them pay and then we retreat. Find an ambush site and keep doing that until someone comes to pour aid.”
“He could defeat us now for he still outnumbers us.”
I looked at Garth who understood my argument. “No he could not. The army he faces are not the farmers who make up the bulk of our army. They are raiders from across the seas. They are warriors who fight and take what they want. They produce nothing. Apart from our nine hundred men your father can count on another seven hundred or so who are the equal of those we face. We have to cull the best and then defeat the rest.”
I could see the thoughts filling his head and the doubt entering as he said. “Will they ever stop coming?”
“Only when we make it so difficult that they choose to go elsewhere and find easier pickings.”
We watched for two days. I occasionally bellied up the bank to see their preparations. It became increasingly obvious that they would either attack or return home, for they were preparing their ships. I thought a return home to be unlikely. We had bloodied their nose and that was all.
A rider returned from King Urien. The message was unequivocal. Hold them. The rider returned from Morcant Bulc with no message. I asked if he thought the Bernician king was preparing for war and he shrugged. “He had many men in his castle but they were not preparing.”
It looked as though Bulc’s indolence would kill more warriors of Rheged. The time we spent by the Dunum was not wasted. The injured horsemen and horses recovered and we spent each night burying stakes below the waterline and digging pits along the banks of the sluggish moving river. It was only two hundred paces wide at the closest point to the Saxon camp and, although it was narrower nearer to the bluffs we had used for cover, Aella would need to use this shore to land on. Further east the scouts reported shallows, marsh flats, bogs sinking sands and sand dunes. Our left flank was secure. Aelle could either land where we were or he could risk moving west where the channel was narrower. We prepared our traps extensively along the river and we scouted further inland for an escape route. It was time well used. As we counted each day with pangs of hunger I was delighted. Each day’s delay meant we had more chance of success. But I knew it could not last.
The sentries awoke me before dawn. “My lord, the Saxon camp is moving.” I knew it was one of my own men. It was a confident and succinct report and told me all that I needed to know. “Wake the camp but do it quietly.”
We had discussed at length what we would do and I saw Prince Ywain moving with his men to the horse lines we had created some way back from the river. Miach was already spreading his archers out to cover as much of the bank as possible while Garth had the warriors in a single line. The scouts were lying by the river side, some of them half in the water to enable them to see as much as possible and remain hidden. I armed myself and made sure that Saxon Slayer slid in and out of its sheath easily. I also had my bow on the ground but I would only use it briefly. My position was in the centre of the warriors with Garth and my Wolf Warriors with their standard. We had deliberately placed ourselves in the centre to attract attention to ourselves. We wanted to goad Aella and his men into a premature attack. For the moment all of our archers and warriors were lying down and eating their meagre rations.
I summoned a despatch rider. I would only use one.”Ride to the king a
nd tell him the Saxons are crossing. We will lead them north west towards the Roman Road.” Nodding, the boy ran to the horse lines. I wondered if I would ever see him again or would our bones and bodies be found when the Saxons had won. I dismissed those thoughts. I was becoming like Prince Ywain.
One of the scouts crawled back to me. “The first ships have pushed off my lord.”
“Tell Prince Ywain and then join the slingers.” The scouts were not in enough numbers to cause damage to the enemy but I knew how annoying a few sling shots could be. I made my way to Garth. “Ready?”
“Aye my lord.”
“Then let us tell Aella that we are here!”
My men all stood and we climbed the bank to stand with banner unfurled at the top of the levee. I could see the first ships and they were fifty paces away. I drew my bow and knew that Miach was ordering the rest to do the same. I released the first arrow and then began to notch draw and loose as quickly as I could. The sky ahead of me was black with arrows and the enemy were unprepared. Inevitably many of the arrows found steersmen who died and caused their ship to turn and crash into the next ship. There were so many ships that collisions were unavoidable. I hoped that the sheared oars would wound and maim the rowers who would have been the warriors we faced. Many of the ships struck the buried stakes and began to sink as they filled with water. The Dunum was filled with chaos but I could see organisation at the rear and the next sixty boats began to head upstream. “Signal Prince Ywain that they are heading west.”
My standard moved and waved. After a few moments the standard bearer said, “Acknowledged, my lord, they are moving west towards the enemy.”
Our only reserve was committed and now the survival of my men depended on my judgement. We were one thin line of warriors with a slightly longer line of archers. Soon the archers would get their horses to cover us while we had a fighting retreat but first we had to make them pay for their landing. While the archers poured arrows into the fleet we locked shields as the first warriors leapt from their boats to reach the unexpected warriors. Even as they landed they were attacked by the slingers who crouched before our shields. They were forced to raise their own shields and protect their faces and they stumbled blindly towards us. The bank caused some to stumble while others fell to be spiked by the pits and hidden stakes in our beach traps. The greatest danger we had was to our legs for we were above them but they were forced to swing blindly and it was easy enough to use our swords to stab down on their unprotected necks.
Eventually, after over a hundred warriors had died needlessly someone took charge and organised the men into a shield wall. They advanced towards us ominously outnumbering us. “Miach. Bring the archers forwards. I want you to thin these out with five flights and then get to your horses.”
“Yes my lord.”
“Garth, as soon as the archers have gone I want the line a hundred paces back. We start our retreat.”
Already our plans had gone awry for, originally, Prince Ywain would have attacked the warriors to allow us to escape. He was now committed and we would need to adjust our plans. I knew that five miles away was a thickly wooded valley filled with shrubs. If we could make it there then we had a chance for the Roman Road was but two miles north of that. I smiled. If I said it quickly then seven miles did not seem so bad but I knew that the Saxons would be hot on our trail and after blood.
Miach and my archers cut the Saxons to ribbons. As they turned he gave me a satisfied look. “Like killing fish in a barrel.”
I walked to the top of the levee to see how close they were. Miach had done well and there were but a hundred men who still stood but I could see hundreds more climbing from the boats into the river. “Garth, Riderch! Time to move.”
We ran down the bank and headed after the departing archers. We had done little and were not tired. It would be a different story later. I was relieved to see Miach and his men mounted. “We can try one flight from horseback my lord.”
“Just one and then send a despatch rider to Prince Ywain to let him know what we are about.” I saw that the slingers were still gathered about the standard. This was no place for boys without armour. “You have done well boys, now get mounted and follow Miach.”
After a mile I halted my men to catch their breath. We could see odd Saxons but they appeared to be scouts. “We have bought some time. Now we need to know about Prince Ywain.”
“He will either come to our aid or he will be dead. Tuathal would have seen to that.”
Miach suddenly appeared behind me. “My lord, there are Saxons ahead.”
It was my worst fear. They had come between me and my horses. Now we were two isolated bands of warriors. “Use the archers to discourage them. We will head north for a while and then east. We will meet at the valley we scouted.”
Garth had anticipated my next command. “Right lads, we are going to see if we can run faster than a bunch of hairy arsed Saxons. And the ones at the back will find out if the Saxons prefer men or women.” The men dutifully laughed and we all strapped our shields to our backs. As we started running I felt the first drop of rain. Vindonnus was on our side and the rain began pelting down. Soon their landing site would become a morass of mud and their pursuit and invasion would be slower. On the other hand it made our job much harder as we began to slosh through the sticky soil. At least my Wolf Warriors had some protection from the rain.
I was relieved when I saw the ground dip towards the wooded valley. There had been no sign of the enemy for a while but that was partly because of the rain and the mist which made it impossible to see more than a hundred paces. The Saxons would easily be able to follow our tracks for a hundred men in armour leave unmistakeable signs.
Miach and his archers were already there and formed a thin screen in the edge of the shrubs. It was perfect cover for them as it was made up of blackthorn, hawthorn and elder. You had to be at the hedge to be able to see the archers. We would be hidden. My men used their wolf cloaks to make temporary shelter beneath which they cowered and ate the last of their dried rations. It was becoming dark when the horsemen rode in. It was obvious that they had had casualties. Garth peered into the murk and then he shook his head. “No sign of Prince Ywain my lord.”
When Tuanthal, bleeding from a wound on his arm, dismounted, it was confirmed. “Prince Ywain has been captured my lord. His horse was killed and the Saxons have him.”
I did not want any of my men in Aella’s hands but Prince Ywain’s capture was a disaster. What would I do now?
Chapter 10
“It was going really well, my lord. We charged them on the river bank and drove them back. Then they suddenly came at us from our flanks. They had landed men further up and we did not see them. We lost half a dozen before we extricated ourselves. The prince knew that we had to get through them and he led us west and around in a loop. We just didn’t see the warband who were waiting for us a mile away from here. There was so much confusion in the scrubland that we didn’t even know that the prince had fallen until it was too late and they had a shield wall around him.”
“But he lives?”
“Aye my lord; we saw him struggling with two of his captors and then he was struck on the head and he came still.”
“Where are they?”
He pointed to the south east. “They are two miles in that direction.”
“Garth, get the scouts to find out where the Saxons are but I don’t want them seen.”
Garth, Riderch, Tuathal and Miach looked to me; I knew that they wanted a decision but I was in a dilemma. Had it been any other warrior I would have left them to the Saxons and that included Garth but Prince Ywain was the heir to Rheged and I would not face the queen with news that another of her sons had died. What was galling was that we had achieved what had intended. We had inflicted casualties, made their retreat more difficult and avoided too many casualties ourselves.
“I will have to find him.” The looks they exchanged told me that they did not think much of that.
/> Garth was the one who took me to task. “My lord, you were charged by the king with leading this force. Who will lead it if you are not here?”
“You will. I have total confidence in you. I will just take two men and you can continue north to the Roman Road.”
“I think you are wrong my lord.”
It was a brave thing to stand up to me but I knew that Garth was both loyal and honest. “I may be, Garth, but Aella will have a bargaining chip if he remains in his hands. We have a short time to rescue him. If this happened just now then they will keep him with the warband and then tell Aella.”
“Then let us all go to rescue him.”
“No, Tuanthal, we still need to slow down the Saxons. I will take Ridwyn and Adair. They have both shown that they keep their wits about them.” They could see that I was not to be dissuaded. “Garth, keep the army going north until you reach the Roman Road and ambush Aella there, should I not return.”
The scouts returned and reported. “The Saxons have halted and are making camp my lord.”
I nodded to Riderch, “Good that means you should be able to get away unseen.” Adair and Ridwyn looked to be excited about the rescue attempt. “I will not order you two to follow me for if you fall into the Saxons hands then your death will be painful. Are you aware of that?”
“Yes my lord,” they chorused. I could see a mixture of pride and concern on the face of Riderch as his little brother bravely volunteered. I would have felt the same about either Raibeart or Aelle.
Shaking my head I mounted my horse and led my two companions through the driving rain. We had a spare horse in the optimistic hope that we might actually succeed. Our only hope was that there were only forty men in the warband which had captured the prince. They still outnumbered us but it was not the whole army. Night had fallen early but we could follow the muddy tracks left by Tuanthal and his remaining one hundred and fifty tired and exhausted horsemen as they had retreated. The woods he had mentioned loomed up in the distance. We dismounted and walked the last hundred paces to the shelter of the elm trees. I left my shield with the horse and removed my helmet. They would not aid us now. It was not my arms which would save the prince but my mind. I strung my bow and led the other two into the woods. I could see a faint glow in the distance and I assumed that they had a fire going.