by Griff Hosker
We could smell the bread breaking as the breeze wafted it towards us. By the time we were within sight of the walls there was a lightness to the sky which told us that dawn was not far away. We hid in the woods and undergrowth. My men could hide in plain sight and here there was so much cover that it was easy. As the day grew lighter I saw the mound five hundred paces from us and outside the walls where they were building the new palace for Egbert. The posts stood up like fingers and I saw some of the roof beams in place. At the base was the first course of stones. As the light grew better I saw the ditch they had dug to make the mound. Piles of timber were there to make the walls which would surround and secure it. Beorn had been right. It was a large hall. There looked to be a forest of timber cleared to build it. We watched the town come to life. The town watch could now be seen on top of the gate talking and laughing. Their shift was over.
My archers had their bows ready to take out those on the top of the walls when the gates opened and we flooded in. I did not know when that would be. We would have to be patient. What I did know was that this was a large settlement. Unlike Aquae Sulis this was all Saxon. There were wooden walls and buildings but the palisade was higher and seemed to stretch further than the one we had seen at Aquae Sulis.
The gates swung open when the sun was visible over the eastern wall. I waited until it was fully open before I raised my sword and ran. Arrows flew from my archers and the surprised town watch, who had just opened the gates, fell. The three men on the wall were also struck but not before one had shouted, “Northmen!”
We ran. The younger warriors like Rollo and Rolf soon began to draw ahead of me. Some jarls liked to be the ones who struck the first blow. I did not mind. The two of them raced into the town. I followed and I saw the shock and surprise amongst the Saxons as they realised that a horde of wild warriors had descended upon them. I had warriors who would secure the gates so that we could escape and so I led my men up the main thoroughfare towards the hall which I knew would be in the centre. I heard a horn blowing. It was summoning help. I had no idea if there were any other strongholds close by. We only knew of this one. Rollo and Hrolf cleared the way for us. Men came out with whatever weapon they had to hand. Sometimes it was a sword and sometimes an axe they used to cut timber. Without mail they were throwing their lives away. Even a blow from a sword could not hurt our mail.
What they did do, however, was to slow us down. It took time to kill a man. The street was narrow; the houses almost touched each other and even though my warriors slew quickly we had corpses to clear and that was not quick. It meant that the dead Saxons bought time for their thegn to organise himself. There was an open area before the hall and, as at Aquae Sulis, they had formed up all of their men. The difference, this time, was that the majority had managed to don mail and helmets. They had grabbed weapons and shields and they stood in three lines. They had boys who began to hurl stones at us as soon as they saw us. Leif Grimsson, one of the men from Cyninges-tūn, found how accurate they were when three stones struck him. One knocked his helmet from his head and a second of them slew him. He grew a third eye and died.
“Shields!”
I turned my body and presented my shield. Haaken and Olaf locked theirs with mine and we stuck our swords over the top. Olaf Leather Neck was using his new Saxon sword. The Saxons had spears. The lead balls continued to clatter against helmets and shields. We needed to close with the warriors and then they would be redundant. My archers loosed their arrows over us to begin to slay the deadly slingers. As soon as I felt a shield press into my back then I knew I was ready.
Haaken began a chant as we moved forward.
Ulfheonar never forget
Ulfheonar never forgive
Ulfheonar fight to the death
Ulfheonar never forget
Ulfheonar never forgive
Ulfheonar fight to the death
Even though they were not Ulfheonar, all of my men joined in. It sounded like a dragon roaring and it helped us to march. We moved relentlessly towards the shields and spears of the Saxons. Most had open helmets. I saw fear on the faces of some of them. Those that had fought before had fought other Saxons. They had defeated Mercians and East Anglians but we were something new. We were a terrifying rumour. We were a story told to frighten children. We were the deadly warriors who acknowledged no king. We were the warriors who rejected the White Christ. We were the men from the north and our bodies coursed with Viking blood. The Saxons believed that Viking blood was somehow different. It was cold. They were wrong but I did not care for it brought fear into their hearts and a frightened warrior was already half beaten. When we approached them they were already half beaten for how could a man fight someone as fierce as a Viking?
We were brave and we were fearless but we were no fools. We had our shields pulled up so that only our eyes showed. When the Saxons thrust their spears they aimed for our eyes. It was the only part of our body they could see. They held their spears one handed and their accuracy was less than they might have wished. The Saxon who struck at me clanged his spear off the side of my helmet. We stepped closer and as he pulled back his spear for a second strike I stabbed his face with my sword. A sword is easier to manage than a spear. Their open face helmets invited such a stroke. As the Saxon lifted his shield he was just a heartbeat too late. Ragnar’s Spirit was already stabbing into his nose as he pulled up his shield. All he succeeded in doing was to drag the tip of my sword into his eye. I pushed my hand and Ragnar’s Spirit entered his skull. He screamed. He fell. He died. He had fought a Northman and paid the price.
I punched my shield into the space where he had been. The Saxon behind presented his spear and my shield struck it. I punched forward with my sword at waist height. The Saxon shields were not locked We had broken their front line and we were driving deep into them. My sword found something soft and yielding. I twisted.
“Jarl Dragonheart! Axe!”
Raibeart’s voice came from behind me and I instinctively lifted my shield up above my head. I just caught sight of the two handed axe being brought from the third rank to smash into my shield. It was a powerful blow. It made my arm shiver but my shield was well made and had metal beneath the leather. The man I had stabbed stepped back and I pushed off my right leg to stab again. Even though my shield was held up I could see the third rank and I saw the axe coming towards me a second time. I pushed harder. This time it was not the axe head which hit my shield but the haft. It also caught my helmet. And I was face to face with the axeman. My sword hand was caught in the press of men. I could not bring it into his body. His axe could not strike me. I pulled my head back and butted him in the face. Blood burst from his nose and I saw his eyes watering but he did not step back. I brought up my right knee hard between his legs. My mail byrnie went down to my knee and the blow was powerful. It takes a strong man not to succumb to such a blow. As he doubled up I brought the edge of my sword up. I used my shield to ram it into his throat. It was as though he gained a new smile. Blood gushed. He slid to the ground. There was no one behind him save the bodies of four boys.
I turned to the side and slid my sword between the ribs of the warrior fighting Haaken. We had completely split their men and we now began to butcher them. We presented a solid front of shields and swords. Our skill was superior to the Saxons and despite their fine swords they tried to defeat us with spears. Spears kept men at a distance. We were beard to beard with them. They would have been better using their seaxes but their leader and his housecarls were dead. The ones who fought on were fighting for their families and they fought hard. They died. When Ketil and Ulf led their men to attack their rear and flanks it became a massacre. None surrendered.
When the last was slain I turned to look at the sea of bodies. We had dead warriors. The Saxons had fought well. Although not a garrison we had fought a large number of men. “Take our dead back to the drekar. Ketil, sort out the captives we might take back. Ulf, have your men search the town for treasure and supplies.”
Already the Saxon swords were being taken and the mail stripped from the bodies. I saw that Ragnar and Gruffyd both had bloody swords but appeared unharmed. Raibeart stood close by them. He had watched over them. I waved them over. “Take some men and set fire to Egbert’s palace.” I smiled at Ragnar. “I think your father would appreciate that. King Egbert might have a palace but it will not be this one.”
Raibeart nodded, “Aye a good fire will warm us this chilly morning!”
Aðils Shape Shifter and Beorn the Scout came over towards me. They were leading two horses. I nodded. They had remembered their instructions, “The main road heads east. I have no doubt that they sent a messenger for help. I would prefer not to be caught on the road. A warning is all that we need.”
“You will have one. Never fear.”
I took off my helmet and used the kyrtle of a dead Saxon to clean my blade before I sheathed it. The raid had not gone quite as I had planned it but as Ulf’s men began to bring the treasures they had collected I could see that it had been worth it. King Egbert’s palace had been intended to impress the rich burghers of this town. The church had much gold and fine linens. There were also many chests of coins in the hall. I guessed the taxes had just been collected and we had benefitted. Ketil had a keen eye and I saw that he chose families as captives. He spoke Saxon. He had been a friend of Prince Athelstan and he spoke to the captives. The ones he picked were the families of dead warriors. It was, in many ways, a kindness. Without a man to support them they would be doomed to a life of poverty. Despite having a church of the White Christ we had noticed little charity amongst its worshippers.
I smelled burning and looked to where Ragnar and Gruffyd had done as I had asked and were burning the palace. The timber intended for the palisade gave them plenty of combustible material. Smoke was already rising and flames licked up to set fire to the newly placed roof beams. King Egbert might still have his summer palace but he would have to clear the burned material and begin again.
When my men returned from the drekar, having taken the dead and the wounded I said, “Begin to take the treasures Ulf has collected back to the ships. Distribute them on both drekar.”
Haaken and Olaf Leather Neck joined me. Olaf pointed at the Saxon corpses. “The bastard with the axe almost had you, Jarl.”
“I know. I was lucky. Raibeart’s warning saved me. It was not my time.” In my head I knew that one day it would be my time and the first that I would know would be when Snorri and my other dead comrades welcomed me to Valhalla.
“Do we need to raid the Welsh now? We have much treasure here and many captives.”
“If we have room then aye. Bagsecg has need of good quality iron. He has scrap and the last of our own seam we worked. The alternative is to go to the valley of the Dunum but now the Northumbria are allies of Egbert that is even more risky. If we are overloaded we will return home first and then return to raid. We need iron.”
Olaf nodded towards the smoke. Your son and grandson did well. They were not shy about facing Saxon warriors. They have your spirit. Ragnar reminds me of his father too. Wolf Killer feared nothing.”
“I am proud of them.”
Erik Bjornson brought us a jug of ale and three horns. “Here Jarl Dragonheart, for Saxon ale this is not bad. Cnut Cnutson brings the bread and the ham. They must have fine pigs. We found some cured legs and it is tasty.”
“Good. Better our bellies filled than those of the Saxons.”
Haaken shook his head, “Beware Olaf. If we annoy Egbert too much he may come to our land for vengeance.”
“He can come! The day I fear an attack by Saxons is the day I follow the White Christ!”
Ulf and Ketil joined us as we ate and drank. “We have all that is worth taking. I have sent the captives to the ships.”
“And I will get my men to take the treasure. First we eat.”
“Aye and then we begin to make fires here.”
Haaken looked at me quizzically, “I thought one fire was dangerous enough. It will draw the Saxons to us.”
“They know we are here. Beorn found the other gates opened. They have gone for help. Aðils and Beorn are watching for them. I want to fire the town before we go. They will try to save it and it will delay the pursuit.”
“And then we go for the iron?”
“Not immediately. We will sail downstream and anchor. I want to assess the state of the drekar and consult with Erik and Kolbjorn. The Welsh are even less dangerous than the Saxons. We can attack in daylight. That way we can make sure that we take back good quality ore. We will not be able to take too much.”
“Then how do you intend to carry it back, Jarl. When I took the captives aboard the decks were almost full.”
“Simple, Ketil. We replace the ballast with iron ore.”
Haaken laughed, “And that shows why you are the Jarl and we merely follow you! That is truly inspired!” Our drekar had stones from our mountains to stop us capsizing when we sailed before a powerful wind. The iron ore would serve the same purpose and we had stones aplenty in the Land of the Wolf.
The sound of hooves made us turn. It was Beorn and Aðils, “Jarl they are a mile behind. They have raised the hundreds. There are three of them. Each hundred is led by a thegn.”
I nodded, “Fire the town and let us go. Begin with the church and the hall. Fire the gate and the walls.”
The townspeople and the disarmed Saxons had been subdued as we had robbed and looted their town. As we began to move purposefully towards the church and the hall they became restless. “Olaf, have some men with weapons in case they try to stop us.”
“Aye jarl.” With a dozen men with spears Olaf made a barrier between the people and my men. There were shouts and cries but none tried to breach the line. As soon as the fires took hold I shouted, “Fall back!”
I stayed with Haaken and Olaf and his ten men. We walked backwards. Freed from the constraint of the spears the people did as I had expected, they flooded out to find water. They would douse the flames. The river was the best source of water but my men blocked one way. They fled out through the eastern gate. That was the gate the Saxons would use to get to us. The three hundreds would be blocked from reaching us by their own people. We did not have as far to go as we headed further south and we easily reached the ships before the pursuers. I was the last to board as the first of the Saxon horsemen rode up. As the sails were lowered, the anchors raised and we began to head downstream, I saw them cursing us and shaking their fists. They saw my wolf and knew who had raided them. I had no doubt that Egbert would seek some sort of revenge but unless he brought his army north then it would be more likely to be treachery and murder rather than war. The Saxons were not great seafarers. We were.
As we boarded the drekar I saw that our rescued Norse had made themselves a nest away from the Saxon captives by the prow. It was just behind the chests of Ragnar and Gruffyd. I saw now that she had been given her name for her thoughtful nature. She saw my son and grandson as protectors.
As we headed downstream I asked Erik about my plan to use ore for the ballast. “We could do that Jarl Dragonheart but we would have to beach the drekar to empty the ballast. That would not be possible in a port.”
“Then we land north of a port and bring it to our ships. Where is the best place to land?”
He took out the chart and pointed. “Here is Cas-gwent and here is Cil-y-coed. Both are ports. North of them is an area of beach. We could use that. Casnewydd is the biggest port but they have an old Roman fort there.”
I nodded, “I remember. We will do as you suggest then. Find us a beach.”
The light was fading and we had reached the widest part of the estuary when I ordered Erik to head for the northern shore. There were some small settlements further west but we pulled in at a deserted part of the estuary. We landed and made a camp. Erik and Kolbjorn secured the two drekar to the land but left them in water which was as deep as a man. I took my scouts to one
side. “Tomorrow morning I want you to scout out the ports to the south of us. We seek iron.”
Beorn shook his head. “We will rest now and leave when it is dark. It will be safer. The two ports are not far from here.”
I gave him a quizzical look. He smiled, “I can read a chart too, Jarl Dragonheart.”
We used the captives to carry our treasure and booty from the drekar and then Erik and Kolbjorn started to empty the ballast. My men set up sentries and we cooked some of the animals we had captured. Although I was weary I knew I had to stay alert. I smiled when I saw Ragnar covering Gruffyd with his wolf skin. My son was even more tired but he had done as well as any of my warriors and I was proud of him. I saw that Astrid Mother and the other rescued slaves were close by. They were almost a smaller version of our clan.
Beorn arrived back before dawn. I was not awake. I was seated by the fire with Haaken. Ragnar lay asleep. “Where is Aðils?”
“He stayed to watch. Cas-gwent is just under a mile from here and there are no ships at the jetty save three small fishing boats. There is a hall and they have sacks of ore ready at the side of it. I think they have ships coming for it.” He hesitated. “If I was leading this raid I would strike now while they are asleep.”
“And you are certain that is it ore? It could not be coal?”
“It is ore.” He smiled, “Aðils Shape Shifter got close enough to steal a piece.” Beorn held it for me to see. “It is ore.”
“Are there warriors there?”
“We saw few but there is a church and the places the priests use.”