by Griff Hosker
There was a roar from our right. The second warrior hall was there and the Vikings within suddenly erupted to attack us. I wondered why they had delayed and then saw that they all wore mail. They had been preparing to meet us. Then came the cry of “Dragonheart!” as Ketil, Raibeart and Asbjorn led their men into the side of the Vikings who had surprised Erik Ironshirt and his men.
The battle was now one of Viking against Viking. It was hard to swing a sword and impossible to wield a spear. I saw a huddle of bodies and recognised them as Angry Cubs. They had died defending our flank. I shouted, “Ulfheonar!”
Haaken’s shield appeared to my left and Aðils Shape Shifter to my right. Cnut Cnutson and Leif the Banner flanked them. It was enough. I stepped forward and they came with me. It was as though we were one. Another of the Angry Cubs fell dead at my feet and I stepped over him and brought my sword down into the neck of his killer. Aðils and Haaken stabbed forward and their swords found unprotected backs. Cnut and Leif scythed their swords sideways into the sides of men whose shields faced Ketil and his men. We came at them from two sides. I suddenly felt myself pushed forwards as Olaf, Rollo, Erik Bjornson and Rolf pushed their shields into our backs. We knocked to the ground, the four men before us. I stabbed at the next man and I heard a cry from below me as Leif ended another life. I saw a face below me and I ground my heel hard into the nose. As I stepped off I felt his skull cave in beneath my sealskin boot.
Olaf Leather Neck shouted, “Duck!”
As we did so the two axes of Olaf and Rolf swung, almost as one. They bit into helmets, skulls and mail. Spattered by blood and bone we raised our heads and stabbed forward again. The enemy were being slain. Their movements were clumsy. Drink had made them weak. They were not as well trained as my men and they struggled to raise swords and shields. My men were the fittest of men. The rowing had given them limbs like oak. I saw Haaken swing his sword at one of Harald’s warriors. Although he met Haaken’s sword with his own he could not stop it. I saw the look of horror on his face as his sword was driven back towards his chest. When Haaken punched the boss of his shield into his face it signalled his end. Haaken slid his blade sideways and sliced through the warrior’s neck.
It then became butchery. The men we fought were no cowards. They fought on despite being overmatched. They fought and they bled. Their lives oozed out in the stronghold that was Duboglassio. None asked for quarter. All wished to die with a sword in their hands. My men knew we had another battle to fight and they killed coldly. They killed calmly. They took no chances. It was dawn by the time the last of them died. Daylight also brought the end of the fog and the mist. It seemed to evaporate before our eyes as the weak sun of Mörsugur slowly melted the fog. I knew then that the Allfather had sent it to help us.
As I sheathed my sword I saw a bloodied Ragnar followed by Gruffyd make their way from the gate. “Where is Aiden?”
“He tends our wounded.”
Gruffyd looked shaken. “We both had warriors who died. Einar and Arne both fell.”
“Then they kept their oaths and they are now in Valhalla.”
Ragnar nodded, “We let the women go. Did you wish us to make them captives?”
“They can go nowhere. It does not matter that you let them leave. Did you burn the ships?”
“Aye, Jarl Dragonheart. Aiden made the fires burn quickly.”
“Then the women have nowhere to go. When we have taken Balley Chashtal then we can think of slaves and captives.” I pointed my sword at the dead, “We have paid a price for this victory. It is a price worth paying if we can end Harald’s life but that is still in the balance. For now, you have both done well. You had better see to your dead.”
I took off my helmet and let the cool morning air wash over me. I saw that my Ulfheonar had all survived. I wandered over to Haaken and Olaf. “Olaf, see to our men. There should be food in the hall. We will deal with the dead later. Haaken come with me.”
We wandered down the corpse filled cobbled road. I saw that we had dead warriors but the majority were those of the enemy. Aiden was using one of the whore’s huts to tend to the wounded. He glanced up as I put my head inside, “We won?”
“Of course but we lost more men that I would have wished.”
He nodded and went back to his sewing, “It could have been worse. I am saving as many as I can.”
We continued out of the gates towards the quay. I saw that three of the drekar had burned down to the waterline and they lay half submerged. The smallest of them had been partly burned but she floated still. I saw that the sail still functioned. “We will use that to send our own dead to the Otherworld. It will be a fitting end. We will load them on board, lower the sail and let the current and what little breeze there is take them to sea. I would not leave them where their bodies can be despoiled by our enemies.”
“Hopefully we will destroy all of our enemies.”
“And I hope that too but I will not risk the dead. It will be but a little work. We rest here today and tomorrow we march to Balley Chashtal. I was going to destroy this place and march straight away but this was a hard battle. Let us see how many men remain with Harald.”
I waited until my men had eaten and had their wounds seen to before we carried our dead to the last drekar and laid them aboard. With the sail lowered we placed fires on board. The flames helped to send the drekar out into the bay. It sank a thousand paces from the shore with our dead entombed in her. It was a fitting end for brave Vikings.
When we had said goodbye we returned to the stronghold. There were horses in the stables. Our attack had been so swift that they had not been able to use them and escape. We sent the treasure we had collected on the horses, with those who could no longer fight. They returned to the drekar. We had fewer men now but all that we had with us could fight.
It was strange to sleep in the hall which Prince Buthar had built. Memories flooded back to me. He had died on the quay and I had slain his killer. Before I slept Aiden told me of my son and grandson and how they had fought. They had led their men well. Overcoming the guards on the drekar they had ensured the destruction of the four ships before hurrying to aid my men. Seeing some warriors trying to attack the rear of Ulf Olafsson’s men they had formed a wedge and, with Ragnar and Gruffyd leading, had fought their way through to Ulf. I was proud of them. I wondered if Prince Buthar had felt the same pride in me. Certainly he had rewarded me with titles, mail and honours. Perhaps this was how all life was. One generation prepared the next and their work would be reflected in the skill of their charges. Would I do as good a job as Ragnar and Prince Buthar had done with me. I suddenly realised that I would never know. When they led the clan then I would be dead. The thought was not a comfortable one. I wanted them to rule but I was not yet ready to die.
We left the next morning. I had debated firing the walls but then I realised that would warn our enemy. When we returned we would have time aplenty to destroy the hall and the walls. As we trudged south I noticed that the mist had gone and been replaced by scudding clouds and a damp and icy wind from the south and west. I knew that it had contained snow before it passed over the water. Now it was just rain and sleet. Even so it was bitter and I was glad of my wolf cloak. With our losses and the men we had sent back to the drekar we now had less than a hundred and fifty men. We were better armed. All of my men now had mail. Beorn and Aðils scurried south to scout Harald’s last stronghold. This was the one I knew least well. We had less than ten Roman miles to go but as the Romans had never been here we travelled on greenways. I knew we were taking a risk. The women who had fled might have gone to Harald and he would know that we were coming. One advantage of this might be that he would come to meet us in battle. I would prefer a battle on the land than trying to take his stronghold.
Even as the thought entered my head the Norns webs came to entrap me. Beorn and Aðils ran towards me. “Jarl Dragonheart, the enemy comes. We saw them leaving Balley Chashtal. They are five miles away and coming up the greenway. He h
as scouts out and they come ready for war.”
Olaf said, “Excellent! We beat him here and then this will be over.”
Beorn shook his head, “No Jarl Dragonheart, you do not understand. He is not alone. He has with him a warband from Wessex. He has almost four hundred men and they are marching towards us.”
Chapter 12
There was little point in a discussion. If we fought against so many fresh men then we would lose. I had to think quickly. “Aiden, back to the drekar. Take Ragnar and Gruffyd with you. They are young and can move quickly. Have the ships readied for us.”
“Aye. Come, let us see how fast we can run.” Ragnar led them away.
As they loped off I said, “The Ulfheonar will be the rear guard. We run the reverse of the route we took yesterday.”
Erik Ironshirt said, “We will fight with you, jarl!”
“No, Erik. You will save your men and we will fight another day. There is no point in fighting for the odds are stacked against us. They will be fresh and we are not. We waste time. Run!”
The greenway was not wide. And as the men ran north I noticed that it took time for them to leave the area. If we could slow them down even more it would give my men the chance to reach the drekar safely. I pointed to two large ash trees. “Olaf, Rolf, chop down those two trees. Let us slow them down a little. Aðils, Beorn, Cnut and Karl, take your bows and slay their scouts. We retreat but we need to buy our men the time to get back to our ships.”
Haaken laughed, “This is a fine saga in the making. A handful of men fighting almost four hundred!”
I began to ready myself for the long run home. I put my shield beneath my cloak and took a drink from my water skin. The sound of the two axes seemed inordinately loud but I knew that the enemy were far enough away for us not to worry. A five mile lead was a good one but it would take time to load the drekar. In addition I knew that there was a short route over the mountain. If he had enough younger, fitter warriors, then they could cut us off. My archers had to attract their attention, slow them down and buy us enough time to make life hard.
Haaken pointed south and said, “An unholy alliance, Jarl Dragonheart. Egbert’s men and Vikings.”
“I should not be surprised. We now have allies and Egbert hates us. He will ally with Harald and then, when he has used him, he will destroy him. Harald is playing for high stakes. He would be king. Egbert is astute. Perhaps he offered him a throne. At the moment we are blind. If we can I would have a prisoner.”
There was a sound of timber falling and the two trees fell across the greenway.
“Now we can run.”
Olaf growled, “First, Jarl Dragonheart, we put edges on our axes. They will soon be hewing something better than wood! We have time.”
The sound of the axes was replaced by the rasp of a stone on an axe. While they sharpened the rest of us went through the trees and into the woods and scrub on either side. It was not easy. My barricade would slow them a little. Four hundred men would take time to pass along the greenway. The rain had begun to fill the hollows making it into a sucking swamp. The greenway was the quickest route.
I heard the sounds of shouting someway from the south; my scouts were killing theirs. The enemy were coming. “Sharp or not, now we move!”
We hurried up the greenway. We did not run. That would come later. We had travelled a thousand paces when my scouts joined us. Beorn grinned. He talked as we ran, “The scouts of Harald have learned to be more careful, Jarl Dragonheart. They came close together up the greenway. We slew the first ones before they knew it and our arrows then fell amongst their warriors. We saw their leaders. Harald rides a horse and he has three thegns with him. They have the banner of Wessex.”
“Egbert?”
Beorn shook his head, “The Saxons were too young to be Egbert. They may be family. They had the horse standard; the white horse”
Haaken said, “Aye, remember the last raid? He was related too.”
“Then the blood feud continues.”
The greenway was narrow. When we had lived here it had been wider for it had been well used. Now nature reclaimed what had been hers and the brambles and ivy now crept closer to the path. The elder and alder sent spindly branches to arch across the greenway. I looked to the west. The shadow of Snaefell lay there. An army would not cross it quickly but a determined band of warriors would. They would have to climb the steep slopes which burned the calves and the lungs but young warriors could do it. We had, years before.
“Beorn, take Aðils and get ahead of us. Look to the mountain path. They may have sent men that way. If you can, then take a prisoner.” I glanced up at the sky. The grey skies and the rain hid the sun but I estimated that it was getting close to noon. The shorter days meant that we had to stay ahead of them for just a few more hours.
As Beorn and Aðils ran ahead I thought about Harald. I had wondered why he had not been at Duboglassio. Now I knew. Bally Chashtal was an easier port to enter. It had two good breakwaters. It was also far enough away from my land for him to bring his new ally in unseen. He had gone there to meet with his new allies. Had they planned on attacking my home? The women I had allowed to escape had told him that I was near. If I had not done so then I would have attacked a burgh with twice as many men as I had expected. The spirits had directed me to let the women go. They had not done as I had asked but that had saved my army. Wyrd .
As the afternoon wore on I felt my legs begin to ache. I had not run as far for some time. When I smelled the Garlic River I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I heard, in the distance, the sound of battle. The ships were not far ahead. Where were my scouts?
“Cross the river here!”
Olaf pointed his axe, “There is fighting ahead!”
As we waded across the river Beorn appeared. He was bleeding from a wound to his cheek. “They have sent men ahead as you thought, Jarl. There is a band of forty warriors. Aðils is shadowing them.”
I pointed to his cheek, “Your wound?”
“We ran into their scouts and slew them. There were five of them.”
I drew my sword. “Follow Beorn!”
As we ascended the lower slopes of Snaefell my legs felt like they did when I stepped ashore after a long voyage. My thighs and my shoulders burned. Would my legs bear my weight when we fought? We reached a clearing and saw that my army was in the midst of boarding the drekar. It would still take time for some had to cross three drekar to reach their own. I saw the warriors Harald had sent. Some had bows and Ketil had organised a shield wall. Behind me I heard Leif shout, “Jarl Dragonheart, I hear horses.”
We were close to being trapped. “We charge those warriors with the bows. If we can scatter them then we might still escape.”
Even as we swung our shields around and headed in a loose line down the slope towards the band of Vikings I saw three of those trying to board, ‘Heart of the Dragon ’ pitch into the sea with arrows in them. My enemy had learned from me.
Nearing them I saw that Aðils had not been idle. There were four dead Vikings lying in the gorse. He rose like a wraith. “I ran out of arrows, Jarl!”
“Then now we use your sword.” We were a hundred paces from the Viking at the rear. They were concentrating on closing with my men on the beach. I raised Ragnar’s Spirit and shouted, “Ulfheonar!” It had the effect I desired. As we hurtled down the slope the warriors turned. Their arrows stopped slaying my men. In the time it took to turn we were less than fifty paces from them for we had the slope with us.
I held my shield close to me. We did not pause. A young warrior pulled back his arm to thrust his spear at me. The legs I had feared would not carry me found new life and I crashed into him. The weight of me, my mail and the slope knocked him to the ground and, as he fell I swung my sword in an arc at the warrior just behind him. Harald had sent young warriors without mail. His men paid the price for Ragnar’s Spirit bit into the warrior’s upper arm and grated against the bone. With blood spurting he dropped to his knees. An arche
r bravely knelt, his arrow aimed at me. If he thought I would slow or shelter behind my shield then he was in for a shock. He released his arrow. It came for my head. Bagsecg was a good smith who made the finest of weapons. As I lowered the helmet the arrow clattered into the reinforced strip above my eyes and spiralled into the air. I brought my sword down and took the archer’s head.
And then we were through. I heard Ketil shout from the shore, just forty paces from us, “Horsemen, Jarl!”
I heard the sound of hooves and I turned, I was the last of the Ulfheonar, and I saw the rest of Harald’s army pouring across the slope. The three Saxon thegns were ahead of them and they were racing towards me. They were less than thirty paces from me. I would not make the drekar. I turned and dropped to one knee. If I was to die then I would take at least one of these Saxons with me. Haaken dropped next to me and locked his shield with mine.
“You will not die alone, Jarl Dragonheart!”
As the leading rider neared us I said, “Let us try not to die at all!”
The Saxon thegn had obviously never charged a Viking before. We did not run; we stood our ground. As he closed he tried to make his horse rear to hit us with his hooves. The horse turned its head to the side to avoid us. We rose and I hacked at the Saxon thegn’s leg. He had no mail there and my sword hacked deeply into it. He tumbled from the horse, screaming in pain. The terrified horse took off. The maimed rider fell to the ground.