Hosker, G [Wolf Brethren 03] Saxon England

by Griff Hosker

  Suddenly I noticed that they were no longer advancing but looking nervously over their shoulders. Myrddyn appeared at my side. He was smiling. “Let us use nature to destroy them my lord.” He stood and opened his mouth; I had not noticed what a powerful voice he had until he intoned, “Icaunus and the spirit of the wolf destroy these invaders who have dared to treat your land with such scorn.” It was only then that I noticed he had spoken in Saxon and his voice had carried across to the silent Saxons. He turned to me and said, “When I give you the word then order a charge.”

  Few men would have had the audacity to give orders to me; Myrddyn was one of the few. I turned to the men. “Prepare to charge on my command.” They looked at me as though I had eaten the mushroom which makes you insane but they did as ordered.

  Suddenly Myrddyn shouted, “Now!”

  “Wolf warriors! Charge!”

  We all lurched forwards and I saw that the river had grown in size and appeared in full spate. The terrified Saxons saw that at the same time as my wolf warriors charged and they fled in terror. We kept charging for there was no alternative but the Saxons did not stop. We reached their camp, filled with their wounded and their dead and we carried on until we met Tuanthal and his exhausted horsemen. He reined in, grinning although bleeding from a wound on his leg. “I have no idea what you did my lord but the whole army has gone. We killed many but my horses could pursue no longer.”!

  I looked at Myrddyn. “Tell me of the magic that made the river rise and roar as though alive. “

  He smiled. “I used the despatch riders and the slingers to build a dam and hold back the waters. It was not a large dam but when we broke it then the waters flowed as though Icaunus had ordered it.”

  I clapped him about the shoulders. “Whatever it was, it worked. Garth, form a perimeter and despatch any wounded.”

  With Scean, Pol and Myrddyn at my side I headed for the waterfall which was the quickest way across the river. I hoped that my brother and the men of Elmet had fared as well as we had. I could see Saxons still fighting on the other bank, their backs to us. “Miach bring your archers.”

  Standing on the rocks above the small waterfall Miach and his archers slaughtered every Saxon who remained on the northern shore. They had nowhere to run and did not know that the rest of their warband had fled. I almost ran to get to the other side. There looked to have been more Saxons fighting there than I had expected. The faces of the men of Elmet looked drained and they could barely raise a wave. What was worse, I could see neither my brother nor King Gwalliog.

  Chapter 3

  “Myrddyn get some of our men over and see to the wounded. Pol find my brother, you know their camp.” I could see the two banners still flying but that meant nothing. The two men could have died unseen. Just then I heard a voice calling my name and I looked up to see Aedh racing towards me. It pleased me as much as anything that my young scout still lived. “I am glad that you still live young Aedh.”

  “Lord Raibeart is on the hill he sent me to find you.”

  “Lead on Aedh and tell me of the battle while you do so.” I knew now that my brother lived but it was not like him to be in the rear of a battle.

  “We watched as the Saxons attacked you and the men of Elmet wanted to attack but Lord Raibeart said to wait for your call and that you would not fail.” He suddenly looked serious. “I knew that you would not fail my lord but I could say nothing.” His trust in me was touching and a little worrying. “When you did sound the horn we all raced forwards. Lord Raibeart’s men used our arrows and slaughtered many of the Saxons but when we reached their lines they had reinforced the men and we were outnumbered. That was when the king fell. Lord Raibeart rescued him and led the men back up the hill and then you appeared on the waterfall and your archers ended the Saxon’s lives. I knew you would come, my lord but it was nerve wracking waiting for you.”

  I knew then that something else had urged me across the river; had we delayed then all might have been in vain and my order for Raibeart to attack might have been disastrous.

  Pol looked serious as he found me. “My lord, the king is wounded. You must come.”

  “Find Myrddyn and bring him to me.”

  There were many wounded warriors but I saw that they had built a fort for the women and children who greatly outnumbered the warriors. Now I knew why they had been unable to outrun the Saxons; they had been encumbered with those who could not defend themselves. Raibeart saw me and strode towards me. He had wounds on him but none appeared serious and he embraced me. “Thank you for coming. I think that, had Geraint not found you, we would have been slaughtered. They outnumbered us greatly.”

  “There will be time for tales later now what of the king? Aedh says he is wounded.”

  “He is but the wounds which are killing him are in his mind. Only his daughter, Maiwen lives, his wife and his sons all died and he blames himself.” He looked over my shoulder, seeking someone. “Is Myrddyn close by, for he is the only one who can save him?”

  “I have sent for him.”

  King Gwalliog was surrounded by a sea of concerned bodyguards. They relaxed their weapons into their sheaths when they saw me. The king gave me a wan smile. “You have once again saved my people, Wolf Warrior, but this time I have lost our land.” His face was wracked with remorse rather than pain.”

  “Do not worry King Gwalliog, we drove them from your land once and we can do so again.”

  He shook his head and I could see a tendril of blood drip from the corner of his mouth. “No Lann, this is all that is left of the army of Elmet. We could not even populate one town now.”

  “Out of the way!” Myrddyn bustled through the bodyguards and knelt down next to the king. He took out a small flask and held it to the king’s mouth. “Drink your majesty.”

  I saw the outrage on the bodyguards. “This is Myrddyn and he is the greatest healer in the land; it was he who made the river rise and drive the Saxons away for he is a wizard too.” Myrddyn gave me an admonishing look but I shrugged, the bodyguards stepped back so the lie did not hurt.

  “Step back and give me room to work on the king.”

  I led Raibeart away from the press. “He is right, Lann, this is all that is left.”

  I bit my lip. I had a hard question to ask and I did not wish to offend my brother. “How did they manage to win so swiftly? Your strongholds were well defended and sound.”

  Raibeart slumped to the ground. “That was the problem; they were too well defended and, apart from Loidis, they did not keep a good watch. The Saxons struck at the same time one night. There was a warband to each of our settlements and the men were slaughtered and the women and children enslaved. They tried the same with Loidis but we repulsed them and they lost many men. The king and his sons left the next day with the horses to see where the Saxons were and they were ambushed. Geraint, the king and twenty others survived.” He shrugged. “The strength of Elmet lay in their horsemen and they were destroyed in an instant. My archers were good but they could only defend. We were besieged and, although we had food, we had limited arrows. Then disease spread through the stronghold and we decided to flee towards you. We used all the horses we had left for the carts and the night before we left we sortied and slaughtered the Saxons who were watching the walls. It bought us a precious day but, as you know, carts move slowly and they caught us. Geraint and the horsemen fought valiantly to keep them from us but each day fewer returned. Then I remembered this place and I sent Geraint to find you and we came here. I knew we had water and food and that we could defend it. It was close brother, one day more and we would have all died.” His eyes welled up. “Maiwen has taken the loss of her family badly. I think she blames herself for if we had stayed in Banna then they could have joined us and our children would not have been placed in danger.”

  “Brother, it is wyrd. These things are shaped by others and it is how we deal with them that mark us as men. You did well and you have saved many of the people of Elmet. But the king is rig
ht. If this is all that remains then you need a new home.”

  “Rheged?” His eyes pleaded with me.

  I nodded. “The land close to Aelle is fertile and empty and, more importantly, safe. The northern half will become more dangerous as the Saxons eat up Morcant Bulc’s land.”

  “My lord?” Myrddyn had approached us silently. “I have dressed the king’s wounds. They are not life threatening but he appears to have lost the will to live.”

  Raibeart shook his head, “It is as I feared. Thank you Myrddyn, now could you look at those of my people who have the wasting disease. It has hit the old and the young.”

  “I will my lord.” He looked at Raibeart. “You are without injury?”

  He grinned, “Once again I have been spared. It seems all my wounds come from inside.”

  Raibeart’s trouble was that he thought too much and worried about too many things. I did not worry, wyrd had seen to that. Too much had happened in my life which was outside of my control. If I was destined to die at a Saxon’s hands then, so be it, but it would not worry me. “We will leave within the hour, those Saxons may regroup and follow us again.”

  Raibeart went off to organise his people and I turned to look for my own captains. Tuanthal rode up and dismounted. Pol handed him a water skin. “Thanks Pol, fighting makes a man thirsty. I cold drink the river dry.” He pointed downstream. “The Saxons stopped two miles yonder my lord but they are spread over a large area.” He saw my mouth opening and answered the question he knew was on my lips. “By noon they will be ready to come again.”

  “Good. Tell Garth to get the men organised, we leave within the hour. Mount up twenty of Miach’s archers and then you can keep watch on the Saxons. We will try to make Castle Perilous before dark. You and Miach need to buy us the time.”

  “The men are tired, my lord.”

  “I know but if we are then so are the Saxons and they have already run further than we. Just do your best Tuanthal.”

  His smile told me he would. “Of course, my lord. Will you need the scouts or shall I take them?”

  “You take them. Your need is greater than mine.”

  It was a short while later when the carts began to stream down the hillside to head west to safety. The remaining warriors of Elmet and Raibeart led the way while I remained with Garth and my men as a rearguard. When Garth reported to me he held in his hand the axe from the death warrior. The men are carrying the rest of the booty my lord but this is your prize.”

  The axe was magnificent and had inlaid silver and Saxon runes along the blade. I clapped my hand to Saxon Slayer. “I only need the sword from my home; the king killer.” I saw Pol’s eyes widen. “However, Pol, if you would like it as the warrior who helped me to fell the beast then you may have it. But I warn you the axe is not an easy weapon to master.”

  “I will learn my lord, and thank you.” I knew that he had been aggrieved when I had allowed Aedh to keep the wolf skin from our hunt and this more than made up for it. Garth’s approving nod also told me that I had made the correct decision.

  We kept some eight hundred paces behind the carts and the men and women of Elmet. We wanted space to fight should the Saxons return. I knew that Raibeart would prevent an ambush ahead and we both knew the country well, having spent our childhood there. Once we had passed Stanwyck the journey would be harder but less hazardous as we would be climbing the long, grinding, slope towards home but it was, mercifully free from ambush sites and was easier going along the Roman Road. We had but ten more miles to worry about.

  “Garth, did we lose many?”

  “Twenty warriors and ten archers. They will be hard to replace.” He peered ahead, “But at least we now have your brother’s warriors and the men of Elmet.”

  Myrddyn had placed himself in the cart with those who had the most serious wounds but he had told me of the despair and despondency amongst the men of Elmet. “They will need time to heal, Garth, before they can fight again. They will need to own the land they will be given and that cannot be rushed.”

  “Captain Riderch and his men managed that at Banna, my lord.”

  “True but they had fought with us for some time before that and knew the country well. This is the first time the men of Elmet will have crossed the divide. The brunt of the attacks will have to be borne by us.”

  Pol’s voice sounded afraid, “Will they come then my lord?”

  “Having captured Elmet and defeating Morcant Bulc I would think that they will seek to achieve the prize they desire the most, Rheged. They will come but they will find us a harder nut to crack and I hope that we can prove to be too big for their bellies!”

  We had reached the Roman Road when Aedh found me. “Captain Tuanthal says that the Saxons are pursuing. He and Captain Miach are holding them but there are many my lord.”

  “How many?”

  “Captain Tuanthal says that they have been reinforced by a fresh band of warriors. There are more now than there were.”

  Garth looked behind as though he could see them. “There is nowhere now to ambush them.”

  “No Garth so we will head for the highest part of the road and await them there. As I recall there is a steep gully to the south which leaves just the north to defend. Pol, tell my brother what we intend and urge him to make haste to Castle Perilous whilst we delay them. Aedh tell the same to Captain Tuanthal and tell him to rejoin us. I want no more losses.” The two young men galloped off. Only a pigeon would deliver the message faster. “And now, Garth, we push the men. I know that they are tired but we can rest when we reach the summit of the road.”

  Our men were hardy warriors and they were kept fit by Garth. We went much faster up the road having no wounded to slow us down. When I saw the place I had mentally chosen my rearguard reached us. I could see from the empty saddles that they had paid with the lives of my warriors. “How long?”

  Miach looked up at the sky. “Soon, after noon.”

  That gave us a long hour. “Well that is something. I want you two on our left flank to stop them surrounding us. Garth, I want a double ditch digging on either side of the road. We will use three lines of warriors and the archers can shelter behind them. Put the slingers on the left.”

  My men groaned and moaned as they dug the ditches but they were all veterans and they knew the benefit. One wag quipped, “All this digging and nothing to plant.”

  Scean shouted, “We will plant the Saxons and hope they do not grow!”

  I was not worried, we were in good spirits. We had yet to lose although we had ceded the field on some occasions. I was worried that we were heavily outnumbered by over five to one. We just needed to delay them until nightfall and then we could slip away. My castle was but twenty miles hence and it was all down hill.

  The Saxons could see a long way ahead and they knew we had halted. There was no place for an ambush but the road was steep and the gully to one side and the slope to the other narrowed the frontage and suited us. Their warriors would struggle to keep their footing if they tried to flank us and we had a compact frontage. They halted and began to form a wedge. It was the most sensible formation and their leader would hope to break our three lines. I wondered who it was and if he had fought me before; if not then we had the chance to surprise them for they would not know of my archers. The two ditches were not deep, just the length of a man’s calf but there were rocks in the bottom and they were ankle breakers. More importantly they would disrupt their attack and make them arrive piecemeal. But they had plenty of warriors to fill any ranks behind. The warband which was before us was huge and I wondered if they had pulled men away from their invasion of Bernicia. If not then they had more warriors than I could have dreamed of.

  My spearmen in the third rank had their weapons over our shoulders in the front rank and they would jab them forwards when the Saxons struck. The hill meant that the Saxons could not run at us for we were at the summit. It was our archers, however, who began our defence and sixty archers sent flight after flight tow
ards the Saxons. They had expected that and their shields protected them but it also meant that their attention was not on the ground and the men on either side of the road crumpled and screamed to the ground as they struck the first of the ditches. The ones on the road came forward losing the support of many of their comrades. “Brace!” The point of the wedge struck our line. Not one of my warriors moved and the spears did their worst striking faces and, for those with the face masks, through their eye holes. I punched with my shield and that allowed me to swing my sword. I chopped through the helmet and skull of their leading warrior. The second ditch also did its job and my archers now managed to strike more warriors as they stopped their volleys and began choosing their targets individually.

  Then they changed their tactics and the warriors from their flanks came onto the road and gave their weight to the squared off wedge. We began to edge backwards as their combined numbers forced our retreat. This would not do for we had to hold them. It was my job to lead the counterattack. “Garth, push them forwards! Wolf Warriors on! For Rheged!”

  I punched with my shield and used the pommel of my sword to hit two men at once. Scean’s sword took out a third and Pol’s seax stabbed upwards to despatch a fourth. We had the space to step forwards. I felt Garth to my right and knew that we had a sound wedge again. We had stopped moving backwards as their attack faltered. Without crossing the ditches they could only bring ten men to face our warriors. It was a bloody battle with no quarter sought or given. Our spearmen in the third rank helped us to keep them at bay but we were tiring. I turned to speak to Garth, “Give a push and then rotate!”

  I saw him nod and I shouted, “Push! Second rank, rotate!”

  We had practised this many times and as we stepped to the right the second rank stepped to the left and took our places. The Saxons in their front rank who were tiring now faced fresh warriors and, inexorably, they were slowly pushed back. It could not last and I heard their leaders order a retreat. That afforded my archers the opportunity to kill men who foolishly turned the backs. We now had respite and my spearmen handed their spears to the men in the front rank and they became the front rank. When the Saxons came again they would face fresh warriors. I shielded my eyes to look at the sun. We had a couple of hours until dusk. It would be a close run thing if they came again.