by Griff Hosker
"I would rather ride behind the Warlord."
I turned, "Arturus, if they see just your father wearing my mail they may think that it is another taking my place. Your golden hair, lack of beard and distinctive features mark you as Arturus my squire. If you do not sit astride your horse next to Gawan then the ruse might fail. If we have surprise then it could bring victory. If they know where we are then it invites disaster. I do not ask this of you, Arturus, you are my squire and I command it."
"And who will be your squire?"
"I need no squire."
We did not return the way we had entered. I wanted to see if we could ride down the southern side of the hill fort. We discovered we could not. The ramparts were unstable there. I pointed to the entrance of the hillfort. "We will have to wait there. I will have a couple of Daffydd's archers in the top. They can use an arrow to signal when we attack. Come let us ride from the entrance. I would like to see how long it takes to reach the camp."
I estimated it to be less than a mile to the camp. I had to try to visualize the Bernicians as they attacked. As we trotted I turned Copper to my left. We would need to attack the right flank of the enemy. They would not have shields facing us. If they turned to face us then they would be exposing their backs to our arrows. I dug my heels in and Copper sped up. The ground was still in our favour and sloped down slightly. It was barely noticeable but Copper was moving easily and that told me that the gradient was helping us. When we were parallel to the camp I reined in. "I am happy now." I smiled, "I will upset Llenlleog. Tomorrow we make a new camp by the entrance to the hill fort."
The two kings were happy about the new plan. They saw it as a way of refining what had already been a strategically sound one.
More men arrived during the evening. Some were from Gwynedd. King Cadafael was not as popular as his father had been. Warriors came in defiance of him and to honour the old alliance with Rheged. I knew that the King had indulged his son too much. Cadwallon had thought that when we defeated Oswald we had the whole of Britannia under our control. He was wrong. When he had fallen by the wall at the Battle of Heofenfeld, it had been a disaster not least because it left Gwynedd in the hands of a poorly prepared king. Other warriors came from the lands around Tatenhale. Once the Bernicians had moved south towards us then the threat to the homes there dissipated. In all we gained two hundred men. Their quality did not matter it was numbers which counted.
Daffydd chose two of his archers, Dai and Garth ap Geraint to come with us. I sat up long into the night speaking with my brother and the two kings. When dawn broke we would break our camp and move to the hill fort. We needed signals and commands establishing for the whole plan relied upon timing and surprise.
We rose early and headed to the hill fort before dawn had broken. According to the Powys' scouts the enemy were still a day away but I did not want to risk the surprise element. We would not have tents and we would not be able to use fires but they were minor considerations. The two archers came with us. They would camp at the top of the hill fort.
"When you spy them in the distance then one of you come and tell us. You know when to send the arrow?"
"Aye, Warlord, when they are committed to their attack. And can we then join in, Warlord?"
That was typical of my men. They were warriors one and all. Llenlleog said, laughing, "Of course so long as you stay from under our horses' hooves."
The other squires ensured that Star was cared for and they asked if I needed my sword sharpening. I think that many of them wished to touch the magical weapon. "Arturus sharpened it before I left the camp." I took the equites and squires up the hill so that they could see the battlefield. Having an aerial view like this would help them when they charged. None of us exposed ourselves. We were all too experienced for that. We spied the road down which the Bernicians would come. King Oswald was not coming to talk. He was coming for war. He wanted King Penda dead. Now that he had a Mercian who would do as he was ordered then he could add Mercia to his conquests. Cadwallon had been the last High King. Oswald, despite his conversion to Christianity, wanted to be the next! When we were all familiar with the landscape and before we were seen we headed down to the camp. The squires hurried off to prepare us food.
My most experienced equites sat with me. We had some logs on which to sit. "It will be strange not to be riding beneath your banner, Warlord."
"It may add to their confusion, Llenlleog. If they see the equites follow your banner it may make them think that you have left me."
He laughed, "We are all oathsworn, lord, that will not happen."
They were in good spirits and I was honoured to lead them but they needed the truth. "You know that we are all doomed to failure?" They looked at me. "Our numbers dwindle and those of the Angles and Saxons grow. Our old allies are weaker. Cadafael is not the leader his father was. We slew many when we killed King Edwin. How many more were there to defeat and kill King Cadwallon? We slew six warbands and more in the Ray Valley and yet, according to the scouts he has come south with an army which is greater than the ones we destroyed."
Llenlleog nodded but did not seem at all discomfited or put out, "True we have fewer warriors now than we did but that means there is greater glory for us. My sons have not seen seven summers but in another seven they will become squires and then train to be equites. Our numbers will grow. We know that one equite is worth ten Saxons!"
The other equites cheered. Only Bors and Kay had served longer than Llenlleog and he was the leader of the equites. None was braver and none a better warrior. I felt reassured. If I fell and Arturus was not yet ready to be leader then Llenlleog could lead the equites.
I felt happier and I smiled, "You are right! Myrddyn's death still weighs heavily on me. I am seeing this chalice as half empty. When we destroy Oswald, he will have to build up his army again and you all have sons who will become equites!"
During the night we were woken as Oswald's scouts clashed with the Welsh warriors who were our outpost. Our wisdom in making our camp early was rewarded. I knew that when dawn broke we would see the armies of Bernicia and Deira, of Oswald and Oswiu, lining up to fight us. Despite my best efforts I cold not return to sleep. Defeat was not something we could countenance. If we were to lose then Mercia would be lost and any of my men who survived would have to fight their way north through hostile lands. It would be the end of my equites and archers and that would mean, ultimately, the end of Rheged.
Chapter 6
As I could not sleep I rose and made water. The squire on duty was walking amongst the horses and did not see me as I climbed up the hill. I was pleased that I could still move quietly. Dai was on watch. He was an experienced archer and scout, he had heard my approach. "Best keep your head down, Warlord, they have their camp less than a mile away. I can see their fires."
I wriggled next to him and lay on the damp turf. Their fires spread out in an untidy sprawl into the distance. I could see that they had followed the line of King Penda's fires. It meant their line was at a right angle to the hill fort. Having seen no fires there they had assumed that it was unoccupied and ignored the hill fort. They probably thought it was a mistake on the Mercian's part. Peering east I saw a grey line on the horizon. Dawn was on its way. It had been many years since I had done this. I had been a squire when last I had scouted out a foe. This was the easiest position from which to do so. As dawn broke I saw the Angle army take shape. They had just four tents and there were standards leaning against them. They would be the kings, the leaders and the priests. It soon became obvious, as the light improved, that this was an enormous army. The scouts had said that elements of the East Angles had joined them but I also saw flaxen haired Jutes from Cent moving around. More than half of the camp was too far away for me to estimate the warriors.
I said quietly, "Keep a good watch. I will go and rouse the camp."
I slithered back through the bushes. I did not stand until I was fifty paces from the spindly trees. The camp was awake when I descended.
Kay looked red faced with anger, "We thought you had been taken!"
I laughed, "Without a struggle? If they could have done that then I would deserve to die. There are many of them and their battle lines are at right angles to the hill fort. We will not now need to ride towards our lines first. We can form up in our lines here and ride directly at them. Dai will tell us when they form their lines."
As we went to our horses Llenlleog said, "Kay was angry and berated the squire. It was Pol's squire, Gandalfr. Pol was not happy."
"Llenlleog, when I am not here you need to exert your authority. Kay means well but we both know that he is not subtle. He charges at everything. That is a worthy virtue in battle but less so amongst his warriors."
Llenlleog nodded, "You are right. My problem is that I assume all the other equites are the same as we. They are not. Each one is unique. Your boots are hard to fill Warlord. You make it look easy."
We had reached the horse lines and the squires were busy saddling the horses. "Remember that I followed my father for many years and watched him. I was there when he formed the equites. You and I see them the way they are and not the way they were. It is why I have much to do with Arturus."
"I will watch over him when you are unable to."
"When I am dead."
He nodded, "You seem a little preoccupied with your mortality at the moment."
"The Warlord did not reach my age. I have no uncles left alive and there is just Gawan and Arturus left of my family. It is it any wonder?" I paused, "And Gawan has dreamed my death. I must prepare. My father knew he was to die and I had no warning. You have."
He looked at me with new eyes. I saw realisation set in.
One of the squires had saddled Star and he gave the reins to me. Llenlleog turned to look north west, "I wonder if Wyddfa and Myrddyn's spirit has something to do with your mood?"
"Probably although I would have thought the presence of those spirits would have lifted mine."
As we led our horses away he said, "I think the fact that the King of Gwynedd is not here has something to do with that too. We fought for that land. We helped Cadwallon become the king he was and his son has deserted us. We lost equites and archers. It is understandable."
Dai suddenly appeared above us and began to run down the entrance of the hill fort.
"Mount!"
There was a flurry of activity as we all mounted. By the time he reached us the equites had mounted and the squires had handed us our spears. "Warlord they are forming their ranks. It is as we thought last night. They have formed an arc. They mean to surround King Penda and his men."
I nodded. "We await your arrows!"
We formed up in four lines. We had two lines of equites and two lines of squires. My intention was to drive through the enemy and reach their leaders. We did not have enough equites to kill huge numbers of warriors but we could hurt their leaders. If we took the head of the beast then King Penda could destroy the body.
It was strange, as we sat there, to hear the sounds of the two armies. We could not see them but we could hear them. The Bernicians were chanting some paean to their White Christ while King Penda and his Mercians were banging their shields and chanting threats and curses; the sounds blending into one another. The horses were snorting impatiently as we awaited the arrows which would tell us that it was time. A cheer went up from beyond the hill fort and then I saw the two arrows fly and land a hundred paces from us.
I raised my spear, "Forward!"
Having ridden this once it was easier to pace Star. We trotted until we were beyond the hill and the battle unfolded below us. The army of Oswald and Oswiu were just clashing with the Mercians when we saw them. Dai's arrows had been perfectly timed. They were six hundred paces from us and we saw only their backs and their side. The standards were in the distance more than eight hundred paces from us. The kings had chosen the large sycamore tree we had seen the night before around which to place their tents. I think it was said that Christ's cross was made of such wood. I thought it ironic that the tree had probably been worshipped by pagans and yet the priests and Christian kings gathered around it!
All eyes were on the standards of the two kings and Gawan and Arturus. Those four were the only ones who were mounted. It was deliberate. It was the lure to draw the enemy on. I kept the pace steady for as soon as we began to gallop the vibration and the sound would carry to the enemy. I wanted them engaged by the Mercians and unable to disengage before we alerted them. I watched as waves of arrows from the Welsh archers and Daffydd's sailed over the heads of the front ranks. Those at the rear who had shields used them but many more had not and they died. It made them press even closer together desperate to take advantage of the shelter of their comrades.
At two hundred paces I shouted, "Charge!" Our horses were unleashed and they opened their legs. The ground thundered and shook. I saw Bernicians looking to the skies for signs of a storm!
A shield wall is a powerful weapon save that it relies on the shields being locked and facing its enemy. The moment the wall is broken it is like a thread from a woven kyrtle. It unravels and vanishes. The Bernicians who were on the extreme right flank were before us and facing the Mercians. Three rows deep they had shields above their heads and before them. Then the ones at the rear and on the right heard us and turned. As they did so some of our archers' arrows found flesh and they fell. The Mercians facing them began to push forward and hurt those in the front rank. As more men heard us they also turned and it was like a wave surging down the serried ranks of Angles and Jutes. We had not even drawn blood and the enemy began to flee. Our line of horses must have filled their world. Had they been with others and holding locked shields, supported by those behind then they might have stood and faced the shining wall of armour which hurtled towards them. Perhaps it was the dragons and wolves on our shields, the red plumes fluttering behind us or the sound of the wailing dragon standard which made them flee but the ones before us did not risk our horses' hooves. I pulled back my arm for a fleeing man cannot out run a horse. The men we chased had no armour. I reined in Star a little to make a more accurate strike. I punched, twisted and pulled. I did not need to penetrate deeply. The first Angle fell dead and his body was trampled by the horses following me. Even with Star just cantering I was still catching those who had fled. More were now joining them for the Mercians on our left flank had managed to turn the shield wall. They were hacking and attacking at the side of the Bernicians without shields. The arrows which still flew killed and wounded more. The behemoth which had been the Bernician horde was now writhing in pain.
I spied the two kings and their allies. They were surrounded by their hearth weru and priests. I turned to Llenlleog. He was on my right and his squire held the banner which would command our equites. "Wheel to take the kings! Let us end this!"
He turned and shouted. The standard pointed north and we began to wheel. Those on my right had to urge their horses faster while those on the left slowed down. Only well-trained equites and squires could manage this manoeuvre. I believe it won us the battle that day for it caught the Bernicians, Deirans and Jutes by surprise. They had expected us to plough on through their shield wall. For us that battle was over. King Penda and King Cynddylan would finish that fight.
The hearth weru formed a shield wall. This would be a substantial one. These were the best of warriors. They had all sworn to die for their kings and thegns. The only horses they had with them belonged to the two kings and their two standard bearers. Even as we closed with them, trampling over the bodies of men slain by arrows, I saw King Oswald and his standard bearer dismount. They gave their horses to two priests. The four horses galloped away. King Oswiu was leaving. King Oswald showed his courage that day. The flight of the Deiran King and their standard prompted the Deirans to flee. The Jutes had no king to lead them. When the Angles left to flee north they joined them. I heard a roar from the Mercians as a third of the men they faced fled. Swords now rattled on shields for the spears were shattered. Me
n cried out as arrows plunged into flesh no longer protected by willow shields.
The battle, however, was not over. It would not be until the two hundred or so warriors who remained were dead. We were in a looser formation, my foot no longer touched that of Llenlleog and Bors. There was, however not enough space for a warrior to pass between us. We had used all the slope that there had been and now our horses were tiring. Some had been cut by the spears of dying men. The shield wall would hold us. As we neared it I changed my grip to hold the spear overhand. I threw it down and over the shields. The Angle had leather mail studded with metal but I was close enough for my spear head to find his bare neck and he fell. As he fell he created a slight gap. I drew my sword and pulled back on Star. His mighty forelegs and hooves clattered into the shield of the Angle behind. His spear scored a line through my leather leggings and drew blood. It was nothing. It was his last act for he fell as Star dropped and the warrior's skull was crushed.
"Equites, fall back! Squires throw your spears!" It was a risky manoeuvre but with well trained men it was possible to hurt the enemy more. The hearth weru did not understand my words. They thought they had won and they cheered and banged their shields as we withdrew by turning left and riding in a circle. Arturus had read, as had I, that it was called a Cantabrian circle in Roman times. I saw four empty saddles. Equites had fallen and that was a tragedy. You did not replace an equite easily.
The hearth weru had no bows and their slingers lay slain near their shield wall. They were impotent to hurt us. Ordinary warriors might have raced after us but not these veterans. When the squires formed up they reformed their ranks and the gaps were filled. We had killed a third of them already but they were confident for our spears were now gone. The squires, led by Bors squire, Torin, rode as though they were going to charge and then turned left to head north and hurl their spears over the shields of the hearth weru. Each squire had three spears for they carried our spares. As they galloped to form up behind us I saw that more than half of the hearth weru had been killed or badly wounded. Even as I contemplated a second such attack I saw warriors pulling spears from their limbs and stepping back to try to form a line. It would be a single line. Their second line was Eowa, Alweo, King Oswald and their standard bearers. The priests had fled and were running after the King of Deira.