by Griff Hosker
Sámr shouted, “The two Saxon ships have landed! There are sixty more men coming.”
Olaf Leather Neck bellowed, “Then I will need to sharpen my axe! Saxon heads are thicker than I remember!”
The thegn saw his chance to get at me. Flanked by two oathsworn who had mail shoulder protectors, the three came at me. One of the bodyguards discovered that Olaf’s axe still had an edge as he was hacked in two. I blocked the blow from the thegn’s sword on my shield. He held his shield high and I slashed my sword across his thigh. Haaken One Eye head butted the second oathsworn and as he reeled back ripped his sword across his neck. I punched with my shield at the thegn. The men behind him were struggling to keep their feet and he had no shield to support him. As he flailed his arms I used the tip of my sword. I rammed it towards him. He wore leather mail with metal plates but my tip found a gap. I twisted as I pulled it out and I saw the guts gripping Ragnar’s Spirit. He was a dead man. As he fell the Saxons lost heart. They ran.
I heard a shout from behind. It was Haraldr, “These Saxons are fleeing too, jarl!”
“Then reform behind us we have fresh men to face. Galmr, Sweyn go amongst their dead and retrieve any usable arrows and spears.” If we had had more time then I would have moved the bodies to make a barrier but the two Saxon ships had landed and another thegn was shouting at those who had fled. They halted. They were eight hundred paces from us and I could not hear what they were saying but I guessed that he was rallying them. It took some time and we used that time to gather what we could from the dead. We needed arrows! Then they began to march. This time they came in one long column, six men wide. Galmr ran to the drekar and threw the twenty arrows they had retrieved. Sweyn had taken the spears and he handed them to the men in the second rank. We would use them to throw when the enemy were close. These, too, had no mail.
As they marched I saw that mist had begun to form on the water. I could barely see the Saxon ships. If the Allfather sent it to help us then he needed to send it quicker. It was coming too slowly for my liking. If it had come quicker then we could have used it to our advantage. The Norns! The Saxons came slower than their companions had. This time their leader was ensuring that the column hit us as a solid mass. The men at the front had their shields held high. There were shields to protect them from our arrows. My archers had a mere twenty arrows left. None could be wasted. They would use them on the legs of the front rank just before they hit us.
We had fought a long time. We were all dry and had no voice to sing but we still banged our shields in defiance. The Saxons outnumbered us but we were not yet beaten. When they were twenty paces from us my archers sent their arrows. There were only three of them and I knew that Sámr must be tiring but the arrows flew and men fell. They were not dead but wounded legs do not make it easy to fight. As their shields dropped the three archers were able to send their arrows into the bodies. Two men fell mortally wounded and another was wounded in the leg. My archers now had to send the arrows into the side of the column but they had done enough. When we threw our spears, there were gaps in the Saxon lines and warriors fell. We had killed or wounded ten but there were eight times that number who remained.
I rammed my sword over the shield of the first Saxon. Perhaps he was watching his feet and not me but whatever the reason my blade came out of the back of his neck. Then the second rank rammed their spears at us. Those further back threw their spears. This Saxon thegn had used his head. I heard a cry and saw Sweyn rip a spear from his chest. The whole head was bloody. It was a deep wound. Then Olaf Leather Neck gave a roar. I glanced down and saw that he had been speared in the thigh. I punched with my shield and blindly swung my sword before me. I hit a helmet and the Saxon was stunned. Haaken slashed at him. I turned my shield slightly so that the seax in my left hand could be used. I lunged forward. A sword scraped along my cheek opening it up. The look of joy on the Saxon’s face was replaced by horror as my seax tore into his side and eviscerated him.
When Galmr gave a grunt and dropped to one knee I feared the worst. There were three men wounded already. My archers had used all of their arrows. We were going to lose. I lifted my sword and shouted, “Ragnar’s Spirit! Let us make this a glorious day for the Clan of the Wolf!”
Suddenly, from my right came a roar. Out of the mist appeared Snorri Snorrison, Harald Iverson and Fótr Firebeard. They were leading their warriors. I had no idea how many men they brought or whence they had come but we now had a chance for the Saxons were taken by surprise as the Viking warband plunged into their side. The thegn made the mistake of turning to see who his new enemies were. It was his last mistake. I hacked at his bare neck. The edge had gone from my sword but I still had enough of one to rip through his throat. We then began to butcher the Saxons. It took but a heartbeat for the Saxons to break and to flee. They ran through the mist to their ships. Harald Iverson’s men chased after them. We were too tired.
I saw Haaken bending over Olaf Leather Neck. “Does he live?”
Olaf snorted, “Of course I live! It is a scratch!”
Haaken shouted, “Fetch fire or he will lose the leg.” He nodded to Sweyn, “Galmr will live but Sweyn is gone to Valhalla. He died well. He took three with him.”
I saw that his body had been cut several times. He had died hard. I would have expected nothing less.
Sámr ran with the flint and kindling. He began to make a fire. “I thought the ships looked like two drekar, Jarl Dragonheart but I lost them in the fog. I am sorry I did not make a better lookout.”
Haraldr ruffled his hair, “You were the best of lookouts!”
Fótr came over to me, “We hoped you would still be here but when we saw the Saxon ships we feared the worst.”
“Your timing was perfect. Lundenwic?”
He shook his head, “The drekar are gone. They were burned. We were lucky. We came across these two drekar not far from Earhyth. They had been damaged and their crew had pulled them into the shore. We came upon them as the last Dane was being put to the sword. We fell upon the Saxons and took the ships. The last Dane told us that only Halfdan Ragnarsson and three hundred men escaped. They had taken as many ships as they could.”
I pointed into the mist. “Some of them are there, caught and burned.”
“We will need to repair our ships.”
“I do not think that all of the Saxon ships will escape. Take one of those. They will have spare tackle, pine tar and sails.”
Ráðgeir asked, “What if more Saxons come?”
“Then we fight them but I do not think that they will.”
We spent the next two days helping our rescuers to repair their ships. We slaughtered and salted more sheep and loaded our drekar with our plunder. We burned the enemy dead. It was to stop the smell and the carrion. We saw Saxon ships. There were only one or two and I think that they came just to make sure we had not begun to raid again.
We clasped arms with our friends. “I hope this is not farewell, Jarl Dragonheart. We have each helped the other and that means that our threads are twisted.”
“Aye, Fótr, we will meet again. You are warriors and I am proud to have led you.”
I did not know for certain that we would meet again but they were richer for the raid. We had relied on each other and we had succeeded. Thousands of others had died across Wessex, in Lundenwic and beneath the waters of the Temese. We had survived.
Chapter 17
With our wounded warriors we had twenty oars to use when the wind was not with us. The Allfather kept the wind from the north and east. We had a short way to row until we rounded the headland and the port of Dwfr. The wind whipped us along at a healthy pace. Sámr spent more time at the steering board with me. He had grown during the voyage both from within as well as in height and size. I realised that, as the summer had passed, he was that much older. The down on his cheeks would turn to a beard in another two years. He was almost a man. A Viking grew up quicker than others. I taught him all that I could about steering a drekar. I knew t
hat my time was running out. I was getting older. The new scar on my cheek blended with the others. Haaken joked that it now looked like a map drawn by Aiden! The wind was a steady one and it afforded me much time to talk with Sámr. I told him how to tell if a man was lying. I gave him advice on dealing with women. I taught him about the wind, how it could be used both on land and at sea. He just soaked it all up. He listened. He in turn told me things about himself. Even though I had known him since he was born there was much I did not know. He liked to compose songs. He was shy about it at first but eventually he told me some of them. Haaken would have been proud of them. I felt embarrassed for most of them were about me. The voyage was perfect and then we reached Syllingar.
It had taken five days to reached the dreaded isles. The wind had veered from north east to south east but, as we approached the witch’s lair it turned into a storm from the south and west. At this time of year, Tvímánuður, they could be worse than any winter storm. The wind would not be cold but the winds could be so fierce that a ship could be blown over completely. That was when I feared for Sámr’s life. He was the only ship’s boy and he had to scamper up the mast and reef the sail. I had to use all the skills I had learned over the years to keep us afloat. We were pushed out in to the vastness of the seas which led to the edge of the world. We spent a whole day and night in that vast emptiness. Even with reefed sails it seemed that the Allfather was pushing us on to the rocks. I did not know if it would be Syllingar, Om Walum or even Hibernia. It was all I could do to keep us upright. When we eventually turned, from the open ocean to head north east, it was as though the Allfather himself was pushing us. It felt like ‘Red Snake’ was a wild horse who had never been tamed. I hung on to the steering board and I prayed that we would come through this alive. The sail was reefed until it was as small as it could be and yet we still flew.
The coast of Om Walum is renowned for its rocks and those teeth seemed eager to rip out our hull. I breathed a sigh of relief when we neared the Sabrina. The coast of Dyfed was only slightly less frightening but there were beaches there. It was pitch black and the storm showed no sign of abating but we had to land. Haraldr went to the prow and it was he who saw the flash of white which told us there was a beach ahead of us. How we made it ashore without tearing out our keel I will never know but we managed it. I would worry about getting us off the beach the next morning. We were all exhausted and we needed food. The crew jumped ashore and tied us to the land. Sámr was exhausted and in no condition to do it alone.
We managed to get a fire going and we cooked up a stew made with the salted mutton and shell fish we collected from the rock pools. We had no ale left and had to resort to water. None wished to stay aboard. If the Allfather took the drekar then so be it. We wanted earth beneath our bodies. Sámr slept curled up next to me. My seal skin cape covered us both and kept us dry.
When we woke the storm had abated slightly. It was still a strong wind but it was not the wild stallion it had been the previous day. It was a frisky colt! I checked the hull and it appeared to be sound. What was worrying was that some of the sheets and stays had become a little frayed. We had a couple of spares, which we used but if more were damaged then we would be in trouble. Surprisingly enough the wild storm had made the crew more determined than ever to get home. Our hold was filled with the treasure we had taken in Lundenwic. When we reached Whale Island every man, Sámr included, would be rich. The trick would be to get home.
When we sailed I let out a couple of reefs. We still sailed swiftly but it was not the wild ride of the previous days. The men had not had to row but there was still plenty to do. With only one ship’s boy every one of the crew had to work. We turned north and west to take us around Ynys Môn. I was not going to risk the straits! The wind helped us. It was as we neared the coast of Gwynedd that danger burst upon us. I was standing well off from the coast. I did not wish to risk damage on the rocks there. Three Welsh ships put out from the port of Aberffraw. That was where the Welsh king lived. We had raided it once. They saw us not as a wolf but as a lamb to the slaughter. Three to one were not good odds. I saw a beacon light burning too and wondered what it meant.
“To the oars!”
My men took to the oars. We would show the Welsh who were the better sailors. We were close enough to Wyddfa to recall my ancestor and Haaken chose the right chant. It was a chant which invoked the power of the spirits of a long dead ancestor and the most powerful wizard ever to have lived.
The wolf snake-crawled from the mountain side
Hiding the spell-wight in cave deep and wide
He swallowed him whole and Warlord too
Returned to pay the price that was due
There they stayed through years of man
Until the day Jarl Dragon Heart began
He climbed up Wyddfa filled with ghosts
With Arturus his son, he loved the most
The mouth was dark, hiding death
Dragon Heart stepped in and held his breath
He lit the torch so strong and bright
The wolf’s mouth snarled with red firelight
Fearlessly he walked and found his kin
The Warlord of Rheged buried deep within
Cloaked in mail with sharp bright blade
A thing of beauty by Thor made
And there lay too, his wizard friend,
Myrddyn protecting to the end
With wolf charm blue they left the lair
Then Thor he spoke, he filled the air
The storm it raged, the rain it fell
Then the earth shook from deep in hel
The rocks they crashed, they tumbled down
Burying the wizard and the Rheged crown.
Till world it ends the secret’s there
Buried beneath wolf warrior’s lair
We soon began to outpace them. When we turned north east and the wind came from over my shoulder, we positively flew and that was when the Welsh sprang their surprise upon us. Two more ships were waiting for us and they were ahead of us. Now I understood the beacons. They had sent a message to trap us. The other three were ten lengths behind us. The two ahead planned on closing the door on us. It is at such times that you make quick decisions. The Saxons had tried the same when we had raided Wihtwara. Like the Welsh they did not know that we were fearless! I shouted, “Ready to withdraw oars!”
Sámr was next to me, “What do you intend to do Jarl Dragonheart?”
“Simple, we aim for the bow of the one on the right. I hope he turns into the wind to avoid us then we row for our lives.”
“But if he does not turn?”
“Then we hit him and we will see how good we are at swimming!”
I saw that the leading ship was preparing to turn into the wind. If we were going to avoid the second one then it would be the right thing to do. But I was not planning on doing that. I saw that the Welsh ships bristled with warriors. If they appeared on either side of us then we would be doomed. When I saw the bow of the second Welsh ship begin to turn to join its consort in trapping us I put my steering board over and aimed for his bow.
“Withdraw oars!”
My men slipped their oars inside the oar holes and I moved the steerboard the opposite way. I thought we were going to miss both ships but the Norns were spinning. We struck the nearest Welsh ship to the steerboard side of her bow. The snake figurehead on our drekar tore through her fore stays. Our whole ship shivered. As we ground along her side I saw that the torn forestays had weakened her mast and it fell, with a crash to the deck. She would not be pursuing us. As soon as we were past her I shouted, “Out oars!”
My men cheered but it was premature. The ship did not feel right. We had sprung something. Even worse the other Welsh ship had turned and was now gaining on us. We were fighting a losing battle. The wind and my men kept the Welsh ships astern of us. I saw the coast of Mercia ahead. There were two rivers we could use but both of them were guarded by burghs and Mercian warriors. They had no love for us
.
Sámr looked astern, “She is catching us.”
“I know. We have sprung strakes. We are taking on water. The faster we go the more water we ship and yet we cannot slow up for we would be caught.”
So long as we were afloat we had a chance. Then I noticed that the rowers had slowed. They were hard men but even they were tiring. This had been a long race. Already the sun was dipping in the west. Would darkness save us?
“They are two lengths behind us.”
They would catch us. “Are the others in sight?”
“No, Jarl Dragonheart.”
“In oars. Get your weapons. We fight!” I turned to Sámr, “Take the steering board and head for the coast. Do not turn. Do not stop, no matter what happens.” I took out Wolf’s Blood. “Use this. May the Allfather be with you.”
I saw that the Welsh ship was heading for our larboard side. I did not bother with my mail. It was too late for that. I took out Ragnar’s Spirit and my seax. “Haraldr, with me! The rest of you, stop them coming aboard.”
I wanted to be as close to Sámr as I could. The only chance we had of escaping was to damage their steering board. I had a plan but it was filled with risks. I would have a young boy steering my drekar. I would have an old man leaping across the sea to land on a moving ship. There were more things that could go wrong than could go right!