by Griff Hosker
By the end of the second day we had walls and a roof but the storage area was still unfinished and the first rains of autumn came. The Jarl came from Ljoðhús and the one thing of which we had plenty were seal skins. He had many in the hold. We kept them as a last resort. If we had nothing else to trade then they would bring some coin and trade. Now, however, they covered the sacks of grain and dried beans. It spurred us on to finished the floor. We managed it by noon of the next day. It meant the food we had taken would now be safe from the elements.
It was only when the storage hall was finished that the Jarl would speak of dividing the treasure. It was not as much as that which we had garnered from Sussex and many of the crew spoke about returning there. Siggi was the voice of reason, "If you want to hunt an animal you stake out a watering hole. We have yet to be hunted because we do not return to the same place. We can enjoy the riches of Sussex, Kent and Wessex but wait until after winter."
Sven nodded, "I would not risk more than one more raid. We will need to look after our ship."
"And I am guessing that you would like a shorter voyage than the others we have undertaken of late?"
"Aye, Jarl. She is a good ship and sound but we treat her hard and these are not the gentle waters of the Middle Sea; this is Ran's Ocean!"
The Jarl pointed north, "We will not antagonise our neighbours, the Bretons, we will go further north to Neustria. There is a mighty river there. It travels deep into the heart of the Empire. Things are easier now than when Charlemagne ruled. We will chance it."
"I have to warn you, Jarl, that we have already lost more men than we can afford."
Beorn Beornsson nodded, "Siggi is right and until we get someone who can make mail and other such objects then we will not become better armed warriors." He picked up a helmet and tapped the raven wing, "This is piss poor work! I am ashamed of it and yet it is the best I can manage. I am a warrior and I do not work iron. Each to his own trade."
"We cannot just conjure a blacksmith out of fresh air."
I could tell that tempers were becoming fraught. I stood. I did not wish to shout. By standing I grabbed their attention. Ketil chuckled, "Beware! The horseman stands! Watch out he does not emulate his horse!"
I smiled. I did not mind banter and I knew that he meant well. "We have few friends, Jarl but we know that the men of Dyflin, Ljoðhús and those in the land of the Wolf are our friends. They have many there who ply trades we do not yet possess."
The Jarl shook his head, "You are saying that we should sail home. I thought you were the one who said we should winter here closer to our hunting ground."
Siggi came to my defence, "That is not fair Jarl. You are twisting Hrolf's words. He means well and I know what he means. He is not saying you travel home and winter there; he is saying travel to one of those places and return thence. It would be half a month at most," He suddenly slapped one hand against the other, "And, by Odin's beard, we could get more men to join us! This island is as good a home as I have yet to find. We do not have far to travel to raid and, barring the lack of women, it has all we desire."
Everyone seemed to agree. It became a Thing. Everyone began suggesting ideas. I watched the Jarl. He liked it too but he could not be seen to be swayed so easily. He was not Dragonheart who would happily have changed his mind if he had been persuaded of the merits of an argument. "I will sleep on it and when we have raided Neustria we will hold a Thing again."
As the hall descended into a babble Siggi and Arne turned to me, "You are a thinker, Hrolf. That is rare." Siggi smacked his own white hair, "As I have proved I do not think I just act. I will stay close to you, young horseman."
One again Erik was to be left alone but he had formed a bond with Dream Strider. Once I had shown him how to mount the horse one handed and, while we were away and he could fall unseen, he took to riding the horse. Animals have this uncanny knack of knowing that we are all different as people. He was gentle and patient with Erik where he was impatient with Ketil who also tried to ride him. I was happy for I hated the thought of either the horse or the man we had rescued being lonely. I knew that feeling all too well.
We had a violent storm one night. We lost one of the fishing boats which broke free from its moorings and was firewood by dawn. When the skies cleared and shone blue it decided the Jarl. "We raid this night. The Allfather is telling us that the raiding season is coming to an end. If we are to seek more men and a smith we need to take advantage of this short break in the weather."
We would not be away for long. Neustria was but a few hours away. We knew where the river lay and I had lived there. I knew of at least two monasteries as well as towns which did not have walls. I would be of use once more. As we rowed along the Breton coast I began to look forward to travelling to Dyflin after we had raided the river I knew so well. I hoped it would be the land of the Wolf but that was a longer journey. I would make do with Dyflin. Gunnstein Berserk Killer was a good Jarl. I would be able to spend some of my gold. My aventail and short mail shirt had saved me and I began to dream of a byrnie. My mind drifted as we settled into the sea eating rhythm which only Viking warriors can achieve. I thought of a byrnie I could wear on a horse. The centre would have a split like the ones I had seen worn by the Moors. When fighting horsemen I had noticed how easy it was to hack at their legs as they passed. I had killed some that way. A split byrnie would still hang down and protect my leg and my horse. I knew that we did not fight on horses but I dreamed of a time when I would. The witch in the cave had prophesised it and I knew, from Kara and Aiden, that my destiny lay with horses. It was why Dream Strider was so important to me.
Once we turned east we were able to stop rowing and prepare for war. I now had a dagger as well as a seax. I had made a sheath for the dagger behind my shield. I was becoming more used to my helmet. The half mask across my eyes had distracted me the first time I had worn it but I had learned to see beyond the eyeholes. Erik had managed to attach the stone we used to a treadle and our swords were all the sharper for that. When he was alone on the island he would sharpen all the spare weapons. He became highly skilled. Even those warriors who had doubted the Jarl's judgement in taking a one armed man into the clan now saw the wisdom in that simple act of kindness.
I knew the river we sought, the Issicauna. I had lived there as a slave and been rescued from it by Jarl Dragonheart. The village in which I had lived was long gone for the Jarl's men had destroyed it and killed those who lived there. I think the raid had made men fear Vikings. At its mouth it was hard to see both banks at once. It was a mighty river which went to the heart of the Empire. Many ships used it. The Jarl was being clever. Even if we could not raid the land we could raid a ship and that was just as good. Some would say better as we could sail the ship home. We would, however, try the land first.
It was dusk by the time we entered the river. The wind was with us. As we did not have to row we were all able to watch. Both sides of the drekar were manned. All around us were enemies. The Empire kept ships which patrolled the river. I suspected that we were too big a mouthful for them but their presence might stop us landing. We looked for lights, we listened for bells and we smelled for smoke. I was at the prow looking to the northern bank. My home had been there. I remember hearing stories of the land further upstream. I had plucked some names from my memory. Now that we were on the river it was though the memories had resurfaced and were much clearer. I knew that there were monasteries here and I knew there were rich prizes. My pride wanted me to be the one who found it. I wanted to give something back to Jarl Gunnar Thorfinnson.
We had many bends to negotiate but as soon as I heard the bell ahead I knew that I had found the monastery. I pointed ahead to Siggi White Hair. "Up ahead. It is called Jumièges. There is a huge monastery and abbey by the river. It was founded by a king and there are many houses close by."
"Which bank is it on?"
"The north bank."
"I will tell the Jarl!"
Soon we saw the pin pricks of
light on the hill which told us that there was something close. There was not just the smell of wood smoke but also incense. It was the monastery. Finally we heard the sound of cows lowing as they waited to be milked.
The Jarl joined us. "Sven says the current is growing. We will need to row. How far is it?"
I pointed to a darker shadow on the hill just around the next bend. "It is there, Jarl."
"Good. Then we do not have far to row." He turned and said, "Oars!"
We took to out oars eagerly. We did not have far to row. Perhaps our eagerness was our downfall. We were confident, more than that we were overconfident. We had landed successfully and raided almost without hindrance and we thought we would do the same here. At first all went well. We landed just four hundred paces from the monastery. The tiny lights we saw gave us an idea of its size,. It was a huge number of buildings and I saw that they were all made of wood. That was as I had remembered them. We poured over the sides and raced up the hill. We had to get to the monastery before the monks and clerics knew that they were being attacked. We could not afford for them to hide anything. This was our last raid before winter and we needed it to be a good one.
Ketil and Knut raced to the huts nearest the river. When they returned empty handed we knew that they had been evacuated. The Jarl led us up the hill. We heard the bell sounding and this was not the call to prayers. It was the strident bell of alarm. The Jarl turned, "We are discovered! Run!"
I was young and I was fast. I soon overtook the Jarl and Siggi both of whom wore full mail. I saw the church door. It was ajar and I could see light within. I ran straight in. There were priests and monks inside and they were gathering candlesticks, altar linens and the holy books. I charged at them. I bundled two over with my shield. One picked up a candlestick to hit me and I was forced to stab him. The Eriksson brothers followed me in and I left them to contain the monks. I had seen a richly dressed cleric leave by the back door and I followed him. He ran towards another building a hundred paces from the church from which emerged men. Some were armed.
"Raven Wing! Raven Wing!" I shouted the cry which would bring my fellow warriors to my side. Undaunted by the numbers of armed men I ran after the priest. He clutched something. It must have been valuable. I was faster than he was but when he tripped over his robes I was to catch up with him. He had dropped a golden cross. It was large. I knew not what the metal was but it looked like gold. I stamped my sealskin boot on it and braced myself for the armed men who charged at me. The first three were armed with small shields and spears. They wore helmets but had no armour. I knew I had to hold on until help came.
The three spears all jabbed at me at once. That helped me for I just raised my shield and blocked them. Having three men ahead of me the odds that I would strike flesh were high and I jabbed forward somewhat blindly. I felt it slide into flesh and the man I had struck screamed. The priest who lay at my feet tried to grab the book and I stamped hard on his hand. A fourth man joined the others just as I was swinging at the other two and I felt his spear as it stabbed into my leg. I knew that it had grated along bone for the pain was excruciating. The leg they struck was the one standing on the book. Just then Ketil hurled himself at the warrior who had stabbed me. It bought me the time to punch with my shield while slashing a sweep at the two warriors. My sword bit into the thigh of one and Knut came and took the head of the last one.
More men with weapons were racing towards us. I was in the middle and I said, "Lock shields!" I had never done this before but I knew it was the right move for three men faced with greater numbers. Our shields overlapped and we held our swords above them. We kept our heads below the tops of our shields. I shouted again, "Raven Wing! Raven Wing!" We had need of help and we needed it quickly. I could feel the blood running down my leg. I hoped it would hold me long enough for our crew to join us.
The men who charge us hit our shields and ran into our swords. A spear glanced off the side of my helmet and I felt my shield shiver as bodies and spears hit it. The three shields held. I poked forward with my sword and was rewarded by a scream as I hit something soft. I peered over the top and saw that I had skewered a warrior in the eye. As I tore my sword sideways I caught a second warrior on the side of the head. He looked stunned. Had I had strength in my leg I would have pushed against him; he would have fallen. Ketil and Knut were faring better than I was and they had both slain a warrior and were pushing back the ones to their fore.
I was aware that I still had my foot on the book. The priest was crawling away and I was unable to stop him. I heard him as he shouted for help. A warrior must have heard him for I saw a mailed man run towards me with sword drawn. I shouted, "I shall have to turn!"
Ketil said, "Do so we can deal with these!"
I swung my shield around and pivoted on my damaged leg. The blood flowed a little freer but I managed to face the mailed man. I tried to remember all that Siggi had taught me. I was acutely aware that I had not had enough lessons. He did not pause as he ran at me and he brought his sword over high above him. I placed my good leg behind me as I blocked his sword with my own and then punched him in the face with my shield. He was not expecting that and it stunned him. I saw him swing his shield around instinctively to protect his body. His leather armour was inlaid with metal strips but it did not extend below his waist. I swung my sword around in a sweep and hit his thigh. I felt my sword scrape bone and he shouted in rage and pain. We were almost evenly matched now save that I was weakening. I felt light headed and my boot was filled with sloshing blood.
Sensing victory the Frank pulled back his arm for a sideways sweep. He did not make it as Arne's sword hacked into his neck and he fell dead. Ulf Big Nose was beside me and he put his arm under mine. "You have done well, Hrolf. Let me take you back to the drekar."
I shook my head, "Beneath my foot is a holy book and yonder crawls away a richly endowed cleric."
Ulf laughed in my ear as he almost picked me up. "Let others gain some glory for the three of you deserve great honour."
As we turned and I limped with Ulf back down the hill I saw that the monastery was on fire. I doubted that we had done it deliberately; there was no gain in that but I remembered the oil and the candles. In a wooden building fire was always a danger. The smoke from the fire was spreading across the hillside. It made it like a fog. I could hear shouts, screams and cries but I saw nothing save shadows. I was desperate to close my eyes and to sleep but I knew that if I did I would awake in Valhalla. I had to stay awake.
Once we had passed the lower huts I saw the river and the drekar. Ulf shouted, "Sven! Hrolf is hurt." He laid me down on the bank. "Now I will go and get some glory!" He turned and ran back up the hill. I lay back and looked up at the sky.
I must have closed my eyes for the briefest of moments for I felt movement and looked up to see Sven and Cnut, one of the ship's boys as they took me aboard. "Where are you hurt, Hrolf?"
As they laid me next to my chest I took off my helmet, "My leg. It was a spear thrust."
"Cnut fetch some ale. Hrolf, lie back and I will stitch this. I am a sail maker and not a galdramenn but I will do my best. You have a boot full of blood here!"
I heard the sound of the boot being emptied over the side by another of the ship's boys. Cnut raised my head and poured some ale into my mouth. I had forgotten how thirsty I was.
"Cnut take off his mail and put it with his shield and sword. Hrolf will not be fighting again for some time." Sven was clever. The act of removing my mail made me forget about my leg and so he was able to begin stitching.
My hands grabbed Cnut's shoulders and I squeezed as waves of pain raced up my leg. I saw him wince and I relaxed my grip, "Sorry Cnut."
He smiled and helped me to lie back down, "I have seen the wound. I would have shouted for the Allfather. You bore it well." He reached over to my shield and took the dagger. "Here, bite on this. Rurik One Ear found it comforting when Sven stitched his arm."
I did so and my teeth bit into the wood of the
handle. The pain was still excruciating and so I dug the nails of my fingers into my palms. It seemed to help. After what seemed an age Sven finished. "Cnut pour vinegar on the wound. Sorry Hrolf this will hurt even more but we must do it."
I nodded, "I know. I need the leg. Whoever heard of a one legged horseman!"
If the stitching had been bad then the wound being doused in vinegar was even worse. It burned. Unlike the stitching the burning continued. I prayed for the oblivion of sleep. None came. I lay there and closed my eyes. I could hear the sounds of men being brought back and, in the distance, the crackle of fire and combat. I had time to reflect on the raid. The monks had been warned by those fleeing from the river. The Jarl should have used scouts as we had further south. He was over confident and too eager. I realised that the fact that the clan had not returned to the drekar meant that we were still winning and the Jarl thought that we would triumph in the end.
I must have slept, or passed out for a short time. I was awoken by Arne gently moving me so that he could get to his chest. "Did we win?"
He nodded, "Aye but it cost us. Here Siggi. Let us move this hero." The two of them lifted me and placed me before the oars.
I saw that I was next to Rurik One Ear. He was sitting up and grinning. He said, "Best put him on the side with my good ear!"
I saw bodies being brought aboard along with great quantities of treasure. There were sacks of food. Monasteries ate well.
The Jarl was the last one aboard and he shouted, as he stepped over the sheerstrake, "Cast off. We go home! Raven's Wing!"
We all shouted and I banged the deck with my hand. As he came alongside me the Jarl knelt down and said quietly. "I will not forget what you did. You are young but you have heart. The three of you did what the warband should have done! We have all learned a lesson this day."