by Griff Hosker
“Take me to their camp. I need to see myself.”
I signalled for Haaken to take charge and slipped away with Beorn. He ordered me to lie on the ground and to slither along. Suddenly I felt Snorri’s foot. I had had no idea he was there. He was featureless, as I was, in his black helmet and wolf cloak. He tapped my helmet and pointed. I could see, through the thin branches of the bushes before us, their guards. There were four of them around a fire. Their comrades were sleeping. Snorri tapped again and pointed to the left. There were twenty men and they were facing away from the camp and towards a shadow which I assumed was the knoll. The horses were tethered well away from the camp and the sleeping warriors were between us and the horses. They would not give us away. I had seen enough and slithered backwards with Beorn. Snorri would remain on guard. He would need no instructions.
When I reached our men I gathered them around me. “Cnut, take the other warriors and attack the twenty men guarding the knoll. They are along the left fork of the trail. I will take the Ulfheonar and we will attack the camp. Attack when you hear the noise from the camp.”
He nodded and led his men away. “I want us to kill silently. There are four guards. Use your arrows. Then we go amongst the sleeping men. Kill them silently if you can, but kill as many as you can.”
They nodded and we followed Beorn. When we neared Snorri, Beorn and four of the others took out their bows. Without speaking the five arrows flew straight and true, At only thirty paces range they could not miss and each of the guards was struck in the throat and fell to the ground. Even as they fell we were racing towards those who were asleep. I saw a warrior in mail who would be a leader and I ran to him. The noise of the falling guards must have roused him for, as my sword swung down, he rolled away. He scrambled to his feet and began to shout. I ripped the sword across the man’s throat and he fell dead in a sea of blood. The damage was, however, done and the camp was awake.
My companions had been more successful or luckier than I was and six other warriors lay dead. The remaining warriors began to struggle to their feet. I still had my shield around my back and I used a short seax in my left hand. I thrust the tip of Ragnar’s Spirit at a swordsman who tried to take my head. At the same time an unarmed warrior hurled himself at me. It was pure instinct that made me move my left arm and the luckless warrior impaled himself upon my seax.
The rest had now awoken and were organising themselves. All that they saw were a handful of warriors and they circled us with spears making a hedgehog of blades and iron. We formed our own circle. I was shoulder to shoulder with Einar and Snorri. I knew that, like me, none of my companions feared these men of Cymru. We had fought them before now and we had defeated them.
They rushed at us and that was their first mistake. They got in each other’s way. I parried a spear aside with Ragnar’s Spirit and sank my seax into the eye and brain of the spearman. He dropped to the ground in an instant. I continued the swing of my sword and brought it down on the leather helmet of a second Welshman. It sliced through the leather and his skull.
Suddenly it felt as though someone had punched me in the side. When I looked a spearman had stabbed at me. The head had penetrated the mail links and then been stopped by the leather byrnie. The warrior thought he had killed me and he had a surprised look upon his face. I slashed my seax across his throat. And then I heard two roars: one from our left and one from our fore. Cnut and his warriors had dealt with the guards and they fell upon the spearmen. Thorkell had led his beleaguered men from their hill fort and wreaked revenge on their tormentors. It was soon over. The Welsh had been shaken by our night time attack and their leaders had fallen. The survivors fled.
When we checked we had lost but two warriors although Sven and Einar both had wounds to their arms and some of those who had attacked the guards had suffered knocks. I knew that I would have a bruise the size of a turnip from the spear thrust but it would not slow me down. As dawn broke we surveyed the carnage we had caused.
“Cnut, get the warriors to strip the bodies of anything valuable. Have it loaded on the horses. Snorri and Beorn, see if we are going to be surprised by any more Cymri. Haaken, have a look for food.”
By the time Rolf reached us we had eaten and the horses had been loaded. The sun was rising in the sky. We would have to move soon. We were in enemy land and some distance from safety. I would not wish to be caught here by other Welsh warriors.
I had not questioned Thorkell. He and his men looked exhausted. All of them bore wounds which were testament to their courage and resilience. Haaken’s food helped and, as Rolf and his warriors arrived I took the Jarl of Wyddfa to one side to discover what had happened.
He looked at me with sad eyes as he said, “You know we lost Anglesey?”
“I was told.”
We would have suffered the same fate had it not been for Raibeart. He was torn; he felt he owed you a warning as a descendant of the Warlord of Rheged but he was happy to be part of Gwynedd. He did not manage to warn the garrison at St.Cybi but he sought us out and told us that the Welsh were going to launch a surprise attack.” He shrugged, “We did not have enough warriors to defend against an army. We had always planned on using the locals to help us. We all thought it would be the Saxons or the Irish who would come. We never dreamed it would be Cymri.”
“I was as complacent as you were and men have paid the price with their lives.”
“We barely made it out of the fort before the Welsh arrived. We used our secret trails to hide from them. We thought we had evaded them until yesterday when we began to move towards the River Dee. They had laid an ambush not far from here. They had over two hundred men and we numbered less than thirty. Had Erik the Tall not remembered this old hill fort then we would have perished. I sent five men to reach our people at the river. We had heard that Ragnar was there.”
I pointed to where Rolf now stood with the three survivors. “They found us and that led us to you. If we had not come during the night and surprised them then I think it might have gone ill for us.”
“Wyrd. Wyddfa watches over you still, Dragon Heart.”
“And now what will you do? You and your companions thought that this land was perfect. How say you now?”
He shook his head, “We will serve you again, my lord. My decisions have gone awry. I am not meant to lead your men.”
“No, it was the Weird Sisters. They have been spinning their webs and you can now join us on a new quest here on the mainland.”
Just then Snorri and Beorn came racing in. Their shortness of breath told me that these fit young warriors had both run hard to reach us. “It is the Welsh my lord. They are about five miles behind us.”
“They outnumber us.”
“Put the badly wounded on the horses with the weapons. Get them moving. Rolf, you and the fresher men will be the rearguard.”
“We will protect you, my lord.” He and his warriors formed a defensive half circle as we drove the horses and our tired bodies back towards the north and what we hoped would be safety.
And so we began a race to the river.
Chapter 5
The ache in my side from the spear thrust proved a blessing. The pain and the ache kept nagging at me. Had I wanted to rest the blow would have prevented me. Snorri and Beorn were our greyhounds leading us on but how they did so I had no idea. As they had passed me they had given me the estimation of numbers. There were almost a hundred warriors including ten on horses. We had captured ten horses and I sorted that information in my head. They used a mixed force. I remembered the horses we had found on Anglesey. It must have been a tradition of Rheged.
The horses looked to be a cross breed between the smaller hill horses and the larger horses used against us. They were tough little beasts and hardy but they had neither weight nor bulk. They were for bringing warriors to war and not for fighting.
Thorkell and his warriors had negotiated the difficult terrain when they had first evaded their pursuers. We now had flat land dotted with s
trange knolls and hills. Once the Welsh found their dead companions then they would hurry. I hoped that we would either have somewhere to make a stand or have reached the river by then. If we were caught, strung out as we were, by fresher men then we would be slaughtered.
It was noon when we heard the clamour of battle behind us. There was a clatter of weapons and then shouts. Although we kept running I sought shelter and defence. There was one of the smaller knolls just ahead. I could see a ring of trees poking above the hedge ahead.
“Head for the knoll. We will need to rest the beasts and it seems they have caught us.” The trail we were following was old and, in places, was cobbled. It appeared to lead us where I wished to go.
There was silence behind and I wondered why. Snorri appeared before us. “My lord, the river is just five miles ahead.”
“Good. You have done well. Lead Thorkell and the horses there and cross. We will wait at the knoll for Rolf.”
He looked at me, “My lord there are just seven of you!”
“Snorri!”
“Sorry, Jarl Dragon Heart. I will obey.” The knoll had a few rocks and trees which afforded shelter. As the horses passed with their cargo my Ulfheonar peeled off.
“Get your bows and we will hide among the rocks.”
Four of my warriors had bows. Cnut, Haaken and I would have to use our swords.
“What do you think happened back there, Jarl?”
“I think that Rolf ambushed our pursuers and bought us time.”
We waited and a few minutes later we heard the clamour of battle again. This time it was much closer.
“Ready!”
I saw the backs of my men as they retreated down the trail. Rolf was using a shield wall to retreat before the Welsh. He had one line with their shields protecting the first line from the Welsh arrows.
As they drew close I readied my men. “Send over three arrows each and then we charge them in their flank.”
Cnut laughed, “They will think we are an army!”
“I hope so Cnut.”
“Well it will make a good song for me to sing should I survive!” Haaken added wryly.
I could see that my men had lost warriors and some of those in the rear were wounded but Rolf was in the centre with his two oathsworn, Ham the Silent and Erik the Redhead. Even as I watched they lunged forward to kill the two Welshmen, braver than the rest, who had closed with them. The ten warriors on the ponies were to the rear. They were waiting to exploit any weakness in the shield wall.
“Aim for the men on the horses! Now!”
The twelve arrows soared into the sky in three rapid flights. Haaken, Cnut and I had started down the slope towards their side even as the first arrow rose. We all yelled “Ulfheonar!”
The effect was astounding. The Welsh had been pushing forward one minute and suddenly they found their rear and their sides attacked. I took in the fact that three warriors were knocked from their horses and three others skittered away. The warriors who were closest to them looked around nervously and one or two began to move backwards.
Fear is infectious. As my other Ulfheonar joined us I saw the panic set in. They saw seven black cloaked phantoms with full helmets and armour. They saw the red eyed wolves hurtling towards them. At the same time Rolf and his men lurched forward and the inevitable happened, they ran. The handful of warriors, who were engaged at the front, fell as they were deserted by those behind them. I did not even wet Ragnar’s Spirit for they ran too fast.
I held up my sword to halt us. I clasped Rolf’s forearm. “Well done Jarl Rolf. The river is five miles away. Let us run before they regain their courage and work out there were just seven of us.”
As we ran down the road Rolf chuckled, “I thought that there were more than seven of you. I wondered if you had hidden the rest up the hill.”
“No, I sent Thorkell and the others to the river. It was the surprise which aided us.”
I say we ran to the river but it was more of a fast walk for we were all exhausted. I saw the Roman Bridge ahead and felt relief that we had made it. Snorri and Beorn stood guard at one side and I saw the horses, Thorkell and the wounded on the other.
Once we crossed I said, “We make camp here. We can run no further.”
We ate the dried meat we had brought with us and we drank the river water. We were exhausted. Had anyone found us, even a party of the monks of the White Christ, we could not have fought them. We had just two men on watch and they woke the next two after a short time. We all needed sleep.
I was woken by Einar and took my place with Cnut.
“What do we do on the morrow Dragon Heart? Do we all spend time with Ragnar?”
I shook my head. “I do not trust that snake. No, we will send Rolf and the others directly to the ships. My Ulfheonar will visit with the Jarl.” He gave me a strange look. “I do not wish to give him grievances. If we snub him completely then he may take offence. I do not want him to raid our home. We will visit with him and give him a version of the truth. We will tell him we fought the Welsh and lost warriors. Our band was picked up by our boats.”
“Will he not be suspicious?”
“Of course but he will worry where Rolf and our other men are and we should be safe. He thinks all men are as treacherous as him and that they will be up to no good.”
Rolf and Thorkell were as unhappy as Cnut when I told them of my idea. The advantage of being Jarl is that you cannot be gainsaid. They obeyed. The Ulfheonar, in contrast, were happy to be going to Ragnar’s stronghold. They feared no man, least of all Ragnar.
As we approached his gates I said, “Remember, we lost many men to the Welsh and the remnants of our band are now heading to our ships. Do not look victorious.”
Haaken laughed, “That is difficult, Dragon Heart, for we have yet to taste defeat.”
Ragnar must have been watching for us. He greeted us himself as we came through his gate.
“Jarl Dragon Heart; where are the rest of your men?”
“The Welsh ambushed us.”
“Did you find those you sought?”
“We found the survivors.” I pointed vaguely to the west. “We have sent them to our ships but I came directly here as a courtesy. My warriors have passed through your land.”
He nodded, “You had my permission but it shows respect and I appreciate it.”
He led us to his hall. I noticed that this time my Ulfheonar were not taken to the warrior hall. He sent for food and drink. We needed it but we all needed sleep more. I hoped that he would offer us his hospitality. He did not did disappoint. “I insist that you stay for a feast tonight in your honour. As I said before my men would like to see the sword touched by the gods.” I saw the avarice in his eyes. He was desperate to own the magical blade. He was not renowned as a warrior. He led men and he conquered but he had no name. If he could own Ragnar’s Spirit then it might give him that elusive trait. They were stepping stones to a kingdom.
We washed up and removed our armour. I knew that my men were less than happy to do so but it would have been seen as disrespectful had we remained armoured. It felt good to be without armour, however briefly. I felt lighter even though I also felt vulnerable. We all retained our swords. That was to be expected.
I sat next to Ragnar and his wife. I had not met her before but Hallgerd was not what I expected. She was much younger than Ragnar and although she was with child her cheeks showed that she ran to fat. I thought of my Erika whose body was as slim as a swan’s neck; each to his own. Hallgerd was also less of a hostess than Erika. She just sat, listened and ate. In truth she looked bored. Ragnar ignored her. I smiled to myself. I would do such a thing at the risk of the sharp edge of my wife’s tongue.
“Tell me of the Welsh. So far they have not bothered us.”
“I think that their new king is flexing his muscles. The Mercians are pressing from the east and the land to his north would seem to be ripe for plucking.” I saw a frown on Ragnar’s face. “He may not know you are here yet, jar
l, and he may think it is Eanred.”
Mollified he said, “That makes sense. How are they as warriors?”
“The ones who ambushed us had few men with armour but they use horses and have many archers. They outnumbered us and we were in a strange land.” I added by way of explanation for our apparent defeat. They pursued us to within five miles of the river.”
He looked concerned at that. “I thank you for that information. I will have to send scouts out to seek them.” He stood and raised his horn. “Everybody drink to my friend, Jarl Dragon Heart!”
Everyone toasted me and we all drank. I made sure I took just one swallow whilst Ragnar drained his mighty cup.
As we sat down he asked, innocently, ”Where are your ships? I sent my men to offer your guards some food but they could not find them.”
I kept my face as impassive as I could, “We had them sail back to Man to bring more men in case we needed them. We arranged to meet them in a few days.”
The frown reappeared and then vanished almost as quickly. “You have many warriors who follow you then?”
“Aye. I was not sure if I would need them to rescue my men.”
He waggled a finger at me, “I hope you left enough men to guard that pretty little wife of yours.”
Had I been drunk then that would have sobered me up. “Do not worry Jarl Ragnar Hairy-Breeches, after Harald One-Eye’s treacherous attack I have taken precautions. No man will harm my family every again.” I put enough venom in my voice to make him recoil a little.
“And I believe you. Good. And when will you meet with your ships?”
“We will leave on the morrow and go to the place we arranged.” I shrugged, “They will return when they can.”
“Would you like my men to come as guards for you?”
I laughed, “I have the Ulfheonar. If there are any Saxons here who would threaten us then we are more than enough for them.”
He smiled but it was hollow.
I slept in the warrior hall with the Ulfheonar. I did not sleep soundly as I still expected a blade in the night. Ragnar must have worried that it would prevent his ambitions from coming to fruition for we had an undisturbed night. The next day he tried to press his men upon me once more but I declined.