by Griff Hosker
I saw the line of warriors waiting for us at the newly built wooden and stone jetty. There was clear concern on their faces for I knew we were much later than they had expected us. Their questions were silenced as the women and children were led from the boat by my warriors. They saw a story unravelling before their eyes.
I was the last to descend after Thrand’s body had been carried by my three new warriors and young Magnus who was growing in stature day by day. I watched as they carried him towards the small rise which lay beyond the old Roman fort. Magnus must have told them that there was bare ground there.
Rolf and Windar came over to me with frowns on their faces. “It seems we are not destined for peace. The Saxons have slaughtered all at Audun’ston. These are the only survivors. Thrand died on ‘Wolf’. We drove them off but they will return. We will need to keep watch on the river. I would not have Pasgen suffer for us.”
They nodded, “It is good hunting and fishing down there. We saw the river and the forests teeming with game. We will send our hunters down there. They will make the best eyes and ears.”
Windar was asserting himself already and that was good. “I will go with the people and bury Thrand. I would not like his body to be attacked by the foxes and creatures of the night.”
Even though they did not know Thrand they came with me. We found a raised knoll which had rocks upon it. I had the youths lay his body down and I folded his arms across his body. We placed his shield across his chest and his spear by his side. His son kissed his father and then laid the first stone at his head. Each of us in turn laid a stone and soon there was a circle around his body. We continued to build the tomb until there was just a space close to his head. Sigtrygg laid the last stone. Using our shovels we piled earth upon the top of the stones until there was a mound.
I looked at Sigtrygg. “Tomorrow you must catch an animal and we will sacrifice it here at dusk to send your father on his way.” I pointed to the women and the children who had stood and watched. “Until they have men to look after them then the three of you are responsible for their care.”
The looks on their faces told me that they would be well looked after.
It would be inappropriate for them to sleep in the warrior hall and I said, “It might be better if you sleep aboard ‘Wolf’ tonight and tomorrow we can begin your new life.”
Chapter 13
The camp still looked like that, a camp but Rolf and Windar were busy making it habitable for the women. The refugees did not want to be parted from me. Perhaps I was seen as a good luck charm I do not know but they came with me as we headed over to my water by the Old Man.
I knew that they had had a hard time and so we used the ten horses we still had. It made the journey somewhat easier. The three youths were much taken by the land through which we travelled. I described it as we marched. “It is an empty country at the moment. That is Lang’s Dale over there. He is our only neighbour.” I pointed to the valley where Lang and his family farmed. I would have to visit him and tell him he had neighbours although I suspected he knew. This was his land and he knew every branch and stone.
“Will you three be warriors or farmers?”
Sigtrygg spoke, “For me I would be a warrior as my father was and I would use Saxon Killer to avenge him.” He clasped the hilt of the sword.
“You have named him?”
“Last night after you had gone to bed I returned to his grave and swore to avenge him. The name came to me as I stood in silence.”
“Then that is your father. It is good. And you two.”
“We would be both, Jarl. We will fight for our land.”
“And it is good land. First we have to build but soon we will grow and we will fight.”
“You will seek the Saxons?”
I laughed, “I do not need to do that, Gunnstein, they will seek us. But we will be ready. I have the finest warriors in the world, I have the Ulfheonar.”
They had only heard stories about my wolf warriors and I spent the rest of the journey telling them of their deeds and their training. Sigtrygg said, “I would be Ulfheonar.”
“Then you must prove yourself to my warriors. You needs must kill a wolf and then prove that you have the skills to join. I do not choose; my Ulfheonar are the judges.”
He said, resolutely, “I will show them.”
They had made far more progress by the water than at Windar’s Mere. I suspected that Erika had been forceful! There were three buildings now each with a roof of turf and the skeletons for others. Smoke billowed from Bjorn’s forge and I saw boats made of animal skins and willow fishing in the water.
I had always suspected that Erika had second sight and was a volva. She had the knack of reading a situation instantly. She greeted the women and the children like a mother hen and they were long lost chicks. She had Maewe and Seara gathering the children up while she led the women into one of the new buildings. As she passed me she leaned up and pecked me on the cheek. “You have much to tell me later, husband!”
Haaken and the Ulfheonar were nowhere to be seen. Aiden and Arturus ran to me. “What has happened, Jarl?”
“The Saxons raided Audun’ston. These are the survivors. Where are the Ulfheonar?”
“Haaken took them to Lang’s Dale. He thought it right that the Saxon should know he had neighbours and they were going to find stray animals. They did not wish to take any that belonged to him.”
Haaken could have been jarl. He was a thinker and a planner. He was doing the right thing. When we had first arrived on Man we had done the same thing. We had been forced to leave most of the animals we had on the island and we had brought breeding pairs of the best animals. Soon we would have large flocks and herds but until then we would have to tighten our belts and live off the land.
“Would you like to see the sword, Jarl Dragon Heart?”
“You have worked on it already?”
“Bjorn had completed much of the work over the winter and I could not wait to get started.” He suddenly stopped half way to the smithy, “Unless, of course you only wish to see the completed weapon?”
I laughed, “No, Aiden, I am as keen as you are to see this work in progress.”
Bjorn beamed as we entered his smithy, “I am happy that you persuaded me to come here, Jarl. My family feel at home and,” he pointed across the water, “it is good to have Old Olaf watching over us.”
“It is a remarkable likeness is it not? And you are happy here by the water?” He nodded as he struck a piece of metal. I noticed that his smithy was roofless. But what about a roof?”
“This is much cooler. I am thinking about working in the open the whole time.”
Aiden shook his head, “I like a roof for I do not like being wet.”
“Go and fetch the sword.” All the time we had been speaking Arturus had been craning his neck to see this ancient sword.
Aiden brought it over. It was wrapped in a sheepskin. He opened it and I took the blade by the hilt. Bjorn had done a good job. He had married the old metal with new. The blade was inlaid with some of the copper which made it look like gold. Aiden pointed to the cross piece. It was bigger than our swords and had rounded ends. “I have worked some gold, silver and copper into the crosspiece, see.” He pointed to the design which looked like the dragon on the banner. “I have set some of the blue stones here in the pommel but from the picture there should be a red and a green one. We need to find those.”
“You have done a fine job, Aiden and Bjorn.”
They nodded and smiled. A good workman likes to be praised. Arturus asked, “May I touch the sword please, father?”
“Of course.” I handed it to him. It was heavier than he had imagined and, even though he held it in two hands the blade dipped dangerously close to the floor. Aiden caught it before it did.
“Sorry. It is so heavy.”
“When you can hold a weapon like this in one hand then you will be ready to be a warrior. Until then you practise!”
The Ulfhe
onar did not arrive back until late afternoon. They came driving sheep. I heard barking and saw a golden sheepdog at the back. It was beautiful and appeared to have two golden stars; one between the shoulders and one close the tail. It was a striking animal. “Where did you get the dog from?”
“Lang the Saxon. His dog had pups, and this one was spare. She is a little bossy and, I think, he was happy to be rid of her but she is a good sheep dog. He had trained her already. We lost nary a one on our way here.”
“Good.” I noticed that there were pens already made to collect the animals. “Then when we have enough we will share them out amongst our people.” Haaken suddenly noticed the new people we had brought. “Come, let us go to the hall and I will tell you my news.”
“Can I play with the dog, father?”
“He is not a toy Arturus, he is a working dog. I will watch them Jarl Dragon Heart.” With Aiden as a mentor, my son could not go far wrong.
Our ale wives had not had time to brew any beer and we were forced to drink the brown tinged fell water which bubbled into the mere. It was good water but it had the taste of metal about it. We would have to wait for our ale and our cheese. When I had told them of Audun’ston the Ulfheonar were even more bullish than the others had been.
“We do not wait Jarl Dragon Heart. We visit pain and destruction upon the Saxons. Let us show this Eanred that he does not attack us without suffering.”
“It may well be Eorl Osbald. It was his settlement and monastery we destroyed.”
Cnut shrugged, “It matters not. We will visit him and show him that we still have teeth.”
Perhaps I was caught up in the moment but I agreed with my Ulfheonar and it would mean that Pasgen would be safer. Haaken said, “We could just take one drekar with a double crew. We are not going for plunder, we are going for blood. Most of the men could stay and build our homes.”
I liked that proposal and I nodded. “I am decided. I will speak with my wife and we will leave the day after tomorrow.”
When I told her all she was not surprised but she could not resist a dig at me. “The way you keep leaving me makes me think that you have another woman somewhere.”
“As if I would. I will only take the Ulfheonar and the youths we rescued. The rest can stay and build up the village.”
“Arturus stays this time.”
“He stays.” I nodded to the pens where he was happily playing with the dog. “It seems he has a new friend.”
“Well the dog does not sleep in the hall!”
I laughed for I knew that she would relent especially as I noticed Kara playing with the young dog outside. Over the years I came to thank Lang for his gift. The dog proved a more loyal guard for my children and my wife than any warrior. At that time it was still ‘dog’ but when I returned from my raid it would be named.
We asked for volunteers and we had too many. As soon as we said what we intended every warrior wanted to be part of it. I had the Ulfheonar and I had my three new warriors. For the others we took the youngest warriors that we had. I wanted the older, experienced ones to be there to look after our people. It would do the younger ones good to learn how to defeat the Saxons.
We headed down the river. The shallow place we had named Backbarrow for it was like a plunge down into a tomb. Upstream was a hard pull but riding it down stream meant risking ripping the bottom out of the drekar. It was lucky that we always travelled downstream without any weight. Upstream we pulled and used our arms to fight the river.
When we reached the estuary I pulled in close to the bank and headed to the settlement to tell Pasgen what we were about. He met me half way having seen our mast. “You do not need to do this for us, Jarl Dragon Heart. We will hold off the Saxons for a day.”
I shook my head, “We do this for us. The Saxons need a lesson and we will teach it to them.”
We sailed as far south as the Lune. It was a good place to moor. I left Magnus and the other ship’s boys to guard the ship. I hoped they would be safe but I would need every warrior I had brought if we were to achieve what I intended.
“Magnus, if enemies come then cut the anchor and let the river take her out. You can drop the sea anchor and be safe.”
“I will keep your drekar safe for you, Jarl Dagon Heart!”
We travelled light. We knew how far we had to travel. Snorri and Beorn led the way and they took with them Erik Short-Toe who had proved to be a good tracker and adept at hiding. He was to be trained so that, one day, he might try to become Ulfheonar.
We had forty warriors. It was not a huge number but half of them had mail of some sort and all had a shield, spear, helmet and sword. They would do. We half ran and half walked down the trail south. With our scouts out we knew that we were safe from ambush. Snorri and Beorn would not let anyone get close to us. Haaken had counselled me to attack the site of the monastery. He was convinced that they would have rebuilt.
“How do you know?”
“This Eorl Osbald feels an attachment to the place. Why else would he return to wreak such vengeance on it? Remember the Abbot told us that he had stored his treasure in that casket you took. He has also promised the king that he will protect the land. He failed to do so. By slaughtering the people he will show his king what kind of leader he is. He will make the town stronger than before. Then he will head north to finish us off. This will be the best time to attack him for he will not be expecting us.”
He was right, of course, but it was a risk. How many men did we face? I knew it was the correct decision. We had to make the Saxons fear us as the Hibernians did. The men of Cymru had not feared us and we had lost our golden isle. People would go hungry because we did not have the grain the island produced. When the harvest came then the dragon boats would follow and the people of Anglesey would suffer. I felt sorry for Raibeart and his people but I had my own people to worry about first. We ran hard and we ran until we were ready to drop but we reached the estuary before dark.
I left the warriors to recover whilst I went ahead with Haaken and Cnut to meet with our scouts. They had found a tumble of rocks with weeds and sprouting straggly bushes. It served to hide our profile and we crouched to watch the Saxons. They had not killed all of the villagers. We saw some, women children and youths, who were toiling to dig a ditch and build a palisade. I saw the heads of the Norse defenders impaled upon the walls of Audun’ston. A savage reminder of how precarious life was. The Saxons had not destroyed the village. They were now working to improve the defences we had begun. In another few weeks it would have been too difficult to take without serious losses. As it was we had a chance. We watched as they worked until sunset and then they led the twenty thralls to a compound outside the village watched by four armed guards. That would be one target. The other fifty or so Saxons went into the walled settlement. I noticed that they had no ship moored nearby and that was a good sign. The warriors we faced would not be reinforced.
I returned with the scouts to the rest of my men. “Beorn, choose ten men and rescue the slaves. No matter what happens to us I want you to get them to ‘Wolf’ and then safely home.”
“I so swear.”
I had no doubt that the slaves would be reunited with their families at Windar’s Mere. The rest I led forward to the ridge overlooking the walls. I could hear them inside the walls. They were singing their songs of battle. I heard them sing of the slaughter of the Norse. I shook my head. It was a foolish man who sang of success when he had barely a toe hold on the land. I divided the men so that an Ulfheonar was with two warriors. I took Sigtrygg with me and his two companions. I felt responsible for them. My wolf warriors spread out and disappeared like the shadows of the night.
I had three warriors with me and I headed for the gate. It would be the most dangerous place to attack. I hoped to draw the garrison towards me. This would be a good test for the three young men who were bent on revenge. They also knew the layout better than I did.
The Saxons had just finished work for the day and they were all re
ady for food and ale. The last thing on their minds was defence. As far as they knew we were many miles away and they would have time to prepare for us. I was pleased that I had listened to Haaken; he had been right.
The three youths all had a leather helmet, a sword and a small shield. When we had time we would show them how to make better and bigger ones. I waved them to the side of me and crept forward. I could see, on top of the gate, two Saxons who were talking and looking at the thralls being taken to their pen. I took the opportunity of quickly moving to the shadow of the wall and gate. I could see that Audun had just left the one ditch and we managed to jump that. Had he dug a double ditch he might have survived the attack.
I motioned for Gunnstein and Thorir to stand and hold their shields. They did so and I climbed up with Ragnar’s Spirit ready. I waited until both guards had their back to me and I said, “Now!” They were two strong lads and they lifted me up. When I reached the top of the wooden palisade I leapt towards the two guards. All that they saw was a huge wolf with red eyes leaping at them and they froze. I swept Ragnar’s Spirit and it bit into the neck of one warrior as his body fell over the wall; in falling he took his companion with him. Sigtrygg had joined me. He pulled up Thorir.
“Get down and open the gate!” They jumped down and Thorir opened the gate while Sigtrygg finished off the stunned guard who had fallen.
I climbed down the ladder and stood facing the Saxons who stared at me. I glanced up and saw that, all along the walls my men were clambering over. As the gate behind me opened to admit the rest, the Saxons ran at me. One warrior, armed with a spear, was ahead of the rest. He was screaming as he ran towards me. He stabbed forward with the spear. I deftly deflected it to one side and angled my sword over the edge of his shield. The momentum of his charge ran him on to the sword which sliced through his neck and throat.