by Griff Hosker
He fell against me and his body pinned my shield close to my armour. Seeing my dilemma a warrior with a war axe sliced down at me. I ripped my blade from the dead man’s throat and it hacked into the handle of the axe man’s weapon. I pushed the body towards him and he fell to the ground. I had no time to finish him for a mailed warrior with a sword ran at me. It was good mail; I could see that immediately and his shield was a well made one. He held a fine Frankish blade as though he knew how to handle it.
He feinted at my shield. I was not fooled. I heard a groan to my right and made the mistake of glancing down. Sigtrygg had finished off the axe man. My opponent took his chance and thrust his blade towards my throat. I turned my head and dropped to one knee so that the sword went over my head. I slashed, in desperation at his leg. All my weight was behind it and my sword bit into the mail, severing some of the links. I saw a flicker of pain on his face. I had not cut him but I had hurt him. He stepped back and I stood.
Around us the fight had degenerated into individual combats. They had not had time to form a shield wall and that suited my warriors. I had no time to survey the scene I had to fight and defeat this warrior who, I suspected, was the leader of the Saxons.
I went on to the offensive and I brought my sword over my shoulder to hack at his head. At the same time I stepped forward to punch at him with my shield. The boss of my shield caught his knuckles and I saw him wince in pain. He managed to deflect my sword away. We were toe to toe and I head butted him hard. His helmet had a nasal which afforded some protection, but not enough. There was a crack and his eyes closed briefly. He tried to step back but it turned into a stumble. I brought Ragnar’s Spirit down hard. He managed to take the blow on his shield but his stumble meant he was lying on his back. I brought the edge of my shield down on to his unprotected neck. There was a loud crack and a gurgle. When his sword fell from his hand then I knew he was dead. I had broken his neck.
I quickly stood and surveyed the scene. The fight had moved on and I was alone amongst the dead and the dying. I ran through the village. My men were winning. The last few Saxons were trying to form shield walls but there were too few and the Ulfheonar and the young warriors ruthlessly despatched them. It had not all gone the way of my men. I saw some of the young warriors who had been eager to join us lying dead amongst the Saxons. Haaken and Cnut led my Ulfheonar and they overcame the resistance of the last few Saxons. They were cut down to a man. We had won. Audun and Thrand had been avenged.
I turned to the warriors closest to me. “Go and free the thralls and bring them here. Thorkell secure the gates. Snorri and Beorn see if any escaped.”
I took my helmet off. The cool air felt good on my face. I had been lucky and my lack of concentration had nearly cost me my life. I was thankful for my shield and my sword. They had saved me again. My three new warriors approached me. I could see that they were covered in blood and had not escaped injury. All three had wounds; none were serious but they demonstrated the problem of fighting without mail. They were young warriors and it would take some time to be able to afford mail.
“You did well. Find yourself weapons and helmets from the dead.”
When the slaves were freed and brought into the centre of the village they fell at my feet. “Thank you, Jarl Dragon Heart. You have saved us.”
“I am sorry that you had to suffer so much death. We now have a new home in the north which is safer than here. Will you come with us?” I hoped they would say yes for to remain at Audun’ston would merely be delaying their enslavement.
A woman stood, she looked to be older than the rest and I vaguely recognised her from our home in Norway. “We will come with you, Jarl, for all we have here are the bones of our dead.”
“Find food and we will eat. On the morrow we will leave.”
When morning came I realised the size of the problem. We had taken huge amounts of weapons and armour from the Saxons and the village still had much which the people wished to save. Their animals had all been penned and they were loath to leave them. I made a decision.
“Einar take the villagers back to Úlfarrston and ask Pasgen if we can use his Irish ship. The Ulfheonar and I will stay here until you return.” The nods from Haaken and Cnut told me that I had made the right decision. It would not, however, be a swift voyage north. They would be overloaded and would not have my men rowing. I suspected we would have another night alone.
Chapter 14
It took a long time to load ‘Wolf’. Einar had to make sure that the drekar was well balanced. With only half a crew he could ill afford mistakes. We watched as he gingerly edged her towards the sea and, when he had safely negotiated the headland, we returned to the village. We spent the day burning the bodies of the Saxons in one pyre and burying our dead in a barrow. As the afternoon drew on we scouted the land round about the monastery gathering sheep.
We managed to collect a larger number than I had anticipated. We use the thrall pens to hold them. I found myself drawn, once again, to the monastery. I revisited the secret chamber we had searched earlier in case we had missed anything but we had not. I found Haaken and Cnut searching the church. The candlesticks and plates had been taken. The light from the dipping sun spread light and shadows across the stone floor of the church. I was about to leave when I noticed that, close to where they had had what the priests called the altar there looked to be a shadow.
I went to the stone and I could see that it was slightly lower than its brothers. Haaken joined me, “What is it, Jarl Dragon Heart?”
“It may be nothing but…” I drew my seax and ran it around the edge of the stone. “I think this may lift up.”
“I can see nothing to get hold of.”
“I know and that is why I think this is a chamber for secrets. Had the light not shone the way it did then I would have seen nothing.”
Haaken nodded and left the church. He returned with the broken axe from the warrior I had killed the previous day. The axe head was long. He laid it in the crack we had widened and he put his foot on it. Surprisingly it began to move quite easily. He kept the pressure on while Cnut and I put our seaxes in the crack to give added leverage. The stone suddenly popped open. A damp musty smell rose. This had not been opened for some time.
Cnut looked down. “It is empty.”
I looked and saw that there appeared to be nothing in the hole. “Get a torch.”
We had a fire going to cook our evening meal and Cnut went to get a burning brand. When he returned the Ulfheonar were with him, intrigued by our absence. Haaken held the torch so that its light shone into the dark space beneath the church. I looked down and saw another chest. This time it was a plain one but it was large. As soon as I stretched out and put my head and arms inside it became black again. I felt the edge of the casket. I ignored the things which crawled over my hands. I put the spider’s web which covered my face from my mind and I concentrated upon tugging the reluctant chest towards the opening. Gradually it moved. The crawling creatures disappeared back into the dark recesses of their underground home. After a few moments I had the box beneath the hole.
I stood for I had lost the feeling in my fingers. Haaken looked at the casket. “It is the same size as the hole. How do we get it out?”
While rubbing the feeling back into my fingers I studied the top of the wooden chest. I knelt down and took out my seax. I ran it along a tiny crack in the top; it was so slight that it looked like a fault in the wood. Dirt and the detritus of its entombment came away and I slowly prised up a metal handle. It was reluctant to rise and I did not want to force it in case I broke the frail looking metal. Eventually after patient prising it popped up. Haaken reached down and lifted the box. He had to do it carefully for it was an exact fit for the hole where the stone had been.
We had been toiling so long that the sun had set and there was the welcome smell of food drifting in to the church and yet no-one moved. Everyone was fascinated by the box. There was a wooden table in the corner; I think it had been used
in the rituals of the White Christ. I put the box down. It was not heavy nor was it empty.
“Locked!”
Haaken went for his sword. I restrained him, “Patience! Remember Aiden. Find my some metal from one of the damaged mail shirts.” I took out my small dagger; the one I kept in the top of my boots. When Sven returned with three long pieces of mail I was ready. I had watched what Aiden did and I tried to replicate it. I put the dagger in the lock. I could feel a mechanism. I tried to turn the dagger but there was resistance. I wound three of the mail links together and poked that inside. When I felt resistance I twisted the mail links and the dagger. After a few unsuccessful attempts I suddenly felt a movement. Then the dagger and the mail link turned in my hands and the box was unlocked.
I laid the dagger down and slowly opened the box. Inside there were the bones of a hand, a ring and a leather bag. I lifted the bag out first and handed it to Cnut. He opened it and poured the contents on to the table. They were coins! Some were copper, some were silver but half of them were gold.
“A good find.” He began to examine one. “It looks like those words that Aiden can read.”
I took one and examined it, “It is Latin. These are Roman.”
I carefully took out the hand and the ring. I had spied something beneath.
“Who would bury a hand?”
“I don’t know, Snorri but as this is a church or was a church, it may be the bones of some saint or other. Deidra and Macha may well know. This is where they lived. We will keep them safe until we get back. The followers of the White Christ will pay good gold for holy relics.” I put them down to avoid damaging them. Saint’s bones and religious relics were as valuable as gold and the books of the White Christ. This was a valuable find already.
I took out the calfskin which lined the bottom of the casket. When I opened it I saw Latin written all over it and a map. I could not read much but I did see a signature at the bottom, ‘Osric’. Aiden and the two nuns would have much work when we returned. I replaced the hand and ring into the box and tucked the calfskin into my leather satchel.
“Replace the stone and then let us eat. Treasure hunting has given me an appetite.”
The two ships arrived at noon the next day. We loaded all of the animals and the weapons we had captured on board Pasgen’s ship and we boarded ‘Wolf’’.
We offloaded a quarter of the animals at Úlfarrston as a payment to Pasgen for the use of his ship. It did no harm to keep our neighbours friendly. We reached Windar’s Mere with more difficulty than on previous voyages. The water level of the river was dropping. Soon we would have to carry the boat over a fifty pace section of the river. I decided to speak with Windar and Rolf about sending the ships downriver while we still could.
I had only been away for three days and yet they had made much progress. There more houses and I could see, dotted along the waterside, small huts and farms. It showed confidence that we were secure. I hoped that we were.
The warriors who had rowed ‘Wolf’ drove our animals to my settlement. The Ulfheonar escorted the last of the villagers. We stored the weapons until we could transport them to Bjorn. We would be sharing the animals out between both settlements as well as the weapons but that would be easier if completed at my water.
“They are destroyed then?”
“All of them. And we brought back the last of the villagers.” I did not mention the treasure for I did not see the need. When I knew what it meant then they would be informed. “We need to decide it we keep the boats here or moor then at Úlfarrston.”
“You had difficulty?”
“Aye we scraped the bottom of both ships.” I waved as Pasgen’s ship turned and headed down the mere. Now that she had been unloaded she would be able to cross the rocks. “I think unloaded we could get downstream but coming upstream will be harder.”
Rolf stroked his beard. “It will mean having warriors watch the ships.”
“Aye but we could rotate them.”
I shook my head, “You are both forgetting that we are still raiders. We will need our ships close to the sea. We can be at the coast in less than half a day on foot. It is no hardship.”
“It is your decision, Jarl.”
“Yes but I value your opinions. Is there any advantage to be gained from keeping them here?”
They both shook their heads.
“Then we send them back tomorrow. I will have a skeleton crew over by morning.”
I took one of the horses we kept by the jetty and put the casket on a second. The two warriors looked at me curiously but said nothing. I had learned that even those I thought were close did not question me. The exceptions were Erika, Haaken and Cnut. Had I become Jarl Harald One-Eye?
Before I left I pointed to the col to the north of the mere. “It might be useful to encourage someone to farm up there. I believe it is good land and it will give early warning of any danger from the north and the east.”
“We will see which of our farmers relishes that prospect.”
As I passed the end of Lang’s Dale I decided that, as soon as my hall was completed, I would ask Lang and his family to visit us. I wanted him as a friend and not an enemy. He guarded, if he did but know it, the north western side of my land. He could give us early warning of any danger.
As I crested the rise close to the water the first thing I noticed was the huddle of huts on the western side of the water. It was flatter land there but less defensible. I frowned slightly. Who had made that decision in my absence? It did not upset me. But I would have liked to have made that decision.
I caught up with the Ulfheonar who were making the journey at the speed of the women and children. Thorkell pointed to the western edge of the water. “Someone has made a good decision.”
“How so?”
“The land is flat; it is treeless and does not need clearing. See how there are four farms there already and yet they are not crowded.”
He was right. I was irritated that someone had made a decision without consulting me and that was all.
Erika had pushed the men hard and I could now see that there were two halls and many huts nestling from the hillside down to the river. It was then I realised why they had begun to build on the western side. There was no room left on the east. It had been Erika who had made the decision. I was pleased that I had not said anything. I was learning to listen more and speak less as I grew older.
Kara ran to meet me. She was growing rapidly. I dismounted and swept her through the air. She squealed with delight. I heard Erika shout, “She has just eaten, if she is ill then it is you who can clean it up.” I knew there was no seriousness in her words for she beamed radiantly at me as she stepped from the newly finished hall.
I put Kara down. “The buildings are coming on.”
“Yes. It is why I asked some of the people to settle on the western side of the water.” She looked at me from under hooded eyes, “I wondered if you would mind?”
She was a volva! “No, I think it is a good idea although it is harder to defend over there.”
“I am not sure that we will be in danger.” Just then the Ulfheonar arrived with the last of the refugees. Erika glanced up at me and gently touched my cheek with the back of her hand, “You found more of the villagers then? This is good. Olaf will watch over them.”
I untied the casket from the spare horse. “We found some fine treasures too. Come and I will show you.”
Kara grabbed Erika’s hand and we entered the hall. Someone had made a crude table. It was close to the doorway and in the light. I opened the casket and showed her the coins. When I showed her the bones of the hand and the ring she shook her head, “I must ask Macha and Deidra why they make such a fuss about some old bones.” She picked up the ring. “This is a pretty ring though. See how the green in the middle makes it sparkle and the blue ones make it look like an island in the sea.”
I had not noticed that before. As Erika tried it on I saw that it fitted her. I had thought it the ring of a man.
Now I realised it could be a woman’s. Without the flesh on them it was hard to tell from the bones alone. “Have Seara fetch them for I have need of their knowledge.”
Deidra and Macha had been some of the first slaves we had taken. They were what the Saxons called nuns. Nuns were the volva of the White Christ. At first they had been resentful of their enslavement and feared rapine behaviour. When they were treated well and accorded some privacy and dignity they began to change. Once they were put in charge of the cheese making and the education of those who wished to read then they almost became like freewomen. They were both invaluable members of the clan but both of them retained their belief in and worship of the White Christ. They both knew better than to try to convert any of our people. Most of the other priests and nuns, had been sold in the slave markets. Many, especially the Hibernians, liked the priests and bought them so that they could free them and gain favour with the White Christ. We did not mind. We knew that there was an inexhaustible supply of priests and that they brought good money. What their new owners did with them was their business.
I took out the calfskin map and opened it. Erika could not read but she was interested in maps. “What are these?”
“I cannot say, for there is nothing which shows a coast. They could be anywhere. This blue line could be a river or, possibly, a coast. This is why we need the women.” I pointed to a strange drawing on the calfskin. ”This could be the drawing of a room, but why put it on this document.”
“Aiden, could he do it; read the map?”
“He could, but he is not here. Where is he?”
“Bjorn took him and Arturus with some other men to fetch the copper from the mountain.”
“When he returns he can confirm what Deidra and Macha have to say.”