by Griff Hosker
"I command here, boy. Do as I say! Release."
Every archer but ours released but they all fell well short of the advancing warriors. Eorl Edward ventured, "There are markers to let the archers know when to release." His comment was greeted by a scowl.
I said nothing but I pulled back on my bow. My warriors would choose when to release. With shields before them and helmets on their heads they were difficult targets. The closer they came the more chance we had of making a worthwhile hit. Snorri sent an arrow soaring. It did not strike any of the warriors in the first ranks but hit one of those pulling the ram in the shoulder. Other Ulfheonar sent arrows at the ram and more of those hauling fell. I saw King Coenwulf wave and shout. Twenty more warriors rushed with shields to protect those pulling the ram on.
The front ranks came within range of the archers. They loosed but all that they did was strike shields or ping off helmets. One warrior clutched at his arm and then threw the broken missile to the ground. The Danish slingers began hurling their stones and I saw two Wessex archers, in the process of pulling on their bows, fall from the ramparts.
"Target the slingers!"
Our Norse archers went to work with ruthless efficiency. Slingers had neither helmet nor mail and they stood no chance. They all died but it allowed the shield wall to advance even closer. The archers of Wessex were now, at least, hitting their targets but barely one arrow in five did any sort of damage. I noticed my archers changing to the boar arrows. The shield wall was less than fifty paces from the ditch and my men were good. It was Bjorn the Scout who scored the first hit through mail. The shield was not held high enough and the arrow plunged through the mail and into his shoulder. He dropped the shield involuntarily and Tostig Wolf Hand sent one into his chest. As soon as he fell there was a gap in the line and two more warriors were hit before the gap was plugged. They were moving much slower now as they concentrated on holding their shields up. The ditch was closer. They were barely five paces from the edge. They halted.
Suddenly every shield was raised and each warrior in the front rank hurled his faggot. Even the archers of Wessex had a target and many of the warriors in the front rank were hit but only a few were fatally injured. Half of the faggots hit the ditch. They all covered the stakes.
The ones with the ram were Danes and I heard them counting. "They are going to run with the ram. Aim for the men on the ram!"
The front rows parted and the Danes pulled the ram whilst running as fast as they could. The Mercians protecting the men, who were pulling, ran alongside. They were hit first. I loosed an arrow and watched it strike a warrior in the middle of his body. They were so close that it penetrated flesh. He fell and I heard a scream as his head was crushed by the wheel at the back of the ram. The ram was losing momentum but the brave Danes were still pulling it. The last two were killed when it was just two paces short of the ditch. It flew over the ditch and struck the gate. I felt the gate shake from my position above it.
King Egbert shouted, "Shore up the gate! Have the pig fat readied." He sounded unsteady as though he was panicking already.
What we could not do, with the ram in the position it was, would be to use fire. We would end up burning down our own gate. I had had a quantity of stones brought up and as the warriors ran across the ram and the ditch my men hurled the large rocks. When they struck there were more devastating than an arrow. Even so some of the warriors made the walls and they made a cover of shields as they started to hack at the gate with their axes. The boiling pig fat sent some Danes to their deaths as it burned beneath their armour. They were damaging the door but they were doing so at a cost. They were paying with their warrior's lives.
They would break through. "Ulfheonar! To me! Arturus keep up our attack." I ignored the men of Wessex. Their king could issue the orders. My men fought for me, no matter who was paying.
I led my men down to the courtyard. There were spears stacked there ready to be thrown. We each picked one up. They would keep an enemy at bay. We would need that edge when the gate fell. Already gaps were appearing in the wood of the gate. "Form a wedge on me."
Haaken and Cnut stood behind me. Sigtrygg would normally have been there but his leg meant that he was in the rear rank. It would annoy him I knew. I slipped my seax into my left hand behind my shield. It was irritating to be kept in the dark. We had no idea how we were doing. We were just concentrating on the gate. I hoped that the new gulley would protect us yet. When that burst open then we would have to race forward and meet the attackers before they had any order.
I watched as two of the villagers carried an amphora of boiling pig fat up to the gate tower. They handed it to two warriors and then I heard a chorus of screams as the men at the gate were scalded by the boiling fat. The hammering of the axes slowed. I wondered what incentive they had used to make the Danes keep coming on. The defenders were now hurling spears but the Danes were winning. One of the planks in the gate was shattered and that gave impetus to their blows. A second one disappeared and I could see them now. One warrior had arrows sticking from his shoulder but he still swung his mighty axe. From behind me one of Arturus' archers sent an arrow into his throat and he fell from the ram. He was quickly replaced.
"Ready. As soon as I give the command we move as one."
I lifted my spear and rested the end of the weapon on my shield. I felt the two spears of Haaken and Cnut slide over my shoulders. The first warrior to face us would need to be a very brave man. When the gate went it went suddenly. It was as though it had held on for as long as possible and simply died.
"Now!" I moved my right foot first. We had trained for this many times. It meant we could run and keep our formation. Few other warriors were as skilled. The others all stepped onto their right foot too. The first two through leapt from the front of the ram and, in their enthusiasm to get to us were impaled on my spear and Cnut's. I released the now useless weapon and drew my sword. I held it up. "Ragnar's Spirit!"
"That sword is mine!" I saw a half naked warrior swinging an axe leaping towards me. He ran into Haaken's spear and ripped the head of the spear from his shoulder where it had stuck. He seemed impervious to the pain and he swung the axe over his head. I lifted my shield to block the blow and rammed my sword into his unprotected middle. The blow from the axe almost drove me to the ground and I had to drop to one knee. I knew he was a tough man and I brought Ragnar's Spirit into his groin and up into his body. I felt flesh and kept pushing and then, as I twisted, I withdrew the bloody blade. It seemed that most of his wriggling insides came out with the sword.
He was such a big man that there was a gap at the end of the ram. I heard Cnut shout, "Another spear." One was passed from behind and we had two spears jutting out before me. We moved to the end of the ram. The spears protected my head and I slashed at the legs and feet of the men who climbed along the ram to get at us. Suddenly the top of the ram was empty as the archers of Arturus and the stones from the walls took their toll.
"Quick. Shoulders to the ram." I shouted up to the walls. "Pour oil and fat on the ram."
"We have little ready."
"Just use it all and then have a fire arrow ready!" I put my shield against the ram. "Heave!"
My men all pushed. I felt the pressure of the men behind and I thought that my chest would burst but inexorably the ram began to move. I saw liquid being dropped onto the ram as it began to move quicker. Mercians were running towards the ram, desperate to finish this; I could see above it now that we were through the gate. The Wessex archers were having more success and the few who made the ram died quickly. Then the rear wheels struck the ditch and the ram fell away.
"Flame arrow!" I turned to my men. "Get some timbers and shore up this gate!" We ran back inside the fort.
Outside there was a whoosh as the pig fat was ignited. Had I not had my helmet on then my beard would have been singed. As it was I was knocked back by the force of the flames. Then the flames leapt along the faggots so conveniently laid by the Danes and the Mercians.
By the time the gate was finally shored up the whole of the ditch was aflame and we could hear the screams of dying, burning warriors.
By the time I reached the gate tower the battle was over. Guthrum and Coenwulf were retreating to lick their wounds. The fire meant that they would not be fighting until the flames had gone and, thanks to their own endeavours, that would not be until the next day. We had bought another day.
Chapter 9
They came again the next morning just after dawn. This time, however, they came for a truce. They wished to talk. I saw that there was King Coenwulf, Guthrum and another Dane. I wondered if he was the new leader of the oathsworn. He certainly looked like a tough warrior. He had a short byrnie and his helmet was a well made one with a mask for the eyes. He too had a gold torc around his neck. Working for King Coenwulf appeared to be profitable. They approached with no shields, no helmets and their hands at their sides to show that they came to talk. They halted twenty paces from the still smoking ditch. I knew that we would have to clear it as soon as possible for it would allow the enemy to swarm over the ditch and the gate's repair was but temporary. King Egbert was summoned and he joined us at the gate tower. Eorl Edward was a quick learner and he had ten of his archers with their bows levelled at the three of them in case of tricks.
"What is it that you want, Coenwulf?" King Egbert shouted.
"I want my town and my fort back." He spread his arms towards the ditch. "Soon we will walk over the ditch and destroy the gate again. This time we will triumph. You have less than a hundred warriors you cannot last long."
"And how many more of your warriors do you wish to smell burning? You have lost many too. We will wait. These walls were Roman built and they are built to last."
King Coenwulf turned to the new Dane. "We have new allies. This is Magnus Skull Splitter and he is come from the north. He is here with fifty of his men. What say you now?"
"I say bring as many of these Danes as you wish. They die as easily as women anyway."
I saw Guthrum begin to become agitated. His eyes burned hatred towards me. Each day I heaped more pain and misery upon him. I had killed his son, sunk his drekar, destroyed his fort and now I had drubbed him twice. I could see that he was barely able to contain himself. He wanted to leap at me and kill me. The new warrior, Skull Splitter, turned and said something in his ear. He quietened.
King Coenwulf shouted, "You use the Vikings too. Magnus here would like to fight a single combat against your Dragon Heart. What do you say, Viking?"
Every eye turned to me. King Egbert nodded that I should speak. I smiled as I considered my words. "I have fought many men in single combat and I have always won. I will let this Magnus Skull Splitter live. If he wishes to fight me then let him lead your armies. I will be at the fore of the defenders."
I had spoken in Saxon so that both armies could understand me. I had given an answer which satisfied the Saxons on both sides. There was something about this Dane that made me suspicious. My suspicions were confirmed when he spoke directly to me. "Half breed, I will have this sword of yours. When I hold the sword touched by the gods then I will be invincible. I will come for you when this battle begins."
"Then you will end your life beneath these ancient walls. And the only time you will possess it is when it ends you life."
King Egbert looked at me and asked, "What was that all about?"
"He wants my sword."
King Egbert nodded and turned back, "It seems King Coenwulf that we will have no entertainment. You will have to try again and more of your warriors will die."
"And when we enter we will slaughter all! It will not just be your warriors who will die. Those who are not slain will be given to the Danes here. They yearn for prisoners!"
They turned and departed. King Egbert turned to Eorl Edward. "How many men did we lose yesterday?"
"Fifteen dead and ten wounded."
"Jarl?"
"One dead and three wounded."
"He has not hurt us yet."
"No, but today he can. By noon the ditch will have cooled enough for them to cross. They will not need a ram today. The gate needs replacing. They will send fresh Danes with sharp axes."
"Then we use arrows to thin them out."
Eorl Edward said, "We do not have many arrows left. We used too many yesterday." I knew that the king would rue the profligate use of his arrows.
We were walking back towards the walls and the still smoking ditch. Beyond the walls and the ditch I saw the river. I had a sudden idea. "Then we cool the ditch down quicker."
"What?"
"If we break through to the river on both sides of the fort then we make a defence of water. He will need to build bridges to cross it."
"Have we time?"
"We waste time by talking. Leave half the men on the walls and have the other half connect the ditch to the river at both ends."
In the end it proved relatively simple. We had men using anything they could, including Bjorn's ploughs, to dig through the earth. The god Ran helped us for he sent a high tide to surge down the river. It raised the levels of the water. Even though we had not dug much out the rising river flooded over the banks and filled the ditch. The waters steamed as the smoking wood was doused. The tide would continue to rise for an hour or so by which time the ditch would be completely filled. In fact it had worked to our advantage for when the river receded the water would still remain as it had two small dams to hold in the water. They would have to build bridges. Before we ate we sharpened all our weapons and gathered our arrows. We would be prepared when they struck.
I ate in the warrior hall. King Egbert came to me. "This sword of yours, it draws men does it not. Why?"
I nodded to Haaken who told him the tale. He concluded, "The sword can never be defeated."
Eorl Edward asked, "Then who ever fights you is doomed to die?"
I washed the food away with a horn of ale. "Each one who tries believes that there is a moment when my strength will fail and they are also arrogant enough to believe that they are great warriors already. With Ragnar's Spirit they hope they will become greater. Oh they are good warriors, Eorl Edward, but they are big fish in a small pond. Guthrum is a leader who has not fought great warriors. That is why he is rarely at the forefront of his men. He allows others to do the fighting for him. He hates me more than anyone for I killed his son and yet he did not challenge me to single combat. Now Magnus Skull Splitter is a warrior; I can see that. This Magnus has fought in a few raids. He may be a skull splitter but that does not tell me that he can handle a sword. An axe or a hammer is a weapon to terrify a nervous warrior. If he leads the attack and comes at me with an axe then he will die."
"You seem confident, Jarl."
"King Egbert, I know my own weaknesses and my strengths. I do not enjoy fighting but I know how to do it well. I do not boast which is another reason I did not accept his challenge. I have done it too many times already."
One of the guards from the walls came running in. "King Egbert, we can hear chopping. They are cutting down trees."
I smiled, "As we knew they would." I emptied my beaker. "Let us go to the wall and watch them. It will tire them out if nothing else and we are well rested."
The Weird Sisters weave complicated webs. We stood on the walls and, by noon, the chopping had ceased. I say noon for we assumed it was so but large black clouds had rolled in from the south west. Haaken mused, "It will not be long now."
Whoever had directed the building of the bridges had been clever. They had split logs and made them as long as the ditch was wide and as wide as the body of a man. Those way ten warriors could carry the wooden structures like a giant shield. With their own shields slung across their backs and only their helmets showing they would be a difficult target for our archers.
"We will need to use our best archers to hit them when they try to lay the bridges. Once they get them across then they will use the Danes to race across them."
King Egbert looked at me, "You think
King Coenwulf would waste his allies so?"
I stared at the king. "He has paid for them; I daresay he will use them as he sees fit. He will certainly not risk himself or his own bodyguards. He has men he can use as he will." The king almost recoiled and I wondered if I had gone too far but he nodded. In that moment he understood.
The wall of bridges advanced. They had built just eight of them. Behind the eighty warriors who carried them we saw the Danes advancing in a shield wall. There were two lines. The first was led by Magnus Skull Splitter and the second, surprisingly, by Guthrum. That alone told me that they were confident. They thought that they could span the ditches and scale our walls. I strung my bow and selected an arrow. Eorl Edward had had a supply of stones brought to the ramparts and they were ready to be thrown down as men tried to cross the bridge. I looked at the water in the ditch. It had mixed with the ash to make a grey sludge which lay across the surface. If anyone fell in then it was hard to see them getting out easily. The sky continued to darken as they approached. The Christians did not appear to notice but my men sensed the gods at work.
When the eighty men reached the edge of the watery ditch they halted. I saw archers run from behind the first line of Danes. "Archers!" I wondered where he had got the archers from. There were not many but they were a surprise.
Arrows began to fall upon the Saxons but some reached the bridges and began to send arrows back. As the bridges began to be laid we loosed arrow after arrow. The men of Wessex had no more to send and they could do no damage to the bridge with the stones we had; it was too far to reach with the large stones which had been gathered. There were too many targets for our few bows and, inevitably, the bridges were laid. I saw that they were spreading their attack out this time. The bridges were spaced along the length of the wall. Their reinforcements had made the difference. They all waited along the ditch. They would attack us all at once. I saw that Magnus Skull Splitter had chosen the North Gate. He knew where I was. The wolf on my shield marked me out clearly. He was desperate to get his hands on my sword.