Horseman (Norman Genesis Book 2)

by Griff Hosker

  We left at dawn and sailed across the estuary towards the coast of Dyfed which lay to the north of the Sabrina. The Saxons controlled some towns but we would avoid their burghs. We saw two fortified towns as we sailed up the river. We avoided them. Just after the second we saw a long beach and fishing boats. We headed in to shore. We were hidden form the fortified town by a headland and the fishing boats were well to the north of us. Sven managed to find a bay where we could leave the drekar and go ashore.

  The Jarl waved Ulf and me over. "This looks like a suitable place. The fortified towns make me wonder if we might try Ynys Môn. If we need slaves and grain then it might be a more profitable raid."

  Siggi shook his head, "If Ulf and Hrolf find nothing then we can sail north. Let them go ashore."

  Ulf agreed, "There is a path up the cliff. If there are fishing boats then there is a village nearby. We can slip ashore now." It was almost as though he had taken the decision for the Jarl.

  He and I grabbed our bows and dropped over the side into waist deep water. I followed Ulf who unerringly chose the best path. We scanned the cliff top for any watchers but we saw none. I, too, saw the path which Ulf had spied and he led us up it. I found it hard to breathe. That was my wound. It would take time to totally recover. When we reached the top we crouched and looked for any enemies. We saw none. The drekar had moved into the middle of the small bay. We headed east. The ground fell away before rising again and we approached the top slowly. What we saw is still etched in my memory. A shaft of sunlight suddenly lit up the cliff ahead of us. It was golden. I knew that it was impossible and could not be gold but it looked as though the whole cliff was made of gold.

  Ulf said, "Look, a village!" I dragged my eyes from the golden cliff and saw a fishing village nestling by the water. There were at least fifteen huts and, more importantly, there was no wall. However the fishing boats were returning to the village. Ulf said, "Go to the drekar. If Siggi comes with half of the men then the Jarl can sail with the drekar. We can trap them as we did with the men of Essex."

  "Aye."

  I turned and retraced my steps. Sometimes a warrior forgets where he is and so it was with me. I had seen a cliff of gold and my mind was distracted. The horsemen who suddenly appeared should have been seen by me. I was a horseman! I should have smelled them. They were heading for the village and they saw me just as I saw them. They were riding the small hill ponies favoured by the people of this land. They had spears and they galloped towards me. I cursed myself for my inattention as I slipped my bow around and took out an arrow. They were approaching rapidly. I pulled back and took the first warrior in the chest. He tumbled backwards over his pony's rump. The second whipped his pony's head around as he realised I had a bow. I aimed my second arrow. He was less than forty paces from me and heading along the cliff. My arrow went into his shoulder and through his body. He began to tumble. Holding on to his reins, his dying hands took the pony to its death as it fell from the path.

  I walked to the second pony which was shaking. I took its reins and stroked its head as I spoke to it. I could not leave it to return to its stable for it would bring men searching for the two riders. Nor could I kill it. That was not in my nature. I took the dead rider's belt and hobbled the pony's forelegs. I slung my bow and headed down the path. The body of animal and rider were gone. The sea had taken them. Perhaps the goddess would take it as a second Blót. I prayed so. I took every precaution as I headed back to the drekar. I smelled, I looked and I placed my feet carefully.

  When I reached the bay I waved and Sven the Helmsman brought her within hailing distance. "There is a village beyond the headland. Ulf says land half the men and I will take them to him. We will attack from the landward side. The fishing ships have returned to the village. We can catch them between us."

  I saw the Jarl and Siggi as they spoke close together. After what seemed like an age the drekar closed with the shore. Siggi, Rurik and Arne Four Toes were the first ones ashore. They handed me my byrnie and my shield.

  "Is it far?"

  I shook my head. "We will be there before dark."

  I saw that all of the new men had come ashore. The Jarl was keeping his hearth-weru and the more experienced warriors with him. Once I had my mail shirt on I slung my shield over my back and led them up the path. It was harder going with the iron weighing me down. When we reached the pony I took off the belt from the pony's forelegs and led the beast. I turned to Siggi. "You can ride him if you wish."

  "Are you saying that I am old? No, I will walk." He pointed to the body. "You were lucky again, Hrolf."

  I did not tell him that I had been more than lucky. The Weird Sisters were watching over me.

  When we reached Ulf he cocked a quizzical eye at the pony and then shook his head. "I have watched and they keep no guard. The men have gone into their huts and there are few people about. I think they must be eating."

  "Then let us go."

  I let go of the pony which was grazing on some long tufts of grass. It would not bolt back to its stable now and we would soon be gone if it did. We ran in a loose formation. Normally I would have been at the fore with Ulf but a combination of my wound, the climb and tending to the horse meant I was in the middle. As we burst over the top of the headland to descend to the village below the drekar could be seen. The walled town was behind us and as soon as the drekar was spotted then the villagers began to run for the safety of the walled town. They came towards us. Their eyes were on the drekar which was approaching from the south and they did not see us until it was too late.

  When they did see us we had weapons drawn and we attacked the men. We were after women. Ulf swung his sword almost contemptuously at the middle of the man who tried to stab him with his spear. The women and the children huddled together and then tried to turn back to the village. A handful tried to make their way north over the scrubby, bush covered upland.

  Siggi shouted, "Hrolf, take Rurik and Arne, catch those villagers."

  There were ten of them ahead of us. Four women and six children. I waved the other two to the side and we set off in pursuit. We were aided by the fact that they stayed close together for protection. There were three small children amongst them and that slowed them up. None of us spoke their language or else we would have told them to halt. Whatever we shouted would frighten them and so we ran. Rurik and Arne were running faster than I was and they began to overtake them. The frightened women and children bunched more and that made it easier for us to catch them. Arne and Rurik pounced. They turned in front of them and held their swords out. The women stopped and one woman shouted something. Another turned and saw me behind them with Heart of Ice held in my hand. Her shoulders sagged in resignation. The children clung fearfully to their mothers. I knew just how frightening we looked. The fishermen in the village did not own helmets and mail. We must have looked like some kind of metal monster to them.

  I stood aside and gestured with my sword. Still shouting and, I did not doubt, cursing, they began to trudge back to the village. I saw that there were two sturdy boys in the group. That would please Bagsecg. He needed boys to work his bellows. I looked ahead and saw that it was over. The men lay dead. However the closer we came the more I realised that there appeared to be no one else who was alive. The drekar was tied up and I saw the Jarl striding towards Siggi, Ulf and the others. We were still two hundred paces from them when the Jarl arrived but I could hear the voices which were raised in anger. Lars Larsson and the other new men stood with their heads down. I wondered what had happened to cause this slaughter of women and children. There had been twenty odd women and children in the village. We had less than half.

  The Jarl, his hearth-weru and the new men were already marching back to the village when we reached Siggi. Arne Four Toes asked, "What happened?"

  "We brought the wrong men. With you three gone Ulf and I just had the new men left. We killed their men quickly but one of the women tried to scratch Lars Larsson's eyes out. He slew her and when her son stru
ck him he was killed. They became uncontrollable and just slaughtered everyone."

  "But why? Captives always fight. It is to be expected. You cuff them and they obey."

  "You are right Rurik but, it seems, this was the first slave raid they had been on. Jarl Gunnstein Berserk Killer had fought Hibernians but that was in pitched battles. It was why they were so keen to go A-Viking. The Jarl is less than happy with his wife's countrymen."

  We herded the captives to the beach. Having seen the slaughter they were cowed. They saw that they were alive at least. The woman who had shouted flashed angry eyes at Ulf and Siggi. It did not bother either of them. Everything of value had been taken from the village. There was plenty of fish and some furs but no grain and naught else of value.

  The Jarl glared at the new men, who sat apart as he spoke to us. "We will stay here tonight for Sven has told me that the river and the tide are against us. We will sail at dawn. Had some of the clan not lost their heads we would be sailing home on the morrow but we will now need to sail north. I have learned my lesson. I know which warriors I can trust and which ones I cannot!"

  As we ate our dried fish and drank the poor beer I said to Siggi. "We would have had to sail north anyway."

  "How so?"

  "There was no grain here. Lars and the others made a mistake, a terrible one at that but we would have had to go north regardless."

  "You may be right but the Jarl frets over his unborn child. He wanted to be away for the briefest of times. If I am honest he did not wish to raid at all. His wife asked him to stay home."

  We all looked at Siggi. He nodded, "It is true. I was there. She said that her father did not raid so why did he?"

  "He is Jarl and it is what we do."

  "You are right Ulf but his wife does not see it that way. The thought was in the Jarl's head. It is hard to winkle such thoughts out of your mind. It is why we made the sacrifice. He wanted everything to be perfect. This may be the last raid the Jarl makes until his child is born."

  As we rowed down the river there was a strained atmosphere on the drekar. I had spoken with Eiril Jorgesson when we had both risen in the night to make water. He asked, "Why is the Jarl so angry? They were nothing which we killed."

  "They were the reason we came, Eiril. I have done this many times. The women always fight. Ketil Eriksson almost lost an eye on his first raid. You use your hands. There is no honour in killing a woman."

  "True Hrolf, but there is even less honour in being struck by one."

  "You will all have much honour if you stay with the Jarl. We win more times than we lose."

  "That is why we joined his crew but now I am not certain."

  As we walked back I said, "Aye Eiril but now you are oathsworn. You have cast the bones and must play them."

  The wind was against us and that helped for we had to row. Rowing brings a crew together. Until we turned the coast and passed the church on the headland even the Jarl had to row. It was the song of the raven clan which helped to heal our rift.

  A song of death to all its foes

  The power of the raven grows and grows.

  The power of the raven grows and grows.

  The power of the raven grows and grows.

  A song of death to all its foes

  The power of the raven grows and grows.

  The power of the raven grows and grows.

  The power of the raven grows and grows.

  A song of death to all its foes

  The power of the raven grows and grows.

  The power of the raven grows and grows.

  The power of the raven grows and grows.

  As we turned north the wind began to push us and we could stop rowing. We slumped over our oars for it had been a hard pull along a hostile coast where every eye viewed us as an enemy. We spent the night anchored off the small island which was inundated with sea birds. A priest had a hut on the island but we did not bother him. We used the island for it was a safe place to stop and the birds and their eggs made good eating.

  The Jarl waved over Siggi, Ulf and myself to speak with him and Sven. I think I was included because I had spent so much time with the Dragonheart and I knew the island as well as any. Sven had a piece of wood on which had crudely drawn the island with a piece of charcoal from the fire. The Jarl used his dagger to point out where we should not attack.

  "Here in the north is one of their strongholds. Caer Cybi has Roman walls and towers. Here on the south is the Royal Palace of Aberffraw. The Dragonheart has raided both and they keep watch for such as us."

  Siggi took his own dagger and jabbed at a point on the northern coast, half way along. "There is a village here. It used to have a wall but it was destroyed when the Saxons attacked. Since the men of the island have retaken it I do not know."

  The Jarl nodded. "Here, where the small island is close to the main island is another settlement but it is not large."

  It was Sven who found our target. "On the edge of the island. Just across the straits from the holy mountain, Wyddfa, is a small harbour. It is prosperous as it has a ferry to the mainland. I have passed there before. I do not recall seeing any walls. At least none that were made of stone or wood. There may have been a ditch and mound in times past but I do not recall it."

  The Jarl stroked his beard, "That is good. We could sail to Dyflin after the raid. I would speak with the jarl there. We might be able to sell that which we do not need and there are other matters I need to discuss."

  Siggi looked up, "Jarl, if this is about the men who joined us I would consider your words. They had not raided for slaves. It is as much my fault as theirs. I should have controlled them." He shook his head, "It was almost as though they went berserk."

  "Yet they are not berserkers. If they had been we would have seen that at Hrofecester. But I was not going to speak of that. They are oathsworn and my men now. I would tell Gunnstein that he is to be a grandfather."

  I think we all breathed a sigh of relief at that news.

  "We will land Ulf, Hrolf, Arne Four Toes and Rurik just north and west of the village. They all have skills when it comes to moving in the night. They can dispose of any sentries. We will land on the beach away from the mainland."

  The next morning we did not sail due north for that risked the straits and we would be easily seen. The island was small and an alarm would make our task harder. Instead Sven took us towards Hibernia. We had to row for a while but when he turned east we found the prevailing winds sped us east quickly and we were able to prepare for the raid. We would be landing at dusk. That was a good time. The day would be almost over and those within the settlement would be eating, talking and ending their day quietly. Most Vikings raided at dawn or in the night. I thought it was a good plan but it was determined by the winds for they decided when we would reach the island. It was wyrd.

  Those of us who had sailed often with the Jarl knew the place Sven meant. I had never taken much notice of it for we were normally heading somewhere else and it was just a place on the way. What I did know was that it was almost totally flat. The other thing was its proximity to the mainland. I remembered Aiden telling me how a Roman General had had his army swim it with the horses to attack the galdramenn who lived there. Having swum horses myself I could see how they had done it but it must have terrified those on the island.

  The sun was setting behind us when Sven turned the drekar towards the coast. It was just a smudge on the horizon but the wind was taking us there quickly. I would not need my bow. Landing at night meant that I would not get the benefit from its range and I left it with my chest. I would, however, need my wolf cloak. I was not Ulfheonar but I had killed a wolf and I now used its skin when I wished to be harder to see. The head of the wolf went over my helmet. As I put it on Eiril came over to me. "Are you Ulfheonar? I know you served with the Dragonheart."

  I shook my head, "I have not the skills they have. I hunted the wolf with them. It brings me luck. I cannot wear it around my horse for the smell makes him nervous
but if we land in the dark then I can move unseen."

  Sven had the sail taken down while we were still out to sea. Even in the dark its white sail could be seen. The men took to their oars and rowed us in. The ship's boys kept watch. They whistled when they saw the flicker of firelight in the darkening night. Sven put the steering board over and edged us into shore. This side of the island had beaches and not rocks but, even so, we had to land in water which was waist deep. We waded ashore and even as we turned the drekar slipped towards the settlement.

  We ran. Ulf led and I followed. We crossed sand dunes and then found fields. They had just been cleared and I knew that it was winter barley. The island was in such a favourable position that it could harvest two crops a year. The kings of Gwynedd guarded their granary jealously. They had fought hard to retake it from the Saxons of Mercia. I could smell the smoke from the fires as we headed closer. I could even hear the sound of animals. Dogs yapped and barked and there were milk cows lowing. There was a hollow and when we climbed from it we saw that they had erected a wall. It was made of wood. Ulf halted while he assessed the situation. The four of us knew each other well. Ulf used hand signals. He had seen a warrior walking the walls. He was just a moving shadow and we knew not if he had mail or what weapon he held. He signalled for Rurik and me to eliminate him and then enter the walls. He and Arne slipped to the right.

  I took out my seax. Rurik was shorter than I was but he was both broad and strong. When we reached the wall he stood with his back to it and cupped his hands. The wall was just slightly higher than me with my arms held up. I took three steps away from the wall and crouched. I knew that even if he looked at me the sentry would see nothing for I wore my wolf cloak. I waited until he had passed Rurik and was heading towards the sea before I ran. I planted my right foot in Rurik's hands and he propelled me upwards. I made the top easily and I scrambled over the top, seax still in hand. I crouched so that I would be unseen as the sentry walked towards me. He was not looking ahead but to the side. I was so close that I could smell him and I rose and ripped my seax across his throat. I caught his body before it could fall and I laid it on the walkway.