by Griff Hosker
Then Aðils’ voice sounded, “Centreboard! Slowly!”
Haaken did not need to speak for my crew were as one and they all slowed. We edged into the fog. I tried to picture the water we had sailed into. I could not remember it. I hoped my newest scout could. I glanced down at Ylva. She had yet to open her eyes but there was a little more colour in her cheeks and she appeared to be breathing a little easier.
“Steerboard!”
I looked up. Were my eyes playing tricks? The fog was a little lighter or it appeared to be. I could see the mast. It seemed an age for we were moving slowly but we slowly emerged from the mist. At first the day was grey but, as we rowed slowly and carefully west, the sky brightened and then a breeze sprang up. It was from the north and east but Erik could still use the wind to rest the rowers. They were not exhausted but the tension of the past few days had taken their toll.
As the ship’s boys took over the duties of lookout, Aðils Shape Shifter walked down the centreboard to the sound of hands banging in the deck and his name being called. That was the day he would never forget. He had been an Ulfheonar the shortest of times and yet he had already become a legend. He had guided a drekar through the fog and mist of a witch’s spell. I could see Haaken already composing the verse in the saga of the dragon and the Dragonheart.
I knelt by Ylva. “How is she Gruffyd?”
He did not answer me at first and then he smiled. “I di das you asked, father. I held her hand and closed my eyes. I saw her and she was with a woman I did not recognise but who looked familiar. Feel her hand. It is warmer.”
I did as he had asked and felt the blood in her hands. She was coming back to us. “That was your grandmother who came to her. You have done well.”
Erik said, “This wind will aid us until we have to turn north, Jarl, and then we will need the men to row.”
“Cnut Cnutson organize the food.”
Haaken joined me as I sat next to Ylva. He said, quietly, “What happened, jarl? I saw the dragon and Ragnar’s Spirit and then suddenly the dragon was gone. Where did the Norn go?”
“The dragon was an illusion. It was not real. It smelled and looked real but it was not. I called upon the power of the sword and the Allfather helped us. I think that my mother and my wife aided us by filling Ylva with their memories. As for the witch?” I shrugged. “She was like a spider. That was her nest and she had many ways in and out. We found a second one. There may have been a third.”
Ragnar was thoughtful, “We have made an enemy of a Norn, grandfather. That cannot be good.”
“Warriors make enemies all the time. We will fight them the way we fight any enemy. We will hold fast and fight together. The power of the clan will prevail.” Ylva stirred a little. “But we need to get this little one home. Her healing is beyond us. That lies with her parents.”
The men ate and drank and I held Ylva’s tiny hands around the hilt of my sword. They seemed so delicate compared with my rough and gnarled warrior hands. How could we even be related? They felt cold but, as we sailed so they seemed to warm. I took a cloth and wiped the cochineal form her lips. I wanted my little girl back. The drekar seemed to be barely moving. I was aware of the passage of time by the warriors who passed me to make water at the steering board. I wondered if we were being held by some sort of spell.
Erik’s voice brought me from my thoughts, “Take to the oars. We must come about and beat against the wind.”
The men had been rested. “I will take a turn at the oars.”
Gruffyd said, “You are Jarl!”
“And I can row. Stay here with your cousin and I will exorcise my own demons.” I joined Ragnar. We had the two oars closest to the prow. When we were fully crewed, there could be up to three men on each oar. Now we were single oared. We could make headway with the sails even sailing so close to the wind but the oars were needed to give Erik more control over our direction.
I smiled at Ragnar, “Let me see if I can keep up with a young warrior such as you.” I shouted, “Haaken One Eye, a good song!”
I heard him laugh, “Until I have composed my new one there can be but one.”
The storm was wild and the gods did roam
The enemy closed on the Prince's home
Two warriors stood on a lonely tower
Watching, waiting for hour on hour.
The storm came hard and Odin spoke
With a lightning bolt the sword he smote
Ragnar's Spirit burned hot that night
It glowed, a beacon shiny and bright
The two they stood against the foe
They were alone, nowhere to go
They fought in blood on a darkened hill
Dragon Heart and Cnut will save us still
Dragon Heart, Cnut and the Ulfheonar
Dragon Heart, Cnut and the Ulfheonar
The storm was wild and the Gods did roam
The enemy closed on the Prince's home
Two warriors stood on a lonely tower
Watching, waiting for hour on hour.
The storm came hard and Odin spoke
With a lightning bolt the sword he smote
Ragnar's Spirit burned hot that night
It glowed, a beacon shiny and bright
The two they stood against the foe
They were alone, nowhere to go
They fought in blood on a darkened hill
Dragon Heart and Cnut will save us still
Dragon Heart, Cnut and the Ulfheonar
Dragon Heart, Cnut and the Ulfheonar
And now the sword has fought the Norn
By a Viking Jarl but Saxon born
His sword was strong and his heart was true
Sent away by Ulfheonar two
The Jarl and Haaken will save us still
The Jarl and Haaken and the Ulfheonar
The Jarl and Haaken and the Ulfheonar
It was the saga of the sword save that Haaken had added two extra lines. I heard Olaf laugh as Haaken sang the last refrain alone. “I see you put yourself in this one, Haaken One Eye!”
“And why not? It was just the two of us in that black hole!”
The song helped us and after four more renditions we were all familiar with it. I saw that Ragnar was grinning even though his hands were red raw. “Why are you happy? Your hands must be giving you great pain.”
He shook his head, “I feel no pain. I rowed with the Ulfheonar. These men would die for you, grandfather. That speaks well of you. Einar and the others would have died for my father. I now see what I must do to earn such loyalty and I relish the opportunity. Thank you for allowing me to accompany you. I know I am honoured.”
“Wait until we see Úlfarrston before you are so grateful.”
I watched the coast of Corn Walum as it slipped slowly by. Erik was keeping us close to the coast so that the wind did not take us further west. This was the shortest route. When we struck the Sabrina, he would be able to turn to larboard and the wind would aid us once more.
It was as we were passing the bay where we had sheltered when Guthrum Arneson shouted, “Ships to steerboard! They are Saxons! They have the wind!”
I suddenly remembered the watchers on the cliff when we had left the bay. My ship was well known and Egbert would love the chance to get his hands upon me and my ship. Was this the work of the Norns? I had thought we were lucky to escape the bay when we had headed south. Now I was not so sure.
Erik Short Toe shouted, “Olaf Leather Neck, up the beat!”
This time there was no song. Olaf was the strongest of the crew and I watched his mighty shoulders as he pulled on his oar. We all had to keep pace with him. I turned to Ragnar. “When you can row no longer then tell me. We have to lift our oars together else we will lose way.”
He shook his head, “I will row as long as the others!”
“You have not the strength. A good warrior knows his own limitations. Your pride is not what concerns me. It is the drekar and the crew. There is no shame in not bein
g able to row as long as Ulfheonar.”
In truth, I needed to be at the steering board. Erik was a good captain but he was not a tactician. I needed to see the Saxon ships and try to outwit their captains. I could not see them but I knew what kind of ships they used. They relied more on sail than we did. They would be aided by the fact that the wind was coming directly from behind them. They had the wind gauge and could surround us. They would be fully crewed and we had half a crew. Even so Olaf’s spurt made us fly and the fact that Erik turned us to sail north and west meant that the sail billowed full.
I watched as Ragnar’s strokes became slower. Soon he would catch Alf Jansson’s oar. “Now Ragnar, up oar!” He looked at me. “That is an order. One, two, three!” On three we lifted them. “Good. Now lay them down the centre board and then don your helmet. Soon we go to war.”
I walked down the centreboard. I saw that my men were tiring. Ragnar’s hearth-weru were almost done in. They did not have the levels of fitness the Ulfheonar did. I went to the steering board. Erik nodded to the crew, “They are tiring, Jarl.”
“I know. They can either row or fight. They cannot do both and if they row to exhaustion then the enemy will catch us. Where are they?”
He pointed to steerboard. They were a couple of thousand paces from us. The sea swell hid them and then revealed them. They are half the length of our drekar but were low in the water. They were laden with warriors. Whoever commanded them knew that to take on a long ship you had to have plenty of warriors. Their disadvantage lay in their tubby design. They had more in common with a knarr than a drekar. We were long and lean and fast.
“Take us to steerboard and then prepare to come about. We will sail south and west. Let us make it a chase. The men can row for a little while longer and then rest while they chase us.”
Erik Short Toe pointed to the west. “Out there is nothing, Jarl, save the edge of the world.”
“We will turn before we fall from the edge. I just want the men rested and ready to fight.” I turned to the crew. “One more hard row and then don your mail. We will teach these Saxons how to fight!”
“We cast the bones again eh Jarl. Furl the sail!”
When I judged it right I waved my arm.
“Come about!”
Chapter 9
We had a good supply of bows on the drekar including the two Saami bows. One was Snorri’s and the other was mine. My plan was simple. When they closed with us we would use the bows to thin out their numbers. I hoped that we could fight them one at a time. We would be outnumbered but I doubted that, man for man, they would be the equal of my warriors. We would be in mail and they would not. It takes a brave man to fight in mail on a ship for if he falls overboard then he dies! I went to the chest and took out the bows and the arrows. I laid them out for my men to collect. I saw the strain on their faces for we were now sailing into the wind and towards the Saxons. We were closing rapidly. Timing was all. I looked at Erik and I nodded, “Back larboard. Come about! Let fly the sail! In oars!”
The oars made us almost spin and the ship’s boys had been awaiting the order. The sail fluttered and flapped as Erik turned us. The oars were raised and dropped to the middle in a rapid succession. By the time the ship’s boys had reached the deck we had spun and turned. The Saxons were less than a thousand paces from us. I saw the eager faces filling their bows as they saw their prey within their grasp. And then the ‘Heart of the Dragon’ leapt like a greyhound. It was as though Erik had unleashed a wild beast.
I shouted, “Drink and then prepare for war. Take your bows!”
Each of my warriors had different rituals. Some smeared red on their eyes. Others took their swords and kissed them. Everyone made sure they had their wolf amulet secured. Gruffyd rose and I shook my head. “Take your shield and your sword. You are to protect Ylva and Erik Short Toe. I do not want to have to worry about Ylva while I fight. If anything happened to her then this whole voyage would have been a waste of time.”
He nodded and donned his helmet. It was a newly made one. Bagsecg had made him one without a nasal. He was still growing and it needed to be light. I hoped he would not need to test its qualities but I feared he would. We would have to turn eventually. I looked astern and saw that one of the Saxon ships was heading to the north of us while the other went to the south. Raibeart saw my look and said, “Aye Jarl, they mean to cut us off. They know we must turn.”
An idea began to form in my mind. I said nothing for I needed to see how the two Saxons sailed their vessels. They were not gaining and our lead was only increasing by the smallest of distances. We were fast but the extra sails on the Saxons made them faster than normal. With the wind, they had a chance of catching us. We could have extended our lead but that would have meant rowing and there was no guarantee that would help us to escape.
As the sun began to move further west I said, “In a moment, Erik, I want you to head south and west.”
“Go with the wind?”
“That is it.”
“But the Saxon to the south of us will catch us.”
I pointed to their sails. “They have more canvas than we do and sail faster with the wind. What if we turned into the wind?”
Erik smiled, “They would be aback and would not be able to beat up wind and catch us.”
“But that still leaves one Saxon, jarl.”
“Aye Raibeart and I intend to hurt that Saxon. Ready on my command, Erik.”
“Aye Jarl.”
“Ulfheonar, you have sat on your backsides enough. Line up on the larboard side. I want us to rain death on that Saxon!”
Desperate to strike back they cheered and picked up their bows, choosing the best arrows that they could find.
“Now, Erik!”
As he put the steering board over I kept my eye on the northernmost Saxon. We took him by surprise. He did not change course immediately for the sails prevented him from seeing us well. When he did the turn was poorly executed and they lost way. The Saxon to the south was in even more disarray. He suddenly saw the wolf of the sea heading for him and he had to choose which way to turn. The delay meant that we were less than three hundred paces from him when he finally made up his mind and turned. He turned to cut us off from the west and that suited me.
I took my Saami bow and chose a black fletched arrow. As I pulled back the string I shouted, “Now!”
My men were expecting the turn and the ships’ boys hauled on the sheets to make the turn as efficient as possible. We closed to within a hundred and fifty paces of the Saxon. Snorri and I loosed first. I aimed for their steering board. We managed to hit two of those standing there. We did not hit the steersman but shields were raised as they took cover. Human nature took over and the steersman, involuntarily perhaps, nudged the ship a little further south. When the rest of my men loosed their arrows, they fell in the well of the ship. There were many bodies there and their arrows found flesh. I loosed another and managed to hit the captain, who was standing next to the steersman, in the arm. He dropped to the deck and a warrior raised his shield. Snorri’s arrow flew true. In protecting their captain the steersman was left exposed. Snorri’s arrow pitched him overboard and the Saxon ship swung to larboard. The sails flapped helplessly.
“To the steerboard side!”
The second Saxon was a different prospect. He had more time to make his decision and our target would be the bow where I could see the shields being raised. They had seen our trick and were planning to avoid the same fate. The second Saxon would soon be following us. If they had been alone we might have escaped but we would have to deal with the northern Saxon first.
“Erik, make for his bow. Make him wonder which side we will pass. Let us see which one blinks first.”
“Aye Jarl! Guthrum, get to the bow and direct me! I am relying on you!”
“I will not let you down, captain!” The eldest of the ship’s boys ran quickly down the centre board.
The Saxon was travelling with the wind and was much faster
. That also meant that the captain of the Saxon needed quicker reactions. It would be a waste of arrows to try to hit those at the steering board. The two sails and the masts would obscure our view and afford some protection. Instead I intended to kill as many of the Saxons on the deck as we could.
Snorri and I began releasing arrows as soon as we were in range. My first arrow fell short but the speed of the Saxon meant my second found flesh. Snorri was more accurate and shields were raised after he had struck two. The rest of my warriors, Ragnar included, began to send arrows towards the Saxon. Their shields protected the warriors but two sailors who were tightening sheets fell to the arrows. It meant their captain was unsighted. Guthrum waved to the steerboard. Suddenly I saw the bow of the Saxon. The Saxon captain, unsighted, had corrected his course by turning into us. Erik had quick reactions and he pushed the steering board over as fast as he could but a collision was inevitable.
Bolli had built a solid ship. The single trunk which formed the keel was a mighty oak from the Land of the Wolf. We struck the Saxon a glancing blow amidships. Our bowline snagged on the mast of the Saxon and we became entangled. Oleg Olegson, one of the ship’s boys raced down the sheet to cut the bowline free but the Saxons saw their chance and warriors began to swarm over the side. My men had already dropped their bows and they drew their swords and hefted axes. None of us had time to grab our shields and so I drew my seax as I ran to the side.
I swung my sword at the knee of the Saxon who balanced on the thwarts with a raised spear. He fell screaming between the hulls. Although Oleg had finally freed us the Saxons had thrown grappling hooks and tied us together. I heard a cry from the stern and saw that a second party of Saxons had jumped aboard.
“Olaf! Free us! I go to the aid of Erik!” It was not just Erik Short Toe who needed my help. Ragnar and Gruffyd were there defending my granddaughter. Even as I watched Eystein Thorirson, one of Ragnar’s hearth-weru was felled. I blocked the pike which was rammed at my head and I thrust my sword deep into the pikeman’s body. I pushed it into the path of two Saxons who were trying to get at me. As they fell I brought Ragnar’s Spirit overhand to split one skull in two and I gutted the second.