Viking Witch (Dragonheart Book 15)

by Griff Hosker

  By the time I reach the clearing my men had returned. I gathered them around and explained my plan. “Rolf and Rollo, you are young and you are agile. Take your bows and climb the mighty oak. You can use the height to rain death on the Danes. Beorn, take Karl Karlsson. Hide at the entrance to the wood and when the last warrior has passed then begin the slaughter. Rolf and Rollo can release arrows when you attack. Olaf Leather Neck take half of the rest of the men and go to the west side of the path. Haaken take the rest to the east. Spread yourselves out.”

  “And you, Jarl?”

  I grinned, “I well get their attention.”

  I watched my men get into position. I saw them disappear as only Ulfheonar can. One moment they were there and when I blinked they were gone. I rammed three arrows into the ground and held another ready. I might be seen before Beorn and Karl could close the trap but I expected them to try to get at me. With their attention on me they would not expect the attacks which would begin on both sides. There were only five men on each side of the path but they were the best of warriors. They all had their bows. They would use an arrow first. That way the enemy would not know where they were. When they erupted from the tress, dressed in wolf skins, it would add to the terror. I had to hold them. We could not afford any to escape. If Baggi Skull Splitter knew that I was on the loose he would use every warrior to seek me out. I wanted them to wonder who was killing their men. With luck they would think it was some of Prince Athelstan’s men who had escaped the battle.

  I heard them before I saw them. They were not trying to hide. I heard their laughter and their shouts. They had no scouts out. Why should they, this was their land? I readied my bow and arrow. I aimed at the trail some forty paces from me. The path turned again around a second oak which had spread out. It was a ridiculously close range and I could not miss. I would have to be fast. I saw one warrior begin to emerge and I resisted the temptation to release. He was not looking ahead in any case. I waited until three of them had turned. As one looked ahead and saw me I released.

  He wore mail but that was no hindrance to the Saami bow. The arrow tore into his chest and I had another ready before his comrades saw the black fletched arrow sticking from his chest. My second hit the next Dane so hard that he was pitched backwards; an arrow in his face. The third drew his weapon and ran at me. Behind him I saw other Danes as they ran to get at me. I was vaguely aware of screams and shouts from further down the column but I did not lose concentration. My third arrow hit the Dane when he was twenty paces from me. It was buried in his chest to its fletch. My last arrow was hurriedly released and it smacked into the shoulder of another Dane.

  I dropped my bow, drew my sword and, pulling my shield around ran at them shouting, “Ulfheonar!”

  There were four warriors running towards me. They were handicapped by the bodies of the three dead Danes lying before them and the fact that Olaf Leather Neck and Haaken were leading my warriors to assault the warriors behind them. Two had spears while the other two were trying to draw swords at the same time as they swung their shields around. I fended off the two spears which obligingly came at my left side. I brought my sword across at head height. It bit into the neck of one of them. His blood spurted across the face of the second. I twisted my sword as I whipped it sideways so that its point rammed into his face. The two spearmen had pulled back their weapons to strike at me again. This time they divided their attack. I stepped closer to them and punched with my shield while I stabbed with my sword. I found flesh with my sword and the boss of my shield hit the other Dane in the face. Too close to me for it to be of any use he dropped his spear and tried to reach my neck with two mighty hams of fists. I brought the hilt of my sword around and, hitting him hard in the side of the head, it knocked him to the ground. He lay stunned and I gave him a warrior’s death.

  As I withdrew my sword a Dane with a war axe saw his chance and swung it as I was standing upright. Rolf’s arrow appeared out of his mouth as though it was a magic trick. He, too fell to the floor. Haaken was being beset by three warriors. His hands whirled as he fought them off. I ran at them with my sword held before me. One sensed my movement and turned. He had no mail and my sword tore into his side. I used my shield to push him from my blade and then blocked the axe which had threatened to take Haaken’s head. I swung my shield around so that the metal edge cracked into the chin of the other warrior and Haaken gutted him.

  “Thank you, Jarl Dragonheart!”

  The ambush was almost at an end. None had passed me and my men were despatching the wounded. I saw that at least half of the dead had arrows in them. My archers had reaped a fine harvest. As the last Dane sighed his way to the Otherworld I sheathed my sword and headed down to the end of the column. I was anxious to speak with the Saxons. It was ironic that a couple of years ago I would have slain them too but now they were allies.

  It was only as I walked among the corpses that I realised I should have left one alive, to interrogate. It was too late now. My three scouts were tending to the Saxons. My men had captured two Danish horses. One Saxon stood. He held out his hand, “Thank you Jarl Dragonheart. I am Thegn Tostig of Beadnell. I am indebted to you. They planned to give us the blood eagle at their camp.”

  “Do you know where their home is?”

  “They boasted that by nightfall we would be in their homes and our lungs would flap like an eagle.”

  That gave me a rough idea of where their village would be. We needed to backtrack down the trail. “Our horses are there. We will take you there and decide what it so to be done.”

  “We will join you! We will have vengeance on these butchers. They take heads!”

  I shook my head, “Your king will need brave warriors like you. When I said what is to be done I wondered if it might be safer to head west and pass through my land.”

  I could see he was disappointed but, as we headed up the trail I saw him examining my men. Our mail and our weapons marked us as different to ordinary warriors but they also carried themselves differently. After we had given them food Thegn Tostig said, “You may be right. There were few of us who survived the battle. We fought well but they outwitted us. I think we will travel due north. We will be travelling through land we know and reach home quicker. If you give us weapons, then we will make sure we are not captured a second time. Better to die with a sword in the hand than have your backbone laid bare.”

  “Take the two horses and any of the weapons and arms you wish from the dead. Take their mail. We will not need it. When you rise, we will be gone. We have work to do.”

  While he and his men searched the dead I gathered my men around me. “We did not pass a settlement and so it must be to the south of us. We back track down the trail and seek it. Tomorrow we find it and in the night, we will sow the seeds of terror.”

  Erik Ulfsson nodded, “We have already profited by the death of these Danes. They had taken much treasure from the Saxons.” He held up a golden torc. It was not large but it was the type some Saxons wore.

  Haaken said, “It is not treasure we need. We need to slay as many Danes as we can and make them think twice about attacking the Land of the Wolf.”

  Snorri said, “We found the signs of more trails heading south, Jarl. I think the Danes are finished harrying the ones who fled the battle.”

  “Then we have come at the perfect time. They will drink and they will celebrate. There will be other prisoners to torture. The last thing they will expect is an attack in their own homes. They will feel safe there.”

  We left so quietly, the next morning, that the Saxons did not even stir. We were Ulfheonar and no one heard us unless we intended it. Snorri went with Aðils to find this Danish camp. We had examined the bodies and from the clan markings on their helmets we discovered that this was the clan of serpent. One of the dead had a fresh skull attached to his belt. However, he was serpent clan. It showed that the cult of the skulls was growing.

  In the end, any of us could have found the settlement. We could smell their wo
od fires. Snorri and Aðils rode back to tell us that there was just a ditch and a palisade around the Danish village to keep out animals. “It has a large warrior hall and the hall of a jarl. The warriors we slew were not the only ones for there are twenty, at least, in the stad. There may have been others in the warrior hall.”

  “How far away is it?”

  “Not far. We have found somewhere we can hobble the horses.”

  I looked at the sky. It was just after noon. “Then we will camp and rest. This will be a busy night.”

  After finding the clearing we prepared for war as we always did. I used a whetstone to put an edge on my sword and seax. I then applied the red cochineal around my eyes. I slung my shield over my back and finally donned my wolf cloak. While the others went through their rituals I hung my bow and quiver from the saddle of my horse. Night was not the time for arrows. I had taken a seax from one of the Danes I had killed and I put that in my boot.

  When all were ready we followed Aðils through the dark. The night favoured us for it hid the moon. We went in single file. I was in the middle. We had the younger ears and eyes at the fore. I saw the glow of a huge fire in the heart of the settlement. It would spoil the night vision of the sentries. I smelled those who lived here. The Danes were not as clean as we and the smell of their night soil and water hung in the air. We heard their animals as they waited to be milked and we heard the sound of laughter. The laughter would soon turn to tears.

  I waved Olaf and Haaken to the left and right. They led the men who had followed them in the ambush. I had my three scouts and Rolf and Rollo with me. Rolf’s axe hung from his back and he held a short sword and seax in his hand. I just held a seax. There would be time for Ragnar’s Spirit later on.

  We moved slowly towards the gate. It was open. I wondered if they expected the band we had slain. There were two sentries there. I saw their shadows and we heard their words as they talked. We crept closer and I heard them speaking of the great victory. I discovered the name of their thegn. His name was Peder Poulson. It sounded as though he had managed to gain some honour by killing Prince Athelstan’s standard bearer. It explained the celebration.

  Snorri and I crept forward. Aðils and Beorn had been happy to do this but I was still jarl and I needed to show my men that I was not yet ready to watch others do my fighting for me. I moved stealthily. I just moved one limb at a time and my eyes never left the shadow I was stalking. I could smell them. It was the smell of stale sweat and unwashed blood mixed with pig fat. When I was just two paces from the Danish sentry I began to rise. I did not need to look at Snorri. We had done this before. I took one more step as I reached out with my left hand. I pulled his head towards me as I ripped my seax across his throat. He gave a sigh of death and then I caught his body before it hit the ground. Snorri’s sentry was dead too.

  I waved my hand and the other four joined us. As we stepped through the gate I saw the huge fire. The smoke drifted towards us. I kept low as I led my men inside the wooden wall. There would be at least two other gates and Haaken and Olaf would be using those. I changed hands with my seax and drew Ragnar’s Spirit. I immediately felt the power surge through my body. I felt invincible. The others spread out. Our aim was to kill as many of the Danes as we could. I headed for the jarl’s hall. I knew that Rolf and Rollo would follow me and guard my back. It gave me the confidence to move swiftly.

  There was a sudden cry from my left. Someone had died noisily. I saw the two warriors at the door of the thegn’s hall stand and draw their swords. They were hearth-weru. I hurried towards them. The hearth-weru were looking to their right and the origin of the cry. There were just three steps leading up to the hall and I leapt up them. I had not swung my shield around. I had my seax in my hand. Neither of the hearth-weru had a shield but they both grabbed their axes when they sensed my approach. Holding my seax up I swung my sword in a wide arc. I saw the axe sweeping down and I jabbed the seax at the Dane’s hands. It was sharp and I severed two fingers with my seax as my sword bit into his side. Rolf’s axe head was buried in the side of the second hearth-weru. I pushed the body from my sword and ran into the hall.

  The jarl was drinking with four of his hearth-weru. He looked up in surprise as the three of us burst into the hall. Speed was vital and I ran across to the five of them even as they were trying to get to weapons. The jarl threw his horn at me. I ducked and then swung my sword into the back and side of a hearth-weru who was trying to draw his weapon. He had been drinking and was slow. He paid for that with his life.

  His death, however, afforded the jarl the chance to grab his shield and his sword. He rushed at me swinging his sword wildly. I think he expected me to flinch but I did not. I blocked his sword at the hilt with my seax. His shield covered his body and so I stabbed down at his exposed boot with my sword. I pinned his foot to the wooden floor. He screamed with pain and I ripped my seax across the back of his hand. He reeled and before he could regain his balance I brought my sword overhand and split his head in two.

  One of the hearth-weru threw a chair at me. I was not expecting it and it knocked me to the side. His companion saw his chance and he pulled back his sword to stab me. As I tumbled over I struck out with Ragnar’s Spirit. I caught the edge of the blade which swung to end my life and then Rollo Thin Skin used his own sword to take the head of the hearth-weru.

  “Thank you Rollo!”

  The jarl’s hall was now filled with the dead. I grabbed the seal from around the jarls’ neck and stuffed it in my pouch. We moved out of the door. The hall had been relatively quiet. Outside was a cacophony of screams and cries. The warrior hall was on fire. As I glanced to my left I saw women and children fleeing. It could not be helped. I would not worry about the fact that the Danes would know I was abroad; there was nothing I could do now. This was wyrd. By the time they discovered the news we would have moved. I had decided to be the will o’the wisp. We had horses and we would vanish into the night.

  The fight was still not over. We had caught them unawares but a man will fight hard for his family even if he knows he is doomed to die. And die they did. The women and children fled, leaving us with the stad to ourselves.

  “Aðils, take Rollo and fetch the horses. Karl Karlsson go with Olvir and search the bodies. Beorn, see if there are any horses here.”

  Olaf came over with a large hunk of venison. “There is food, jarl! We eat hot food and drink ale tonight.”

  “Before you do take four men and make sure that all of the Danes are dead. Are there any injuries?” I saw Leif the Banner tying a bandage around Einar Hammer Arm’s arm.

  “Einar forgot that he has no mail on his arms!”

  “The Dane had a hidden knife. Besides, it is just a scratch!”

  It was almost dawn by the time we had devoured the food, gathered the treasure and found four horses. We packed our treasure in the spare horses and headed south. I had spent the night contemplating what we might do. South would seem the strangest of choices for it led us towards Loidis and the heartland of the Danes. I hoped they would think we had fled west or north. It would take the refugees some time to reach friends and by the time riders had been sent to the stad we would be long gone.

  Snorri led us up over a high ridge which was rock covered. It would make tracking difficult. It would still be possible to follow us but we would increase our lead and make it hard for them to find us. I had Beorn trailing us by a thousand paces. He removed any sign we left and watched for any Danish scouts who were seeking us. Snorri knew the land well and he found little used shepherd’s paths. Eventually we came to a heavily wooded area. He stopped and turned, “We are five Roman miles from Loidis here, Jarl. Eoforwic is just twenty miles north and east of us. If we had to flee quickly then we could find the Roman Road.”

  “You have done well, Snorri.”

  We entered the woods and travelled until we came to a clearing with a stream. We had plenty of cold meat taken from the Serpent clan’s feast. After we had unsaddled, fed and watered
our horses we set guards. Each of us would take a watch. I lay in my furs and examined the seal. There was no serpent upon it. When I examined it, I recognised the writing. It was the writing of the Romans. I could read a little Latin and I recognised the double XX. It was Roman for twenty. There was an eagle too. I remembered that Aiden had told me this was the symbol of the Roman legions. The jarl had been given this but by whom? I fell asleep speculating.

  The next morning, we split up into three groups. We would seek out Danes. I led my scouts, Rollo and Rolf. I felt safe with my skilled scouts. Their noses were worth gold. Aðils followed a path from the woods. I would have chosen the broader greenway which Haaken took but he seemed confident. The path twisted and turned through the trees. Eventually it came out above a small Roman Road. Signalling for us to wait he went down to the road and put his ear to it.

  He hurried back. “Men are coming from the east.”

  We disappeared into the bracken, gorse and shrubs. We were invisible. We heard the approach of the Danes. It was a large warband. I did not move my head but peered through the leaves. It was the Skull Takers. We saw skulls, some bleached white, hanging from their belts and spears. I had no idea how many there were. We would have to watch them pass. We would not harm them. We needed to find out where their homes were. The night was made for the Ulfheonar. It disguised our numbers and made us more terrifying. We used the day to find our enemies. After they had passed I pointed towards them. With Aðils leading we followed, always keeping to the cover which Aðils seemed to find as easily as a fisherman might find a shoal of plump fish.