by Griff Hosker
The light was fading fast as they cleared the last of their defences. I turned and hurried back to my men, “Enough. They come!” We moved back toward the woods. Behind me I heard a roar as the barricade was dismantled and the angry Danes hurried after us. We reached the eaves of the woods. Here the trees were open and there was space. Deeper within was darker and treacherous underfoot. We turned with bows at the ready. There was still enough light to see the enemy. When the Danes emerged from behind the huts we took aim and sent our arrows at the Danes. Our first arrows caught them unawares and six fell. Then they raised their shields. At a range of fifty paces I could not miss. I lowered my aim and sent an arrow at the knee of the leading warrior. The arrow head smashed the kneecap and the warrior crumpled to the ground. A second arrow ended his life.
“Shield wall!”
They formed a shield wall. I circled my arm and we headed back into the woods. It was now becoming too dark for our arrows to be effective and I slung my bow as we hurried back into the darkness of the trees. Haaken and I could have been alone for the others disappeared as though they had been swallowed by the night. With black armour, black wolf cloaks and faces smeared with cochineal we were invisible. We stopped and drew our swords. The noise we heard was the noise of angry Danes as they entered the woods. Their shield wall had to break up. We were still and they were not. The fading light showed them up while, in the darkness, we remained hidden. They came with their shields up for they were expecting arrows. I heard cries as they tripped on tree roots. The woods were our ally. The Danes spread out.
Haaken and I were sheltering behind a rowan tree. We peered out from either side. Our black helmets and the cochineal on our faces hid us. The Danes had to keep lowering their shields to see where they were going. We saw their white faces beneath their helmets. I held my sword at shoulder level and watched the Dane approach me. To my right I heard a cry as one of my men slew a Dane. The one approaching me glanced to the side and pulled his shield closer to him. Just his eyes appeared over the rim of his shield. He thought he was safe. I could smell him and I heard his panting breath. I lunged forward. He could only have seen the tip of my sword at the last moment as it entered his eye and then his brain. The only sound of death was his body falling to the ground.
A warrior to his right said, “Sweyn!” It was followed by a cry as Haaken ended his life. I tapped Haaken and we moved further back into the woods. We headed toward the boggy ground. It was away from our horses and the ground was uneven. We knew where the banks were and had walked the paths. The Danes would be unfamiliar.
We halted behind a pair of saplings and waited. We could hear the Danes as they moved through the woods. They clattered into branches and stumbled over roots. We also heard the sound of Danes being slain by the invisible Ulfheonar.
“Come out and fight like men you shape shifters! We are not afraid of you! We are protected by the magic of Asta!”
They were shouting to make us answer and then they would know where we hid. We remained silent. It forced them to move. I saw a leaf move and a flash of white showed me a Dane. I swung Ragnar’s Spirit at neck height. The Dane’s shield covered most of his body but my sword found flesh. The first his comrades knew was when they were spattered with blood. Haaken’s sword darted out and there was a scream. I heard movements from behind as more Danes ran to the aid of their comrades. I stepped out from behind the tree and brought the seax up under the metal byrnie of the third Dane. He hit me with the hilt of his sword. It made my helmet ring.
As he fell from my blade I stepped back and Haaken followed me. We walked gingerly down the slope. Years of falling leaves had made it soft and slippery. Our boots tore through the brambles and ivy which twined together. We had to move slowly to avoid falling. Behind us we heard a yell of joy as one of the Danes saw our movement. We did not speed up but kept moving steadily, hunched over, until we were on flatter ground and then we stood. I put my seax in my belt and pulled my shield around.
“We have two of them!” In the distance, I heard the other Danes as they died. The white faces beneath the helmets showed us that there were six Danes. They did not want us to escape and they ran down the bank. It was a mistake. The first three slipped and tripped on the slippery ground and became entangled in the undergrowth. The last three fell over the bodies of the comrades and tumbled down the slope. We stepped forward and in four savage strokes the three lay dead. We wasted no time in stabbing them in the neck. They bled to death. The other three disentangled themselves and ran at us. They were angry. Once again one fell over a dead comrade.
The one who came at me swung his axe with all the force he could muster. I stepped back away from the swing and then, as the head passed before me, darted in with my sword. Its tip was sharp and it pierced the mail, his shirt and his side. I twisted and turned it as I pulled it out. It grated on his ribs and pulled out a tangle of intestines. The third Dane stood and Haaken and I ended his life together.
I pointed to our left and we made our way around the slope. I could hear little in the woods now. By the time we reached our camp most of the Ulfheonar had arrived. They began to clean their weapons. Most were covered in blood but from their movements it was not their own. The last to arrive was Aðils. “The ones who survived have returned to the walls of Eoforwic. They are talking of demons and shape shifters.” He laughed, “One was begging for the help of the witches.” Fighting in the night was always frightening. Especially when you are used to fighting in a shield wall. The isolation of the wood made the terror of sudden death greater.
“Then let us put distance between us. We have done all that we intended and more.”
We headed north, riding through the night. We made better time once we reached the Roman Road. I intended to cross the Dunum at the Roman fort. We would break our journey by the waterfall on the Dunum. We did not spy any pursuers but that was not to say we were not vigilant. With our spare horses, we were able to change them often. It meant we could ride with armour and make much better time.
Haaken rode next to me, “What is on your mind, jarl?”
“My mind?”
“I have not fought alongside you these many years without recognising the signs when you are worried.”
“We have a Danish army coming for us. Surely I have reason to be worried.”
“You knew that before we left. What has changed?”
“I had thought we had to defeat one clan. I hoped to damage the Skull Takers. Now I see that the witches of the clan have attracted other clans. How do we deal with those? One clan cannot have many warriors but a confederation?”
“It is just numbers you are worried about?”
“If they have large numbers then there is little point in sitting behind our walls. They will make my land a wasteland and then pick off our settlements one by one. It will matter little if we sit behind our walls.” I gestured behind me with my thumb, “They were happy just to sit around Eoforwic and wait for it to fall. Cyninges-tūn has no well. We would not last a month. We have to beat them.”
“Then we need to meet them on the field of battle.”
I turned and looked at him, “How many men do we have?”
“Not enough. I know that. But we would never have enough.” I saw him look northwards. “You will not want to hear this but we would have to take Ulf’s, Ketil’s and Asbjorn’s men, not to mention Raibeart’s. If we had all of those and our bondi then we would stand a fighting chance. Those three jarls have warriors who are better than any Danish warrior. You must have had this in the back of your mind, Jarl Dragonheart, for our men are prepared to stand in a shield wall. If they were only intended to stand on a wall then they would be trained already.”
“But I did not know that our enemies would have to be met on the field of battle.”
“And yet you have prepared for one. This is wyrd.”
That night, as we camped by the roaring waterfall I told the others what Haaken and I had discussed. Surprisingly none were surpri
sed. “I would rather meet them on the field of battle, Jarl. When I swing my axe, I need room. I like not fighting from a wall.” Olaf Leather Neck was afraid of no one.
“And a Danish army cannot hide like a warband, Jarl. When they attacked Sigtrygg they came in small warbands. An army leaves a mark. It is like a giant snake crawling across the land. Aðils, Beorn and I can find a warband. How much easier to find an army.” Snorri might have changed since he killed the witch but he knew his own skills and they were undiminished.
“But what of the stad on the Eden and Ketil’s stad? If we take men from there who will defend them?”
“The question is who will attack them? The Saxons? I think they will fear the Danes and King Eanred will hide behind the walls of Bebbanburgh. The Scots? Hibernians? Ulf sent their ships back filled with corpses. They will not attack. The old men and the boys can defend their walls. Haaken is right, we need every warrior we have.”
“You are right, Olaf Leather Neck, but I am gambling with my whole land. I am not a gambler.”
Haaken laughed, “I have never known such a gambler! You run when common sense says walk. You go into the dark places when you know danger lies there and you take on great odds each time you fight. You are a gambler, Jarl. The difference is this time you are gambling with your people. We speak for the clan. We are happy to stake all alongside you.”
By the time we rolled into our furs I was persuaded. Their arguments had won me over. As we crossed the high divide I sent Beorn to Ketil and Asbjorn to ask them to visit and Aðils to Ulf to do the same.
We all looked at our land differently as we travelled the last forty miles west. This would be the land over which the Danes would travel. We would need to find somewhere that we could fight and hold them. We had a small army but it was an army which would fight together. The weakness of the Danes lay in the fact that they were made up of many clans and they were reliant on the witches. I knew the danger that lay in that faith. I had put too much in Kara and Aiden before now. Perhaps faith in the Danish witch and her sisters might prove to be the downfall of the Danes. I began to see a little light.
As we dropped through the dale of Mungo I noticed how beautiful was my land. The rolling hills to the north were like a giant rampart. To the south the land was jagged and steep. Yet even that had a beauty. The sheep dotted about the green fells was a sign of our prosperity. When first we had come that would have been impossible. Raiders would have taken them. Now families farmed. Children were raised and I would not allow a barbarian like Baggi destroy that. Brigid’s face came to me as we turned to head south. She was a patient woman and put up with my many faults. I knew that I was lucky to have her. When I reached home, I would show her just what she meant to me. We crossed the gap into the start of my land. I was coming home.
When we neared Ulla’s Water I looked up at Úlfarrberg. It was a symbol of our land. The wolves had terrorised us when first we came but now they were a memory here at the mountain named after them. The Danes were a potential terror. If we could draw the Danes here, then we stood a chance. The valley was narrow and the Water deep. With our mountain on one side and the Water on the other we could face them with our best. This was a narrow piece of land on which to fight. I would happily match our best warriors with those we had seen. I now needed to work out how to make Baggi Skull Splitter come the way I wanted.
Chapter 15
It was dusk by the time we reached my home. I had barely passed through the gates when Elfrida ran to me, “Jarl Dragonheart! Great news! Ylva has woken!”
“Those are great tidings; thanks to the Allfather. He has answered my prayers. When did this happen?”
“A few days ago! Kara and Aiden both wept tears of joy!”
I cast my mind back and realised that had been when we had sacked the Skull Taker’s home. I wondered if the witch’s power had lessened. When I had burned their hut had I destroyed some token which gave them power? Had I forced them to seek me in their own land? If so it was an effect I had not expected but I was grateful, nonetheless. I went directly to their hall. I stepped through the door and I heard Ylva’s voice, “It is The Dragonheart! Let me see him!”
She ran to me. She looked like a wraith but her eyes were bright and her arms wide. I picked her up and hugged her. I could not speak. Had I done so I would have unmanned myself. Her voice came in my ear, “Grandfather, you faced a Norn to save me. I have never known such courage. You fought the spirits and you won! Forgive me for ever thinking less of you.”
I pulled her away. I had my voice again. “You are of my blood. I would give my life for you. I would give all for any of my family. I am just grateful that you are returned to us.”
She nodded, tears streaming down her face. “My place is here with the clan. I am determined that I will help you fight this evil which comes this way.”
“You have dreamed?”
“We have dreamt together. There are four witches and they are powerful. They are aided by the Norns for you have angered them.”
I nodded, “But are they close?”
She shook her head, “You have hurt them more than you can know. When you burned their shrine…”
“You know of that?”
“We dreamed it. You destroyed some of their power. Just as we harness the power of the Water and the spirits so they harness the power of their bones and they were burned and destroyed. It will take time for them to regain their power.”
I nodded and Kara came towards me, “Thank you, father. I feel so foolish. My arrogance almost cost me my daughter and the clan their land. I had begun to believe that the safety of the clan lay with the dreamers. It does not. It lies with the warriors. It is you and the Ulfheonar who should be honoured.”
I shook my head, “Honour is nothing! We will have need of you. I believe that the Danes will come and come in such numbers as we have never seen before. I intend to meet them on the field of battle but I would choose the place.”
The three of them looked at me. Aiden asked the question, “But how can you make Baggi Skull Splitter do what you wish?”
“I would trick him. I will need your help but I believe we have time to prepare. We have hurt their plans. We have destroyed Loidis. They still have their best warriors but they will need to build. The witches will come for Ylva and to hurt me. My scouts will watch for our foes. But I need you three to make a fog so that the witches cannot discover what we are doing.”
They looked at each other. Kara said, “We are stronger now for we know what we face. We will do as you ask but…”
“But they will send spies into our land!”
She looked shocked, “Have you become galdramenn too?”
“You forget that you get your power through your mother and through me. My mother was of the old people. They have had spies in my land for some time. They have known things which they should not know. I know not yet who they are but I am getting closer. I am counting on their spies for I intend to use them.”
“But how will you know who they are?”
I took my sword from its scabbard, “This will tell me. I have not used the power that Odin gave me when he struck this sword.” I put my arm around Ylva. “It was Ylva that made me begin to harness that power. It defeated a Norn for the gods are greater than the Weird Sisters and their witches.” I smiled apologetically, “I am sorry but it is true.”
Kara nodded, “A year ago I would have said you were wrong but I believe you are right. We will do all that we can.”
“Good.”
Ylva took my hand, “And grandfather.”
“Yes?”
“I am now a woman. I have attained my true power. I entered the cave a girl and you rescued a woman. I am now a witch and will grow as powerful as my mother.”
There was hope in my granddaughter’s words.
I hurried to Brigid. I had missed her. I saw that Wighlek and Vibeke were just leaving my hall. Vibeke beamed, “It is good news is it not jarl? The little princess is healed. P
erhaps my charm helped.”
“Perhaps it did, Vibeke.” I did not like to say that other forces were at work. The old woman was kind.
She had a twinkle in her eye as she said, “You will want to be with your wife. We have taken up enough of her time. Farewell!”
As Brigid waved to the pair I whisked her in my arms, taking her by surprise. “What has happened?”
I smiled, “Nothing save that I missed you.”
She laughed, “Then you must show me how much!”
We headed to my chamber. I needed to show my wife what she meant to me. Who knew how many more nights we would have together?
When I rose the next morning I felt refreshed and invigorated. I had had good news and that was rare. My mind looked for solutions rather than just seeing the problem. I had an idea how to draw the Danes to Ulla’s Water but it would take time. Much of it depended upon my belief that the Danes would send spies; indeed I knew they had spies. I would need to deceive not only my enemies but my people too. It did not sit well with me but it was necessary. I first met with Karl One Leg.
“How goes the training?”
“They have improved beyond all recognition. However, they are all desperate for the Ulfheonar to train them again. It seems a crippled old warrior does not do.”
“You are still as good a warrior as ever you were. You are just slower. I am these days.”
“By the end of the year they will be able to stand on the walls and defend this stad.”
“I am afraid I need them to do more. We must beat the Danes on the field of battle. If we sit behind our walls they will kill us with famine. I have seen how they fight. Our farmers and boys, our bakers and smiths; all must be able to stand in a shield wall and stand firm.”
“You are asking much, jarl.”
“If we do not then we die. The Danes do not take prisoners. I have seen the burned-out farms and bleached bones of the dead. This is not about one battle, Karl. This is about survival.” He nodded. “And when we go to war then you must defend the stad with women, children and old men. We will take all who can wield a weapon. If we go to war and lose then none will return.”