by Griff Hosker
"Ready, Haaken?"
"Aye. The guards would be ready for a stretch."
We stood and began to walk slowly to the four sleeping men. I silently drew my sword and held it at my side. I looked at the camp and saw no one nearby who was awake. I could still hear the noise of brush and branches being laid upon water. They were busy building a causeway. I sank my sword through the neck of one of the sleeping men. His death noise was a hiss. My left hand went to my dragon. The man had no sword in his hand. His spirit would wander. I moved to the next man. Haaken's victim gave a soft sigh and the man I stood over opened his eyes. He saw me. He was fast. His hand went to his sword as he opened his mouth to scream. I rammed the sword through his open mouth, pinning his body to the ground. He died but his spirit went to Valhalla. He held his sword. Haaken disposed of the last man and we headed towards the next fire.
It was at that moment that we heard the howl of the wolf. I looked at Haaken and we both howled too. The sound of wolves howling spread through the camp. When I heard the drum of hooves I knew that Snorri and Beorn had succeeded. The Danes, Frisians and the Franks jumped to their feet at the disturbance. It actually helped us for we did not look any different to those we saw. Haaken and I ran through the camp. I drew my seax as we ran. Those we met were looking east to the sound of the horses. The first four men we met died without knowing we were there. We ghosted through the camp slicing and stabbing with our weapons. Men died screaming and shouting. Friend looked at friend and wondered if it was a foe. There were Frisians and Franks and they spoke different languages. It made for confusion and chaos.
We worked our way towards the river, at the southern end of the camp. There were just two fires between us and the river when we were spotted. There must have been a chief amongst them for he spied us and pointed his sword at us. The seven men ran purposefully with drawn weapons. I headed towards the chief; he was leading the others. He held a Frisian axe in his hand and he wore mail. Haaken would watch my right. The chief ran too and he swung his long axe at me. I swept Ragnar's Spirit backhanded. That was the problem with an axe. It was a powerful weapon but once it began to swing it had a life of its own. My sword caught the haft and deflected it. The head dropped harmlessly to my right and I rammed my seax through his mail into his ribs. I tore it out sideways.
As his body tumbled away I ducked as a spear was thrust at my head. It caught the top of my helmet but Bjorn had made it well. I punched the spearman in the face with the hilt of my sword and as his head fell back ripped across his throat with my seax. Two men attacked Haaken. I swung Ragnar's Spirit sideways and cut one warrior through to his spine. I dragged my blade out and felt it grate along the bone. I felt a blow to my shoulder. I whipped my left hand around blindly. As I turned I saw a warrior with a sword reeling back with a look of disbelief on his face. He had expected to kill me with the blow. Beneath my wolf cloak and over my mail I had plates along my shoulder. I thrust forward with my sword, "You should have gone for the neck!" I pulled my sword from his chest as he slumped at my feet.
"Come, Jarl. We must run!"
I saw warriors racing back from the causeway. We hurried to the bank and slide down into the river. We scrambled to the top and rolled down the other side. I crept back to peer through the bushes. They were searching the other bank for us. We crept down the slope and headed back to the camp. If they were searching for ghosts they could not build the causeway and we had bought some time.
Chapter 6
We had not escaped unscathed. Erik Eriksson had a gashed leg. Rollo Thin Hair now had a new scar along his face but we all lived. Snorri and Beorn arrived back just after dawn. Behind them rode Ketil and his men. Snorri said, "We drove the horses to the stronghold in Windar's Mere rather than Cyninges-tūn. It was closer. We met Ketil."
Ketil dismounted and clasped my arm, "We came as soon as we got word."
"How many men did you bring?"
"Half of my warband. I have thirty." He looked at me apologetically, "The peace holds but I worry about my people."
"I know. Thirty will be enough. Rest." I shouted, "I hold a counsel of war at noon! Raibeart send out scouts to spy the enemy dispositions."
Haaken came over. "Here Jarl, let me look at your armour. That was a mighty blow you took."
We took off my wolf cloak and helmet. I turned my head and saw that the metal plate which Bjorn had fitted over my mail was dented and cracked.
"I think I will need a new one when we return to Cyninges-tūn but it served its purpose and saved my life."
"There is little point in taking it off. If we tried to repair it then it would break."
"When we fight later I will have my shield and we will be in a shield wall. My back should be safe."
"You have decided our course of action then?"
"They will be shaken. The Franks have few horses left and they will have to fight on foot. We have fresh warriors who have yet to fight. We will use Raibeart and Ketil's men as our hammer. If we can weaken them enough then Wolf Killer can bring his men from the flanks."
"How will he cross his own swamp?"
"I have no doubt that there is a path there. Wolf Killer is no fool. It will be hidden from his enemies but he and his men will know the route they should take."
"Are you gambling, Jarl?"
"You gamble each time you don your mail and raise your sword. This is calculated. We fight hired swords. They may owe allegiance to their own Hersir and Gesith but they are not one people. We are. Have you noticed that the Danes have kept from the fighting? Last night we found mainly Franks and Frisians. We use that to our advantage."
I lay down to rest. I would not sleep but my body just needed to be at one with the earth and so I lay down on the soil of the Land of the Wolf. I held my dragon in my hand. We had found it beneath the earth and there was a connection to the land and to my ancestors. The Warlord of Rheged had touched this and now I did. Wyrd. The earth and the dragon soothed me.
When I felt at peace I rose and rinsed my face. I took out the whetstone and sharpened my sword and seax again. Today they would be called upon. This time I would be facing mailed warriors who had skills. This would not be a night attack using surprise. They would see us coming and they would be prepared. I found my shield and checked the straps. It had not suffered much in the fighting of two nights since. The leather covering was damaged in a couple of places but the metal studs and the boss still held firmly. I placed my dagger in the sheath I had on the inside. Finally I took my new Frankish sword and sharpened it. That would be the weapon I would begin the fight with. It was longer than Ragnar's Spirit. I could have used a spear but I preferred a sword. Its longer reach would give me an initial advantage.
My jarls and hersir gathered around me. "My plan is to make a boar's snout. Ketil and Raibeart your mailed men will be the point. Asbjorn and his men will be behind Ketil's and my Ulfheonar will be behind Raibeart. Cnut Cnutson your men will be behind Asbjorn and the Ulfheonar. Arne I want your men in two warbands on the flanks. You will use your bows and slings. If you are threatened then retire behind the wedge. Your ten shield wall warriors are the reserve, they fill the gaps. We attack the Frisians. I wish discord amongst our foes. The Franks and the Frisians have done most of the fighting. We slew Franks and Frisians in the night. We have driven off the Frankish horse. I want them to see the Danes untouched."
"Is that not a danger, Jarl? The Danes are fierce fighters."
Olaf Leather Neck snorted, "No Arne Thorirson, they are not. Since they took over Eoforwic they have become lazy bandits! The Jarl is right. The leader of this band is a Frisian. He is the paymaster. If he is threatened then the Danes may decide to flee rather than fight."
"Erik Eriksson, you cannot stand in a shield wall. I want you mounted and watching for Ulf Olafsson and our reinforcements. When they come I want them spread out to make a long line and for them to make noise. Leif the Banner will fight alongside me this day. You will keep my banner and you will unfurl it when the
reinforcements arrive."
Asbjorn asked, "Will he get here today? He has far to travel."
Olaf laughed, "If he has to carry his men on his back my old friend will get here. He knows the Jarl needs him and he is Ulfheonar still."
"We attack before dusk. We will not fight in the dark but I want them to think that we do as we did last night and attack them in the night. It will be late afternoon when we advance."
We used the river to allow us to approach unseen. We rose as a mighty mailed line from the river and I saw the consternation in their camp. The Danes were still close to the walls of Elfridaby building the causeway. They had men with shields protecting those building. As soon as we rose from the river they ran back to their main camp. The ones who were closest to us fled towards the standards and the banners which marked Ragnar Ruriksson and the other leaders. We had not seen them before for it had been dark. I saw that the largest was a skull on a red background. The one with the rearing red horse on a yellow background had to be the Franks.
Their flight allowed us to quickly organise into our wedges. We were six rows from the front. My Ulfheonar formed the rear rank of one half of the right hand wedge. Behind us were Cnut Cnutson and the men of Cyninges-tūn. Raibeart and his men would have to bear the brunt of the initial fighting but if our foes thought they were our best they were in for a shock.
The enemy formed one large line three men deep. It would overlap ours. Or it would were it not for the river to our right and the swamp to our left. They had the Frisians in the centre. The Franks faced us and the Danes, the largest contingent by a long way were closest to the walls of Elfridaby.
Olaf Leather Neck began banging his shield with his axe shaft. He chanted, "Dragonheart!" The rest of the wedge took it up.
I shouted, "March!"
The chanting and the banging were not just to frighten our enemy. It was to help us to walk in a wedge. It was like the rhythms of the oars. It was almost hypnotic. The enemy were three hundred paces from us. They waited. They were not one clan. They had no chant. They were bought men and they jeered and hurled insults. It was a waste of breath for we heard them not and we marched steadily across the deserted camps.
Ketil would have the most difficult of tasks. He would be facing the Frisians. That was planned for Raibeart had less experience. The Franks were the weaker of the two bands. When we were ten paces from them I shouted, "Charge!" As we did so Arne's men loosed their arrows. We had held our secret weapon until the last moment. We caught many by surprise. The men of Windar's Mere might not be shield wall warriors but they could release three flights of arrows in the time it took to raise a shield. Many of the enemy failed to raise a shield and they died. Those that did so were not looking to us and Raibeart and Ketil struck a line which was distracted.
As the first swords clashed and clanged, sliced and stabbed at the enemy I heard a horn from my left. I did not need to turn around to see what it meant. I knew. It was my son leading his three war bands to attack the Danes in the flank. As I had thought there was a hidden path through the boggy ground. I was on the right of our line for it was the place of honour. As Raibeart drove through the dispirited and dismounted Franks so we closed with their flanks as they tried to overlap us. Arne's archers raced behind us to avoid being caught. The hiatus allowed the Franks to close with us. It was a brief respite for the archers soon rained death again. Franks are confident when they charge into battle on their horses. They had forgotten how to fight on foot. Their long spears were harder to use on foot.
I swung my long Frankish sword sideways. It tore through one warrior's side for he had raised his shield to protect himself. The swing took the long blade across the shield of the second warrior. It was a powerful strike and as the man reeled so Haaken One Eye ended his life. Stepping forward I stabbed a surprised Frank in the face. As he fell back I saw that there was no one behind him. We had managed, somehow to outflank the enemy. The archers had cleared the flanks and the enemy were packing closer together in the middle. It was restricting the ability of those in the front rank to swing.
"Ulfheonar! Now is our time! "
Haaken and I led the charge. We were attacking Franks who were already unhappy. As the archers rained death on the rear ranks we hacked and slashed our way through them. One warrior, braver than the rest, tried to face me. He looked in disbelief as I brought the long Frankish sword overhead. I smashed into his shield which shattered. Pulling my arm back I stabbed forward for his middle was now unprotected. As the sword entered him he grabbed hold of it and, dying, tore it from my grip. I took out Ragnar's Spirit and raising it yelled, "Ragnar's Spirit! The sword touched by the gods!"
I heard the men of Cyninges-tūn roar as they pressed behind us. It was like a mighty wave pushing a drekar along. It had a life of its own. We found ourselves swept towards and through the Franks. It proved too much and they fled. Those who had survived the arrows and our blades now ran and we turned to face the Frisians. Ketil was beleaguered. I saw his banner as the battle swayed back and forth.
It was then that Olaf Leather Neck went berserk. It was not the madness which made him charge into the midst of the enemy it was the joy of battle. He dropped his shield and, wielding his axe two handed, he ran into the heart of the Frisians. Rolf Horse Killer had an axe which had once belonged to Olaf and he hurled himself after his friend. The two axes carved a passage through the already shaken Frisians. The Ulfheonar do not let their comrades die easily and we poured through the gap they had created. I used my shield as a weapon as I stabbed and chopped with my sword. It had a freshly sharpened blade and tore through both mail and leather. The men we fought were already reeling from the shower of arrows and the relentless pressure of our wedge. They had the panicked look of animals who are cornered and as such were dangerous.
A Frisian axe came towards me. I blocked it on my shield and stepped forward to stab at the Frisian. He countered with his shield and I brought my head forward to butt him in the face. His round helmet offered no protection to his face and his head jerked back. I punched again with my shield and he fell beneath my feet. I stabbed downwards and pinned him to the ground. Olaf and Rolf were carving a path towards the skull banner. I heard a wail from those ahead. I risked a glance behind and I saw Erik Eriksson with my banner. The reinforcements had arrived. Ulf Olafsson and the last of the men of Cyninges-tūn had reached the battle. It proved to be the final straw. The skull banner and the horse banner began to move east. Ragnar Ruriksson had gambled and he had failed. He was extricating himself from his men. They were hired men. I saw warriors protecting him as they fled. They had red and white skulls painted on their shields. I had not seen them fight yet and knew they must have been a reserve. My enemy was saving himself with this reserve.
Ending a battle sometimes takes as long as winning a whole battle. There were dead and dying leaders whose oathsworn fought to retrieve their bodies. There were others fighting for honour. Their deaths bought the time for Ragnar Ruriksson to flee. By the time the killing had stopped the survivors had escaped. We were exhausted and many of our men lay dead yet the whole army of the Land of the Wolf began to chant, "Dragonheart!" over and over. We had won. The threat was gone, at least for a while.
There were many men who were badly wounded on both sides. Aiden himself would not have been able to save them. Those of our men whom we could save we took within Elfridaby's walls where the women of the town cared for them. Aiden arrived with Erik Eriksson. He had come with the handful of reinforcements which had been mustered. Snorri had sent a rider to fetch him and it was good that he had. Aiden saved lives. His hands saved far more than died of their wounds.
There were prisoners. Ten Franks, two Frisians and eight Danes were captured. Some had taken head wounds and recovered. Others had had wounds which prevented their escape and six of the Franks surrendered. Blood was running hot and Olaf Leather Neck wanted me to execute them as did Wolf Killer who was still smarting from the loss of his men at Seddes' Burgh.
"You want me to slay him?"
I smiled, "I doubt he will be alone. I saw mailed warriors with skulls on their shields. They had not fought and looked to be his protectors. The men you take will not wear armour. When I have put my land in order I will seek him out and pay him back for this raid. I do not want him loose in my land."
"Aye Jarl."
As he left Wolf Killer said, "I thought it was over."
Shaking my head I said, "We defeated him through a trick. The handful of men Erik Eriksson led were not enough to win the battle. Had he stayed and rallied his men then the battle would have gone the other way." I waved a hand at the dead. "This is not the army we routed. He has enough to cause damage but the Danes and the Franks will be reluctant to follow this Frisian." I smiled, "That is why I need the prisoners. All that we know of this Ragnar Ruriksson is that he is the son of Rurik of Dorestad. We need to know more."
Wolf Killer saw the wisdom of my words, "You are right, Jarl. Forgive me."
"There is nothing to forgive. Our sons?"
He smiled, "They did well. They both used those new bows you gave them. Gruffyd and Ragnar slew Danes." He pointed to the walls. "And Garth stood with them. He held his new seax and was eager to slay any who came over the walls. He is a wolf cub and has a courage beyond his years."
"Good. They are now blooded. Their mothers will be less than happy for when a boy begins to become a warrior they are lost to their mothers."
I sent back Ketil, Sigtrygg, Ulf Olafsson, Arne, the men of Dyflin and the men of Cyninges-tūn. Ulf, in particular, was reluctant to return home having done so little but it was necessary. Wolf Killer's home could neither feed nor house such a host and their own homes needed protection. I kept just the Ulfheonar and Raibeart's men. Half of Raibeart's men had gone with Snorri. We made pyres of the dead and burned them before we retired behind Elfridaby's walls. I felt as though I had not slept for a week and we had had so little food that I feared turning into a wraith. Yet I needed Aiden's counsel.