by Griff Hosker
I could not lie to her. "No more than any other of the men I took with us. But he never left the drekar. I did the same when I was young."
"The other mothers seem quite happy for their sons to be in such danger. How can that be?"
"You were brought up differently to these Viking mothers. Their job is to raise warriors to defend the land. They are happy to do so."
"Happy for their children to die?"
"No, my love, but happy in the knowledge that if they do die then they will be in Valhalla with other heroes!"
"They are not Christian."
I smiled, "No, my love and that is why you cannot understand it."
She fell asleep in my arms and I looked up at the ceiling. I was not Viking born and I found the deaths of so many brave young men hard but I knew that without those deaths then the Land of the Wolf would not remain free.
Chapter 11
The mixture of joy and sadness filled my town. I sent gifts to my other jarls. They had defended my land. I sent a chest of bronze to Wolf Killer. He had kept my land safe. I sent Ragnar back to him with Snorri. I would not take either my son or grandson on my pirate hunt. There was little point for they did not have the skills necessary for a seaborne battle. I personally took coins to the families who had lost warriors. Finally I asked for men to crew the drekar. We had more than enough.
It was four days later that we sailed from Úlfarrston. I left Aiden in Cyninges-tūn. He and Basil had buildings and fortifications to plan. I had asked Siggi to stay in port. We only had two knarr left now, Siggi's, 'Troll' and 'Weregeld'. Until Bolli could make new ones I would not risk them. I had spent a day in port discussing how we might trap the drekar. Raibeart's 'Red Snake' would be the bait. We would sail between Man and Mercia and then head west towards Hibernia passing Ynys Môn. We would turn and sail north as far as Ljoðhús. I hoped that the threttanessa would prove to be a tempting target. It would also give me the chance to speak with Thorfinn Blue Scar. He was the nearest thing we had to an older leader.
We sailed ten boat's lengths from each other in four lines. Raibeart and his drekar were always in sight but sometimes was a mere dot on the horizon. We were able to test our new formation to the south of Man when, at dusk on the first day, two drekar slipped from Duboglassio to try to take it. We were like greyhounds let loose. The crews had been eager to row and they took to their oars with a will. We began to overtake the two drekar. They could not turn to return to Duboglassio for we had a line of ships preventing them. When Raibeart began to turn his ship around they were almost trapped. They were saved only by the proximity of their harbour at Balley Chashtal. There were two towers there which protected the entrance. We could have entered and captured the drekar but that would have cost us men and it was not the men of Man we sought.
We hove to between the Angles' Sea and Balley Chashtal. We had sea anchors and we rode out the waves. They were gentler than I had seen them and I took that to be a good sign. The Allfather favoured our venture. Next day we sailed west. We saw no ships but Raibeart had told us, the previous night, that they had seen many small boats and knarr but they had fled at the sight of the dragon ship. This Harald Black Teeth had become a terror on the seas. He had made everyone fearful.
We headed north, passing Dyflin. I wondered where Gunnstein Berserk Killer's drekar had been. His harbour had been empty. I would ask him the next time I saw him. It would not do to have us both raiding the same places. The world was wide and there were enough sheep for us both to shear.
I was almost disappointed when we passed the mouth of the northern river. It was where our land began. I had hoped to find these pirates before now. They were elusive. We sailed up along the coast of Dál Riata. They had been our enemies once. They were still not our friends but they had learned the folly of fighting us. We anchored in the estuary. We would be safe there where we slept aboard our drekar. When we sailed north we passed the island ridden coast. This would be the place where Harald Black Teeth might hide. We kept a good watch. The seas were rougher than they had been close to Man and my captains needed all of their skills to avoid the rocks which were like shark's teeth guarding the coast.
It was dusk on the fourth day when we caught a glimpse of a drekar. We had sailed up the craggy coast slowly looking for the masts of a drekar. If we found one then we might find more. A sea fret had crept in with the tide making it difficult to see anything. Guthrum Arneson's sharp eyes spotted it for he was slightly above the sea fret on the top of the mast. "Jarl, there is a drekar. It has a winged bird for its prow."
"Where away?"
"It is north west, Jarl. It was only there briefly. I think it was heading north west."
"Keep watching for it." I turned to Erik Short Toe. Sail towards the north west."
"The fog and the rocks are a dangerous combination, Jarl." He was ever the captain and concerned for his drekar.
"We will take it steadily. Haaken, shout to the other drekar and tell them what we intend."
"Aye Jarl. I shall ask for Ran's permission too. I would hate for him to take offence!"
The tension on my ship was almost unbearable. Suddenly Karl, the ship's boy at the prow, shouted, "Rocks, dead ahead!"
Erik put the steering board hard over and said, "Jarl this is madness. What good will it do to rip the hull from the finest ships in the northern seas."
He never spoke to me like that. I relented, "You are right. Let us head for Ljoðhús. Perhaps the Jarl can enlighten us and give us more knowledge than we have."
"I am sorry I spoke out Jarl."
"No, Erik, you are right. The weather and the rocks are a bad combination." We led my line of ships away from the treacherous rocks and headed north.
As darkness fell so the fog cleared. The rocks and white water became easier to see than they had with the fog. We reached Ljoðhús two hours or so after our near disaster. The port was a natural harbour for it was protected by two islands which gave it calm waters. There was but one drekar at anchor. It was Thorfinn Blue Scar's ship. Although as big as mine I could see, even in the dark that it had not been well maintained. There was weed on the strakes and the dragon needed paint.
Erik noticed it too, "I would not sail across the harbour in that ship. Even from here she looks ridden with weeds and weevils."
"Aye it might explain his laxity. Anchor as close to the shore as you can." Here they had no quay but had built a jetty which jutted out into the bay. Ships tied up to it and then disembarked before the ships were anchored in the harbour. "Haaken come with me. The rest of you stay aboard."
Jarl Thorfinn Blue Scar had aged since I had last seen him. He was white and bent over. He looked like Olaf the Toothless not long before his death. Was another jarl about to die? When he spoke his voice sounded weak too, "Jarl Dragonheart, an unexpected but pleasant surprise. Come, join me in my hall."
When we entered I saw why Harald Black Teeth had got away with his raids. The hall was filled with old men. If this was all that the Jarl had I was surprised that the outlaw had not taken his land and title from him.
I sat with the Jarl and Haaken at the long table. When last we had been here the hall had been thronged with warriors. In those days Jarl Thorfinn Blue Scar had been a powerful jarl. He had ruled these waters with a fist of iron. He was now a shell of his former self. I had been silent too long and my face had given away my thoughts. He gave a sad smile, "You are disappointed in the old man you see before you." I opened my mouth and he shook his head, "Do not deny it. I have always liked your honesty no matter how unpleasant it is. You are now as powerful as I once was. I believed I would rule for ever and when I fell, in battle, I would leave a land ruled by my sons." He shook his head. I had three and now I have none. Two are carving out a land for themselves and the third was killed trying to catch an outlaw who betrayed me."
"Guthrum is dead?"
He nodded, "He sailed after Harald Black Teeth. He was ambushed and slain along with his crew." Sweeping a hand around the
hall he said, "I have these ancient oathsworn and one drekar crew left. They hunt the spawn of Loki, Harald Black Teeth."
"I am sorry. That is why we are here. This Black Teeth has destroyed two knarr and their crew and I will have revenge."
His eyes brightened, "Then the gods have sent you. If any can end this pirate's reign it is you."
"Does he wish your land, Jarl?" It was a brutal question but I had to ask it. If he did then I could lay a trap here in this bay.
"I think he has greater ambitions." He looked at me. "Some of my men think he wishes to be jarl of the Land of the Wolf."
Haaken snorted, "And he could do that with just a couple of drekar?"
Thorfinn Blue Scar said, "He has three drekar but he draws the scum of the seas to his banner. Every outlaw and homeless Viking flocks to his banner. He is clever, Jarl Dragonheart, and he is cunning."
I wished I had brought Aiden for he would have seen the plan of this dangerous warrior. If he thought to take my land Haaken was right, he would need more than three drekar crew. Even with me away there were still more than enough to stop him. Ketil, Ulf, Wolf Killer, all would come to my home if danger threatened. He sought me. He had drawn me out. Now I knew why he had taken the knarr. He was tempting me into waters he knew and he would find some way to ambush me. I think Haaken was becoming more like Aiden for he gave me a knowing look. I gave the briefest shakes of the head. I did not want to speak openly of my suspicions. Who knew if Black Teeth had left spies in this hall of old men?
"Who commands your last drekar?"
"My sister's son, Halfdan Larsson. He sails the islands looking for him."
Haaken said, "But if Black Teeth has three drekar is that not a risk?"
"We cannot sit back and wait for him to come."
"Where should we hunt for him?"
"Badhl to the south of here. It is called Beinn na bhFadhla by the Hibernians. My sister's son will be close by. It is a flat island with many small bays. They keep a watch from the small hill in the middle. Halfdan will use the island they call Uist. You ask how he will catch him? My nephew hopes to take one drekar at a time. He hunts the hunter."
"How is his ship named?"
"'Storm Bird'. It has a white bird on a dragon's head at its prow." For the first time he smiled, "With you to aid him then my kinsman has a chance. He is brave. I would that my sons had stayed. Then this dog, Black Teeth, would never had been able to do what he did. I lost my sons. They saw what you had achieved and chose to copy you."
"I am sorry for that."
Shaking his head he said, "It was not of your doing. The Weird Sisters punished me for my arrogance. When we defeated those on the mainland I thought I was king. I was wrong. Keep your sons and children close, Jarl Dragonheart. I feared that they would take my land from me. I was wrong and now they are gone."
I stood, "Never fear, Jarl Thorfinn Blue Scar. We will aid you in this. Your sons will return. Gunnar has an island of his own now. He has captured a mighty treasure from a church of the White Christ in the land of the Franks."
"I had heard. And now my second son Gunnstein joins him. It is wyrd. Will you not stay?"
"No, Jarl. We came here to let you now we were in your waters. We sail before dawn. We spied a dragon ship as we came north. It had a bird at the prow. Perhaps it was Halfdan."
"Was it black?"
"I know not."
"Beware then for Harald Black Teeth sails 'Eagles Heart'. It is a black heart!"
"We will return when we have news."
We went to the jetty and hailed our drekar. As we waited Haaken said, "He tries to trap us. That was why we saw his drekar and it disappeared. He knew the waters and hoped to tear the keel from us."
"He is clever. If he has more than one drekar then he could take us one by one."
"Even so, Jarl, there are still warriors enough in our land to defeat him. Wolf Killer and Ketil not to mention Ulf Olafsson could defeat him on land no matter how many of these outlaws he leads."
As the drekar nudged next to the wooden jetty I said, "And what of Ragnar Ruriksson? If he joined with Black Teeth..."
"And we hunt the outlaw here leaving our home vulnerable. We should go home. We can wait for him there."
We clambered aboard the drekar, "No, Haaken, I have to trust our warriors at home. They have Aiden and Kara to help them and to use the spirits. We will end this and then return."
I had Erik row us close to the other drekar and told my captains what I intended. I just hoped that Halfdan had not been drawn into danger. I needed his knowledge.
We left as the sun began to rise. These waters were too dangerous to risk at night. I had 'Red Snake' at the rear this time. She was no longer the bait. She was fast and Raibeart ap Pasgen was a clever captain. His orders were to take advantage of any mistake our enemy made. We sailed under half furled sails. When we needed speed then we would release our dragons. By noon we were close to the island which Jarl Thorfinn had told us of. Karl was at the mast head and he shouted. "Jarl I see a drekar, no, Jarl, there are three. There is a sea fight!"
"Where away?"
"To the south, in the next bay!"
"Erik we will sail with 'King's Gift'. We sail directly to the next bay."
"Aye Jarl!"
I went to the other side of the drekar. "Olaf Grimsson, you will sail with us to the next bay. Tell Asbjorn and Sigtrygg to sail south and cut off the escape of the three drekar." I was aware that as we were the closest inshore only we could see the ships.
As the sail billowed and we surged forward Haaken said, "What of Raibeart?"
"He will be as our sheepdog. If any drekar escapes then he will come to our aid."
I went to don my helmet and to prepare for war. Karl's voice drifted down to me. "Jarl there are three drekar attacking one!"
Halfdan had been caught. I hoped we would be in time. Maddeningly the rocks which lay before us stopped us taking the most direct course. We were less than four hundred paces from the battle but we might as well have been four thousand. My drekar was distinctive and as soon as he saw it Halfdan put 'Storm Bird' over and took advantage of the wind. It would take him out of the bay. We were on a converging course. What none of them could see was Asbjorn and Sigtrygg as they raced along with the following wind to cut off the escape south. As we also had the wind we were not rowing and my men prepared for battle. I saw Harald Black Teeth, or, at least, the warrior in the fine armour at the stern of 'Eagles Heart'. He carried an axe and stared over at us from beneath a helmet with a bird of some description on the top. I assumed it was an eagle.
Although Halfdan was under attack it was only from arrows. He had out manoeuvred the other pirates. There were, however, three of them and they were all large drekar. I guessed that at least two of them had been Jarl Thorfinn Blue Scar's once. The four ships were pulling away from us as we had to turn slightly north to negotiate a rocky promontory.
"Jarl, look at 'Red Snake', she has the wind."
I watched as Raibeart deftly handled his lighter threttanessa and overtook us. He would be the first to reach Halfdan. He was too brave for his own good. I saw that the three ships of Harald Black Teeth were almost upon Halfdan. All four ships were using their oars but the arrows from the three drekar had thinned out the crew of 'Storm Petrel'. They would catch him.
"Where are 'Crow' and 'Odin's Breath'?"
"They are tacking around now Jarl. The ships cannot escape south."
My captains were doing as I had asked but now I needed them to sail north. They would obey me and block the southern passage. It was up to me and the drekar of Ulf Grimsson. One of Black Teeth's drekar caught 'Storm Petrel'. I saw the ropes snaking over. The other two sailed alongside the pirate drekar to use it as a bridge. At last we could turn and Erik put the steering board over. I saw the rocks less than ten paces from us. We were that close to ripping out our hull. Raibeart had turned quicker and he laid his drekar alongside 'Storm Petrel'. We now had a chance but Raibeart had the smalle
st crew. There had to be over a hundred and twenty warriors upon the three enemy drekar!
"Erik lay us beam on to the bows of 'Storm Petrel'. We can use the stern of 'Red Snake' to board."
I turned and shouted, "Tell Ulf to lay his drekar on the steer board side of 'Red Snake'!"
Raibeart deserved his courage rewarding. We would support him. I led my men to the steerboard side.
"Shorten sail!"
As the sail was furled we lost way and bumped gently into the stern of 'Red Snake' and the bows of 'Storm Petrel'. I saw that Halfdan and his oathsworn were beleaguered at their stern. Raibeart and his men had formed a shield wall around the mast of 'Storm Petrel'. I jumped to the steering board of Raibeart's ship. The ship's boys stood there with bows in hand. "Support your captain! Ulfheonar to the mast."
Raibeart was a popular warrior. Despite the fact that he was not born Norse he embodied everything my men admired in a warrior. Olaf Leather Neck led the charge across the deck. He and Rolf Horse Killer did not use their shields but swung their axes two handed. Normally this was dangerous, especially on a ship, but here they carved a path through the two sets of Black Teeth's men. Until the men from Ulf Grimsson's drekar boarded we would be outnumbered. Olaf's charge had cleared a space so that we could form a wall of warriors.
We were fighting against warriors who, like us, knew how to fight on a drekar. These were neither Franks nor Saxons and they fought hard. I had my shield and I blocked a blow from a hand axe. Ragnar's Spirit sliced down and bit into the shield of my opponent. Perhaps he was taken aback by my grey beard but he looked surprised at the power. I ripped it out and as his hand came forward I jerked my tip into his throat. More of my warriors followed us and I felt Cnut Cnutson and the men of Cyninges-tūn add their weight to our back. The extra power pushed the enemy towards the gunwale. My men were fresh and they were strong. Warriors tumbled over the side as they fought to keep their balance..