by Griff Hosker
It was mid afternoon when Aed and Felan galloped in. “Warlord! We have seen Hibernian ships off the Lune. They are slavers!”
“How many boats did you see?”
“There are ten of them in the estuary. I estimate more than a hundred warriors although there were not those numbers by the side of the river. There looked to be just sixty or so warriors.”
I turned in my saddle, “Arm yourselves. Myrddyn and the squires watch the horses.”
My wizard mused, “I wonder if this is the dream we had?” He looked at Gawan.
My brother looked concerned, “In which case the rest might be just around the corner. I fear the worst.”
“Then do not!” Myrddyn barked his words at my brother. “You are privileged to see the future. Your duty is to tell your brother what you dream. Think of the people of Rheged first and not just your family.”
Gawan recoiled at the words. “That is because you have no family!”
I saw Pol and Lann Aelle start at Gawan’s reaction. No one spoke like that to Myrddyn. Miraculously he did not look angry, he looked sad. “I wish that were true for then there would be no sadness in my heart at the loss of Brother Oswald, Myfanwy and my dearest friend, your father Lann. I have to make my heart cold. If I did not then I would go mad. This gift you have Gawan, son of Lann, is also a curse. Remember that. I will wait here Warlord.”
He seemed smaller and sadder as we rode south towards the estuary where the Hibernians sheltered with their boats. Aed had told me that they had slaves already. “I think there must be warriors out hunting more of our people for there were not enough men to crew the boats.”
“When we reach the estuary you and Dai find the others and shadow them. We will deal with the ones at the river first.” We halted in the woods just half a mile above the river. The estuary was wide at this point but it was also shallow. They had the boats well out in the river. We saw the tethered slaves. There looked to be twenty of them and there were animals too. It looked to me as though they were waiting for other warriors to join them. The tide was out and they would need to wait for the high tide to load their ships. I could see no more than fifty warriors. Aed was right. From the banners they were the Uí Néill.
I turned to my warriors. “We charge them and drive them into the water. Pelas and Llewellyn, you secure the slaves and protect them.”
It was a crude plan but the absence of half of the warriors meant we had to strike quickly. In a perfect world we would have approached silently and taken our time. We would inspire fear instead. I drew Saxon Slayer. The edge needed sharpening and it required a good clean but it would still bring death to these slavers.
I raised my sword and, leaving the trees, we galloped down the gentle slope towards the beach. It was the dragon standard’s wail which alerted the Hibernians. They are brave warriors but they do not fight as one warband. They crave the glory of individual combat and they raced towards us and their own death.
We were not riding boot to boot. There were fifty of us and we were spread out. I saw Pol’s lance as it speared a warrior with spiked and limed hair. The force of the blow shattered the wooden lance but the warrior hung like a piece of meat as the tip dug into the ground. The screams of the slaves married with the war cries of the Hibernians and above it all was the eerie wail of the dragon.
A heavily tattooed chief who was bare-chested and swinging a two handed sword advanced towards me whirling the blade above his head. If I approached him then Star would lose his head. I feinted to the right with Star and as the warrior adjusted his feet I wheeled to the left. He would expect me to keep my shield between me and him. I was risking a mortal blow by exposing my right side. The tip of the sword whirled desperately close to my leg but it missed and I swung my sword at his unprotected neck. Had my blade been sharp then he would have lost his head. As it was it bit down and ground into his collarbone. He screamed his pain and tried to swing his sword at me again. Star had kept on moving and the wound had slowed the warrior down. I made a back handed slash and this time my blade bit into his neck and he fell to the floor in a puddle of his own blood.
My equites were driving them into the shallows and the waters turned red with their blood. The unarmoured warriors flung themselves into the sea and began to swim out to their ships. I had just turned when Dai galloped in waving his arms. “Warlord the rest of the warband is just behind us!” I saw Aed turning in his saddle and releasing arrows.
“Reform! Leave the wounded!” The well trained warriors wheeled and followed me as I left the sea. We were now at a disadvantage for we had to charge uphill. As we trotted towards Aed the warband appeared. There were as many as we had already fought and we were tired.
As soon as the leader of the warband saw us he tried to form his men into lines. I did not think it would work for they were Hibernians. We now had a mere five lances and spears but we were fighting men without armour. I sheathed Saxon Slayer and took out my mace. I had been given the weapon by the Emperor of Byzantium. It was a beautifully made and well balanced weapon. I slipped the leather thong around my wrist and yelled, “Charge!”
It was hardly a gallop but we had momentum. I held the mace behind me and as I charged I began to swing it. A warrior in the front rank tried to spear me and I lifted the shield to the right side of Star. The head slid harmlessly along the leather wolf and my mace connected with his face. His face disappeared in a red mush. Pieces of skull and brain showered those behind. Star crashed into the side of a warrior who was trying to stab Lann Aelle. I brought the mace down on to the skull of the Hibernian next to him. The metal flanges smashed through the metal helmet and broke his head. He slumped to the ground, dead. I found myself through the warband. There were tethered slaves ahead and two warriors guarding them. I galloped towards them. Both men dropped their ropes and ran towards the river. They had had enough.
Star was winded and I reined him in. I dismounted and cut the rope of the first few slaves. “Release the rest and wait here until they are all accounted for!”
I left the slaves to free themselves, remounted and returned to the fray. The Hibernians who had survived were already in the water, swimming to their waiting ships. I saw that over forty of their fellows lay dead on the beach or bobbing up and down in the water. This had been wyrd. We had been directed here so that we could save the villagers. I counted thirty eight of them. They were mainly women and children but there were some men amongst them.
We watched the Hibernians sail away. They barely had enough crew to man their ships. I could not see the Uí Néill raiding again this year. I had met them twice and bested them both times. They would curse my name in the long nights of winter. When I reached the beach I saw Myrddyn attending to the wounded. Pol put his arm on my shoulder. “We lost two more equites, Daffydd son of Aiden and Scanlan the Bold.”
I nodded. It might be a small price to pay but it was one we could ill afford. The villagers had been saved but the cost had been high. We discovered that the villagers had all come from two settlements just up the river. Men had escaped and warned a third village. The raid could have had far worse consequences.
My squires escorted the villagers back to their homes and we camped by the estuary to bury our comrades and reflect on the day. Pelas tried to put an edge on my sword using some of the stones lying on the beach. It was better than it had been but it would need our smith to repair it properly.
Rather than heading back, east to the road, we crossed the estuary at low tide the next morning. It took just a few hours to reach the fort where we found Daffydd and the booty. We told him of the Hibernians.
“We did not see them” He pointed to the north. “Of course they would have been sheltered by the headland.”
“Any sign of our ship?”
“Not yet but the squires have returned from Deva; the message got through. We just need to wait for them, Warlord.”
“It will do the horses good to rest for a few days and eat this fine sea washed grass. We will
make the fort habitable while we wait. Did you see the villagers at Aedh’s village?”
“Aye Warlord. It looks much more defensible. They have improved since we were last there.”
“Take them some of our arrows and some of the weapons we took from the Hibernians. They are not the best but they are better than what they have.” He nodded, “Scout the land to the east in case the Saxons have pursued us.”
As we waited by the coast we were rewarded by balmy blue skies. The storms we had suffered crossing the land had been replaced by pleasant weather. Sometimes this happened. Perhaps the gods were smiling upon us once more. Star and the other horses began to put on weight again. The hunters found much game and we ate well. If we did not have the animals and the grain then I would have been tempted to return to my home on my ship when it arrived. The thought was fleeting. I would not leave my men to make the last fifty miles on their own.
I walked the shore with Gawan and Lann Aelle. “Your son has done well, cousin.”
“I am pleased. He admires you greatly, you know?”
“I am sorry.”
“No, do not be. It was the same when I was squire to your father. When I grew I felt guilty that I had shown him more love than my own father. It is something in the relationship between equite and squire.” He looked at Gawan, “And what of Arturus? Will he become a squire?”
“He wishes to be but my wife…”
“It is the same with all women. They carry them and bring them into the world. They know that there is a likelihood that they will die in war and do all that they can to keep them safe.”
It was pleasant for the three of us to talk of such ordinary things. The schemes and strategies, the quest for power, all were briefly forgotten as we spoke of children and our hopes and fears.
Daffydd ap Gwynfor arrived three days later, two days after my Captain of archers returned from the village. He waded ashore and I could see from his face that he had bad news to impart. He came directly to me and spoke, “Disaster assails us on all sides, Warlord. Fiachnae mac Báetáin has been slain in battle by Fiachnae mac Demmáin, king of the Dál Fiatach. There is now peace between Edwin and the men of Strathclyde.” I looked at Gawan. That had been part of his dream. “And Fergus and Aengus have been defeated. The survivors await you on Mona.”
“What happened?”
“They landed and had initial success, taking the village to the west of the island but then Aella, the chief of Manau gathered his men together and drove them back to their ships. They came back in one ship. Fergus died and Aengus suffered grievous wounds. He is being cared for by your brother.”
I looked at Myrddyn but it was hard to gauge his feelings. Gawan, Lann Aelle and Pol looked as though we had lost a war. I knew what they felt. We had done all that we could but it might not be enough to save us.
“Thank you, Daffydd. Take the animals and slaves back to Mona. I will bring my men back by road.” I nodded towards Myrddyn, “Take Myrddyn with you and any of the wounded.”
“I require no charity, Warlord. I can ride with the best of them.”
“I know, wizard, but you are the finest healer on the island and those skills will be needed on Mona, will they not?”
“You are correct. You are becoming wiser, Warlord, it must be my influence.”
The boat was quickly loaded and headed west. We mounted our horses and began the long ride back to our land. It was a land from which we had not removed the threat of the Saxon and I would need to discover a new strategy to save Rheged.
Chapter 10
We were weary when we trudged across the ditch of Deva into the safety and warmth of the fortress. The autumn rains had come in earnest and we looked like ragged refugees rather than successful warriors. Gawan was pleased to be back in the bosom of his family and I left him with his equites. Daffydd and his archers also remained there for the fortress had more room for them. I headed home with Lann Aelle and Pol. We had three days to discuss the catastrophic events which had destroyed my plans,
“I did not think that the Hibernians would capture Manau but I did not think they would suffer such losses.”
“We do not know, Warlord, how many warriors they lost.”
“We know that they came back in one ship. That suggests great losses; besides the greater loss is Fiachnae mac Báetáin. He had forced Edwin to protect the northern boundaries with many men. They are now free to come south and make war upon us. We will need to rethink our strategy.”
Pol, who was always positive, said brightly, “We have proved that the long spear and the lance are more than effective. I think that we issue them to all of our equites.” I nodded and smiled. He was right. “And I think that the squires have proved themselves. We have mail for most of them and we can use the weapons we captured to have the smiths make it for the others. Our speed and our tactics worked.”
Lann Aelle injected the word of caution. “We still need more horses and we need more equites training. Our two most successful assets are the archer and the equite. Both are expensive. You cannot just give a man a horse or a bow and say fight. It takes years to train them.”
“Then we use Tuanthal for that. We ask him to train as many equites as he can. We will pay a bounty to families to give a son to be trained as an equite.”
Although it was my idea I was pleased with it. I remembered the rich farmers who had not wanted to be responsible for their own defence. This would be a way of making them care. If each had a son who was an equite then they were part of the fight.
We reached King Cadwallon’s stronghold during a torrential downpour. It took away all the good feelings we had had. The King was equally concerned over the setbacks. “Penda is urging King Ceorl to fight against Edwin but the Northumbrians have grown strong. They are building forts, called burghs, all along the border. We think it is not to keep us in but to provide refuge for the warriors who will raid our lands for slaves and cattle.”
I looked up. “Has he started yet?”
“Not yet but the forts are in the early stages of construction.”
“Then we attack now! The more we can delay the building of them then the more we delay the raids.”
The king smiled sadly, “Warlord your heart may be willing but your flesh is not. I watched you and your men as they rode in. They are exhausted and you cannot fight until you have rested. I will lead my equites and we will delay them.”
I knew that he meant well but compared with my men his were half trained. They had neither the discipline nor the aptitude. His warriors were the finest archers and the doughtiest of spearmen but horsemen they were not. He was, however, a king and I could not gainsay him. “I urge you to use archers too. The Northumbrians have yet to learn their value.”
“As you know, Warlord, our archers are second to none.”
As we headed, the next day, across the island, I spoke of my fears to my two closest friends. “I am not certain that the Cymri will be able to do what their king has in mind.”
“Even if they do not succeed they may well slow down the building process. He was right, Warlord, we are in no condition to fight. We need until the New Year to recover and rebuild.”
I stared south. If I was to be inactive then I could do something useful. I had no family to tie me to the land. “Pol, we will travel to Frankia and buy horses. I had thought we could not afford the time away from Mona but if the king can buy us some time then Tuanthal can train the equites while Lann Aelle here can help his father improve the defences.”
Pol brightened, “I have heard that the Barb horses from North Africa are the best.”
“That would mean visiting the Muslim world and even the Byzantines fear them. We will try to trade for them but from a safe distance.” I had no wish to suffer at the hands of that cruel people.
The last ten miles to my home were spent in working out the finances needed for such an expedition. The simple fact of bringing them back would cause us problems but it would exercise my mind. Since I had hear
d the news of the demise of my allies I had found my thoughts becoming darker and darker. It was as though I was falling into a tunnel and there was no escape. Planning gave me hope.
My sentries cheered me as we rode through the gate. I did not know why for we looked like bandits rather than equites. We all took our mounts to the stables. There we were able to give them grain and rub them down. After we left them I noticed that my men had smiles upon their faces. Our animals were like our family. Caring for them gave them good feelings. Pelas helped me to change from my mail. I put on a tunic and headed for the bath house. It would clean my body and purify my heart. “Pelas, do not bother with the armour and the sword today. Tomorrow is soon enough. You have done well on this, your first campaign, go to your family and enjoy yourself.”
He looked at me seriously, “I am your squire, Warlord. I will take the sword and your mail to the smith. When they are repaired I will clean them and sharpen Saxon Slayer. Then will I be able to enjoy myself without the burden of my work hanging over me.”
“You are a good squire and I bow to your dedication.”
The bath house was empty. My warriors were cleaning their own weapons and armour. It allowed me the luxury of solitude and I could think. I was in the tepidarium when I heard them enter, led by Pol. Osgar saw me and began to back out, “I am sorry Warlord; we will come back later.”
“No, come in now. We are all warriors together. We share the same hardships, we should share the same pleasures. Besides, I have almost done and then you younger warriors can talk without worrying about me.”