The Battle For A Home (Norman Genesis Book 3)

by Hosker,Griff

  I knew now what he meant. It had taken some time for me to be comfortable with the idea of spirits in my head but now I saw that it was all part of the Norns plan.

  By the time I returned to Rolf I saw dawn beginning to break in the east. I could also make out the drekar. One was ahead of the others. The squally seas made the rocks they were approaching invisible. The tell tale white was masked by waves whipped up by wild winds.

  Harold Fast Sailing shook his head, "We may not have to fight, Hrolf. The rocks may defeat the drekar for us."

  "Perhaps." I looked up at the sky. The rain had abated but the wind still swirled above our heads. As I looked out to sea I saw the leading drekar. It was heading for 'Dragon's Breath', suddenly it seemed to shudder.

  Harold said, "She has struck!" Her sail had been full and the hidden rocks must have ground along the length of her keel. The mast and sail were pitched forward and then the prow rose like a rearing horse to crash back down at an alarming angle. I could not see the men being pitched into the sea but I could hear, against the noise of the wind and the sea their cries. They had been ready for war with mail, helmets and shields. If any survived then Sven and his boys would slay them with their bows. We had one less drekar to fear.

  "The other two have lowered their sails, hersir. They are running out oars!" The light was improving all the time. Harold Fast Sailing knew what to look for. "They may still founder on the rocks of the island."

  Even as the light improved and the two ships turned I saw oars sheer as the steerboard side of one drekar struck the rocks. They saved the ship but I knew what injuries that could cause. "That has bought us time. They will have to sail around the island and land in the lee of it." Gilles and Bertrand joined me. "You two stay with me. I will need you as messengers. Harold Fast Sailing you take command here. I will go to the gate."

  By the time I reached the gate Rurik had already put two warriors in each of the gate towers. They had bows. I laid down my spear and shield. "I want you two to make sure that there are enough stones and arrows. We need to stop the enemy before he reaches the ditch."

  Eager for something to do the two of them ran off in opposite directions. Our winter work fletching had paid off. We had enough arrows. The sea had yielded us a fine harvest of stones.

  Rurik said, "Do you think they will notice the line of white stones?"

  We had placed marker stones to help our archers with the range. They were not in straight lines and I hoped that they would not be seen. "It matters not. If they see them what will they think? If they stop to think, then so much the better for us. A stationary target is easier to hit!"

  The two drekar disappeared behind the island. I wondered if they would risk landing there. Then I dismissed the thought. If the Eriksson brothers had advised them then they would know that the causeway would be under water. They would land on the southern beach and head towards the gates. I peered over the edge of the palisade. The bridge had been drawn up and secured. Bagsecg had made metal fastenings so that it could not be released by an axe. They would need to bridge the ditch. That would take time and they would lose men. The rain had made the sand and the earth on the far side of the bridge muddy. The horses and those coming from the farms had churned it up even more. I had contemplated putting stones down there. I was now glad that I had not.

  I turned as I smelled fresh bread. Brigid led the young women, all wearing an old helmet, towards us with fresh bread and ale. They did not ascend the ladders and I shouted, "One in two go down and bring the bread and ale." As they went down I asked, "Whose idea was this?"

  "Your wife said that as the bread had already risen we should bake it. She said you fight better on a full stomach! You are grumpy when you have not eaten."

  I laughed, "My wife knows me well."

  Their baskets empty and the beer taken they turned to head back to the citadel. Brigid shouted, "Fight well warriors of the Raven Wing Clan. Your women will reward you after the battle!"

  My men cheered. My wife had been right. As I bit into the warm bread the rich smell filled my nostrils. It was a smell of home and of comfort. Washed down with Brigid's finest beer it brought it home. We fought for our families and they were worth fighting for. We would die for them! I now had a son. If I fell on these walls then the clan would see that he was brought up a warrior. Ragnvald was my future.

  "Hersir, they are landing!"

  Asbjorn Sorenson was in one of the towers and he pointed half a mile south of the island where the first of the ships had grounded on the sand. They were coming. We watched them pour off the drekar and gather on the beach. We had done this ourselves and I knew what they were doing. They looked for the best place to attack. Their disaster in the rocks meant that they no longer had surprise. Where was our weakness? I glanced to the east of the causeway. I saw only bodies being crashed against the rocks. He had lost one third of his men and we had had to do nothing.

  "Asbjorn, how many men wear mail?"

  I saw him shade his eyes from a flurry of rain which descended. "So far I see twenty, hersir."

  There would be more. In many ways it did not matter if they had mail until they were within our walls. Until then the shields of those without mail would be as effective against our arrows as those with. The danger would come from their archers. Our boys with slings and our archers would become targets.

  "I will go to the tower and see if I can pick off their archers with my bow. Archers, target their men who bear bows. They are the danger. When their warriors are close we can inflict greater wounds." Closer to us, the arrows which Bagsecg had made, with a long tapered point, could penetrate mail. Guthrum was in for a shock. When he had last faced us we had few arrows. The winter had given us plenty. Once more Siggi's gold was saving the clan.

  When I reached the top Asbjorn made room for me. I strung my Saami bow. The string would become wet but I had two spares. I doubted it would come to that. Asbjorn had a bow too as had the third in the tower, Sigismund of Ljoðhús.

  They were both new men and looked at my bow with interest. I smiled, "This cost almost as much as a suit of mail but it has a longer range than yours. I will try to give their archers a surprise. Yours will reach further than you think from this tower. When they near the far white stones you might be in range. I know not the strength of your arms." The strength of a bow lay in two things; how well the bow was made and the strength of the archer. Only the man using the bow knew that.

  I saw that the mailed warriors marched in a loose line ahead of the ones without mail while the archers were at the rear. They marched confidently for they were well out of range... or so they thought. When they were forty paces from the furthest line of stones I raised my bow. With three lines of warriors advancing I did not need to aim. This was a ranging arrow. Once I knew where it would strike I could aim. With the wind coming from our left it would affect our arrows.

  I released and the arrow soared high. I saw the wind begin to move it slightly right and stored that information for my next one. Then it plunged and, gathering speed, did not move as much. It struck a warrior in the second rank in the neck. He fell. My men all cheered and the Frisian band lifted their shields and stopped. I saw Guthrum the Skull turn and shout something. He was bringing up his archers. They would not have the range and, as they closed with us, we would have the advantage.

  "Archers ready my command!"

  "Aye lord!"

  I let the Frisian archers form a line, twenty men long and draw their bows. Four struck the water of the ditch and the rest fell short. I drew back and aimed at one in the middle. He was drawing a second arrow when I hit him.

  "Archers, release!"

  We, too, had twenty archers. Not all were as powerful as each other but eight arrows hit their target while twelve fell short. I loosed another and hit another archer. Guthrum realised he was losing his archers and his men were ordered forward. Even as they came another three archers were hit. One of my arrows struck a mailed warrior next to Guthrum. I hit h
im in his right upper arm. He could hold a shield but not his spear. The shields were locked which slowed them down. Guthrum the Skull had not yet formed a shield wall and while they came in three lines we rained death upon them. I could see as our arrows took their toll that the second drekar had landed and the warriors were hurrying to reach their comrades. Even if they had twenty archers with them too we still held the advantage for only two archers had managed to escape death or injury.

  "Concentrate on those without mail until they reach the last line of stones!"

  "Aye lord!"

  "Slingers begin to loose now! A silver coin for any who bring down a mailed warrior!"

  With a sound like hailstones on a ship's deck the stones began to strike the warriors. The stones could be deadly and could even cause damage to a head if they struck a helmet. It meant the shields were pulled up even higher. It exposed their legs. Their byrnies only came to their knees and their raised shields gave us a target. I aimed at Guthrum. My arrow hit him in the foot and, briefly, pinned him to the ground. As the line continued to move on either side of him the integrity of the shields was lost and two more warriors were hit. The wounds would not be mortal but they were effective. His foot freed, Guthrum began to march again. My archers had thinned out the line behind. The crew of the second drekar were now running. To slow them up I sent an arrow at the leading warrior. He had mail but my arrow hit his shoulder and threw him to the ground. It made the others halt and, as the warrior rose to his feet and tore the arrow from the wound, they formed their shields. I wanted a slow approach. The slower they came the more men we would kill.

  They reached the first line of stones and we all switched our arrows to those with mail at the front. Their shields became hedgehogs. I continued to aim at legs and struck another four before they reached the ditch. One mailed warrior moved his shield to see the water and Asbjorn's arrow hit him in the face. He toppled forwards and disappeared beneath the waters. As a second warrior fell I heard Guthrum shout, "Back! Move back but keep your shields locked!"

  As he moved back I saw a trail of blood from his foot. There were six less mailed warriors for us to fight. We continued to shower them with arrows and stones until I shouted. "Hold. Save your stones and arrows!"

  Everyone cheered. I descended and Rurik shook his head. "This is not over. They will be back."

  Erik Long Hair said, "Aye but they will not be as strong when next they come. We have hurt them."

  "Erik is right. They might have only left twenty four bodies on the beach but that number again is wounded. With the lost drekar crew he is down to half the men he started with."

  Arne Four Toes asked, "You think he will depart?"

  I shook my head, "A leader like Guthrum leads by being successful. If he fails there will be another who will take over. Guthrum will fight until he is dead or he has captured our home. We will have to battle him to save it!"

  Chapter 21

  While they were regrouping, well out of range, I went around my walls to assess the mood of my warriors and to see if we had any injuries. The men were buoyant and hopeful. For the Franks who fought with us this was good for they had not had success before. None of our warriors had been injured but some of the archers needed new bow strings for they had fitted theirs too early and they had become wet.

  By the time I had reached the gate again Guthrum and his men had reformed. I saw a band of thirty who were without armour race away from the sea towards the higher ground. I turned to Gudrun Witch Killer, "He plans on attacking the stronghold from the landward side. Gudrun, take your men and six slingers. Go and reinforce the inner ward of the citadel. There are girls there. Give them spears and discourage the Frisians. If you need help have the horn sound once."

  "Aye hersir."

  He only took eleven men but the effect was dramatic. There were more gaps on the walls.

  "Hrolf, look, he is taking Skutal and Sigurd's fishing boats!"

  I nodded. I had seen them. They carried them above their heads and it gave added protection. "He intends to bridge the ditch. When they try that then use the heavy stones. We will sink them."

  I went back to the tower and restrung my bow. The boats they carried protected their heads but when they drew close we would have a flatter trajectory and we could hit their legs. Guthrum and his men marched behind. I saw that he was not in the front rank but with his hearth-weru in the third. His reinforcements meant he had a solid line of mailed warriors in the front. Behind them I saw the wounded boarding their drekar. They would not fight us again. Further down the wall I heard Skutal Einarsson as he shouted, "You will pay stealing my boat Frisians! I will take payment from your worthless hides!"

  We let the men with the two boats come closer but my archers and slingers subjected these new Frisians to the same treatment. I released another arrow at one of the mailed warriors whose shield was not as tight to his neighbour as it should have been. It pierced his right shoulder. He kept his position but if it came to fighting then even Gilles would be able to defeat him. I saw that Guthrum had come within range and I sent an arrow at him. He saw it coming and ducked. He was fast but not fast enough. The arrow struck his helmet, shattering the skull he wore and then sent the helmet spinning. I had another arrow ready and when the hearth-weru next to him raised his shield to protect his head I sent him to Valhalla with an arrow to the chest.

  My archers gradually picked off their archers. Sven Siggison was struck by a Frisian arrow. His left hand was pierced. We, however, had won the battle of the arrows. The stones were a constant source of annoyance and danger to the enemy and they kept up a hailstorm for the boys were eager to impress the warriors.

  "Hersir! They are nearing the ditch."

  "I see them. Aim for their legs and the rest of you use stones. We will build Skutal a new fishing boat!"

  My bow was the most powerful and I aimed it at the knee of the leading warrior. It smashed into it and I saw it emerge from the back. A warrior would have to be made of iron to withstand such a blow. He was not and his knee gave way causing the boat to drop at the front. Another arrow, from the far tower hit one of the warriors at the rear in the thigh. My slingers saw their opportunity and managed to hit the legs of the warriors carrying the first fishing boat. It fell from the warriors who tried to make their way back to the safety of the shield wall and their comrades. They fell to arrows, stones and a spear thrown by Skutal.

  The second fishing boat, however, was closer to the ditch for we had all concentrated on the leading one. They ran the last few paces. Arrows and stones struck the legs of those underneath the upturned boat but, although we hit them, we did not manage to inflict a telling wound. When it reached the ditch they had to stand to hurl it across. It was heavy and as soon as they raised it up they became targets. When the last four fell to spears and arrows the boat fell from their grasp and slipped into the ditch. Its bow stuck up. The deaths and wounds to twenty warriors had been for nothing. They could not use it as a bridge.

  I turned to Gilles. "Go and saddle Dream Strider and Night Star!"

  "Aye lord!"

  As he ran off I shouted, "Slaughter as many as you can! We end this today so that Guthrum the Skull never dares threaten our walls again."

  I loosed an arrow at the line of advancing warriors. As I did so I saw fifteen or so Frisians run from the woods back towards their ships. Gudrun Witch Killer had beaten off the attack. I looked down at this last attack of mailed warriors. The shields which had taken the arrows were now heavy. They had only lost two mailed warriors and they were close to the edge of the ditch but they were tiring. "Use the stones and the spears!"

  When huge warriors like Beorn Beornsson threw a stone it dealt a blow like Bagsecg's hammer. His first stone struck the shield and helmet of a warrior in the middle. He reeled back. Erik Green Eye threw a spear from just thirty paces and with such force that it went through the right shoulder of a second. The stones and spears added to the rain of stones and arrows. There was no way across th
e ditch and they were dying for nothing.

  I saw Guthrum turn to his standard bearer. He had stayed beyond the range of my arrows. The horn sounded twice and then twice more. The warriors began to fall back. My men cheered.

  I shouted, "Archers, slingers, stay on the walls. Warriors follow me and we will end this here on our beach!" Gilles had arrived with the two horses. He had brought with him our two new smaller shields. I took a spear and shouted, "Open the gate!" Asbjorn Sorenson was able to reach down and loosen the fastenings on the ditch bridge and he lowered it slowly. Rurik and Arne opened the gate and, as the bridge touched the far bank, Gilles and I urged our two horses forward.

  When you are on foot and you hear hooves behind you, you run faster. There is something about a horse coming at you from behind which induces fear. I had seen warriors fill their breeks when a horse came behind them. There were only two of us and had they turned and formed a shield wall we could have done little but they did not. They had been broken and left twenty men at the ditch, not counting those warriors who had carried the two boats. All that they wanted was to catch up with their leader and board their two drekar.

  One mailed warrior, who was limping, turned and raised his shield. He was tired and his axe came up wearily. It required two hands to swing and he needed one to hold his shield. I stood in the stiraps as I brought down the spear. It entered his chest and he slumped backwards. I let his body pull itself from my spear head. I saw Gilles do the same as I had but his opponent had no mail and his back was to him. He punched too hard and the spear went all the way through. He would never be able to pull it out and he wisely let go and drew his sword.

  Glancing over my shoulder I saw Finni Jarlson and Rurik One Ear leading my warriors. They were keeping together and had formed a loose wedge. Ahead of me I saw that the lighter armed Frisians were already scrambling up the sides of the drekar. The ones before us all wore mail. Guthrum the Skull was struggling. His wounded knee was bleeding heavily and he was being supported by three of his men. I wondered if the rest would stay to help their leader. I heard the standard bearer shout, "Clan of the Skull! Now is the time to fulfil your oath!"