The Long Hunt (The Strongbow Saga)

by Roberts, Judson

  "It is a beginning," he said, straightening up. "We must not waste the advantage we have gained. Tore, Halfdan, gather your archers. From the stern of this ship you should have a clear line of fire at the warriors fighting in the bow of the pirate chieftain's ship. If you can harry them hard enough from the rear, we may be able to cross the bows and drive them back. If we can get to their captain, Sigvald, and slay him, this battle will be ours. Hold your fire until my signal. I will blow a horn three times when we are ready."

  Turning to Torvald and Stig, he told them, "Torvald, you and I will go to join our men on the Gull's fore-deck. Stig, return to the Serpent. On my signal, we will all attack the bow of the pirate chieftain's ship from both of ours, while our archers here fire from behind on them. If we set some sea-chests on our fore-decks to step up on, we can cross over the rails more easily. Come—let us show these dogs how ships are taken."

  The curved bow of the pirate ship we were on was now lashed tight with the two grappling lines against the side of the Gull's hull, amidships opposite her mast. As a result, the hull of the pirate ship was angled out from the Gull's side. Hastein had been correct. From the ship's stern we would have an unobstructed line of fire, shooting toward the bow of the pirate chieftain's ship, that would allow us to shoot into the back ranks of the warriors fighting there. But we would not be shooting at point blank range, as we had been when attacking this ship. It was unlikely our fire would be nearly as effective.

  While Hastein, Torvald, Stig, and the five warriors who had crossed over from the Serpent returned to the Gull, Tore explained the plan to our men. The four who'd left their bows aboard the Gull went to retrieve them, and at my request brought me my shield and spear when they did. Then we all began the grim task of searching for and retrieving our arrows from the bodies of the men we'd shot. At least none were still alive. "Be quick about it," Tore warned. "We must be ready when Hastein signals."

  I was standing over the body of the first warrior I had killed in our close volley—the man with the plaited beard—when Einar approached. My arrow had entered the man's face below his right eye, and its iron head plus a finger's length of the shaft were now jutting out the back of his skull. I gave the shaft a tug, but the bone it had pierced was holding it tight. That was the problem with shooting for the head: a hit was almost always a kill, but reclaiming your arrows unbroken was difficult.

  "Look," Einar said, pointing. "That ship is moving."

  What he said was true. The crew of the fourth pirate ship, the one that had been lying off the sterns of the Gull and Serpent, had manned their oars. But they were seated facing toward the front of their ship, rather than the rear. They were backing her up, slowly moving her over toward the side of the Gull we were on.

  Tore, Gudfred, and several others of our archers joined us. "They are going to come for us," Einar said. "They are going to try to retake this ship."

  I heard a dull whump. A warrior named Storolf, one of Hastein's housecarls who had been with us in Frankia, was standing beside Tore. He gasped, then gave a choking cough. As he sank to his knees, blood began to trickle from the edge of his mouth. An arrow was sticking out of his back.

  I dropped into a low crouch, pulling Einar down beside me as I did. Another arrow whistled through the air over our heads. It had been shot from somewhere on the pirate chieftain's ship. As the rest of our archers ducked low and ran for the cover of the ship's side, three long peals of a horn sounded from the front of the Gull.

  "The attack is starting," Tore cried. "Up! Up! We must support them." He stood and was laying an arrow across his bow when an arrow skimmed just above the edge of the ship's top strake and smacked into the quiver hanging at his right hip, piercing its thick leather and the skirt of his mail brynie beneath. Tore roared in pain and dropped his bow, clutching with both hands at the arrow now embedded in his hip.

  I reached up and pulled him down, just as another arrow whistled through the air overhead. "Gods," Tore said. "That one would have killed me. Whoever is shooting that bow is very good."

  "How badly are you hurt?" I asked.

  "I cannot tell. Help me. My quiver is pinned to me by this shaft."

  I grasped the shaft of the arrow with both hands, just above where it pierced Tore's quiver. He nodded, and I snapped the shaft in two between my hands. Tore gasped in pain as the arrow moved.

  I eased the quiver up over the broken stub of the wooden shaft. Inside it, several arrows had been broken by the missile cutting through them. I slid the skirt of the mail brynie, and the padded jerkin underneath it, over the end of the broken shaft, too.

  Beside me, Einar, who was peering cautiously over the edge of the rail, said, "I see him. He is hiding behind the mast. And he has a shield bearer who protects him when he steps out to shoot." He laid an arrow across his bow and nocked it on the string, then stood, drawing as he did. He held at full draw for a brief moment then released, dropping back down below the cover of the ship's side as soon as he did. An arrow sliced through the air where he had been standing.

  "I missed him. Gods but he is fast. Very fast, and very good."

  "We must support Hastein," Tore said through gritted teeth.

  "We will have to kill this man first, or very shortly the jarl will have no archers," Einar replied.

  Blood had soaked the bottom of Tore's tunic and his trousers around where the arrow was embedded in the side of his hip. But I could see, showing above the edges of the wound, the end of the iron socket of the arrowhead where it encased the tip of the wooden shaft. At least the head had not pierced too deeply. Striking the quiver and brynie must have broken its force somewhat.

  "I will deal with this," Tore said. He drew his knife from its scabbard on his belt and began slitting the fabric of his tunic and trousers, cutting them away from the arrow to expose the wound. "You must take charge of our archers."

  I raised my head just enough to peer over the edge of the top strake. In the bow of the pirate chieftain's ship, warriors were pressing forward in response to Hastein's attack. Beyond them, in the bow of the Gull, I could see two warriors battering at the pirates' front rank with long-handled great-axes, while around them others jabbed with spears, trying to push the defenders back. So far our men had not managed to cross over the rails and board the enemy ship. Glancing back along the pirate ship, I could see a man behind its mast, his head leaning out on the right side as he watched for a target to appear. Another man was crouching low beside him, holding a shield in front of his own chest.

  Again three horn blasts sounded.

  "Jarl Hastein needs us," Tore said. "Do not fail him."

  Along the side of the ship, our archers were crouched below the cover of the rail, watching me.

  "Spread out," I cried. "The man who is shooting at us is very dangerous. He is shooting from behind the pirate ship's mast. Four of us—Einar, Asbjorn, Gudfred, and I—will shoot at him. The rest of you, shoot at the pirates fighting in the bow. We must weaken their defense. On my word, we will all stand and shoot at once, then take cover again."

  I drew an arrow and nocked it on my string. When the others were ready, I shouted, "Now!" and stood, drawing my bow as I did.

  As Einar had said, the enemy archer was very quick and very good. As soon as he saw our archers beginning to rise up, he stepped just to the side of the mast while drawing his bow. The shield bearer rose beside him, standing close and ready.

  I shoot my bow quickly, not lingering over my aim, but by the time I released my bowstring, the enemy archer's arrow was already launched and on its way. It sped across the open water between the two ships and hit one of our archers standing further down the side, a man from the Serpent's crew whose face was familiar but whose name I did not know. The arrow struck him in the shoulder and spun him around. One of his comrades pulled him down into cover behind the ship's side.

  Of the four arrows we'd launched at the enemy archer, three were caught by the shield bearer, who stepped forward as soon as his man shot a
nd held his shield in front of him, blocking the arrows that should have struck him. The fourth arrow thudded into the mast.

  We were now down to ten archers. We had to support Hastein's attack, but we could not afford to keep losing men at this rate. I glanced back to see where the fourth pirate ship was. It had backed fully clear of the Gull's stern and had swung around so its bow was pointed toward the ship we were on. Its rowers had turned so they were facing their ship's stern, and were heaving on their oars. Slowly but steadily, the ship was heading for us.

  I turned back and cautiously raised my head to look over the top of the ship's rail. The pirate archer must have seen me do the same before, because he was ready this time, his bow already at full draw, and he launched an arrow at my face. Quickly I jerked my head back down, and the arrow sailed overhead and thudded into the ship's far side.

  Our archers had been watching me, arrows ready on their bows, waiting for my next command. When they saw the arrow pass over me, Asbjorn and Hallbjorn rose up and launched quick shots toward the warriors in the pirate ship's bow, then dropped back down into cover.

  The fourth pirate ship was picking up speed and drawing near. She was a small ship, with only ten pairs of oars. In her bow, I could see two men standing holding coiled ropes and grappling irons.

  We were trapped unless we could kill the pirate archer.

  Beside me, Tore had pulled the arrow out of his hip, and was now holding a wad of cloth he'd cut from the bottom of his tunic against the wound, trying to staunch the flow of blood from it. "Very soon now, this is going to be a bad place for us to be," he said, through gritted teeth.

  My shield was lying nearby, where I'd laid it beside my spear. I picked it up and slid it down the deck to Hallbjorn.

  "I need you to draw the enemy's fire," I told him. "At my signal, stand up with your bow visible in your left hand, as if you are looking for a target in the front of the pirate ship. But hold my shield in your right, out of sight below the rail, and be ready to swing it up to cover yourself. Be careful—he will shoot very quickly. As soon as you see him release, shout ‘now' so we will know."

  Turning to Asbjorn and Gudfred, I told them, "You two and Einar must be ready, and when Hallbjorn tells us the enemy has shot, rise up and launch your arrows at his shield bearer. Kill him, or at least make him protect himself. I will rise with you, and hope for a shot at the archer."

  Behind us, I heard a thunk, thunk, as the two grappling hooks landed on our deck.

  "Look," Einar said. "It is Hrodgar. He is coming to help us."

  But there was no time to look. I nodded to Hallbjorn. "Go!" I cried.

  He stood, and a moment later, began to swing the shield up. "Now!" he shouted.

  The four of us—Gudfred, Asbjorn, Einar, and I—rose up from behind the rail, drawing our bows back as we did. The thumb on my right hand brushed against the side of my jaw and touched the bottom my ear as I reached full draw. On the pirate chieftain's ship, the shield bearer was beginning to step forward as the archer stood staring out across his bow, watching his arrow's flight.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw a flash as the enemy's arrow streaked over our ship's side and smacked into the shield Hallbjorn was holding. At the same time, I heard two twangs off to my side as Asbjorn and Gudfred released their arrows. A moment later Einar released his. I forced myself to focus my gaze on the archer, to focus my aim on where I knew his chest was, even though it was now hidden behind the shield.

  The three arrows arced across the water and struck. One hit the shield low, near its bottom rim, and the second skimmed below it, grazing the shield bearer's thigh. The third arrow—Einar's—clanged into his helm and glanced off. Startled, the man staggered back a step and swung his shield up to cover his face. As he did, I opened the curled fingers of my right hand, releasing the bowstring and my arrow.

  My arrow's flight, arcing across the water between the two ships, seemed to take forever. I feared the enemy archer would realize his danger and duck behind the mast. But he turned to glance at his comrade, perhaps to see if he had been wounded. It was just long enough. My arrow struck, and he went down.

  I drew another arrow from my quiver, glancing back at the danger behind us as I did. Warriors from the fourth pirate ship were already boarding us, but as Einar had said, Hrodgar had brought our men from the Gull's stern to defend against them. Men were stabbing and hacking at each other in a confused, swirling melee along the ship's side where the two pirate ships were grappled and lashed together, and several were already down, their bodies on the deck beneath the feet of those fighting.

  A third time, Hastein sounded the signal on his horn.

  Turning back to our archers, I pointed toward the bow of the pirate chieftain's ship. It did not look as though any of the warriors from the Gull had yet managed to beat back the defenders and board. "Rise up!" I cried, "Jarl Hastein needs us to support his attack."

  They stood and readied arrows on their bows. Gudfred began to draw.

  "No," I said. "We will all draw and shoot as one, on my command. We will rain our arrows upon them in volleys, like death falling from the sky.

  "Draw!" I ordered. "Choose your targets. Loose! Draw…Loose! Draw…Loose!"

  Five times we launched our arrows as one. The fore-deck and bow area of a longship is not so large a place. Fifty arrows, raining down among men crowded tightly into such a space are a fearsome thing to experience.

  After our fourth volley, I saw Torvald rise behind the front rank of warriors in the bow of the Gull, holding a barrel up over his head in both hands. He heaved it onto the enemy warriors crowded on the fore-deck of the pirate ship, crushing several beneath it and scattering the rest, just as our fifth volley landed among them. Warriors from the Gull and Serpent scrambled over the bow rails of their ships onto the pirate ship's bow and fell upon the suddenly disarrayed defenders there, stabbing and hacking.

  We could no longer shoot without endangering our own men. Dropping my bow and quiver upon the deck, I retrieved my shield and spear and turned to face the growing danger upon the ship we were on.

  On the edge of the fight, I spotted Bram, the young man from the village, backing away from a pirate who was swinging his sword back and forth with rapid cross strokes, each one chopping a piece out of the top edge of Bram's raised shield. I ran toward them and as I drew near, hurled my spear. I missed—in truth, I have little skill throwing a spear—but when the spear flashed past him the pirate looked to see who had thrown it and saw me running toward him, drawing my sword as I came.

  He swung a final slashing cut at Bram then turned to face me. I raised my shield and drew back my sword to strike, but when I tried to slow my speed and plant my feet, they landed in a large pool of blood and slipped out from under me.

  I landed hard, flat on my back. As the pirate lunged forward and chopped down at me, I frantically swung my shield across my body to cover it and blocked his blade. Behind him, Bram moved forward and stabbed his spear at the pirate's back. Snarling, he spun around, swatting at the spear shaft with his blade and knocking it aside. As he did, I rose up into a sitting position and swung my sword from right to left in a slashing cut that hit the pirate's back leg just below the knee. My blow did not have enough force to cut through the bone, but the wound caused the pirate to topple sideways onto the deck. I crawled onto his chest and stabbed my blade into his throat.

  As I was rising to my feet, someone—I did not see who—struck a blow that rang hard against my helm and momentarily stunned me, dropping me down onto my hands and knees. As my senses cleared, I realized I was straddling a body. It was Hrodgar. There was an arrow in his back—it must have been one of the last ones shot by the archer on the pirate chieftain's ship—and his neck had a gaping wound that had almost severed his head from his body. His eyes were open, and his once-white beard was now stained red. His body was surrounded by a large, spreading pool of blood—the blood that I had slipped in.

  I felt a wave of rage wash over me.
In truth, I do not know exactly what happened after that. The next thing I knew, I was in the stern of the fourth pirate ship, standing over a man's body, swinging my sword down into it, over and over.

  Someone grabbed my shoulder. I turned on him, raising my sword to strike, but another man reached from my other side and grabbed my sword arm.

  The first man spoke. It was Gudfred. "It is enough. He is dead," he said.

  The man holding my sword arm was Einar. "They are all dead," he told me. "We have cleared the ship. It is ours."

  9

  Oeland

  Though the tide had turned in our favor, the battle was far from won. We had cleared two of the pirates' ships, and aboard the ship of their chieftain our warriors, led by Hastein and Torvald, had pushed its defenders down the length of the hull as far as the mast.

  I shook my head, trying to clear my mind of the red killing rage that seemed to have clouded it, and looked around me. The bodies of fallen warriors were strewn along the pirate ship's deck from its bow to its stern. We had driven them off the ship we had been on and had followed them onto theirs, fighting a running battle back to the stern, where the last of them had died. I had no recollection of any of it. It troubled me.

  Our warriors—the ten remaining archers, all of whom had survived the fight, plus another ten or so men from the crews of the Gull and Serpent who had come across with Hrodgar—stood gathered around in the stern, staring at me, watching me, as if awaiting orders.

  "How many men did we lose?" I asked.

  Gudfred answered. "Four dead. Skuli and Kari from the village, old Hrodgar from the Limfjord, and one of our own men—Grimar. All fell during the first of the fighting, on the other ship. We lost none after we pushed them back onto this one."

  For a moment my mind struggled to understand what Gudfred had meant when he'd called the man Grimar one of "our "men. They were all our men, all from the crew of the Gull. Then I recognized the name, and realized that Grimar had been one of my father's and brother's men, one of the housecarls from the estate.