by Griff Hosker
"It seems that they are expecting the three ships any time now. We can forget about attacking the castle. It would be a waste of men."
Haaken snorted, "From their weapons and the way they fight I cannot see it being much of an obstacle!"
I sighed, "Our object is not to capture a castle but to rescue our family! I want archers on both sides of the estuary. We will just leave five men to watch the villagers. I think the execution will have cowed them. The rest of us will be aboard the drekar. The moment the three ships are spotted we go after them."
Arturus nodded. He had the eight archers we had brought. "What instructions do I give to the archers?"
"They take out the helmsmen on the three ships. If they can clear the steering board of the last ship we have the chance to take all three. But they only strike when the three ships are in the estuary. I do not want them scaring off."
As we made our way down to the river Aiden said, quietly, "It seems I owe you my life again, Jarl."
I smiled, "If we lost you then, until we get Kara back, we would have no way of speaking with the Otherworld."
He nodded, "I will be more careful next time I run."
"And when we get home have Bjorn make you a short byrnie. It will afford some protection at least."
We washed, ate a hurried meal and then boarded the drekar. The archers made their way to the mouth of the estuary. It was about as wide as the one close to Úlfarrston. It was wide enough for one ship to turn around but not two. The tubby boats we had seen were slow to turn. Our drekar could turn in their own lengths. I wondered when they would return. As we sat by the steering board I asked Erik when he would choose to brave the estuary.
"If this is their home then they will know it well but I have studied it since we arrived. At low tide it is only wide enough for one ship and any misjudgement will result in grounding. They will wait until high tide."
"And when is that?"
He pointed to the water which was moving swiftly west. "It is on the turn now. High tide was a couple of hours ago. It will be the dark of night when they return."
"Thank you, Erik, that helps."
"I cannot understand why they have no light at the end of the estuary."
"Probably for the same reason we do not; it hides the river from enemies."
It seemed an endless night. We remained silent once darkness fell. Part of me worried that Mark of Tintagel might try to help his sister by warning them of our presence. It was hard to see how they could do so. A fire on the headland might mean anything and my archers at the mouth ensured that no-one could signal them from there. Such are the doubts and the fear when you wait.
A whistle alerted us as the river began to widen with the incoming tide. Erik hissed, "Cast off."
I ran to the prow but I could see nothing in the darkness. That was good for it meant that they could not see us. Using hand signals only Erik guided us into the centre of the river. It was now up to my Ulfheonar to row without Cnut's cadences. Somewhere ahead was Kara and Elfrida. The next hour would be crucial if they were to survive the night. I had no need to worry. They were as one mind. I stayed at the prow; Aiden would help Erik. At first I saw nothing and then, out of the darkness I saw a ship. At the same time I heard shouts from the mouth of the estuary as my archers on the headland rained death upon the last ship. Erik did well but he had little time to react and, as the ship of the On Corn Walum veered off course we rammed her just aft of her bow. Our prow was strong and well made. We tore through the hull as though it was a sheet of thin winter ice. I prayed that the women were not on board that ship as it began to take on water and sink.
Cnut ordered the oars run in but our speed carried us beyond the sinking ship. My son was on the other side and he made for the second of the three ships. As the oars re-entered the water I heard Cnut roar, "Row you Ulfheonar! Dragon Heart's family depend upon this!" The drekar fairly leapt across the water. I saw the third ship trying to turn. Our archers had done their best and the ship was out of control. The steering board was turned one way and the current worked in the other. The ship was becalmed in the middle of the estuary and we rammed it in the middle. My heart sank as the ship dropped beneath the waves. If my family was within then they were dead!
"Stop rowing and pick up survivors!"
Erik turned the drekar around to, effectively, block the entrance to the river. I heard the shouts as my son and his men boarded the only enemy ship which still floated. My men pulled bedraggled and half drowned men from the river. I think their surprise at being rescued by those they thought would slay them confused them all. The six men we pulled from the river shivered in a huddle close to the dragon prow. I waved Aiden over. "Find out which ship contained Kara and Elfrida."
He nodded and went towards them. He was less intimidating than we were and he had a way with people which made them talk to him. I went to the steer board and looked to the north. I knew that Kara and Elfrida could not have survived this battle. Unless they were on the ship which my son had captured then they were dead. I began to plan my revenge. I would slaughter every villager we had captured and then I would raze Tintagel to the ground. They would remember when they dared to rob Dragon Heart of his most precious possession; his family.
Suddenly I noticed that Aiden was approaching me and he was grinning. I wondered if the fall the previous day had had a delayed effect and he had lost his mind. What could he find in this that made him smile?
"Jarl Dragon Heart, Kara, Elfrida and the other women were not on this ship or any of the others. They are on Ynys Môn. The ships contained grain only. Angharad and her men landed at Ynys Cybi. Your family is safe!"
I felt like cheering and weeping at the same time. "What does this mean?"
"It means we have a ship full of grain and we know that our family is safe… for the moment."
"What does Angharad intend?"
"That I do not know. These are the crew and they only knew that their cargo was landed at Caer Cybi."
"And that is enough. Erik, take us back to the jetty. We have much to do," Already my mind was working. My family was not safe yet but they were not dead! Our enemies would not know that we knew where they were. "Aiden, find out where they will be on Ynys Cybi. If they tell me they shall live and not be enslaved!"
Erik had the ship turned around and the men began to row us back down the river. I saw the questions on the faces of my Ulfheonar. I could not answer them yet but I now had more hope than I had had when the sun had set.
As we nudged to the jetty I said, "Erik, lift the mast. I want us to be ready to sail."
"Aye Jarl."
Aiden joined me. "There is a sacred grove close to Caer Cybi. They have a hill fort there and the men believe that they would be taken there."
"Do you believe them?"
He smiled, "Jarl as soon as they knew who you were they would have sold their mothers into slavery! They told the truth."
"Good then get a map drawn from their words so that we can sail there and rescue our family. If they cooperate then they will live"
I stepped ashore and waited for Wolf Killer and his ship to join us. Haaken and Cnut clambered over the side. "Well?"
"They are on Ynys Cybi. The High Priestess took them there. I know not why but it means they are alive still."
The relief was obvious on both their faces. "What will we do?"
"We have time now. First we punish this Mark of Tintagel."
"How?"
I smiled. I had spent the long hours waiting for the tide to turn thinking of this. "The only way onto the castle is by the bridge. We destroy the bridge. They will not die but they will take many days to escape. I will not forget this Mark of Tintagel and when I have killed his sister I will give thought to how I might destroy him. We send the ship with the grain and the slaves back to Úlfarrston and we go to Ynys Môn and the holy island of Ynys Cybi. They will think that they are safe. They are not!"
My son was distraught when he landed, "They are not on
board the ship we took! They must have drowned!"
I shook my head and put my hands on his shoulders. "They were not aboard the two ships which sank. They contained grain. The fishes will eat well this night! Our family is on Anglesey. We will go and find them."
"We sail tonight?"
I smiled, "There is no hurry for the longer we delay our arrival the more secure they will become. First we deliver a message to Mark of Tintagel and then we sail north."
I had the captives loaded aboard the grain ship and had ten of Arturus' warriors crew the ship. We sent them north to return home. We had enough warriors left to do what we had to do and I wanted my people to know that there was hope for Kara and Elfrida. The men of On Corn Walum would be sent to work in the iron mines and those they replaced would be given their freedom. That was my way.
I decided to leave at dawn to travel to Tintagel. This would not take long. Snorri had told us that there were less than twenty men guarding the entrance to the bridge over the gorge. In the mood my men were that would not be a problem. It took us almost two hours to reach the bridge. Snorri and Bjorn the Scout led ten Ulfheonar and they waited, unseen, close to the two wooden towers and gatehouse. We could have used fire arrows to destroy it but my four new Ulfheonar were keen to prove themselves. The six of them crept close to the wooden structure and waited.
When I saw that they were in position I stood as did all of my men. The Ulfheonar all wore wolf cloaks and had painted faces. As the twenty men within the gatehouse peered in horror at the sight of my warriors which greeted them the six scouts leapt forward and using their shields threw Snorri and Harald up on to the walls. The two of them created chaos as they raced along the ramparts. Bodies fell as they ruthlessly killed the defenders. The other four then clambered up after them. We raced forward towards the wooden gate and panic set in amongst the guards. There were only six men but they were hard fighting warriors and they laid into the defenders with ruthless efficiency. By the time we reached the gates it was over. Six had fled across the bridge. The rest lay dead.
"Make fires. I want this gatehouse burning. Sigtrygg, cut the ropes on the bridge. When that is done then rain fire arrows on the castle. They will put the fires out but they will use their precious supply of water to do so and the only way out of there until they repair the bridge is down the cliff! The need for water will madden them."
My men enjoyed the irony. Their security was their doom. We could not take the castle but they could not escape without losing many men. Their only saviours were already sailing back to my land. When they did manage to escape from their own prison they would find a land without people. I had begun to punish Mark of Tintagel. But it was only the beginning. I had a long memory and I did not forgive hurt to my family.
I walked to the edge of the cliff, "Mark of Tintagel find a hole in which to hide. Make it deep and far from here. When I have killed your sister than I will return and all of you will be destroyed!"
In answer half a dozen arrows flew towards me. I took them on my shield.
I turned my back on them to show my lack of respect for them and walked back to my cheering men. Even Wolf Killer nodded his approval.
Chapter 7
We set fire to the port and the jetty. It could be rebuilt but that would take time and Mark of Tintagel would have time to reflect on his folly. Our biggest problem was of our own making. The two ships which had sunk in the estuary meant that we could only leave at high tide and we had to edge our way around the wrecks. Until they were cleared they would have to find somewhere else from which to set sail. My sailors who passed by the following year discovered that the port was abandoned. Our wrath had had a greater effect than they could possibly have expected.
When we had negotiated the obstacles we set sail. I sat at the steering board and pored over the newly created maps with Aiden. We already had some information for the Romans had had a fort at Caer Cybi. The witch would not be there but at an ancient hill fort on the mountain which rose above the town. They called it a mountain but I had sailed along that coast and knew that it was not; it was a lump of rock which rose high above the island. My home in Cyninges-tūn was higher. The lowest slopes of Old Olaf's mountains were higher. It was, however, a special place. Those who had fought the Romans, the Druids, had made their last stand at the hill fort. The spirits watched over it. The Romans had destroyed it which meant it had to have been rebuilt. From what we had been told by the terrified few survivors when Angharad had landed she had headed in that direction. Mountains, however small, were always the centre of the power of the Mother. Kara was a volva and if they wished to harness her power then they would take her there. We knew where we had to get to.
"The problem we have, Jarl Dragon Heart, is twofold. There are few places to land unseen and the warriors of Gwynedd are fierce fighters. They drove the Saxons hence from their sacred island. They are not weak like the men of On Corn Walum."
"There is a third danger. We have to approach this coast in the dark and there are many rocks and shoals to rip the bottom from an unwary ship."
Erik had been listening as he leaned on the board. "Josephus told me of that coast. He had sailed there when he served Rorik. He said that the currents were so strong that even with a full crew rowing the ships could still be pulled on to the rocks. The mighty Josephus feared the island."
I stood and walked to the front of the ship. I put my hand on the dragon prow. Bolli would need to repair it once we returned to Cyninges-tūn. However the familiar carvings helped my mind to work and I began to formulate a plan. I tried to visualise the coast. I had sailed it before but I could not remember the details. Certainly I had not landed on that coast. The rocks were, indeed, terrifying. As I felt the power of my ship beneath my hands I also saw that this strength and its size were a weakness. We needed something which was smaller. We had not time to build. We would need to raid.
I hurried back down the middle of the drekar. Aiden smiled as I approached, "You have an answer, Jarl."
It was a statement and not a question. I nodded. "Erik, if memory serves there are some fishing villages on the southern side of the land of Wyddfa."
"Aye, Jarl, there are a number of them. We saw them fishing when we rested at Ynys Enlii but if you think to raid them then you should know that they have defended them. They have learned from our attacks."
"Then we shall find them when they fish."
"Why do you want fishing boats?"
"You are right Erik, 'The Heart of the Dragon' would be dashed on the rocks if we attempted to land using the drekar but fishing boats could ferry us ashore no matter how small the gap." I picked up the map. "Look here, there are three beaches where we could easily land: Aberffaw, Trearrdur and Porthdafarc. All of them are on the south side of the Ynys Cybi or close enough to reach the mountain."
Aiden shook his head, "Aberffaw is on the main island and the King has a castle there."
"Exactly and that leaves the two beaches."
This time it was Erik who shook his head. "They have towers on both of their beaches. We could land but our presence would be known."
"Precisely."
I saw that I had confused them both. "Then you are saying we are doomed to failure before we start?"
"No, Erik. I am saying that there have to be small beaches elsewhere and closer to the mountain but they are so small that no one thinks to guard them for they would be inaccessible. If we have fishing boats then they become accessible to the Ulfheonar who will land and be as ghosts. They will appear from the bowels of the earth and be unexpected. It is what we do."
Aiden shook his head, "Wolf Killer will not be happy."
"We have a choice, we use the Ulfheonar to rescue Kara and Elfrida or Wolf Killer is happy. I am Jarl and it is my decision. Erik head for the fishing grounds. It is not far from the course we would have taken any way. If we can reach them tomorrow night then we have the chance to capture them. We need but two."
As we altered course I knew that
my son, on the 'Josephus', would wonder at this deviation from our plan. When night fell and we hove to I would tell him; part of my ideas, at least. We pulled in close to a deserted beach on the west coast of Dyfed. The people there were allies, of a sort, but it did not do to make our presence known. While our men hunted shellfish and the eggs of roosting birds I explained to my son what I intended.
"If you take just two fishing boats then it will take a long time to land all of our men."
"I know but we cannot tow more than one fishing boat each. This is not the perfect plan but it is a compromise. When you are leader you will have to make such decisions."
He looked at me with the same look he had had as a boy when he had done something wrong. "I have not been behaving as a Jarl have I?" I said nothing. The silence was my answer. "How did you deal with it when Kara, my mother and I were kidnapped?"
"I did not rush in blindly and throw caution to the wind. We scouted, we planned and when we executed the plan. We rescued you and none were harmed." He nodded. "This is slightly different for your wife is with child and you know not the effect on her." His look told me I had struck the mark. "Aiden has not dreamed such danger. I know he has not the power of Kara but the blue stone and the closeness of Wyddfa increases his power. The closer we get to Ynys Môn and your sister the more chance we have of knowing if they are in danger."
"Why did they take Kara? I do not understand."
"Nor do I, at least not fully. I am guessing that they wish to make her one of them so that they can increase their powers. The cult of the Mother was powerful on Ynys Môn. My own mother followed it."
"But would Kara abandon us?"
That was my worry. I shrugged, "I know not. She is not fully grown yet. This High Priestess appears to exert an influence on those around her. She certainly impressed Kara."
As he prepared to return to his own drekar he said, "But Elfrida was not taken in, I think. Angharad made the same comments to my wife but she was not impressed. That is why I fear for my wife more than my sister. This priestess may see Elfrida as a threat."
