Hrolf the Viking (Norman Genesis Book 1)

by Griff Hosker

  I realised that we were now heading south west as opposed to west. I had no doubt that we would be faster; we were a better ship. On the other hand we had fewer crew than we really needed. I was rowing on the side opposite the steering board. I knew we were close when Sven shouted. "Steering board! In oars"

  I was new to this but even I knew that we were going to take out the oars on the side of the galley. Arrows began to shower down on us. I heard Olaf Blue Eye shout out as one struck him. He was a tough man; it would take death to stop him rowing. I was pushed to the right as we ground against their oars and 'Raven's Wing' crashed into the side of the galley.

  "Oars in! Prepare to board." This time the Jarl spoke.

  Siggi and I hauled in our oar and laid it in the centre of the drekar. I drew my sword and seax as I stood. The galley looked far bigger here at sea than it had in the port. It towered over us like a cliff. Perhaps Sven misjudged it but the raven wing prow struck the side of the galley at the same time as our hull crashed and smashed the oars. I heard the screams and shouts from the galley slaves who were injured. The jolt as we struck threw us from our feet. I was one of the first to recover. I picked up the rope and hook which Siggi White Hair had dropped and I threw it to the sheerstrake on the galley. I began to climb up. I was almost at the top when a dark skinned sailor's face appeared. As he drew a wicked looking knife I pulled on the rope and climbed as fast as I could. I reached out with my right hand and, grabbing his long, lank hair, pulled him towards me. He fell screaming to the sea below. I leapt over the side and drew my sword.

  It was a daunting prospect. I was alone! I counted at least twelve armed men who began to move towards me purposefully. As far as I was aware I had the only rope which our men could climb. I had to guard it until they joined me. I remembered Olaf Leather Neck. He had told me that when the odds were so great that you could not win that the only thing to do was to charge. It seemed improbable but I held my weapons before me and roared a challenge, "Heart of Ice!" I ran at the warriors. The Allfather watched over me for the first three warriors held spears. They were not the best of weapons to use for they moved too much on a ship's deck. I was lithe and I was quick. I knocked aside two of the spears with my sword and seax and ran to the nearest warrior. I kicked him had between the legs and as he doubled over stabbed him in the back of the neck with my seax.

  I was in the middle of brown and black bodies. I stabbed to my right with my sword as I head butted the short warrior before me. Then I heard a roar and Siggi and Arne leapt, slashing and stabbing to stand on either side of me. One of the enemy warriors thrust his spear at me. I barely managed to turn it and I felt it gouge a line in my leather armour. The blow took the wind from me. Before he could finished me off Siggi swung his axe at the side of his head. It took the top of his skull off. I saw, now, the berserker in Siggi. He had an axe in each hand and he swung them both before him. Arne and I had to move to the side to avoid being struck by the whirling weapons.

  The enemy fell back too and Arne and I widened the part of the deck we controlled. Ahead of me I saw Jarl Gunnar Thorfinnson leading more men from the stern of our drekar. Ulf Big Nose appeared to my left. He had two swords and he deflected a spear with one before gutting the guard with the other. As we forced the warriors back I suddenly saw the difference between us. We fought together while they fought alone. There was no coordination. Two men struck at me. I made a V with my seax and sword and stopped their striking swords. Arne and Ulf's swords darted in to kill them. As they died a large hole appeared in the enemy line.

  Siggi White Hair shouted, "Go through the hole, Hrolf!"

  I leapt into the gap and saw a sailor fighting Hermund the Bent. Even as I watched the warrior's sword sliced down the helmet and cheek of Hermund. Heart of Ice stabbed upwards into the warrior's heart before he could finish off my shipmate. We had now joined forces. The handful of men who were to the left of us were quickly slain and we formed a solid wall. The deck was slippery with blood.

  Siggi shouted, "Jarl! I think the galley is holed!"

  I saw immediately what Siggi meant. The deck was canted at an angle. The enemy realised it too. I saw them hurl timbers and wood over the side and then leap into the sea to join them.

  "Quickly! Get below decks and grab anything of value!"

  The galley had slaves. It meant that the length of the galley was a mass of humanity. I turned. The valuables had to be stored beneath the steering board. I turned and ran towards the door. One solitary guard remained there. He held a curved sword and a small shield little bigger than his hand. He braced himself. I know not how but some of the slaves must have freed themselves for there was a sudden cheer from beneath my feet and then the ship lurched alarmingly to the side closest to our drekar. The movement caused the guard to spread his arms to balance himself. I darted forward. My sword flicked the curved sword to one side while my seax tore into his middle. I pulled the blade from side to side and the man fell trying to push back his entrails into his body.

  I ripped open the door and saw a short flight of steps. I raced down. Alarmingly there was water there. I opened the door ahead of me. There was a small man, he looked to be a clerk of some description. He saw me and screamed. Falling to his knees he looked to be begging for his life. I ignored him. There were the boxes of taxes. Each chest had a seal from it. I picked one up and found it to be heavy. I sheathed my weapons and picked up the clerk by the hair. I put a chest in his hands and then took a second one myself. I kicked his backside as I shouted, "Up!" The gesture with my head was clear enough and he clambered up the steps. When we came on deck I saw that the enemy had fled.

  "Is that the treasure, Hrolf?"

  "Aye Jarl. It is below decks but hurry for the water is already seeping in."

  "Get that treasure on the drekar. Come the rest of you. Form a line!"

  I nudged the clerk towards the side of the galley. I saw that we were no longer above the drekar. We were level. I saw Erik One Hand. "Quick, pull these boxes on board. Tell this man to get aboard the drekar or he will die." I put the chest on the sheer strake and Erik pulled it down. The prisoner looked confused. Erik shouted to him and he began to clamber across. Sometimes when a man loses luck he loses life. So it was with the poor prisoner. He slipped as he mounted the side and fell between the two hulls. A wave pushed the two together and he was crushed. I shook my head. Wyrd.

  I turned and Siggi thrust a chest into my hand. I put it on the sheerstrake. Erik pulled it over. Suddenly there was a crack from beneath our feet. Siggi shouted, "She is going! Back to the 'Raven's Wing'!"

  Water began to rush up from the decks below as the galley succumbed to the waves. It must not have been a well made ship for it was sinking rapidly. The men who held boxes rushed to the side. I tumbled over the sheerstrake and landed head first. Siggi and Arne followed me each carrying a chest. Only two more chests were recovered. Hermund the Bent and the Jarl carried them. Ulf Big Nose was forced to drop his as the galley turned on its side. Had he held on to it he would have been taken down. As it was he barely managed to avoid the hull which rolled towards him. I threw a rope to him and Siggi and I hauled him aboard like a fish.

  We had six chests but, as I looked down the ship, I saw that we had lost eight men in the fight. We barely had enough crew for one man to an oar. We were, however, Vikings and the Jarl raised his hand and shouted, "Allfather!" We all joined in the shout. Those who had died were now in Valhalla.

  "Sven, turn us around and head north!"

  "Aye Jarl. Come on, show the Gods you are warriors! Get on an oar! We row!"

  Even the Jarl took an oar. I had an oar to myself as did most of the crew. Erik stood by Sven and helped him to steer. I heard shouts and screams from the water. The enemy were dying. Those who could clambered upon pieces of wreckage. Those who could not swim shouted for help and then slipped beneath the waves. The sea was a cruel mistress. We each had an oar and we chanted.

  'Through the waves the oathsworn come


  Riding through white tipped foam

  Feared by all raven's wing

  Like a lark it does sing

  A song of death to all its foes

  The power of the raven grows and grows.

  Through the waves the oathsworn come

  Riding through white tipped foam

  Feared by all raven's wing

  Like a lark it does sing

  A song of death to all its foes

  The power of the raven grows and grows.'

  There were just twenty voices but we sang for the whole crew. We sang in memory of those who had fallen. I had not served with them long but others, like Siggi, Arne and Ulf , had sailed with them since they had joined the crew. The Norns had reminded us how parlous an existence we lived. We rowed steadily. The wind helped a little but we would have to sail beyond the land of Al-Andalus before we could stop. The Arabs would not be happy that their treasure ship had been taken. We needed to put as many miles between us and them as we could.

  Sven sent Erik around with ale. With just one hand it took him some time. I was at the bow opposite Siggi and we were the last to be given the ale. He grinned as he sat next to us, "A rich haul and all the better for knowing we have taken it from the Moors. They are a cruel people." He shook his head. "They hate those who follow the White Christ and they think that every Frank and Viking is a Christian."

  Siggi said, "That is foolish!"

  "I know but to them we all look alike. I think that is what saved you. Had they known what a Viking is really like then the Governor would have enslaved you all. You would be still be rowing but in chains."

  Siggi nodded and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He gave the beaker back to Erik and used both hands to row. "Then I do not think we will venture down here again."

  "There is no need Siggi. Those chests were heavy. If they were all filled with coins then we are rich men."

  "No matter how rich we are some men will waste their coin."

  He gave me a sharp look as Erik took the empty beakers back to the stern. "I have yet to see you spend your coin. What do you do with it?" He looked down at my chest; my bench. "You save it. What for?"

  "I told you the witch told me that my fate lay not in Cyninges-tūn nor serving the Dragonheart but in Frankia. I will be a jarl and when I am I will need coin to pay the men who fight for me."

  "You are ambitious."

  I shook my head, "No I just follow the course the Norns have plotted for me and for us. The Weird Sisters put that treasure ship in our way."

  "Then why did they sink it?"

  I shrugged. "It must mean that this was all that we were intended to take. Had we taken more then we might be the ones others would attack."

  "You are wise, Hrolf... for one so young."

  We rowed until noon and then we could row no further. Sven spied a deserted beach and we headed for it. Ulf Big Nose dragged his weary body ashore and returned an hour later with the news that we were safe; for a while at least.

  While he was ashore we opened the boxes. We would not risk taking them ashore. Counting and dividing would have to wait until we reached somewhere safer than this spit of land. We all wanted to see the fruits of our labour. There was silence for every box was filled with coins. The Arabs had been organised. Each box had either gold, silver or bronze. We had been lucky for only one box of the six was bronze. Three were silver and two gold. We had been lucky.

  Inevitably there were some who moaned. Hermund the Bent shook his head. "Think of the fortune had we managed to get all the gold on that galley!"

  Siggi shook his head, "Be grateful for what we have. Hrolf here said that perhaps the Norns only wished us to have these boxes."

  "The Norns!" That was all he said but it was enough for those who wore them to grasp their Hammer of Thor and beg for his intervention. I gripped my sword.

  The Jarl said, "Hermund the Bent! Risk the wrath of the Norns when you sail alone. While you are in my drekar give them respect!"

  Even the belligerent Hermund realised that he might have gone too far and he withdrew to the safety of his friends.

  Sven came ashore having secured the drekar. "Captain we need somewhere we can beach her." He waved his arms around the desolate sand dunes. "This is no good. We need wood for fires and to repair her. She was hurt."

  "How far can we sail?"

  "I would not wish to risk any further north than Frankia."

  "And we will need supplies. We have gold and jewels but we cannot eat them."

  I ventured, "Close to Neustria there are islands off the coast. Most have trees, some have water and many are without people. We could find one there."

  "Then when we have rested we sail north. What of the wind, Sven?"

  He seemed to sniff the air, like a dog and he nodded, "It is from the south and west. We should be able to do it without rowing."

  "Then we sail until we reach there."

  Oleg, one of Hermund's men, complained, "We sail at night? That is a risk!"

  Siggi snorted, "Are you a woman? We are not sailing west; we sail north!"

  Looking back that was probably the moment the division in the crew began to widen. With so few crew it became more obvious. Hermund and his four men were on one side and Siggi and the rest were on the other. It made for an unhappy drekar. We left after we had all eaten and slept for a couple of hours. Sven and the Jarl worked watch on watch. We all spent some time on watch. It took three days to beat up the coast. The nights were shorter for it was summer and the danger we faced was that of other hunters such as ourselves. We could not have defended ourselves against another drekar.

  We passed two islands which looked to have too many people. The third, a long piece of land, some five miles long, was about the same distance from the mainland. We arrived at dusk and found a beach on the southern shore. It looked perfect and we headed inshore. Ulf Big Nose leapt ashore first and headed up the slope. We did not draw the drekar out of the water. Instead we tethered her to two large rocks. We all took our chests from the drekar except for Sven and the Jarl. Theirs were bigger than ours.

  "We will camp here until Ulf returns with news of the rest of the island. It will not take long. It is but a large rock."

  Hermund said, "Do we divide the treasure now?"

  The Jarl was becoming annoyed with Hermund; we could all see that. "And where would you spend it? This is a rock! You do not need it until we go the land of the Frisians."

  "We have earned it! We should have it now to do with as we wish!"

  "And I am Jarl! It is my decision."

  "Perhaps we should have a different Jarl!"

  Arne Four Toes and Siggi White Hair stood and drew the swords. I drew Heart of Ice. Hermund and his five men stood together but the rest of the crew stood behind Jarl Gunnar. The Jarl shook his head, "When we get to Frisia you and those who support you can have your share and then leave. I will not have men serving me who do not accept my orders."

  Hermund looked at his handful of men. I think he thought he would have had more support. He pointed at me, "It is you! You little runt! You have caused this problem. I will rip your heart out."

  I knew this was a challenge and I stepped forward but before I could say anything Arne and Siggi pointed their own weapons at him. Siggi spat in the sand, "And you will have to come through us first!"

  Erik of Orkneyjar, now Erik One Hand stood up too. "And I may only have one arm but I will fight for this youth who risked his life for me!"

  Siggi White Hair held out a hand to restrain poor Erik One Hand, "Hrolf is the reason we have this treasure. And you, Hermund the Bent, owe him a life. He saved you in the attack on the galley!"

  Hermund slid his sword back into his scabbard. "He did not! I was in no danger."

  Siggi said quietly, "Do not think of calling me a liar, Hermund the Bent. I know what I saw. That scar on your face is proof enough."

  Siggi's single berserk act was enough to cow Hermund who was, at heart both a coward and a bul
ly. "I will not fight an old man! We leave you in Frisia and good riddance!"

  We sat in two groups both eyeing the other warily. When Ulf returned he frowned as he sensed the atmosphere. "Well, Ulf Big Nose?"

  "There is a farm on the other side of the island. A family of five live there. They did not see me. They are fishermen. They have a small boat."

  The Jarl trusted Ulf and his judgement, "Are they a danger?"

  "No, Jarl. Tomorrow we can visit in daylight. Hrolf speaks their language. He can tell them that we mean them no harm. This is a good island. There is water and I saw a stand of trees. If you wished for somewhere to winter I can think of no better place than this. There are five sheltered bays like this around the island. One would be safe from any winter storm."

  "Good, then tomorrow we speak with them. Sven, you can haul the drekar on to the beach tomorrow." Sven nodded and looked pointedly at Hermund. The Jarl went over to Harold Fast Sailing. He was a good helmsman too. "Harold you and Sven can sleep aboard tonight with the ship's boys. I do not wish the drekar to be dragged out to sea. We will sleep on the beach tonight and tomorrow build a hall." He stood. "I will come with you and make sure that the ropes are tightly fastened. I do not doubt your skills but we do not want to be stranded here."

  "Aye well we need to shift the ballast too."

  They were away for quite a while and the shellfish we had cooked with the last of the salted ham was ready before they returned. They carried their two large chests between the three of them. I saw that they had canted the ship over so that it lay at an angle with its keel facing to sea. Siggi frowned as they approached. "How can Sven and Harold sleep on board that?"

  "They will not. When we went on board we saw that two more of the strakes had sprung. Water was pouring into the hull. We reached this berth just in time. Tomorrow we haul her out of the water completely and make a frame to hold her."