by Griff Hosker
“Windar’s Mere has been attacked also.”
“We might have gone by Úlfarr’s Water.” He looked at Eystein.
Eystein shook his head, “You could not have aided us. The damage had already been done.”
Ketil gave me a questioning look. I shook my head. I would explain on the road. “Your men will be tired. We will feed them and march at dawn.”
Ketil said, “We are the Clan of the Wolf. We can march now to help our clan.”
I shook my head and said, “Aðils and Rollo are scouting out the enemy. I would rather fresh men marched and knew what lay ahead. This is not a single warband. It looks to me as though they have scoured the lands of the east for swords.” I emptied the clan amulets we had taken from the dead on to the table. “There are at least ten clans here. Ubba Ragnarsson is from a powerful family. His father, Ragnar Hairy Breeks, has ambitions. He would be a king.”
Erik Shield Bearer had been listening. He said, “Gandálfr who came from Dyflin told me that the ships in Dyflin were headed for a gathering and it was led by Ragnar Lodbrok.”
“That is Ragnar Hairy Breeks. Then he has many men at his command. He has, indeed, grown greedy if he thinks to take on Frankia and the Land of the Wolf. His son, Ubba, must be equally ambitious. Thank you for that knowledge, Erik, although that changes nothing. There are the crews of thirty drekar gathered. We have accounted for two crews, at the very least. With every warrior here and those in the two settlements south of here we can muster less than twenty crews and that means taking farmers and boys.”
Sámr nodded, “Aye, Dragonheart, but farmers and boys of the Clan of the Wolf.”
I heard a shout from outside followed by the sound of hooves. The door opened and Gandálfr rushed in with Beorn Aðilsson. The boy looked exhausted. He had to have ridden at least thirty miles. Every face turned expectantly towards him. Before he spoke, we were in the dark. We hoped his words would enlighten us.
“Jarl Dragonheart, we have found the Danes. They have siege lines around Whale Island and Úlfarrston. They are ringed with fires. All of your drekar and the shipyards are burned. There are five drekar off Whale Island. My father and Rollo headed east and sent me here.”
Haaken shook his head, “‘Heart of the Dragon’, gone!” He shook his head. “They will pay.”
“Now we know the size of the problem. They intend to make this land theirs and the five drekar stop us receiving help from the sea. We leave before dawn. We use every horse and pony we have. I will leave just the town watch, the wounded and the youngest of the boys. The rest of the clan goes to war. We relieve Whale Island and then Úlfarrston. Get rest, for you will need it.”
When they had gone Sámr spoke with Haaken and myself, “Erik Short Toe? The ship’s boys?”
“Speculation is idle, Sámr.” I saw Erik Shield Bearer looking distraught. “Your imaginings will conjure a worse picture than the reality. We are warriors. We deal with that which we find.” He nodded. In truth I feared the worst. Erik Short Toe loved his drekar. If she was burned then, in all likelihood, he was dead too.
I rode with my leaders and the best of our warriors. That was not because we were any better than the men we led but we had to face the possibility of fighting a battle before we reached Whale Island. Each of the leaders carried with him a banner which had had a spell sewn on to it by Kara and her women. My whole wolf standard had been woven by them and Haraldr Leifsson did as his father had done. He carried my banner. Erik rode next to him with my shield. As we rode, I told Ketil of the disaster at Windar’s Mere. He shook his head, “As lovely a place as that is I fear it is cursed. My father and many of my kin died there. My land is harsh and uncompromising but I would not swap it for I can defend it. My eagle’s eyrie lets me sees enemies from afar.
It was in the early afternoon when Aðils and Rollo rode in. Their horses looked weary. “Gruffyd is also besieged, Dragonheart, but by fewer men. Had we been able to signal to him then we might have told him to sally forth for the Danes around his stronghold are thinly spread.”
The Norns were spinning. My plan had been to go to the aid of Whale Island and Úlfarrston. We were seven miles from Úlfarrston and ten miles from the high ground where my son held out. A difference of three miles was nothing.
“We head east and defeat these Danes.”
“But Whale Island?”
“Sámr, I know your family is there and you fear for their safety but think as the man who will lead this clan when I am in the Otherworld. If we destroy these Danes who besiege my son then we increase the size of our army. Aðils, how many men besiege Whale Island and Úlfarrston?”
“A thousand.”
I looked at Sámr. I saw him become a leader in his answer. “We head east and you are right. I must use my mind as Atticus has taught me. My heart can lead me astray.”
As we headed east, I reflected that his grandfather, Wolf Killer, had always thought with his heart and that had been his undoing.
We saw to the south and east burned out and ravaged farms. The Danes had come here. The southern end of Windar’s Mere lay not far away. Eystein’s patrols should have spotted the Danes. I knew now the path they had taken. Gruffyd’s men were watching the High Divide to the south and east. There was a trail which led from the east and past the home my son, Wolf Killer, had made. After his death the people left and it was uninhabited. The Danes knew it well. We would need to settle it again.
It was getting on to dark when we neared Gruffyd’s home. I saw, in the dim light of dusk, the camp fires ringing it. We dismounted a mile away. The wooden walls of my son’s home had a gatehouse and towers. I saw men moving. My son had learned not to light fires which destroyed night vision. The men who had marched were tired. The men who had ridden, my leaders and my best men, were not.
“Rollo, take command here. Rest the men. The rest of you, we will follow Aðils. We spread out and kill as many Danes as we can. Eystein, take the south. Ráðulfr Ulfsson, you have the longest journey. You take the east. Ketil, your men can attack from the north and my men will follow me from the west. Do not make a battle cry. I would not have the Danes alerted.” They nodded. “May the Allfather be with you.”
Erik handed me my shield. I donned my helmet and then put my wolf cloak over the top. I drew my sword.
“Erik Shield Bearer, stay close to me and watch my back! I am getting old. Haraldr we will not need the banner.” I moved my eyes towards Erik and Haraldr nodded. He would keep an eye on the young boy.
Raising my sword, I waved my men off. Aðils led the way. We were running through ground which had not been cleared. We moved in a long and untidy line. We did not run quickly for a fall in heavy mail could alert the Danes. We passed over rough ground and small patches of pasture. We smelled the smoke from their fires and saw them moving. It was not long after dark and they were eating. Their sentries would be watching the stronghold. With the bulk of their army to the west it was the one direction from which they would not expect an attack.
Aðils did not use a shield. He had a sword and a hand axe. The first two Danes died without even registering his presence. One was making water and one was emptying his bowels. They would not be going to Valhalla. As we ran towards the men around the fire one must have seen us and shouted, “The Wolf!”
They frantically reached for weapons. We were running and reached them quickly. I brought Ragnar’s Spirit down on to the back of one Dane who was bending down to grab his sword. I split it open to the backbone. As I brought my blade back up, I backhanded a second Dane under the chin. I severed his throat. I saw Erik make his first kill with a sword as he blocked a Danish sword with his shield and rammed his blade up into the guts of the Dane. They were not mailed and not expecting an attack. All around was the sound of metal on metal. There were men shouting. Some were shouting in anger and others in pain as they died. The men I had brought with me, Erik apart, wore mail. The Danes we fought wore tunics and breeks. Few had had time to don their helmets. I knew t
hat Ráðulfr and Eystein would have had a harder time as our noise would have alerted their camps but I knew, even as Danes tried to flee, that we had won. When the gates opened and Gruffyd led his warriors to sally forth then the battle was over.
It took a couple of hours to ensure that all the Danes were dead. We needed no prisoners and the wounded were despatched without the benefit of a sword in their hand. When Ráðulfr and Eystein brought their men and the booty they had collected I sent Erik to fetch the rest of our men.
“I knew you would come, father.”
As we went into his stronghold, I told him of the three attacks and the situation further west. He nodded, “The first that we knew was when families began to flood into our walls. We had not watched to the north. We watched to the south and east. They came by Elfrida’s Stad?”
“Aye, and that is my error.” I looked at Sámr, “Hopefully, when you lead the clan you will not make as many mistakes as I have.”
“No, great grandfather, these are not mistakes. This is the Norns. Your decisions are wise ones. I questioned this one and I was proved wrong.”
We entered Gruffyd’s walls. “How many men can you bring tomorrow when we go to Úlfarrston?”
“We lost some but I can leave enough to defend my walls and still bring fifty good warriors.”
It would not be enough but it would have to do. “When Rollo arrives with the rest of the men, we will have a counsel of war and I will tell you my plans.”
Gruffyd had plenty of food and we had taken much from the Danes. We ate well and I went through all my plans in detail. Our men rested for we would have a short sleep before we went to battle again. This time we knew where they were and we knew the land. We would use both to our advantage. I had men make rafts. They were crude but they would come in handy. I was not certain if the three Danish camps were communicating with each other. I planned on attacking at dawn but I had twenty fresh men I would use as a skirmish line to warn of any Dane who approached our camp. My plan involved precise timing. If I began at the wrong time then we were doomed to failure.
My leaders were happy with the plan. While those who had not seen each other for some time caught up on the battles they had fought I took Eystein to one side. “Are you happier now that you have bested the Danes?”
“I am but we all feel guilty about letting you down.”
“A Viking does not regret his mistakes. Most of us make too many. I know that I have and it has cost me and my people dear. The secret is to learn from your mistakes. You have now fought in a battle. Tomorrow will be even harder for we will fight men who outnumber us. That is why Ráðulfr Ulfsson is on one flank and Ketil Windarsson on the other. You and your men are with Sámr and Baldr behind me and the men of Cyninges-tūn. You will be behind the banner. The Danes will come to take me and my banner. It will be your spears behind which will defend me.”
“And we will. I have amends to make!”
My skirmishers found and killed three Danes who came east. I knew not if they were messengers or came to give orders. When they did not return to the main armies then Ubba Ragnarsson and Sven the Boneless would know that something was amiss. That could not be helped. My plan allowed for them to prepare for an attack. I would just surprise them with the direction from which we came. It would be our knowledge of the land and the moon which would give us the element of surprise.
We made the six miles to the river before dawn. We saw their campfires to the west and the sentries. We saw the shadows of their drekar lying off the mouth of the river. It was low tide. At this time of year, the tides were very low. We had learned that to our cost and lost some drekar to the sandbanks. Now we would use the low tide to cross where they did not expect us. We would ford the river. The rafts we had made were for the slingers, the bows, strings and the extra arrows we had brought from Gruffyd’s Stad. It was my plan and I led. The ten men who were with me at the front each had a rope around his body. The water only came to our waists for most of the crossing. We did not rush for we did not want to alert the Danes. When we were within a hundred paces of the west bank the current became stronger and the water deeper. It was why the ten men at the front had mail. I felt the river fighting to push me over. I leaned forward as though I was in a shield wall and dug my feet in. At one point water washed over my head but it was brief and I was prepared. After that the river became shallower and the current less strong.
I was not the first one to reach the other bank. That was Ráðulfr followed by Beorn and Ráðgeir. I struggled up through the mud. I had chosen this point because the first people who had built upon this river, in the time after the Romans, had built a quay. The wood structure had gone but the piles in the mud remained. I took the rope from around me and tied it off around one of the piles. I stood and waved my arm to the warband in the water. They could now pull themselves against the current.
Aðils had not crossed the river. My shape shifter had left before we did and had infiltrated the Danish lines. He now rose like a wraith from the dark and made his way towards me. He pointed and spoke in my ear as my men gradually emerged dripping, from the water. “They are gathering further north. They are trying to combine their two besieging armies. A few men wait at Whale Island. They expect us from the northeast. I had to slay two of their sentries. It will reinforce their belief that we come from Gruffyd’s Stad across the land.”
“And the other Danes?”
“There is a camp four hundred paces to the east of us. It is three hundred paces from Úlfarrston.”
“You have done well. Go and find your son.”
The low tide told me that we had another hour before dawn. That gave us the chance to form our lines and for the archers to string their bows. Knowing that they had an almost unguarded camp was a gift from the gods. We formed up as the sky over the High Divide lightened. I faced my line of spears and looked along. All were ready. I raised my sword and turned. We began to walk towards the camp which was just coming to life. They would have a rude awakening.
Once again, we made good progress before we were seen and, by then, it was too late. The first rays of the new day flashed into the eyes of the Danes. When we struck our blades would flash as they rose and fell. Our banners were flying and Raibeart ap Pasgen would know that I had come to his aid. Most of the Danes had decamped and were waiting for us to the north west. There were still a hundred or so warriors in the camp. That would be just enough to keep the defenders occupied. This time there was no reason to be silent.
“Clan of the Wolf!” The words were roared out along the line. It was a ragged line. Sámr and Baldr, along with the younger warriors were running hard. It was they who tore into the camp. The Danes had not donned mail. Sámr and Baldr were like farmers harvesting barley. They scythed through bodies. I heard a shout from ahead as Raibeart led his men from behind their walls and between us we slew every Dane save for the handful who turned and fled to the sea. Their drekar still bobbed upon the water. Without mail the survivors risked Ran to reach their drekar.
While my men finished off the wounded, Raibeart and I met and clasped arms. “I knew you would come but I did not expect you to walk on water. I would be careful, Jarl Dragonheart, lest the Christians think you are the White Christ reborn!”
I laughed, “And that will never happen! They have moved north to fight us. How many are there before your walls?”
“We counted five hundred but I know there are as many at Whale Island.”
“And now I have given them a dilemma. They have combined their armies but, until they spy us, they are in the dark. When they spy us what do they do? Do they just try to hold us here? Are there crews on the drekar in the estuary and should they use them? If they take some time to attack us then they have combined their forces. It matters not what they do, I have made my plans. I will put my archers and slingers in your walls. Have your men with mail join our rear ranks. Your walls will be our bastion and I will put my best men on the right flank.”
“I will
make it so.”
“Ráðgeir, have the archers and slingers go into Úlfarrston.” I cupped my hands, “Form shield wall!” We were having to adapt our plans but they were improved rather than harmed. “Ráðgeir and Ketil, form your men on the right flank and angle them backwards!”
“Aye jarl.”
To an untrained eye it would have looked like chaos but men knew who was their shield brother. In many cases that had been their oar brother. They went to fight next to those with whom they felt comfortable. Haaken One Eye was on one side of me and Rollo Thin Skin on the other. Aðils Shape Shifter commanded the archers on Úlfarrston’s walls. Raibeart’s men were the third rank and they all had mail. They were not Viking. Most were of mixed blood but they all knew how to fight in a shield wall. They would add their weight if and when the Danes threw themselves at our shields.
They did not attack for some time and I knew that they had managed to combine all of their men. We could be facing almost a thousand men. The sun had risen by the time we saw the Danes advancing. The sun was getting higher and I saw it reflecting from the mail of the Danes. They would overlap us but they could not know that my archers and slingers would assault their right flank. Their left flank would, in all probability, push back Ketil and the others on our right flank. I had planned on that happening. I saw the pigtailed warrior that was Sven the Boneless. I recognised his shield which had a skull upon it. I recognised Ubba Ragnarsson’s banner. It had an eagle tearing out the heart of a wolf. Was that why he felt the need to destroy me? Was I the wolf? The banners remained behind the lines of warriors who advanced. We had had no opportunity to spoil the ground before us or make it harder to cross. The Danes themselves had done a good job for the warriors now marched over the land which they themselves had used to empty their bowels when they had had their siege camp. They came steadily with their shields held before them. They knew of my archers and would be ready to lift their shields in a moment. Aðils Shape Shifter and my archers were facing the right-hand side of the Danes. They had no shields there. In the first shower of arrows we could hurt their right flank. Sámr and Baldr now commanded the left flank with their younger warriors. I had given my great grandson the opportunity to win this battle. Would he take it?
