Viking Dragon (24 page)

Leif had already put up my shelter for the night. He was unpacking my mail as I reached him. He looked up at the skies and shook his head, "This damp will do nothing for the mail, Jarl."

"Coat it in seal oil and that will give it protection." Ragnar's Spirit hung from my waist.  That was protected by a sheepskin scabbard which was coated in oil.

Haaken approached me.  He looked bedraggled and his hair hung lankly down his head.  I saw that he was losing hair now. It was a sign of our age.  He shook his head, "My only consolation is that King Egbert is suffering as much as we are."

Olaf shook his head, "He may be safe in Wintan-ceastre. Perhaps it is we who are the fools."

"And a few nights in the open is a small price to pay, Olaf Leather Neck.  The alternative is for us to wait until they have devastated the lands to the south of us and we are penned in Cyninges-tūn."

"You are right, Jarl.  Anyone would think I was a warrior on his first raid complaining because his mother had not cooked his meal!"

Wolf Killer arrived the next day at noon.  Our hunters brought in game but no news of the Saxons and we continued our preparations for war.  It was Sigtrygg's people for whom I felt sympathy.  They were forced to stay within his walls and to have two large warbands nearby.

A rider galloped in from the north just after the sun had set.  He threw himself from his horse, "Jarl Dragonheart, I come from Siggi. He has been to the Dee and spied upon Caestir. There is a great host assembling: Mercians, the men of Wessex and some Danes."

"Did he estimate numbers?"

"No Jarl for Saxon ships chased him to sea."

"And when was this?"

"Three days since."

"Tell Siggi he has done well.  Ask him to wait at the mouth of the Ēa Lōn.  Watch for our signals."

I sat with Sigtrygg, Wolf Killer and Haaken.  "We know he comes.  The question is when?"

Sigtrygg said, "Although it is but a two day march from the Dee if he has baggage and horses to carry it then it will take up to four days. There are few roads from the south and the poor weather means he will not travel swiftly."

"Then tomorrow I send for Ketil and Ulf.  We will need their men.  They have Danes." The Danes were nothing more than mercenaries.  They would fight for any master but they were devious.  When they had served they stayed and took the land anyway. It was a worry.

Raibeart Ap Pasgen and his men arrived the next day.  They were mixture of Norse and the warriors of Úlfarrston.  Although there were just thirty of them they had fought alongside us on many occasions and all were well armed.  Six had full mail byrnies and he had six archers.  In times such as these every stone we had made a larger wall. Our warriors were the wall against which the Saxons would break.

Two days later first Ketil Windarsson and then Ulf Olafsson arrived.  There was still no sign of the Saxons but we knew that they were somewhere to the south of us. Aiden had built the dam and the water level at the ford was much lower.  The enemy would be tempted to cross in greater numbers. Aiden would be responsible for ordering its destruction. He had young boys placed at intervals between the ford and the dam.  When the Saxons were in the vicinity he would be at the dam. We gave him and his messengers good horses for we would need every man that we could muster to fight such a mighty host.

Snorri was not happy that he could not be out with the hunters and the scouts but I insisted that he organize the archers.  We had over fifty of them and they were almost a third of our entire force of warriors.  We had another forty farmers but I was loath to risk them in the shield wall.  They would defend the walls.

It was the Ulfheonar who brought us news of the enemy.  Erik and Rollo were the first ones to return, "Jarl, we have seen Saxon scouts.  They are ten miles south of us."

Aiden mounted his horse, "I will go to the dam."

Over the next few hours the rest of our hunters returned and each brought the same story.  A large army was heading north.  Then we had disastrous news.  The warriors assigned to signal Siggi came back to tell us that four Saxon ships were in the estuary and were landing men on the northern shore.

"Jarl, there are fifty warriors.  They will be landing even now."

"Do they have mail?"

"No Jarl."

"Haaken stay here with the Ulfheonar. Wolf Killer bring your warband.  We will meet these before they can organize themselves."

We had rested for some days and we ran the two miles to the mouth of the estuary. I knew that landing from any ship was difficult but a Saxon ship had to land further out in the water. They would be like drowned rats when they got ashore.  We had to hit them and hit them hard. Wolf Killer had forty men and half were mailed.  More importantly all were oathsworn.  They were called the Wild Boars and they were ferocious fighters.

As we ran towards the coast I said, "We just hit them as hard as we can.  It will take the rest of the day for Egbert and his men to get to the ford.  I am guessing this landing is to catch us by surprise. They will not have anticipated that we would be waiting for them."

We saw their masts before we reached the coast.  I was aware that the younger warriors were leaving me behind.  I forced myself to catch them up.  As we reached the headland which overlooked the sand banks of the treacherous estuary I saw that only two ships had managed to land their men.  The other two lay grounded on the mud flats some way from the shore.  The tide went out very rapidly in this bay. When we were seen an alarm was raised and those that had reached the beach tried to form a shield wall.  It was hard for they were covered in mud and their clothes were soaked.

"For the Dragonheart!"

Wolf Killer's cry heralded our attack and we tore into the shambolic shield wall. We had no order but we needed none for we had all fought together before. They were slow to move and we were fresher. They hurried to the firmer sand of the shore. As the spear came towards my head I easily fended it off with my shield and, pressing close, stabbed the warrior through the chest. The warrior behind did not even have time to thrust at me and I brought Ragnar's Spirit over my shoulder to hack him across the neck.  We were through the flimsy shield wall and the rest ran from our ferocious attack.  They ran back to their ships..

"Hold, Wolf Killer! If we go out on to the mud we, too, might get stuck."

"But we cannot leave them! They are a threat!" My son pointed his sword at the two ships which were less than forty paces from us.

"Not for long." I pointed at Siggi's knarr.  Siggi knew the waters as well as his own hand and he had sailed in these channels many times.  The Saxons could do nothing about him and I saw Erik and his crew with fire arrows.  They might not have been the greatest of archers but they could not miss at twenty paces. They set the sails and masts alight and soon it spread to the hulls. Both of the ships which were stuck began to burn.  Their crews threw themselves overboard and the thick, cloying mud dragged them down.

Siggi turned and headed out to sea again. Wolf Killer said, "Why does he leave?"

"Watch, he will block the mouth of the estuary. These ships are going nowhere." The two ships to which the survivors of our attack had fled were both stuck on the mud flats.  When the tide came in Siggi and his two knarr would do the same to them.

Even as we watched we saw Saxons sinking beneath the mud and the waves. As the tide came in they began to drown.  A few managed to make it to the remaining two Saxon ships but they would not trouble us. Egbert's plan had hit a problem; the river. We took Saxon weapons, shields and helmets and headed back to our camp. We reached there at dark.  When we peered across the valley we saw the first Saxon fires being lit on the southern bluff above the river. Egbert and his allies had come. We had had the skirmish, next would come the battle and I was under no illusions.  The next one would not be as easy.

Wolf Killer shook his head, "We were lucky that they landed the way that they did, father. Had the mud not held them they were a formidable force which might have caused us trouble."

"No, Egbert planned badly.  He did not scout this river.  We all know that it has mud flats and shoals. Our luck was in having Siggi and an experienced crew patrolling. I know that Erik Short Toe had much to do with that victory.  He knows how to win. And it is now that we have the advantage for Egbert will not know the fate of his ships. He will camp and expect his men to be creeping up for an attack on our western flank. Come the morrow he will be disappointed."

Sigtrygg joined us, "I am glad that you were here Jarl. What now?"

"We light no fires to tell the Saxons we are here.  We make them wonder.  They will see your stad but the land between will be bathed in darkness. One in four men will be on guard and we rotate every two hours.  I want all of our men to be rested for the battle."

I went to see my Ulfheonar. "Tonight I want you to be ready to battle."

"You want us to attack the Saxons?"

"No, I want you to go half way between where we killed the Saxons and our camp. When I come we will make a noise as though we are being attacked. I want Egbert to think that his men have succeeded and attacked our right flank.  In the morning he will attack this flank and we will be waiting. After we have feigned an attack we camp on this flank. We stand no guard this night but I suspect we will hear them if they try anything.  We are, after all, Ulfheonar."

Wrapping ourselves in our wolf skins we lay down on the slopes of the northern bluff. We were not a large number but, if the Saxons tried a night attack, then we would be the first to know.

I said, "Ready?"

The Ulfheonar were keen to play this trick and they said, "Aye!"

I counted to three and then we began banging shields with the shafts of our spears and shouting.  Haaken made some wonderful noises as he died at least ten times. I said, "Gradually quieten down as though we have all been slain!"

Inevitably it was Haaken who was the last to die and then there was silence. The grins on their faces told me that my warriors had enjoyed the trick.  We lay down.  As with the others, one in four would watch. I wondered what the rest of our army had made of it.  We were well to the west and isolated.  All that they would have heard would have been a cacophony of battle noises.

When I awoke Haaken was sitting up and looking south. "Do you hear something?"

"No Jarl, at least not here." He pointed to the east where there was a faint lightness in the sky.  "But they are stirring."

"Then when I have made water we will rejoin our brothers.  If they try to come now we will see them.  There is no dark of night in which they can hide." As I walked down the slope I felt the breeze from the west and the smell of the smoke from the burned out Saxon ships. I knew that when dawn broke I would see their skeletons on the mud flats.  Over years they would be broken up by the sea and disappear but, for now, they were a reminder of the failure of the Saxons. It gave me hope.

I finished and returned to my men.  They had awoken, disturbed, no doubt, by our earlier words. "Come let us join the rest of the army."

We headed east into the rising sun. It would be a grey day.  I could see that from the thin sun which peered over the hills to the east. If the wind was from the west then that would bring rain.  It always did in this part of the world. It might aid us for it would make the bank up which they had to climb even more slippery. When we reached Wolf Killer and my other jarls I saw that the water barrels had been emptied down the slope during the night.

He laughed, "That sounded a fierce battle last night but I am guessing that they did not come then, father?"

"No.  Perhaps they knew their attack had failed or were waiting for a signal which never came.  It does not matter we know where they will attack today. Are Aiden's messengers in place?"

"They are."

I nodded, "There will be a delay between the signal to break the dam and the water arriving.  I want some of the men of Wessex on this slope before the water strikes them."

I went to find Snorri. He and his archers were close by the walls of the stad. There was a dell just below the ridge and the rest of the army was on the other side of the ridge. Snorri could not see the Saxons but, more importantly, they could not see him either. He was awake already although some of his men slept. "You are ready Snorri?"

"I am but you know I would rather stand in the shield wall with you.  This feels wrong.  There is no Beorn and I lead strangers."

"But we both know that you and the archers you lead can swing this battle in our favour. Egbert will be looking for archers before he launches his attack.  You and your men must remain hidden until he has committed to the attack.  When the attack is broken then you can join us."

"Erik Ulfsson says that he counted their fires and they have almost double our number of warriors."

"Perhaps but we have played that trick before have we not?  We have lit fires and had them tended by one warrior. Besides these men have marched many leagues and are far from home.  I will take these odds."

"And yet we now have less than fifteen Ulfheonar."

"True but we have Wolf Killer's Wild Boars and the oathsworn of Sigtrygg, Ketil and Ulf are doughty warriors. Asbjorn was Ulfheonar and the men he leads are well armed.  Trust in our people." He nodded.  "It is Beorn who is on your mind is it not?"

"He came so close to death that I began to dream of my own. I have neither wife nor son. All that will remain of me when I am killed is a line in one of Haaken's sagas.  That will soon be forgotten. I see Cnut Cnutson and see his father.  Young Ragnar is evidence that Wolf Killer has lived and yet what do I have?"

"You have the chance to make that right when we return from this battle.  We defeat the Saxons and you take a woman.  Spend the winter making babies!"

He stared at me and I could almost see the thoughts in his eyes.  Was I becoming a galdramenn? Then suddenly he smiled as a brief shaft of light from the east lit up the dragon which hung around my neck. "We will prevail, I have seen the dragon smile.  When the dragon roars then we shall win!"

It was as though the scales had been removed from my own eyes.  I had a sudden idea.  "Thank you Snorri!"

I raced to find my son and grandson. "Ragnar, find yourself a horse.  A good horse; for today you ride!"

"I am not leaving you am I grandfather?"

"No, my young warrior.  Today you carry the dragon banner. I want you to wait with it by Aiden and when he releases the river then you will ride down the valley holding the dragon banner and making it wail."

He looked puzzled but Wolf Killer knew what I intended. "And the Saxons will see the water but to them it will be a dragon, hurtling towards them."

I nodded, "And if you are on the sky line then they will see the dragon too. You must wear a helmet.  Now go and I will get Leif to bring you the banner."

Leif carried both banners, my dragon and my wolf.  Today we would fight under the wolf banner but it would be the dragon who would bring victory. Ragnar returned as the sky was becoming light enough to see the Saxons stirring. "Now do not open the banner until you reach Aiden.  Tell him what we plan and he will tell you when to ride."

Wolf Killer reached up and clasped his son's hand.  "Today you fight in your first battle, my son and it will be under the eyes of Jarl Dragonheart and his Ulfheonar.  There is no greater honour!"

I saw Ragnar's eyes light up at the thought and he galloped off.  If any sharp eyed Saxon saw the young rider heading east they would think he went for reinforcements.

More confident about our plans we now rejoined our warbands. We would not be one continuous line.  I was trying to deceive Egbert. I wanted him to think that there were divisions amongst my men.  I knew that his Saxons would not trust each other.  I wanted him to believe that we were the same.  In addition I wanted him to think we had fewer numbers than we really had. Each warband would be separate from all of the others. The largest warband was that of Wolf Killer and he had but thirty men. Mine had sixteen. We would look pathetically thin in numbers. Our success relied on a number of factors but the control my jarls had over their men would be the most crucial.

Egbert was being careful. He had fought me before. When I saw his men dismantling trips and traps by the river I could not help but smile.  He had expected a night attack with my Ulfheonar.  They had feared us so much that they had put cord and dug pits to catch us as we came. He would have had many sentries out at night and they would now be tired. Egbert would watch for more tricks from me. The ones we would use were Aiden's magic and he would not have seen them before.  I saw him and King Coenwulf as they gathered with their eorledmen and priests on the bluffs opposite. Their priests carried their cross and the boxes containing the relics of their saints. The two kings were looking at our battle lines and seeking our strategy. I saw his horsemen.  They were to the east of his main battle line.  They would, no doubt, ride upstream and try to cross there. Between the main army and Aiden were a line of boys.  They would signal and they would seed the banks with horse killers.  The three pointed spikes would come as a nasty surprise.

After a long discussion five warriors descended to the ford and, with shields held before them, began to cross. They used their spears to poke the bottom of the ford for spikes and holes. They found none but they were wary. We allowed them to cross. They were less than fifty paces from Sigtrygg and his men.  Suddenly the ten boy slingers who were behind the warband raced to the side and whirled their slingshots. The river stones flew at the five Saxons.  One was too slow to raise his shield and he fell in the river.  As he was dragged to safety by the others Sigtrygg's band cheered.

The leader of the scouts reported back to Egbert.  He seemed satisfied that he had seen what he thought was our trick, slingers behind a shield wall.  He turned and spoke.  A horn sounded.  I saw the horsemen head up the valley and a column of men began to march down towards the river. It was not a wedge.  It was a block of men ten wide and fifteen ranks deep.  The front and the sides were mailed men.  It was more than two thirds of his army. I waited until they had reached the river before I had Leif signal the first of the boys messengers.  We had practised this. The message to release the dam would not reach Aiden until the column was just emerging from the river. I guessed that at least four of the ranks would have crossed before the water struck.

"Ketil, Ulf, forward!"Almost anticipating my order the other two warbands marched down to join Sigtrygg. They now formed one line. The thirty boy slingers who were attached to them hurled their stones. The Saxons raised their shields to protect themselves from the stone storm. None were hurt but they had to slow and they bunched up. As they stepped ashore they found that their feet had no purchase on the slippery bank. The water Aiden had poured down the hill had made it slippery.  The more that men used it then the muddier and more slippery it would become. Three warriors fell when their feet slipped and stones struck those within the column.  They halted while they reorganised. This caused bunching so that the river was completely filled by the column.  The three ranks in the northern bank had to move before the column could continue its progress.

In the distance we heard the wailing begin. My men had all heard it but not the Saxons and the Danes.  I looked across the river and saw the consternation amongst the Saxons.  What did this portend? There was a ripple in the column as the Saxons looked upstream to discern the cause of the strange and eerie noise. The clatter of stones on the shields suddenly sounded like an ominous drumbeat and still the wail came closer as Ragnar galloped down the valley.  I trusted my grandson.  He would be keeping pace with the wall of water which was hurtling down the river. Sigtrygg would not need any more orders.  As soon as the water struck he knew what he had to do.

I looked to the left and saw Ragnar approaching, the banner held high. As I glanced to the river I saw the wall of water. It was almost as high as a man. Turning back I saw Ragnar pull back in the reins and rear his horse. He spun the horse around in a circle to maintain the wail and then Sigtrygg  launched his attack at the three ranks who had made the northern bank of the river. The eyes of the column were upstream and not on the spears of Sigtrygg, Ketil and Ulf. The water and the spears struck together.  The power of the water took me by surprise. It swept those in the river from their feet. I saw some struggling a hundred and fifty paces downstream, towards the sea.  Many disappeared beneath the wave never to reappear. Their armour and shields dragged them to the bottom. The slingers moved closer to hurl stones at the now bare heads of warriors who tried to swim to safety. The front three ranks were slain to a man as three warbands stabbed, hacked and hewed at warriors who had no idea just what was going on.  This was not war this was magic.  The Saxon horn sounded and those that could, made their way back.

Just then I heard a shout from Wolf Killer and saw his warband swing to face north. It was the horsemen.  They had crossed the river.  The horse killers had thinned their number but twenty of them rode at the Wild Boars.  I had placed our strongest warband there for just such a purpose. My Ulfheonar also turned but there was no urgency.  I trusted my son and he would hold these horsemen. If they thought to intimidate us they were wrong.  The wall of shields never wavered.  The horsemen flowed around the shield wall and their horses had to suffer spears and axes as well as the stones from ten slingers.