Viking Raid (16 page)

It was half a joke.  "I would not do that, Jarl.  Others have tried and lost men, ships and their lives."

He laughed, "I heard of the fate of Magnus Klak and Rorik.  I knew them both from when I was younger." He shook his head, "I am not so drunk that I would threaten you; not the man who wields the sword touched by the Gods.  No I am not going to try to take your land.  Good luck to you, you got there first. Still there are others who do not like you."

"You cannot please everyone.  So long as my people like me then I am content."

"Ah, mine fear me! That is the difference."

"And what do you hear of Mann?"

"A nest of vipers.  Thank the Allfather you killed Kolbjorn the Slighter. He and his men had been using Mann to raid my lands.  He always retreated back to his island and his fort.  It would have cost me too many men to take it."

"Who rules there now?"

"I know not.  I heard rumours that there were many men vying for the right to rule the island although I cannot see why.  You lived there, did you not?"

"We took it from the Saxons when Prince Butar was alive. My wife's brother ruled it for a while."

"It is a poorer prospect than here.  At least they have so many children that there is a constant supply of slaves. Mann has none."

Aiden and the steward returned.  Hakon poured the last of the wine into his horn and quaffed it. I stood.  "I am pleased that we are friends now and trade.  If you wish to trade with me then you needs must come to Úlfarrston but I counsel you to come in peace for the ruler there, Pasgen, has suffered raids from here before."

"Thank you for the warning."

As we walked back to my drekar I asked, "You only have two ships in harbour?"

"Aye the rest are raiding." He held up a hand, "Do not fear it is not your land. They have gone to Strathclyde.  The pickings are poor but the warriors there are even worse than those who live on this island. We take their slaves and animals.  Their weapons are not worth melting down." He smiled, "Now the weapons of Cyninges-tūn are said to be the finest outside Frankia."

I laughed, "And the price of a single weapon would buy a whole barrel of this wine."

He clasped my arm. He had sobered up. He spoke quietly, "This is for my men.  They will know we are friends.  That makes you safe to travel my waters but, more importantly, it means I am your friend and I am safe too. They would not wish to make an enemy of you."

As we sailed east and home my thoughts were not on the Jarl of Dyflin but on Magnus the Foresworn.  If Kolbjorn the Slighter came from Mann then his crew, and presumably Magnus, would have returned there. He was now close to my home and who knew what murderous intent was in his head. I had much to think on. I would speak with Kara and see if she had sensed any danger.

We unloaded the ships; all of us were pleased to be home. At this time of year my land always looked at its best.  While we landed the treasure and cargo from the ships I told Pasgen and his son what had happened.  Both were sad for Trygg was even more part of their world than mine. I did not envy Siggi telling Trygg's wife the news. As we prepared to head back to our home I had a few last words for Erik.  "We will be raiding again.  Probably in a month's time; the Saxons this time.  Will we be ready?"

"Aye Jarl." He nodded towards Karl and Cnut.  Those two are interested in Haaken Siggison's new ship. I think Karl, especially, is ambitious.  He wonders who will captain the ship we captured."

"That is you decision Erik.  He is your ship's boy.  He wishes to be a captain but only you know if he is good enough."

"Oh he is good enough but…" he laughed, "I am truly becoming older, Jarl. He sailed it well enough on the way back here and I now have Cnut.  I see now how hard it must have been for those who trained me to let me go."

"Do not worry Erik, there will be many volunteers to be ship's boys. Cnut Cnutson is good and you can find someone equally good. Of course when we raid the knarr will stay here.  Karl could come with us.  He might like the profits he would make.  Have you explained to him the cost a captain incurs?"

"Not yet.  He may choose to remain as my assistant."

I followed the carts as they carried our treasure, gold and wine back to our home.  The winter would be a good one. The harvest of oats, rye and barley looked good.  The sheep and the cattle had fared well.  If the Gods were kind and we had a clement winter we might even increase our numbers.

Aiden rode ahead on a pony. Kara liked a warning that we were returning.  It was mainly so that she could prepare food. I walked with Haaken and Sigtrygg. "We raid again in a month.  Does that sit well with you?"

"We have had much idle time Jarl.  For my own part I am ready. Where do we raid?"

I looked at Sigtrygg Thrandson. "I thought to raid the Ribble and the Lune. They are close and you know them well."

Sigtrygg nodded.  His family had lived there until the Northumbrians attacked them.  It had only been my intervention which had saved them.  The fact that it was now part or Mercia would not worry Sigtrygg; they were Saxons. "I like the notion. We can be there in a few hours.  We could even do it without drekar."

I smiled, "Perhaps you are becoming a Galdramenn for that was in my mind. I would take half of the Ulfheonar and crew my ship with men from Cyninges-tūn.  You would take the other half of the Ulfheonar and other warriors."

Haaken nodded, "Clever.  We approach from the sea and they see us fleeing inland where Sigtrygg is ready to sweep them up."

"You are both reading my mind already. Aye I have a mind to make it a long raid. We would stay there until we had rid the land of Mercians and Northumbrians.  Northumbria will do nothing.  It is finished but Coenwulf will send warriors north and they will not have enough warriors be able to attack the men of Dyfed at the same time. When they come north we will already have headed back to our home for the winter."

Haaken smiled, "The Welsh are paying us?" I nodded.  "And we get to capture slaves, treasure and animals?"

"We do!"

"Then by this time next year I shall have golden mail."

Haaken did not shut up all the way home.  Sigtrygg was more thoughtful.  He was thinking of his father, Thrand, whose body lay in the land we would be raiding.  For Sigtrygg this would be personal and I would not like to be the Saxons who stood up to him.

The whole of Cyninges-tūn turned out to greet us.  That was partly in honour of our success but also to mark the passing of the dead.  Trygg had been part of Cyninges-tūn.  His voyages had kept them supplied.  They would remember him and their cheers were as much for the dead as they were for us.

We left once we had our harvest in. Wolf Killer wanted to be with his family and he did not accompany us.  I understood that and there were more volunteers to fight than we had space for.  The men who had been to Galicia had come back as rich men.  All now had a fine helmet and sword.  Some even had a short byrnie. Success breeds success and we were also raiding the Saxons. They were our natural enemy.  I think another lure was the fact that we would only be away for weeks and not months. The Ribble and the Lune were just a good days' march from Úlfarrston.

My shoulder had healed completely.  I told Bjorn of the success of his metal shoulder plates. "When this raid is over I have an idea for plates for your knees and legs.  You are not getting any younger, Jarl, and if your knees and joints are anything like mine you need all the protection you can get."

He was right.  I was now the same age as Prince Butar had been when we had left for Mann.  I did not feel old but Prince Butar had appeared old to me. Perhaps I appeared old to those around me. When I saw my reflection in the clear waters in the early morning I caught sight of the flecks of grey which appeared in my beard.

Kara's dreams as well as Aiden's had been trouble free and both deemed that the omens for a successful raid were good. Sigtrygg and his men marched south the day before we left on the drekar. He took Bjorn the Scout and I retained Snorri.  Our plan was simple. We would sail to the Ribble and begin our drive north.  Sigtrygg and his men would wait, like a line of beaters south of the Lune. Once we had achieved our first objective then Sigtrygg would head north and wait north of the Lune.  He and his men had the harder task for they had to move invisibly through the land.  If the game was alerted then they would flee south and our plans would have failed. We were trying to draw King Coenwulf's attention to the north of his land and away from Dyfed and Gwent.

We sailed south but kept well away from the coast. The drekar had every oar manned by two warriors. We did not need to use the oars but it was good to know that we could move quickly if we had to. Erik had two new ships' boys.  Leif had replaced Karl and I noticed a more confident Cnut Cnutson showing the newcomer how to scurry up the mast quickly.

Erik used his innate sense of the sea to decide when we would make the turn towards the coast. We lowered the sail and manned the oars so that we would be hidden. Cnut was at the masthead and he whistled to alert us to the coast.  He waved his arm south. Erik corrected his course slightly. As we approached I recognised the familiar shore.  We would wait by the beach until dark.  There were dunes and pine forests south of the river and few people lived there. It was in the fertile land to the north that people prospered. We would then head north after dark and enter the river. There was a small fishing village at the end of the estuary, Lytham, and we would land there first.  There was no fort but the handful of boats could warn those who lived in Prestune, just a few miles upstream, of our arrival.

As the afternoon turned to dusk we headed north. I watched the sky darkening to the east.  Cnut, this time, was at the prow. Leif was half way down the drekar to repeat signals. When he waved his arm to the right then I knew we had reached the river.  The motion of the drekar changed as the waters became choppier. The river and sea fought with each other for mastery of the estuary. I went to the prow to see for myself what lay ahead. Across the water came the faint smell of wood smoke.  I caught the hint of a glow from a hut. As my eyes adjusted to the land I saw the fishing boats drawn up on the beach. I donned my helmet. Erik took us in gently.  While Cnut prepared to leap ashore I watched for any sign that we had been seen. The land appeared silent. It was low tide and Erik ran the bow of the drekar on to the sand.  Either by good luck or perhaps his skill it did not strike any of the fishing boats and we barely made a sound as we slid slowly across the sand. I followed Cnut ashore. He ran with a rope and tied it to the mooring post the fishermen used for their fishing boats.

I made my way up the slope to the village. I drew my sword as I went. My men began to follow.  The Ulfheonar were directly behind me.  There were just a handful; the rest were with Sigtrygg. Behind them came my warriors. We were more than enough for this small village.  I waved my sword to the left and the right. The line of men spread out. Up ahead a dog barked and was silenced by a shout from inside a hut. It was too late to worry now. The warriors who came with us had no mail and they quickly surrounded the village.  I saw that there were just eight huts.  That matched the number of fishing boats we had seen.  There were eight families.

I was about to signal for the men to enter the huts when a man emerged from one of them.  He spied Siggi the Silent.  Before Siggi could react he had shouted the alarm.  Siggi ran him through but the damage was done. Men ran from the huts and were either slain or overcome. The fact that they saw the wolf skins helped us to subdue them. The women and the children were terrified by these red eyed monsters that pounced upon them. Within a few strikes of our swords it was over.

"Find any animals and treasure.  Drive them to the drekar!"

I watched as the villagers and animals were driven towards the sea. There were six women, two men and ten children.  The two sheep and the cow would be butchered before we boarded. It would make their transportation easier. The fact that we were on the beach made life much simpler and we soon had them aboard. There were few of them and they were overwhelmed by us. The rising tide lifted us off the sand and we headed east. The men were bound as were the older boys. Erik and his crew could watch them. The carcasses of the animals had been roughly chopped to make their storage easier and they were being packed into the two barrels we had brought.  Deck space was tight and it would only get worse.  As we headed up the narrow river I wondered if I should have brought a knarr too.

Prestune was a larger place than Lytham and I knew not if it had had its defences improved in the last few years. It had been some time since we had raided. The Northumbrians had not defended it well but now that the King of Mercia ruled who knew? We were on the very fringes of Mercia here and I knew that we would have to go further south some time to irritate Coenwulf who would be far to the south in his fort of Tamworth now that winter was approaching.

Cnut waved his arm to the north and Erik put the steering board over. The river was notoriously narrow here and the last thing we needed was to be grounded. Once again Haaken and I were the first ashore. This time we could not see the burgh. Snorri ghosted next to me and I waved him forward. We marched in a column four men wide along the river bank.  Most of the trees appeared to have been cleared for firewood and, as we soon discovered, palisades.

We had not gone far when Snorri came towards us. He spoke quietly to me. "They have a wall now. The ditch is poorly made and there appear to be no traps. They have some fishing boats in the river but no one watches. They have but three sentries on the walls."

I raised my sword and led the column forward. Sigtrygg would be to the north of the town waiting.  I trusted him.  He would be there for he had told me so. There were houses outside the walls which complicated matters. We would have to divide our forces and take those within the huts at the same time as we attacked the gate.

We were just three hundred paces from the huts and the walls when I stopped. I turned to Asbjorn and Eystein, "Take ten men and see that no one escapes the huts.  Wait for us to attack the gate."

They nodded. They selected their men and I waved the rest forward.  Snorri already has his bow ready. There was open ground for fifty paces around the fort. I led my men silently across it.  One of Snorri's arrows flew over my head and plucked a surprised sentry from the wall.  His companion hesitated and then shouted the alarm.  He too fell dead a moment later. By then we were at the gate.

Haaken and I turned and put our backs to the wall.  We held my shield between us. First Ulf Olafsson and then Rolf Tryggson used the shield to throw themselves up on to the walls.  I hefted my shield on to my back and we went to the gate.  A short time later it opened.  Inside there was confusion.  I could hear shouts, questions and the one word which soon filled the air and made everyone within panic, "Vikings!"

There were more men here and they had some warriors.  A Saxon with an axe appeared out of nowhere.  Siggi's spear struck him so hard it went through him and came out at the back. Then those in the burgh were fleeing.  They were heading north. I guessed that there was another gate there. One or two of those who fled tried to slow us down by facing us.  It was like trying to stop an avalanche with your hand! They were swept aside. The sky was lightening now and I saw the gate ahead.  Even as I watched it was thrown open and the survivors flooded north.  There was a collective wail as they ran into the wall of spears that was Sigtrygg and his men. He was there as he had promised and he was waiting. By the time the sun finally appeared they had all surrendered and awaited their fate.

I clasped Sigtrygg by the hand. "You have done well I wondered if you would make it in time."

He waved a hand north. "This, Jarl, is the extent of Mercia.  North is a wasteland. No one lives there." He shook his head.  "My family died and yet the Saxons did not use the land."

"Then we will! When we have finished our work for the King of Dyfed we will settle this land again.  It is good land."

He brightened a little. "Aye, Jarl it is and this time we can defend it better."

They were poor pickings but we did find some treasures.  There was a finely illustrated book of the White Christ in the church.  We also found two silver candlesticks. We drove the survivors to the drekar. We soon had a fire going, using the wood from one of the fishing boats we found and we cooked some of the animals we had just captured.

Haaken was disappointed.  "That was hardly worth a verse let alone a saga."

I nodded, "We change our plans. Sigtrygg says there is nothing north of here.  We head south for the Maeresea and the Dee. I had planned to go there at the end of this month but let us do it now.  Erik, take the captives back home.  You can have twenty men to row.  We will march back to Lytham and await you there.  Bring Karl and his new knarr. I should have brought it this time."

None disputed my words. All were disappointed.  We had hoped to become rich and to gain glory and we had had neither. This was not Mercia; this was the frontier and the Saxons we had taken were poor. We lay on the bank and slept as Erik took the drekar west. We woke at noon and began the march back to the coast. We reached the village and discovered that there were fish drying on racks by the river.  We had missed them in the dark. We ate them and rested while we waited for the return of Erik.

As the afternoon became evening I worried but Snorri said, "Do not forget, Jarl, you said to bring Karl.  He is a novice and Erik will be sailing slower than he might otherwise have done."

Snorri was proved correct and we saw the wolf sail appear soon after.  We were rested and we boarded as soon as the drekar closed with the shore.  Erik shook his head, "Sorry Jarl, I did not wish to lose Karl."

"He will be fine."  I waved to the young man who was on his small knarr.  He waved back but I could see concern and worry etched on his face.  He would not like to let down either his mentor or his jarl.

We backed out to sea and then headed down the coast. There were few rocks and we made good time as we headed for a river we knew well, the Maeresea. It was where I had captured Scanlan all those years ago.  It was close to where I had fought Ragnar Hairy Breeches.  Now it was Mercian and King Coenwulf kept a tight grip on his kingdom. Our raid would wake him up. As we had sailed south I had realised that I had been too cautious with my raid on Prestune.  It was too far away from Tamworth and the Mercian king to worry him.  Caestir was different.  It was on the border with Gwynedd. It guarded his land from the wild Welshmen of Wyddfa.  It was his granary. He would take notice this time. We sailed down the river in the dark.  For the first part it was wide but Erik, aware that Karl was following him, soon headed over to the bank.  One advantage we had having brought the knarr was that there were more men available to guard the ships whilst we were raiding.

Our attacks in the north whilst giving us poor pickings had given us food and we had yet to broach our dried food. We ate well and slept until dawn. Caestir was just a day's march away.  I hoped that we could reach the town without alerting the countryside but it mattered little.  We were close enough to our ships to be able to race back if we met an overwhelming force. We landed and Snorri and Bjorn disappeared into the undergrowth to ensure that we were safe.

"Erik, do not endanger yourself. If trouble comes then head for the safety of the river.  We will survive."

"I will, Jarl, but I will be close when you do return, never fear."

We headed south.  This was a woodland area, which teemed with game.  There were few farms and few people until the plains around Caestir.  We would make our way there. Snorri and Bjorn were in familiar country. We had raided here before and the burnt out circles showed where once people had lived but no more. By late afternoon we were close to Caestir. There were Roman roads in the area of the old legionary fortress.  They were not well maintained but they afforded us quick access in many directions.

We waited in a small clearing and prepared for our first foray into this Mercian land. Sigtrygg had been quiet since we had raided his former home. "You have something on your mind, Sigtrygg Thrandson?"