Viking Wrath (20 page)

He nodded, "I think that tonight we killed one in five of them. If we can get their numbers down to half they will go home."

I took out the gold which we had taken from the dead Danes. "I want as few of them as possible to return home and I want Egbert's gold as were geld."

He yawned again and lay down, "This will be a good story for the winter fires."

I woke Harald and we ate some of the venison and washed it down with freshly drawn water. We clambered up into the lower branches of a sycamore tree. The leaves hid us from view and yet afforded a good sight of the approach from the Danish camp.

I looked at Harald, he looked like one of the branches of the tree with his long legs and equally long arms. "How did you find the attack last night?" He hesitated. "Come Harald, you are now Ulfheonar. Speak the truth to your jarl."

"I was both afraid and excited. There were so many of them. I am sorry that one made a sound. I should have killed him silently."

"Do not worry. You will learn and it was bound to happen. No ill came of it."

"Magnus took an axe in the leg."

"That could not be helped. To have emerged with just one wounded warrior is to be wondered at."

"How was it that they did not hurt us more?"

I pointed to the Ulfheonar sleeping below us. "Look at them. Even in sleep they are fearsome. Look at my face. All you see is the red. At night all that you would see would be blackness. If they had met us in daylight, in an open field, then we would all be dead. Many of them would die too for we are hard to defeat but we would all be in Valhalla now. We choose our battles. This is not over and it will not be glorious but we will whittle them down, little by little until, when we do face them, we will win."

I was about to descend and wake Sigtrygg when I saw them. They were about half a mile away and I saw their helmets as they came through the woods searching for our tracks. I broke a small branch from the tree and threw it at Snorri. It hit him and he was awake in an instant. He looked up. I pointed to the north east. He nodded and began to wake the others. Harald and I had to remain as still as we could. I watched as they drew closer. They had good trackers and they found where we had entered the stream. The party split up. Half went upstream and the other half downstream. I was confident they would not find where we had left the water for we had stepped on rocks. Our prints would have long dried.

After an hour of fruitless searching they returned to the stream. I saw a heated discussion and then they turned to retrace their steps. I looked at my men and, pointing to the north I drew my finger across my throat. Haaken nodded and they hurried after the Danes.

Harald and I climbed down the tree. I picked up my bow. I had not used it the day before but I would use it now. Harald copied me. His long limbs came in handy when using a bow. He could not send one as far as Ulf Long Arrow but he had power in his pull.

After hurrying through the dark our journey in the daylight seemed almost too easy. We could hear the Danes as they grumbled and complained on the trail. Even when not speaking they were making more noise than us for they brushed against bushes and their weapons clattered. In contrast we were silent. I caught up with my men and I waved Haaken to the right. I led Sigtrygg, Snorri and Harald to the left. We trailed them until we were not far from their own camp. Unlike us they did not use someone at the back to keep watch. It was careless and they were about to pay; with their lives.

I waited until they began to ascend the rise which led to their camp. I knew that they had not brought all of their warriors. There were just thirty before us. We would only have a short time to inflict as much damage and then vanish into the woods once more. I pulled back my bow and aimed for the warrior at the rear of the column. I knew that those who were better archers than I would aim at the ones closer to the front. I released and the arrow smacked through his leather byrnie and into his back. He fell face forward. The two men ahead of him who turned were rewarded by a blossoming arrow in the face. Ulf, Harald and Snorri's arrows found flesh at the front of the column.

The Danes dropped down and held their shields before them. I whistled and we drew back into the trees. We moved, slowly at first, to disguise the direction we would take. Then I hurried until we met Haaken. I pointed to the north. We would not return directly to our camp we would head for the far side of theirs. I heard shouts as Thord organised his men and they hurried down the greenway. We slipped away from their blundering charge. They followed the trail they had already followed, back to our camp. Snorri and Bjorn the Scout went to the fore and found a trail which led around the tarn and the stream. We walked for an hour and then found ourselves at the northern, unguarded side of their camp.

We cautiously approached. Peering from the trees we saw that there were just five men left in camp. None was Thord. We drew our bows and the five died. Two made a shout before they fell which I worried might draw others. None came. We raced into the camp. "Mount their heads and take their gold. Put anything which will burn, including their food on the fire."

It was a grislier task to mount their heads in daylight but I wanted these Danes terrorising. Although we found much which would burn its initial effect was to make smoke.

"It is time to leave. Snorri, find us another way back to our camp."

We left the way we had come but turned towards the west. We would make a long loop back to our own hideaway. I saw the thick plume of smoke as it spiralled skyward. I heard the blundering Danes as they hurtled towards their camp. I could imagine the anger of Thord. This was not going as he had planned.

It was after noon when we approached our camp. Snorri held up his hand. His face told me that he sensed danger. I drew my sword and we approached in a half circle. When I saw Siggi's face appear before me I smiled. Sheathing my sword I stepped through the trees and found that he was not alone. Wolf Killer and fifteen of his warriors awaited us. I took off my helmet when I saw them. We now had reinforcements. We could end this sooner rather than later.

My son grinned and held out his arm. "I am sorry that I doubted you. After all these years you would have thought I would have known better.  I am stubborn!"

"How is Magnus?"

"My wife cares for him. Have you hurt the Danes?"

"We have killed many of them and we have put fear into their hearts. With your warriors we can end this tonight. They have not slept and they have suffered many losses. We have just returned from their camp." I pointed to the distant smoke. "We left them a reminder of our visit. If your men keep watch we will get a little sleep. Their camp is but an hour away. We will leave before dark." I grasped his arm. "It is good to have you by my side once more."

"Aye father. My wife tells me I have a stiff neck."

"You have a good wife there, my son. She reminds me of our mother. You do well to listen to her."

I took off my shield again and my armour. I found it easier to sleep without it and I felt more secure now that my son and his men had arrived. I managed to snatch a short sleep and felt refreshed when I awoke. I saw Wolf Killer speaking with Haaken and Sigtrygg. There was a guilty silence when I approached them. They had been talking about me. It was understandable. Wolf Killer had been Ulfheonar and had been as close to Haaken as any.

"You have devised a plan then?"

Haaken laughed at the surprised expression on the faces of the other two. "I told you there can be no secrets from the Dragon Heart."

My son smiled, "I should have realised that you would know what we were about. We think to advance from this side and, after killing their sentries swarm over them in their camp."

I nodded, sagely, "A good plan save in one respect." I could see the question on their lips. "What about the ones who will flee? We have attacked them twice and so far they have not seen one body. They know not that Magnus was wounded. As far as they are concerned we are wraiths; we are the spirits of wolves. The next time we attack many will flee. I want none to return to the east. I want Egbert to wonder if his gold was taken and he was duped. I want those other Danes who live in Jorvik and envy us to fear us so that they will never come again. I want this to become a legend of horror which will grow in the telling.  The fifty Danes led by Thord who came to kill the Dragon Heart and vanished from the face of the earth."

"How do we ensure that?"

"We surround the camp. You place your warriors on the far side, the east. When we enter the camp they will see the Ulfheonar. Some will fight and some will run. When they run they will run into you and your men. Slaughter them."

There was a brief silence and then my son's face split into a grin. "I am still learning. I think of the battle and you think of the war."

"You should play chess with Aiden. It will sharpen your thinking." I shaded my eyes so that I could look at the sky. "We had best leave soon. You and your men will need time to get into position. Harald Long Legs, guide them around the camp."

"Aye Jarl."

My son and his men left first. We followed Snorri as we headed along the familiar greenway towards the Danish camp. As we travelled the sun dipped lower in the sky and made the shadows longer. The camp was to the east of us and we were highlighted against the setting sun. Had anyone else been scouting I fear we would have walked into the ambush which the Danes had prepared. As it was he suddenly stopped and sniffed. The moment he did we all had our weapons out. We knew that his instincts were like those of a hunting dog. His movement must have made the Dane who was waiting close by nervous for he launched himself at Snorri, swinging his axe sideways. Snorri threw up his shield and punched his sword through the warrior.

"Attack!" There was little point in waiting for them to come at us and we charged them. I saw two shadows beneath the trees and I lunged at them. A spear came at my head and I took the blow on my shield. The other warrior had a sword and he slashed it at me. It was aimed at my neck; normally that was the weak part of any armour. I blocked it with Ragnar's Spirit and Bjorn's fine workmanship showed. The Dane's sword buckled a little and I saw the look of surprise on his face. I took advantage by head butting him. The Dane with the spear pulled it back to stab at me again and I brought my own sword around in a wide sweep. As I knocked his spear up my sword went beneath his spear and ripped into his side. The man I had head butted struggled to his feet. I swung backhanded at him and he tried to block my strike. His sword shattered in two. I brought my shield around and punched him in the head. He crumpled to the ground and I stabbed him in the neck. The spearman was trying to hold in his guts. He was losing the battle.

I saw Siggi fighting two Danes. He was doing well but, even as I ran towards them I saw them separate to attack from two sides. I chose the one who was attacking Siggi's right and I charged into him, striking simultaneously with my shield and my sword. He tumbled to the ground and hit it so hard that he was winded. I swung my sword and he blocked it with his shield. I brought the edge of my own shield down on his throat. He gurgled his life away with a broken windpipe.

Siggi slew his opponent and nodded his thanks. I could see no more Danes but I heard, to the east, the sound of men fighting and dying. I waved to Siggi and we ran back to the trail. The Danes' bodies lay in ungainly heaps. Had they successfully sprung their trap things might have been different but this was the third time they had fought us and none were confident any longer.

I saw, however, that we had not had it all our own way. Olvir's body lay surrounded by the Danes he had killed but he was in Valhalla now. We gradually caught up with the rest of the Ulfheonar. Ulf was despatching one as we ran up to him. He wiped his sword on the dead man's kyrtle. "They have fled to their camp, Jarl!"

"Ulfheonar! On me!" The rest of the my men arrived I saw from the blood on their swords and armour that they had fought hard. We needed to end it soon. "Wedge!"

There were just nine of us and that was a small wedge but I had no idea how many of the enemy remained. We marched along the trail towards their camp. The sun had not set but there were many shadows. That could only help us. The survivors were in a shield wall. There looked to be eighteen or more who were left. Their leader lived yet and he stood in the middle of his men. There was only one way we could win against a shield wall and that was to charge and use the weight of our mail as well as the superiority of our training.

"Charge!

I had Haaken and Sigtrygg behind me and they would keep the pace I set. It was not a run, it was more of a fast walk but the clearing helped us for our footing was firm. I saw the Danes brace themselves for our impact. Thord brought his axe over his head. He timed the blow well. I kept my eye on it as it sliced down towards me. He had aimed it at my right side, the side away from my shield. I did two things at once. I brought my shield across my body to take the blow and I stabbed forward into the tiny gap between Thord's shield and the next Dane. The axe cracked into my shield so hard that I felt as though my arm would break. The shield held and the axe head caught on my boss. I felt my sword strike metal and I pushed harder. There was resistance and then it slid into something soft. I twisted and pushed again. My hand came up against mail links and so I pulled the sword free. Thord was hurt. I saw blood from his mouth. Haaken stabbed at the warrior next to him and he cried out as the sword slid up and over his shield. It tore up through his throat and into his skull. The two of them fell and were joined by a third when Sigtrygg killed him.