Viking Sword (17 page)

"Haaken I want every head taking from the corpses and bring them with us."

He knew me too well to question me. Then I found the girls. Sigtrygg was comforting them. "Tostig Wolf hand, escort them back to my home and then rejoin us. Take the two horses the men of Strathclyde brought with them."

"Aye Jarl." Tostig might have wanted to continue on the journey with us but my tone told him to obey and he did.

After they had departed and the heads were collected I said, "We get a little sleep and then push on.  We did well."

Unprompted the men began to howl and even I got shivers down my spine as the call of the wolf echoed through the narrow valley.  The Ulfheonar were coming.

We reached the northern edge of the hills by dawn.  The last barrier before the river lay before us. We waited there in the woods which lined the road.  There was a stream which bubbled towards the water we had left earlier and we drank from that. We chewed on dried venison as we waited for Arturus.

He must have left our home before dawn for he reached us when the sun had still to give any warmth.

"My men saw the bodies of the dead raiders."  He nodded towards the grisly heads strung over the ponies' saddles.  "You do not usually take trophies."

"These are not trophies.  I shall use them as weapons.  Come we head north." I did not elaborate. There was no need he would know the reason soon enough.

We made our way in single file through the hills.  I saw that the one or two farms we passed were burned out and the animals were gone from the hills.  The raiders had been here. What had been bothering me, since we had heard the news, was that two years earlier we had raided and destroyed the forces north of the river.  Were these the same people or had another invader come to take the land and to push south? The men we had killed the previous night had been the men of Strathclyde.  They had the same clan markings and the same weapons. I knew that, in the old days of Rheged, the Kingdom of Strathclyde had been a large and powerful one stretching all the way north to the land of the Picts. Perhaps it was rising again.

We reached the Roman Road which ran east and west from coast to coast.  We watched from the hills for any warriors passing along it. None passed in the time we watched.

"Harald.  Wait here for Windar and bring him to Thorkell's Stad." He nodded and we led our ponies down the road.  We had two of Arturus' men as well as Snorri and Bjorn the Scout well ahead of us as scouts. I did not want to be surprised.

"Why do you think the raiders are laying siege to the fort? If they were raiders then they would just sweep south and take cattle, sheep and slaves."

Arturus was correct.  It made no sense. This was one of the times I wished I had brought Aiden with us.  He had a sharp mind and could untangle puzzles. I said nothing but tried to work it out for myself. It took me two Roman miles to do so.  The markers they placed along the road were useful in many ways.

"I think there are two reasons." I shrugged, "There may be more but there are two obvious ones which spring to mind.  Either they need the fort to use as a base for they want to invade and conquer our land."

Arturus nodded, "As King Egbert did with Lundenburgh.  The fort here controls the river and the northern entrance to our land."

"The second reason is more devious.  It would be to draw us on and ambush us."

"Then why risk the warband you slew last night?"

"Perhaps they were part of the bait to make us over confident."

Arturus shook his head, "That is a large number of men to sacrifice."

"They were not well armed.  They could have been mercenaries. Halt." I was curious now about the men we had slain.

I turned to the pony and lifted one of the heads it carried.  The blood had matted the hair.  I lifted it at the back and saw a tattoo on the back of the neck. Haaken saw it and spat. "Hibernians!"

He was right and Aiden would have spotted it when we had attacked them.  He knew his own people. "These are hired mercenaries. It seems the Saxons are not the only ones who like to hire others to do their dying."

Three of our scouts ran towards us. I saw that Snorri was missing. "Jarl there is an ambush some two miles up the road.   There are many warriors and they are lining the hills and the trees on either side.  It is the last climb before the fort."

I nodded.  That made sense.  It was a good place to attack for if we had not known we would have trudged up the hill and been attacked when we were weary.  "And Snorri?"

"He went around them to spy out Thorkell's Stad."

"Then we will wait.  Were there any young trees close by the ambush site?"

Bjorn the Scout's eyes narrowed as he tried to work out the reason for my question.  "There are some in the bottom of the small valley some hundred paces or so from the ambush. But they cannot be seen from the hill."

"Perfect.  Then when Windar's men arrive we shall head there."

Enigmatically I left it at that. Harald brought Windar's warriors to us in the middle of the afternoon.  They looked hot and tired for they had marched almost twenty miles.  Windar was not with them.  He was now old and corpulent but they were well led by his son, Karl.

"My father sent fifty of us, Jarl.  It would take longer to summon the others."

"Do not apologise Karl Windarsson.  This number of warriors will suffice for we fight tonight."

We left the road and moved through the hills and fields which were adjacent to the road. Bjorn the Scout told us when we were less than two miles from the ambush and we rested there. Our delay in arriving at the ambush would worry and unnerve those waiting. The last time they had done this my action and revenge had been swift and terrible.  They would be expecting the same swift reaction. I wanted them looking over their shoulders and wondering if we had managed to ghost around them.  Our scouts had not managed to get close enough to ascertain numbers accurately but they estimated more than two hundred warriors were waiting for us.  There would also be a force ringing Thorkell. It was an army the size of Coenwulf's.  We could never hope to match such numbers. We would always be outnumbered and we had to make up for paucity of numbers with better weapons and skill.

As we waited I walked around the resting warriors.  Karl Windarrson's men had good swords and shields but only two had mail byrnies. Some had a metal helmet but many only had a leather one reinforced with leather strips. The men from Windar's Mere did not have the experience in war that even Arturus' young warriors had. They were however keen to impress and would swell our numbers.  I had to make the enemy believe that they were more Ulfheonar.

Nights were short and we reached the bottom of the valley with the young saplings just after dark. We chose the stand to the north of the road.  That would be our diversion. I gathered the Ulfheonar, Arturus and Karl around me and explained my plan.  Their smiles and approving nods told me that they thought it might succeed. Suddenly one of Arturus' sentries hissed a warning and our hands went to our weapons.

"It is me Snorri! I though you heard me when I was a mile away!"

"What news of Thorkell?"

"His drekar is destroyed and he is surrounded.  The men of Strathclyde have some Hibernians with them." He reached into his pouch and pulled out a copper torc.  It was crudely made but it bore the designs of the Ui Néil clan. "I questioned the warrior who owned this before I sent him to the Other World. Silkbeard and the other Norse are making life difficult for the clan in Hibernia and they are hiring themselves out as warriors. There are a hundred and fifty warriors surrounding the Stad but they are trying to starve out Thorkell.  The warriors besieging them are eating well on the lambs and sheep they captured.  They are in no hurry to move in and attack."

"No, they are waiting until they kill or capture me and then they will hope to induce surrender."

Haaken laughed, "Then they do not know Thorkell."

"They do not know us at all.  They think that because we do not make war on them constantly that we are weak.  They will learn that we are not."

While Snorri ate my warriors moved forward and prepared the trees. Young saplings were silently bent back and pegged to the ground.  Three of the heads were attached to each of the ten trees. The rest of the heads were given to the warriors who would launch the attack.  Karl knew what he had to do and we left him at the saplings.  I led the Ulfheonar and Arturus' men and we headed around the side of the hill. Snorri had discovered that the ambush was on both sides of the road.  They had assumed that we would come down the fastest route and the trees on either side would make an ambush simple.  The road also helped them for there was a slight slope to the road and warriors who had travelled far would be weary.  Whoever led them had split his force.  It meant that by attacking the southern band we would outnumber them. Karl and his men would keep the northern half occupied by a fake attack.

Our scouts killed the sentries silently. They crawled in beneath their wolf cloaks, rose as silently as wraiths and slit the throats of the hapless Hibernians. We spread out in a half circle and waited.  Karl and his men were counting. They would then release the trees and the decapitated heads would land in the northern camp. I tried to imagine the effect of their own warriors' heads landing amongst them would have. When we heard the confusion then we would attack and Karl would bring his men to support us.

The shouts to the north shattered the silence of the camp. The men before us woke and looked to the north.  As they did so I led my Ulfheonar into the camp.  Arturus' men lobbed the remaining heads high into the night sky and they began to rain down on the startled warriors. I saw a chief who had wisely slept in his armour pick a head up and examine it. The distraction had worked for my wolf clad warriors were amongst them before they realised. 

I yelled, "Ulfheonar!" which was the signal to attack and my warriors howled their war cry; it was the howl of the wolf!  I saw the terror in their eyes as I leapt forward and slashed my sword across the throat of the chief who still studied the head. We were swift and we were terrible. Few warriors even tried to fight us for they were terrified. They fled towards the road where they met those coming from the northern camp. The men of Strathclyde tripped and fell over each other and we slew them where they lay. When Karl's men, unencumbered by armour overtook us then the flight became a rout and the enemy ran as fast as they could towards their main camp at Thorkell's stad.

They left leaving behind their belongings. They carried their weapons only. We swept through both camps and collected all the helmets and weapons we could.  Haaken shook his head, "I prefer fighting Danes.  There is better treasure to be had." There were very slim pickings to be had.  It confirmed my view that whoever led them had kept the bulk of his better warriors close by Thorkell's stad.

Cnut snorted, "And they fight better too.  We lost no Ulfheonar today my friend."

Arturus asked, "What do we do now?  Attack the main camp?"

My warriors looked at me expectantly. "No, we rest here and tomorrow we march towards them and set up our own camp."

Arturus frowned, "We camp?"

"Tonight's attack served two purposes.  First we cleared the road but secondly, and most importantly, we spread terror.  Those warriors who survived and fled will talk of heads falling from the sky and wolves appearing in the night, seemingly rising from amongst them. Tonight, after we camp, we take it in turns to be wolves close to their camp.  We keep them frightened and awake. We kill their sentries and they will wait, armed, all night for an attack which will not come. Weary, worried warriors do not fight well."

"But we normally attack at night for it disguises our small numbers."

"And they will expect that.  We will attack in the morning after they have been awake all night and we are rested.  Besides, Snorri will need that time to get inside Thorkell's fort. When we attack it will be from two directions. I intend to wipe out this band of raiders.  None shall return home save one. That one will tell a terrible tale of wolves in the night and fierce warriors who take no prisoners. The men of Strathclyde will never dare to venture south again."

We marched the next day and camped in the hills to the east of the enemy camp which ringed Thorkell's fort. We were a mile or so away.  The Roman Road cut through the heart of their camp to head towards their old fort. Snorri had left before dawn to make his way around the fort and seek entrance.  He knew it well and I did not fear for him.  He and Bjorn the Scout were the best at concealing themselves. He would slip past the sentries ringing the fort and be inside before they knew.

I ordered the men to build one fire for every two warriors and to move around as much as possible.  I wanted our numbers disguising until the following day. They had to believe we had greater numbers than we actually had. Once the fires were lit I told the men to put damp material on the fires to make smoke. That way it would be even harder for them to see us and count our numbers. In addition the wind was coming from the east and would blow towards their camp.  It would not be pleasant for them. I had Arturus' and Karl's warriors move around the camp while my Ulfheonar slept. It would be their task to carry on the campaign of terror at night.

I lay down but I did not sleep.  My mind was too filled with the events of the next day and night.  If we succeeded then the rest of the summer might be enjoyable.  If not then we would be waging war with the men of Strathclyde.