Viking Warband Read online

  “It is a long way from Wintan-Caestre to the Isle of the Sheep.”

  “Atticus has calculated it and it is one hundred miles. That is three or four days of hard marching or two days flogging a horse to death.”

  Gruffyd asked, “Why there and why not Lundewic? There will be ships at Lundenwic.”

  “And that is where every Dane who survives will flee. It is where the men of Wessex will go and it will be a trap! I have little enough hope but I am gambling on the Saxons following the largest army and not a small Viking warband.”

  “You forget that there is a price on your head. They will seek you first.”

  “This time I will not be wearing my wolf cloak and I have an open helmet. I hope to remain unrecognised by the Saxons.”

  Ragnar laughed, “There is little likelihood of that but you have a plan, at least.” I nodded. “You will watch out for Sámr.”

  “He will be one of the four who sail the drekar down the Temese. I will keep him, if I can, from danger but we must believe Kara. She does not lie. If she says she saw him a man grown then he survives.”

  In the end there had been thirty of us who sailed. Twenty-six oarsmen, myself, Sámr and three replacement oarsmen. They would also act as crew when we sailed south. Atticus, Aiden and Erik all concurred. It might take twenty days to reach the Temese. I would allow a month for us to reach the Isle of the Sheep. I wanted to reach it first for it was a crucial part of my plan. It was a tearful farewell. I ended it by shouting, “We have the wind, farewell! Sámr, cast off!” Astrid had to jump off the drekar or risk coming with us.

  It was some time since I had steered and the entrance was a tricky one. With the exception of Haraldr the crew were all experienced. Although all were single not all were young. At least twelve had wives who had died. It meant that, under the guidance of Olaf and Haaken, we made the sea faster than I might have expected. Once there I let the wind take her. I needed to get the feel of her. I had Sámr and the two warriors who were assisting me to adjust the sails in the waters east of Man. We sailed quickly between man and Mercia. When I was confident I decided to risk the straits close to Ynys Môn. She was a lithe drekar and the winds were right. I felt the tension on the drekar as we rushed towards the incredibly narrow gap between the island and the mainland. Wyddfa towered over us and I sensed the presence of the spirit of Myrddyn and the Warlord. That made it easier and we skimmed through to the other side. We had saved half a day and I was happy.

  Haaken One Eye came to the steering board, “The gods were with you then! I thought, for one moment, that we were going to end up on the rocks. Why take the risk?”

  “There was no risk. The Norns have a task for me. Until I have completed it then I will be safe. After…? We will wait until that unlikely event occurs.”

  Haaken pointed to the mast head. I just had a white pennant flying. There was no wolf on the sail. “Why no banner?”

  “They want the Dragonheart and his sword. This is not the Clan of the Wolf going to war. We are swords for hire. I can live with myself if I believe that. I will do my best to help the Danes achieve a victory. I would love to slaughter the King of Wessex and all of his men but I do not think it will happen.”

  He nodded, “It feels strange to be sailing without the rest of the Ulfheonar. I know the faces of some of these warriors but that is all.”

  “And is that not sad, Haaken One Eye? Times past we would have known them all. We would have supped with them and sung our songs together and now we struggle to remember their names.”

  We reached Syllingar a day later. It was getting close to sunset. I had Sámr close by the steering board for I saw the fear on his face. He was trying to hide it but I knew my great grandson. Ragnar had given him Wolf Killer’s wolf amulet which he wore around his neck. I leaned over to him. “Close your eyes and you will see the face of the grandfather you never knew.”

  “How will I know him?”

  “You will know him. Now close your eyes and trust me.”

  He did so and I saw him look up in surprise a moment or two later. “I saw him and he smiled. He spoke in my head. He told me the Norns will not harm us.”

  “We are nearly through these waters and they will not bother us this voyage. On the way home, it may be a different matter. We will face that terror if we need to.”

  We did not sail far once we had passed the islands. I pulled in along the southern coast of Om Walum at a beach with a high cliff guarding it. We beached the ship and lit a fire. It was a risk but one I thought worth taking. There were no burghs close by and it would take an eagle to reach us. It meant we had hot food and slept ashore. When we left the next morning, the effects were obvious. The men were able to row with renewed vigour. We had to row towards the wind in order to take advantage of it and head east. We sang.

  From mountain high in the land of snow

  Garth the slave began to grow

  He changed with Ragnar when they lived alone

  Warrior skills did Ragnar hone

  The Dragonheart was born of cold

  Fighting wolves a warrior bold

  The Dragonheart and Haaken Brave

  A Viking warrior and a Saxon slave

  When Vikings came he held the wall

  He feared no foe however tall

  Back to back with brave

  A Viking warrior and a Saxon slave

  When the battle was done

  They stood alone

  With their vanquished foes

  Lying at their toes

  The Dragonheart and Haaken Brave

  A Viking warrior and a Saxon slave

  The Dragonheart and Haaken Brave

  A Viking warrior and a Saxon slave

  It was the right song. It was the song of Haaken and me. With the wind from our quarter ‘Red Snake’ flew across the seas. We would not need to row again. When we turned west into the estuary of the Temese this wind would still help us. We sailed without stopping. Haaken and Olaf took a turn each at the steering board while the crew slept and we rounded the headland just as dawn was breaking behind us. We heard the bell of the church at Cantwareburh. They were safe from us but they were a marker. The bell, calling the Christians to church told me that we were close. We were almost at the Isle of the Sheep. The first part of our journey was over. Now I had to plan so that we would have a return journey home! I took out the map Atticus and Aiden had made. I knew that the map and what we learned over the next days might be the difference between life and death. This was not about gold or glory; this was about survival. We would be in the land of the Saxons where every man wanted my head with Danes who were untrustworthy and serving Norns who wanted nothing less than my death.

  Chapter 11

  The only people who lived on the Isle of the Sheep were the shepherds. They had huts. The shepherds did not spend all their time on the island. They came across by boat and stayed for a short time until relieved. They would tell the men of Wessex that Vikings were around. We would have to eliminate them. The crew had rested and so, when we found a small muddy inlet we anchored and I sent four men to make sure that there were none close by. There was a stream of sorts and it enabled us to hide the drekar. I had the men pull the drekar up into the shelter of some low bushes which had survived the winds which whipped across this land. We stepped the mast. We would be rowing up the river. The mast and the sail would just signal our presence. When the Danes arrived that would not matter but when we were alone it would put us in danger.

  While the mast was being placed on the mast fish I left the ship with Haaken One Eye. We walked in land. The only paths had been made by sheep. They wove between patches of water and bog. The land appeared to be equally divided between land and bog. I could see why the Saxons used it for sheep. The grass was lush. When we had walked half a mile we turned and looked back. We knew where the drekar lay but she was hard to see. I spied, between us and the ship just a dozen or so sheep. It was unlikely that a shepherd would disturb us. We returned to the
ship.

  Our boots were muddy from the short walk and so we washed them before we clambered back on board. Olaf asked, “Well, Jarl Dragonheart, are we hidden?”

  “We are. Today we rest and then tomorrow I want us to make ourselves familiar with this island. We need to know it as well as we know the Land of the Wolf.”

  “But why, Jarl Dragonheart?”

  I turned to Sámr, “You and four others will sail this ship here after we take Lundenwic. You will need to hide from Saxon eyes. If the raid to Wessex goes well and we are successful then we will sail here and pick you up. If, as I think more likely, we are unsuccessful then we will have to make our way here across the land of Cent. I know not where we will land when we do. That is why all of us need to know this island.”

  Ráðgeir Ráðgeirson arrived back with the other three scouts Erik Red Beard, Siggi Einarsson and Sven Svensson. Ráðgeir lived up by Elterwater and his family kept sheep. He knew the ways of sheep and shepherds. He pointed south. “The majority of the sheep are to the south of the island and the four shepherds who watch them have a hut there. That side of the island is sheltered a little from the northern winds. They have built a wind brake of woven reeds and willow. I think they would only venture north when it is lambing season. The lambs are born already.”

  Olaf Leather Neck nodded, “It seems, more by good luck than anything, we have found the perfect place to hide.”

  Haaken shook his head slowly, “Olaf, can you not see the hand of the witches in this? The webs and threads are there to guide us and protect us.”

  I nodded, “Aye, Haaken, and when they have done with us they are there to bind us.”

  Over the next seven days we explored the island. We found the fresh water. We found the places where wild food grew. We even came close to the shepherds. If we had to land on the south of the island then it would be important that we knew where they frequented. We saw their boat drawn up on the beach. Lying in the undergrowth above the small river which emptied into the southern channel we saw a small huddle of huts on the far side. There were fishing boats there but no burgh.

  On the seventh day we spied the first of the Danish drekar as they sailed from the north. There were six of them and they were all big. They sailed beyond us to anchor in the Medway between us and the Isle of Grain. It made sense. It could accommodate all of the ships which Hvitserk had promised. The next day another twelve arrived. That night we removed the bushes we had used to disguise us and we pushed off to row and join the Danish fleet. We were well rested but it was a hard pull up the Tamese. When we turned into the Medway it became easier for that river was sluggish and the estuary wide.

  The Danes kept a good watch and we were hailed, “What ship?”

  Erik Red Beard cupped his hands, “‘Red Snake’ , Jarl Dragonheart from the Land of the Wolf!”

  “We are ‘Dragon Smoke’ , Jarl Halfdan Ragnarsson is the captain. Anchor to our steerboard.”

  I saw, as we dropped anchor, that half of the ships at anchor had also removed their masts. It marked those captains who knew what they were doing. The Tamese twisted and turned. It was almost impossible to use sails. Whichever direction the wind blew you would have to sail against it at some point. Even with a sail furled so long as a mast and yard stood there was resistance to the wind. A drekar had sleek lines and was meant to be rowed. We set a watch and the crew slept. I leaned against the steerboard and peered into the darkness. My mind would not let me sleep and I ran over all the events which had led to this. I tried to work out what I could have done to avoid it. There was nothing. We had fought the Skulltaker and his witches. That had incurred the wrath of the Weird Sisters for Snorri had killed a witch. He had paid the price for that. It had been the theft of Ylva which had set these events into motion and I could not have abandoned my granddaughter. Knowing that I could have done nothing about it did not make me feel any better.

  I watched the sun come up from the east. I saw the fifty ships which hove into view. I had never seen so many ships. They were outlined against the rising sun. We were not the smallest drekar but, as I looked at the ones nearby and the approaching fleet I could see that we would be dwarfed.

  A figure appeared at the stern of ‘Dragon Smoke’ . I recognised him as Halfdan Ragnarsson. He shouted across to me, “Jarl Dragonheart, I thought you would have come in your larger drekar.”

  I shrugged, “I did not think I would need a large ship and the waters of the Tamese are easier to negotiate with a smaller ship.”

  He nodded, seemingly satisfied and pointed east, “Here are my brothers. When they arrive, we will meet on the deck of ‘Cold Drake’ , my brother’s ship. She is the largest drekar. She has more than fifty oars!”

  “Let me know when you want me.”

  Our interchange had woken the rest of my crew and we ate. Olaf was impressed with the size of the Danish fleet and the quality of their ships. “Perhaps this venture will succeed, Jarl Dragonheart. If each ship only has as many men as we do then there will be over thirteen thousand men. The Saxons cannot muster more than a thousand. They cannot stand against us!”

  “Perhaps.” I was not convinced. We would have more men than the Saxons and if we were just raiding Lundenwic, Essex, and Cent then I would be more confident. The one hundred miles to Wintan-Caestre was a long way for such a huge warband. When we left for the meeting I did not wear my mail but I took Ragnar’s Spirit. I left Olaf on board for I knew that he had a short temper and I did not want to risk a blood feud. Haaken was a better choice of advisor. He had a sharp mind and knew how to read men’s motives. He had one eye only but he used it well.

  The ‘Cold Drake’ tied up on the other side of us. We were dwarfed by the two largest ships in the Danish fleet. Their crew used ropes to pull us next to her so that Haaken and I could clamber over the side. Halfdan and Sigurd Snake in the Eyes came by rowing in a small boat. Hvitserk greeted me when I boarded. “Just one tiny drekar, Jarl Dragonheart? I expected all of your ships.”

  “My men raided here and they believe that we took the most valuable items the burgh possessed and we had just raided Wihtwara. I brought the warriors who wished for glory.” I was not foresworn. The men who sailed with me came for the glory of protecting their jarl. “Besides we just fought a war against the Northumbrians. I needed my northern borders protecting.”

  My answer seemed to satisfy him, “You will not be able to take much treasure back with you.”

  I smiled, “When last we came we took Saxon ships. They have large holds. You brought me here for my expertise as well as my name, did you not?”

  “We did.”

  Just then his two brothers clambered aboard. I was about to ask where the rest of the fleet was when the lookout shouted, “Sails to the east!” I looked aft and saw the horizon filled with Danish and Norse drekar. Hvitserk had kept his word. They had a fleet. Lundenwic would not know what had hit it.

  We left two days later. My tiny drekar led followed by the huge drekar of the three brothers. We did not sail at night. For one thing it was too dangerous and for another there was little point. The Saxons knew we were coming. When we had met Hvitserk had shown that he had a clever mind. He had acceded to my suggestion that some of the Danes should land on the south bank of the river. We had more than enough men to take the burgh on the north bank. If he planned on taking us south then we would need to hold the south bank. He assigned Guthrum Saxon Slayer for that task.

  As we headed down the river with the crew rowing Sámr stood next to me at the steering board. I was teaching him how to steer. “But why do they need you, Jarl Dragonheart? They have many ships and many men. Even I can see that they will win.”

  “Two things, Sámr: my sword and my reputation. I have never lost against the Saxons. These Danes are no fools. They know that the Allfather favours me and they hope to benefit from it.”

  Sámr thought about that for a while. “Then when they have Wessex, what then?”

  I turned to him and said, sombrel
y, “Then they will have no further use for me and I will be killed.”

  “But...”

  I held up my hand, “What they plan and what they actually do are two entirely different things. You do not worry about that. You will be safe aboard this drekar and I will be able to concentrate on escaping!”

  As we neared Stybbanhype I put the steering board over slightly. Sámr said, “What is wrong Jarl Dragonheart?”

  I winked, “Nothing. Just take the steering board.”

  “Should I head back into the middle of the river?”

  “No, I wish you to nudge the ship moored ahead. I will shout at you soon. I will not mean it. I am trying to deceive the Danes.” I walked forward and said, “Be ready to withdraw the steerboard oars when I nod my head.”

  Olaf and Haaken knew of my plan already. I did not want my drekar to be trapped next to the quay by this huge fleet. I wanted to be able to sail back down the river.

  As we neared the ship I nodded my head and the thirteen rowers slid their oars in as one. We bumped and stuck. I turned to Sámr, “Were you asleep?”

  As ‘Cold Drake’ drew alongside I shouted, “My helmsman made a mistake. I think my ship has been damaged. We will march and attack the east gate of Lundenburgh. We can be there before you!”

  Hvitserk waved his arm in acknowledgement and the huge fleet sailed down the river. I patted Sámr on the back. “Well done!” I waved my men ashore across the Saxon ship. The four men who would guard my great grandson and my drekar presented themselves. “See what you can find in this Saxon ship. Tie up to her so that she is a barrier. I doubt that the Saxons will bother you. When they see the fleet, they will flee north. You did well, Sámr.”

  “Take care Great Grandfather.”

  Hrolf Eriksson laughed, “The Dragonheart is protected by the Allfather. He will return!”