Hosker, G [Wolf Brethren 06] Saxon Slaughter Read online

  “It is my dearest wish.”

  “You and your horsemen can ensure that the whole of Rheged is patrolled but you will need your men in the villages to be able to withstand an attack until you can deal with the threat. By having your men in tens you can gather them together quickly under one man; a leader of fifty or a hundred.” I saw enlightenment dawn. We need the first of those leaders and I have one in mind, Kay.”

  Prince Pasgen nodded. “I think that would be a good decision, Warlord.”

  I bit back the snappy reply which was in my mouth and ready to leap out. Kay had proved that he had a brain in his head and knew how to deal with people. The Prince did not. I turned to Lann Aelle, “Summon Kay.”

  When he arrived he had the nervous look of someone who thinks he has done something wrong. I smiled to put him at his ease. “Kay, we have a task for you. You can refuse but I hope you will not.”

  He bowed, “I owe you my life Warlord, whatever you wish I will do.”

  “Good.” I explained my idea and his face told me that he approved of the promotion. “So you would be based here.” I pointed to the ten swords. “You would train ten of your brother’s men as warriors. They would be armed with these swords. You would appoint someone to be in command of the ten and then you would move on to the next village. By then we should have more weapons. When the army returns to Mona after we have secured this land you and the Prince should have a hundred men in the villages who can be your defenders. With stout walls you should be able to withstand the Saxons for this land fights for you as does ours.”

  He glanced in Prince Pasgen’s direction. The prince had the good grace to smile and nod and Kay gave a slight bow. “I accept and I will fight to protect this land and these people.”

  I was genuinely pleased. I now had two leaders, here in Rheged, whom I could rely upon. I needed more but they would reveal themselves in time. Of that I had no doubt.

  Chapter 4

  We left a day later to make a leisurely journey of it; we needed to protect our horses as much as we could. Aedh and his scouts were already to the east of the high hills and we would have ample warning of the arrival of the Saxon band. Hogan Lann was full of questions as we headed east. “How do you know that they will use this route again?”

  “There are three main routes east to west. This is the most southerly. There is one which runs along the old Roman Wall and another which is further north in the land of the Picts. Had I been the Saxons I would have used the route by the Roman Wall for the road is good but there is less shelter along the way. When we have dealt with this warband we will ride further north and see what we can do there.”

  “What of Castle Perilous?”

  “That lies not far away on this route. It would be a good barrier to further incursions but it needs a good commander.”

  Myrddyn sniffed imperiously, “It had one as I recall.”

  “What was it you called it, Myrddyn? Ah yes, Hubris. I will not make that mistake again.”

  The valley we rode up was dark and threatening despite the fact that it was summer. The valley sides rose up steeply on each side making the journey seem ominous. I was pleased when we emerged on the open ridge which overlooked the old Roman Road. My captains set the men to building a camp using branches and trees while I rode with Myrddyn to the high hills to the north. These were totally unlike the hills around Wide Water and nothing like Wyddfa. It was as though the gods had made a pudding and inverted the bowl. There were few trees and they afforded a fine panorama. I looked east.

  When we reached the top we saw the mountains which surrounded the land of the lakes to the south and the land rolling away north to Carvetiorum. We could even glimpse the sea, far away to the west. But it was to the east we focussed our attention. To the north east, hidden by the hills before us, lay Castle Perilous. It was my old home and was not far away. We could have been there and back in the time it took to cook a leg of venison I wondered how it had fared. The Saxons would pass by its shattered and burnt walls. There were so many memories there. It had been the castle entrusted to me by King Urien. I had been Rheged’s doorkeeper and I felt proud that it had been the last place to fall to the Saxons.

  “I keep telling you Warlord; do not dwell on the past.”

  “Wizard I am doing what you told me to do. I am looking at my mistakes so that I do not repeat them.” I pointed to the north east. “Castle Perilous was a good idea but it was too isolated. We need to make this whole route riddled with barriers to the Saxons so that we slow them down. The hills help us and they may tire of trying to raid our people.”

  He smiled, “Good. Now you are thinking like a wizard. Remember when we were in Constantinopolis?” I nodded. “The Emperor kept few guards in the city. The rest were dotted around the Empire ready to aid each other when attacked.”

  “They had many more men than we have Myrddyn.”

  “How do you know? We have merely seen those within a few miles of Wide Water and already you have seen the potential for seventy men who can defend that land. We have all of Rheged to visit. Let us not judge until we have seen all.”

  I turned Mona to descend the hill again. “And let us not speculate until we have rid ourselves of this particular problem.” I pointed towards the road from the east and there was a rider galloping down it. “If I am not mistaken, that is one of Aedh’s men and it means the Saxons are coming.”

  When we reached the camp the scout was talking with my captains. They stopped when we returned. Hogan Lann pointed east. “Aedh has his men about ten miles away. There are over two hundred of them.”

  I nodded and asked the scout, “Are there many in mail?”

  “Yes, Warlord. The ones at the front all wore mail. I would guess that there were thirty of them at least wearing a mail shirt.”

  Then this was a powerful leader and not just a collection of robbers intent on pillaging an area. Most Saxons had a shield and a helmet. Some had swords while others had spears but few, save the richest and most powerful, would have a mail shirt. It was the same with my men. Only Hogan Lann and Prince Pasgen’s men wore mail. Many of my men had some mail protecting their necks or upper arms and most had leather armour as some of the Romans had. But mail byrnies were rare.

  “So we need to ensure that those at the front are the ones we kill first.” That was not as easy as it sounded. Our plan had been to rain arrows on them but if they wore mail then that would not be as effective. Prince Pasgen and Hogan Lann take your equites to the west and hide yourselves there. Tuanthal take your men to the south and hide in the undergrowth. I will stay with Daffydd, Lann Aelle and the squires. We will ambush the column and, when they see how few we are, they will attack. Once they are committed to the attack then your horsemen can attack their flanks and their rear.”

  “That sounds risky, Warlord.”

  “Hogan Lann, all life is a risk. I will have the Roman horn sounded when you are to attack.” I could see that his face was riddled with doubt. “I will have Myrddyn with me.” I turned to him. “Have you dreamed my death yet?”

  He grinned, “Not yet.”

  “Then I will survive the day.”

  Lann Aelle prepared the squires. Their horses were taken to the rear and tethered with two men to guard them. He had the ninety eight remaining men form a wall of spears and shields in front of the archers. Daffydd had brought plenty of arrows. We had left many more at the new camp. Then we waited. I had Myrddyn go to the road to see if we could be seen. When he returned he said, “I knew where you were but I had to look really closely to see you. They should be unsuspecting.”

  “What we need is to make sure that are looking down the road.” I smiled. “Like a magician uses one hand to hide what he is doing with the other.”

  Just then Aedh and his scouts galloped up. They appeared from behind us. “We did not take the road. We did not want them to see us.” He pointed east. “They are two miles away. Those Roman mile markers come in handy.”

  “Aedh
take one of your scouts and position yourself down there on the road. I want the Saxons to see you. Pretend you are examining your horse’s leg. Be incompetent and do not see them until they are within bow range and then flee west as though you fear them.”

  He laughed, “That is a hard task Warlord but we shall manage it.” He and his chosen man dismounted and led their horses to the road.

  Myrddyn nodded his approval. “This way we shall know when the Saxons are close for Aedh will ride away.”

  I took the compliment and nodded. My strategy skills had improved since we had returned from the court of the Emperor. I had learned to think a little more. I knew that someday my skills with the sword would not be enough and there would be better swordsmen. I would then need to use my mind more than I had had to when I was younger.

  It is hard to wait patiently; it was many years since I had faced a shield wall. I began to slide Saxon Slayer in and out of its scabbard. Myrddyn smiled at my nervousness. He was busily watching a pair of blackbirds arguing about a tree. The fact that they were doing so showed that we were well hidden and were not disturbing the wildlife.

  Suddenly Aedh and his men tried to mount their horses and struggled to do so. It was a masterly performance. We heard a roar as the warband hurtled towards them and then the two riders were gone. We needed no words and Daffydd raised his arm. We waited until the mailed warriors were past us and then he lowered it. Lann Aelle and his men stood up as fifty arrows soared into the air followed, a heartbeat later, by the second flight. The warband had had no time to raise their shields from this hidden enemy and many fell. The third and fourth flights cleared the men on the road.

  Lann Aelle’s men locked shields and held their spears before them. An enemy would have to face the long weapons before they could close with the warriors holding them.

  The mailed Saxons stood before their dead and dying comrades and formed a shield wall. I peered through the undergrowth to see their leader. He would be the one we had to kill quickly. He was a broad warrior with a full face helmet, a broad axe and a shield with a red boar’s head painted upon it. His oathsworn had similar designs and were gathered around him. They began to advance in a boar’s snout formation. This was like a double wedge. The men behind held their shields up to protect those at the front from the arrows and they advanced steadily confident in their ability to deal with lightly armed spearmen and archers.

  Daffydd and his archers now had fewer targets and he slowed down the number of arrows they were loosing. They only needed to keep the shields of the Saxons raised. The warriors at the front hacked away the undergrowth and closed with the squires. This was the first test of the squires as warriors but I knew they were eager to prove themselves. When an equite fell in battle the best squire would join that elite group and all were keen to impress Lann Aelle and me.

  I turned to the squire who was next to me and held the Roman buccina. “Sound the horn.”

  The Saxons were committed now and it was time for my horsemen to do their worst. The warriors slowed and looked at each other when they heard the horn. Their leader shouted, “On! Charge! There are just a handful of them!”

  They hurled themselves at our line and I saw the shield and body of a young squire severed as the war axe smashed down on his head. The line was being forced back. I knew that it would. However the extended line and the boar’s snout formation meant that our flanks lapped around theirs and then I heard the wail of the dragon standard as Prince Pasgen and my son charged their left flank. I stepped forwards to join the line of spearmen. We had to hold them to allow the horsemen to begin to thin them out. As I slid Saxon Slayer from my scabbard I saw the line of horsemen led by Tuanthal. Although without mail they all held three javelins.

  The squire before me fell and I stepped into the line and faced a mailed warrior with a plaited beard. He had an open helmet and I could see that he anticipated another simple victory. His sword smashed onto my shield and stopped as it jarred against a metal stud. I had metal and leather covering the oak shield and it would not be destroyed easily. I saw the look of surprise upon his face and I swung Saxon Slayer overhand towards his head. He held his shield up and the force of the blow cracked the shield and forced it down on to this helm. He was shaken and before he could strike a blow in retaliation I swung it again and his shield shivered and a crack appeared. As he swung his sword I punched with the boss of my shield and he reeled from the blow. He was now no longer in control and he panicked. I lifted my sword and he swung his shield in anticipation. I twisted the blade in the air and stabbed him in his throat.

  I saw that Tuanthal and his men had now joined the fray and the pressure on the squires had lessened. There were now many gaps which showed that they had stood their ground and died. I glanced to the left and saw Hogan Lann laying about him with his mace. I could see the lances protruding from the dead oathsworn of the leader of the warband. Even as I watched, Pol smashed his mace into the head of a mailed warrior who briefly stood, like a statue, and then fell to the ground. That was the effective end of the battle for the best of their warriors had died and it was now a slaughter. Daffydd and his archers picked their targets and, one by one, the last of the warband died.

  As the last warrior died my men let out a huge cheer and began chanting, “Wolf Warrior”. I had not fought beneath my wolf banner as I did not want my enemies to know I was back in Rheged. As none of the warband had survived my men could indulge themselves and they had earned a famous victory. The squires who had survived could look forward to becoming equites soon.

  My men were soon stripping the bodies of weapons and armour. We could begin to arm the men of Rheged once more. “Myrddyn, find out the cost.”

  When he returned he had a grim face. “The Saxons fought well, Warlord. The equites lost four knights and the squires lost fifteen men. Captain Tuanthal only suffered five casualties.

  While the losses were heavier than I had wished they would not hurt our ability to hit the enemy with our heavy horses for four squires would now replace the dead equites. Next time I would have to be more careful with how I used them. Now I had to order my men to perform a grisly but necessary task.

  “I want the heads taking from every Saxon.” I waved Aedh over. “Find enough shattered spears and javelins. Take the heads back to Castle Perilous. I want the heads mounting atop the spears and leaving as a warning to the Saxons that we are back. Captain Tuanthal, have your men help Aedh.”

  Lann Aelle said, “This is not like you uncle.”

  “It cannot hurt the dead and if I can intimidate the Saxons then so much the better. We need them to fear us and this will cause them to be nervous next time we fight them.”

  “It may make them keen for revenge.”

  I smiled, “Even better for a hot head does not think clearly.”

  We headed back to Wide Water with the equites and squires carrying our booty. Hogan Lann rode next to me. “The squires did well.”

  “Aye but I hope we do not have to keep using them in this way. They are too valuable for us to throw away. I hope that we have bought enough time to train up some of the men of Rheged.”

  Myrddyn coughed, “It will take them the better part of a month for the Saxons to realise there is a problem. By the time they send men to investigate it will be autumn and travelling will be harder.”

  I nodded. Hogan Lann said, “And what are our plans?”

  My son knew me almost as well as Myrddyn. “We will not sit back and wait. We will take the war to them. Before the month is out I want to hit them.”

  “At Dunelm?”

  “No that is a nut which is too hard to crack with horsemen. We shall do as they do and strike at their outlying settlements and make them go on the defensive. Myrddyn is correct. It will be spring before they try to wrest this land from us.”

  “Perhaps they will not try at all. Maybe they will just hold what they have.”

  “I pray for that but I do not think it will be. Their new king, Edwin, can
not afford to show weakness. Aethelfrith and his sons would return and recover their kingdom. No, he will fight and then we shall see the measure of this new king.”

  I left Hogan Lann with the archers, squires and the wounded at Wide Water while Price Pasgen and I headed north to Carvetiorum. I had no idea what I would find there but Kay had told me that the Saxons had only occupied it for a brief time. It was deserted. I had no idea why; had I been the Saxons I would have made that my base for it was a soundly built castle and, unlike Deva, had not been abandoned after the Romans had left. It had been maintained and looked after by King Urien and the kings who preceded him.

  I promised Hogan Lann that we would retreat if we felt we were in any danger. I had to smile to myself as we headed north. My son was worried about his father. Perhaps he was fooled by the white in my beard and hair. I was a little slower than I had been but the grey did not impair my thoughts. Aedh and his scouts rode with us. I could see that he was desperate to be off the leash. He liked the freedom scouting brought. After we had left the land of the lakes the land became gentler leading to the fort which had been Luguvalium in Roman times. I could see that there were still people living close to the river but the fortress itself looked to be abandoned. I wondered if the smaller fort, the Petriana which was further north, was also abandoned.

  I could see the distress on Prince Pasgen’s face. This had been his home and when he had been a boy the thought of a derelict and deserted fortress would have seemed impossible. Myrddyn spoke quietly so that just the prince and I could hear. “It can be made good again Prince Pasgen. The walls have not been breached. Remember Deva; that was in much worse condition than this is. The good news is that we do not have to bleed men to recapture it. This is a gift from the gods.”

  The villagers from Civitas Carvetiorum hid in their homes when we rode in. It was only when they recognised the dragon standard of Prince Pasgen that they came out, fearfully at first. Then one of my old soldiers recognised me and rushed over, one arm hanging uselessly by his side. “It is true! The Warlord has returned. The prophesy was true!”