Viking Sword (4 page)

Cnut pointed to the north.  "Blue Eye did not learn it from Wiglaf."

"It will not stop all but it will limit their numbers.  I am not going to give up this home as we did Mann because of threats from enemies.  This is our land now and we will keep it.  More men are flocking to farm here and there is plenty of land.  We will only grow stronger."

Cnut threw a stick into the beck and watched it flow downstream. "Until, Dragon Heart, you are slain and then what?"

"By then Arturus will have learned how to be jarl."

Haaken laughed, "And that shows that you are not Norse.  Most Vikings give their son a sword when he becomes a man and then says go and make your fortune.  You will hand your sword and wealth to your son; is that it?"

Cnut smiled and lay back on the bank, enjoying the shafts of sunlight which peered through the thinning clouds. "Of course he will and that is why he is Dragon Heart and you sing songs about him."

I smiled at their jibes, "Why else does a man choose to have a family if not to make their life better than his. I was born a slave and look at what I have achieved.  My son is born the son of a jarl...."

It was late afternoon when my warriors returned.  I saw that there were two missing.  I would find out who they were in due course.

Sigtrygg bowed his head, "I have failed you, Jarl Dragon Heart.  We could not capture them and we lost Erik and Siggi."

They were both seasoned Ulfheonar and would be hard to replace.

"Did they die well?"

"They died well."

"Then do not mourn them."

"We killed four of his oathsworn and five others but they fled on their drekar."

"Do not worry, Sigtrygg.  They will not return.  We questioned one of his warriors.  He came for the sword to make him invincible.  He will find it hard to hang on to what he has. This will be the last we hear of Harald Blue Eye.  He has gambled and he has lost. We will return home and celebrate our friends who are now telling the Allfather of our deeds."

We feasted long into the night.  We had lost Ulfheonar.  Some were new to us but we celebrated their lives and their glorious deaths nonetheless. I saw Cnut and Haaken with the three new Ulfheonar who had survived. I wandered over to listen. Haaken punctuated his words with his finger.

"Ulfheonar are not reckless.  We are brave and we are fierce fighters but we do not rush into combat. We have lost three young warriors who might have become great Ulfheonar and that is a tragedy."

"Haaken is right, live for your brothers. We are the best and we have high standards.  Meet them." Cnut had such a serious look on his face I thought the new warriors might recoil in fear.

I put my arms around the shoulders of my two old friends. "They are right but remember that we do what we do for our people.  That is why we need to live. For in living we keep them safe.  You did well today and I am proud that you are my oathsworn. Enjoy tonight for once we sail south there will be no such nights. We feast and we drink when we are safe here in Cyninges-tūn.  Everywhere else is a place of danger.  You will learn as we all learned and when you have your wolf skin then you will know what it is to be Ulfheonar."

Arturus was most disappointed to have missed the skirmish. He had done what I had asked of him. Thorkell and Windar would watch our lands whilst we were away.  Both had new warriors. Every day disgruntled Vikings came from Jarls who did not offer what we did: good land and a code by which we lived.  We had no kings and princes. That had appeal to those who sat beneath the yoke of tyrants.  Rorik had not been the only one. We heard of the privations Wiglaf was inflicting upon his people.  He was far crueller than any Viking. He surrounded himself by vicious killers who cared not for the old ways and values.  They were there to extract all the gold that they could from their people. It explained the reason why he had begun to spread the legend of the sword so that all the malcontents would try to get the sword for themselves. They would leave Jorvik and his power would only increase. My decision to leave was a good one. My decision to slay him an even better one.

It took much organisation to prepare our ships for sea whilst ensuring that our homes were safe. Our voyage would take many weeks.  The three new Ulfheonar went hunting their wolves while the rest of the warriors went hunting.  Our farmers and fishermen were too busy to be able to forage for wild food for us. Our smiths and miners were equally busy. I left Arturus and the Ulfheonar while I went with Aiden to my ship and to see the headman of Úlfarrston, Pasgen. Kara insisted that I take the small ship down to the end of the Water.  She was mindful of the allure of the sword. As Aiden and I strode through the forest the sword felt like a heavy weight in my baldric.

I walked in silence as I was trying to plan for the future. Haaken and Cnut were both correct; my plan would only delay the arrival of other seekers of the sword. I could not sail the seas of the world until the end of time.

Aiden frightened me sometimes.  He suddenly said, very quietly, "This will pass, Jarl Dragon Heart. There will always be those who seek the sword.  There have been before.  Think how many warriors have challenged you to single combat. Wiglaf is the problem for he is feeding the fire of warrior's envy and desire."

"You have entered my mind again."

He laughed, "Let us say that I know your moods and I have spoken with Kara.  She knows your heart and your mind as well as any for she speaks with the spirits. This is good, Jarl, this is
wyrd
."

Erik Short Toe had been the ship's boy on the "
Heart of the Dragon
."  He had been trained to be captain by old Josephus, the Greek slave we had rescued. The old Byzantine had done a good job for, despite his youth, Erik was the best captain I had. He was consulting with Bolli as Bolli's men scraped away the weed from the hull of my drekar.  Thanks to the concoction Aiden had made and we had smeared over the hull there was less than one might expect. When the weed had been cleared the hull would be treated again.  It was what made my drekar the fastest afloat. She and her consort,
"Josephus"
could out sail any ship that we met.

Erik looked eager to sail.  He hated the inactivity of winter.  He was born to the sea. He seemed to understand what the wind would do before it changed or swirled. He rubbed his hands as he came to greet me.  "Jarl Dragon Heart! We sail soon?"

"We sail soon, Erik.  Have you your ship's boys?"

He nodded and then looked at me apprehensively.  "They are not from our people, jarl.  They come from Úlfarrston."

I laughed, "Erik, you forget I am not from our people as you say.  I am not Norse.  Half of my blood comes from the same people as Pasgen.  So long as they are good workers I care not where they come from." I pointed to Aiden.  "Aiden here is from Hibernia; does that make him not of our people?"

He smiled, "I am sorry! And Josephus was Greek! You are right.  When do we sail?"

I cocked my head on one side.  "You are the captain and Bolli is the shipwright.  You tell me!"

"Then three days from now."

"Good! The hunters will be back then and we can salt the meat.  I will see Pasgen.  Come Aiden."

I told Pasgen of the attacks on our land and explained that I was raiding for slaves. "If you have ships you wish me to escort to Lundenwic then I can do so."

He shook his head. "Trygg and Siggi went with our boats as soon as the weather became clement." He frowned, "Are we in danger when you are gone?"

"I hope not but we have put plans in place to have Thorkell and Windar have promised to protect my land."

We did not have three days.  Had we not been preparing for war we might have been caught unawares.  If we had been out hunting or working on the Water then disaster might have struck us but we were preparing for war and we had two boat crews inside our walls. The twenty raiders slew the two guards at the open gates with arrows and slipped silently into the heart of my home. I was trying on my armour.  Bjorn the smith had made some improvements to make it lighter and he was in my hall with me as we adjusted it.

Padraigh my slave rushed in clutching a bleeding arm. "Jarl, there are raiders!"

I drew my sword and picked up my shield. Bjorn picked up the hammer he always carried. "Stay here Padraigh."  We stepped into the main hall and there were six warriors there.  None wore armour and all were ready to kill.  They were Norse and had the tattooed bodies favoured by the men of Northumbria.  All of them carried a sword, held a shield and sported a helmet.

Bjorn looked at me and smiled, "Only six of them, Jarl."

Their leader had carved teeth and an enormous scar running down his body.  He wore battle rings on his arms.  "We have warriors enough outside.  When I have the sword touched by the gods then we will enjoy your women!"

Just then there was the clash of arms beyond my hall.  I smiled.  It was my men and they were already falling upon the Vikings who had made the mistake of trying to beard me in my own den. "Did you think I was alone?  Did you hope to creep in like an assassin, murder me and take my weapon?" I shook my head.  "The gods would not allow that.  The man who prises this sword from my dead fingers will be a great warrior and not a posing, preening warrior who carves his teeth, cannot afford armour and was almost killed by some Saxon." Part of my insult was guesswork but I must have hit a nerve for he launched himself at me.

His reckless charge played into my hands. I parried the blow from his sword as I spun and swung my sword horizontally.  He was past me when my blade bit into the bare flesh of his back. I caught sight of Snorri and Sigtrygg as they charged through my door and fell upon the others. The leader turned and saw the blood dripping from my blade. His eyes narrowed as he realised that he had been wounded. It sometimes happens in the heat of the battle that you are struck and do not know it. 

He roared and charged at me. I noticed that the strike he had made on my shield had bent his sword slightly.  I parried hard with Ragnar's Spirit as I punched with my shield.  The sword bent even more and he stumbled backwards.  I brought my sword around in an arc and rammed it into his middle. He sank to his knees and he looked at me in surprise. I swung a third time and took his head in one mighty blow.  It was over and the raiders were dead.

We had no one left to question for my men had outnumbered them.  The fact they came from the east told us that Wiglaf's poison had done its work.  We took their bodies and burned them on the beach.  The Water would scatter their ashes into the depths. Bjorn took the poorly made weapons and melted them down. Their treasure was poor.  Kara had nodded when she had seen their bodies, "They were poor warriors who saw the sword as a means of becoming rich and powerful."

I worried that more might come now whilst we were away.  Scanlan and Rolf reassured me. "We can keep the gates shut from now on.  It is a small inconvenience to open and close them each time someone wishes to enter.  I have more men and boys I can use as sentries. The young see it as a way to become one of your warriors."

Kara had agreed, "I sensed danger but I said nothing.  This is my fault, father.  I thought that the danger was for you on your voyage.  Fear not I will heed all the messages that the spirits send to me.  I will not let you down again."

We left a day before Ein-mánuðr. The weather was good with a wind from the north east. It was a cold wind but it came from Ragnar's home in Norway and we all took that to be a good sign. It had also passed over our home and carried with it the good thoughts of our people.  Best of all, according to Haaken, was that the Ulfheonar did not need to row. I was torn because Arturus was with his own crew on the
"Josephus."
  It was hard to get used to the fact that my son had his own oathsworn.  They were not Ulfheonar for they did wear the skin of the wolf, but they had proved themselves when they had manned the eastern fort and fought off Ragnar Hairy Breeches and Rorik.  This would be their first raid.  I knew that my son needed to stand on his own feet and lead his own men but the father in me wanted me close by to watch him.

I stood on the opposite side of the drekar to the steering board; from there I could see the
"Josephus"
and my son and his crew.  Aiden came to me. "You had no father to watch over you when you led your first warband, jarl"

I shook my head as my mind reader did it again.  "No, but I had Prince Butar and Olaf who were there to offer advice."

"And he has you. He is as a brother to me and he has strength within him.  Never fear."

"Ah, but I am a father and there is something within me which will not let go."

"That is from your mother and the Warlord of Rheged. The spirits favour us on this raid. It will bring great success."

Inevitably the first part of the journey was always the most dangerous for we passed Mann.  Once our home, it was now the haunt of the Dyflin Norse and the men of Orkneyjar.  They were led by warriors like Sihtric Silkbeard who were treacherous and cruel.  If they were what the world thought of as Viking then I did not wish to be called a Viking. We passed the two islands of Mann and Calf of Mann without incident and then round the island now called Angle Sey. They were not seafarers but they had closed their harbours to us.  We were the wild men of the north who were to be feared and not to be trusted.