Hosker, G [Wolf Brethren 02] Saxon Revenge (20 page)

“King Urien would never have agreed to that.”

Myrddyn shrugged, “I know but it gave me my chance.  I had a draught ready to make him sleep for I did not want him to recognise me.  He nearly gave the game away but I saw it in his eyes and I had the men hold him and open his mouth so that I could give him the draught.  It worked quickly and my identity was hidden. I knew that you and your men would not be far away and I played for time.  I told the chief that we needed a fire and he obeyed me.  I thought it might make a beacon for you and so it turned out. You were lucky that the chief had sent two hundred of his men to Aella to continue their pursuit of you.  They did not know of the Roman Road and they headed west.  They will soon realise their mistake.”

“What did you discover then?”

“He has six thousand men and they have come from all over the lands in the east.  He also has another two thousand men who are on their way from the south, from the land of the Eastern Angles.  They will arrive within the next four weeks. His plan is to march north and defeat King Morcant Bulc.  He knows that with the fortresses in his hands he can withstand the horsemen and archers of Rheged.  It is Rheged he fears. He has also sent bribes to the Irish to begin raiding the west coast.  He hopes to distract Strathclyde and Rheged.”

“You have done well.  It is a pity that you could not have remained there.”

He shook his head forcefully, “No, my lord.  How would I have got information to you? The aim was for me to learn their plans and I did. I also discovered that the alliance is fragile but then so is ours.” Garth looked shocked as though the healer had blasphemed but I knew he spoke the truth.  King Urien alone held the alliance together. Myrddyn looked at me, his green eyes piercing and sharp.  “He hates you and has sworn vengeance for all that you have done.  He sees it as a blood feud between you until you are dead.  There is a price on your head.”

“I know I heard the chief.”

“It is more than the chief.  Every warrior who fancies himself with a sword will be hunting you.”

“Good!”

All of my leaders looked at me in shock. “Good?  Are you mad my lord?”

“No, Garth for if they all come to me then they will be weaker elsewhere.  We now know where the point of their attack will be; wherever I am.  Now we know that the scouts will return soon and tell us that the Saxons are five miles down the road.”

The words were no sooner out of my mouth when two boys rode in.  “The Saxons are four miles from here my lord; their whole army.”

The boys could not have expected the reaction they got.  Garth, Miach and Tuanthal; looked at me as though I was a witch. Before they had chance to comment one of the guards to the north shouted, “Stand to.  Horseman!”

Every warrior grabbed a weapon and stood fearing the worst until one of King Urien’s equites rode into the camp. “My lord, King Urien tells you that he has started bringing over the warriors he has available.  He wants you to draw the Saxons to Dunelm and he will meet you there.”

I felt a huge sense of relief. “And the other kings?”

There was a pause.  “King Gwalliog has left Elmet and King Morcant Bulc is also heading for Dunelm.  The king of Strathclyde will bring his army and the rest of ours in fourteen days.” I wondered if this was another ploy from the king of Bernicia but we had no choice but to follow orders. “The king said to tell you not to take risks.”

Garth snorted.  “A bit bloody late for that!”

For some reason that made all my men laugh.  “Myrddyn take the equites and the prince.  Get to Dunelm.  Tuanthal begin to fortify it when you get there.  Find any men you can and build walls and ditches.” They both looked to argue.  “Go!” I turned to Miach. “You are now the rearguard.  Mount your men and keep attacking the Saxons.  Slow them up and give us time to get down the road.  We have twenty miles to go.  We will try to do it in one.  All I want you to do is make them look at every bush and think it contains an archer.  When your arrows are finished then return to us.  Do not lose any men; you are the only ones who can delay the Saxons now. When you reach me that will tell me how much time we have before they attack.” Nothing ever worried Miach and he ordered his archers to mount immediately. “Riderch, Garth, get the men moving.  We march and we march hard.  We have a four mile lead and I do not intend to lose it.”

We were now used to moving quickly but I felt slightly naked as the archers left us to harass the enemy.  We were reduced to a small warband; an efficient and dangerous warband but one without any aid. The road we travelled had not been the main one, the one we called Dere Street.  This was a subsidiary connecting the Dunum with Dunelm, Dere Street and the coast; as such it had little traffic and was slippery with moss in places.  Out pace was slower than on a normal Roman Road but I was determined to make Dunelm by nightfall.  I wanted a river to defend and some sort of shelter, however rudimentary.

I had two men half a mile ahead as scouts.  They could give us some warning of an ambush but that was all.  Suddenly they came hurtling down the road.  As soon as they were in sight they yelled. “Armed men ahead!”

Garth and Riderch quickly took their places on either side of me and the rest went into our wedge formation. A shield wall could be outflanked, a wedge was more flexible. We had our swords in our hands as the scouts took their places at the rear of the wedge. I wondered how Saxons had got ahead of us although it was possible that some of their army had been sent to secure the road as I had done.

We heard the hooves of at least one horse and the tramp of men.  There was a slight hollow before us which meant we had a slight advantage.  “Forward!” We marched resolutely to meet this unseen foe.  “Unfurl the banner!” We carried the banner furled in an oiled bag when marching but if we were to fight it was worth another ten or twenty men.  I felt the wedge surge as my standard bearer, striding behind me, raised the Wolf Banner.

I saw a helmet appear over the rise in the road and a shaft of lonely sunlight lit up the armour and then I heard the familiar voice.  “Brother, would you fight the whole world?  I bring aid!” A visible ripple of relief ran down the wedge as they recognised Raibeart, his archers and his small band of equites. I held up my hand to halt the men as Raibeart and his warriors approached. “The king sent me ahead.  My crops were sown and the lambs were born early this year so we left a few days before the king.  I passed Tuanthal and he told me of your plight.”He leaned forwards.  “And your reckless bravery! And so we came.” He looked at my men.  “They look tired and weary.”

“Aye they are but it has been tough marching and not fighting.  We had but a skirmish. Aella has many warriors brother.  More than the last time.  This will not be an easy fight.”

“With two of Hogan’s sons fighting then they stand no chance.  Where do you want us?”

“If the road ahead is clear then your equites a mile back from us and your archers guarding our rear.”

Garth grinned.  “Are we safe from this sheep shagging bum bandits from the north my lord?”

Raibeart just grinned back, “Believe me Garth our sheep are more attractive than you will ever be!”

I knew then that we would make it. Raibeart gave his orders and then dismounted to walk beside me. I told him what had happened and he nodded when I told him something which he knew. “The king moved heaven and earth to muster the army.” He dropped his voice, “We have no idea what the Bernicians are doing.  They receive messages but they do not send them.  I am sorry that the prince’s father in law was so tardy but he had problems with early raiding Hibernians.  It is almost as though the Saxons had planned it.”

“They have.  Myrddyn discovered that Aella has bribed the Irish.  I fear Rheged will suffer the same attacks.”

“It is a good job then that the princes did not bring all their warriors and they have left defenders for their strongholds.  The sooner we rid the world of Aella the better.”

“And what of the defences in the west?  If we lose then they will need to hold out.”

Raibeart’s concerned expression spoke more than his words. “This is not like you brother.  You were always the confident one.  The one who knew we could win.”

“That was before I knew that the Irish would be raiding Rheged.  Perhaps we should leave the Saxons to the king they threaten, Morcant Bulc.”

“You are tired and it is tiredness talking.  You know as well as I that we have to rid the land of the Saxons or we will have no peace.”

I became silent as I mulled over his words.  What peace would we have?  Perhaps we could come to an arrangement with the Saxons and live side by side? As soon as the thought erupted in my mind it was extinguished; they wanted the whole land and, as Aella’s army showed, he had endless numbers of warriors to help him.

We trudged over the bridge at Dunelm and we could march no further.  Had Raibeart and his men not come to our aid we might have lain down in the woods and slept but they jollied us along and demanded that we tell them of our deeds.  A man, who sings or talks when marching, marches further than a silent one who feels every pain and every inch of his march.

Tuanthal and, I suspect, Myrddyn had transformed the small settlement overlooking the river.  The bridge was now bristling with warriors and I could see log barriers ready to be erected when we all arrived. There were shelters already made and I could smell the food that the villagers were preparing.  As Tuanthal told me, once they knew that the Saxons were coming they were willing to provide anything the army needed. There were only twenty men in the village but that was twenty more than we had when we arrived and were welcome for that.  This was the only point an army could cross the river for some miles and there was nowhere closer to the coast than this. If this could be held then the Saxons would be forced west, towards King Urien.

Raibeart had left his wagons of arrows with Tuanthal.  When my archers rejoined us then we would be in a much healthier position. Raibaert’s equites and Miach and his archers arrived an hour or so after we did.  I could see a few empty saddles amongst the archers but the cost of delay had not been high. While Garth and Riderch saw to the men, Miach reported to my brother and me. “They are keen to get you my lord, we had to keep attacking them and they had slingers.  We lost four men to them but we still had the horses.  We only stopped when our quivers were empty.”

“I brought more you can refill them when you have eaten.” Raibeart and Miach, as fellow archers, had the same priorities.

“Where are they?”

“Less than a mile yonder.  If I was to make a guess I would say that they will camp on that rise. That way they can see our defences below them.”

“You have done well.  Get some food.” I led Raibeart up the hill a little where we could see down towards the bridge and the river. “We have almost the same number of men now as when we began.  With your horsemen we are a hundred and ten down but your archers have increased our advantage there. We could destroy the bridge and deny him the crossing or we could contest it.”

“Destroying the bridge sounds a good idea to me. He would have no choice but to go west.”

“You forget his fleet.  If there are no bridges between here and the sea then he could send a messenger and bring his fleet up.  He could cross the river anywhere. I agree that the destruction of the bridge would enable the king and the reinforcements to arrive but we would then be stuck here.  We could not pursue him easily.  We destroyed many of his ships but he has more than enough to ferry them across this river.” I pointed to it.  It was barely forty paces wide.  It was flowing swiftly but that was because of the weir.  Nearer to the sea and it would be like the Dunum and more sluggish. I grinned at Raibeart and clapped my arm around his shoulder.  “It is good to talk to you brother.  It clarifies my thoughts. We will defend the bridge and make him take it.  If the king is but a week away then we only need to hold him for seven days and we will have him.”

My men had found an old church from Roman times.  There was no roof but they had rigged up some tents as a temporary shelter.  We gathered there.  Prince Ywain was awake and had insisted upon his inclusion.  He looked pale but determined.  Apart from the leaders Myrddyn took his place beside me.  He had earned that right and I knew that he had knowledge which we did not. After we had eaten our first hot meal in a while I went through the plans. “Prince Ywain’s wounds have meant I have not been able to confide my thoughts to him.  If you disagree my prince, with anything I say then please speak.”

He gave me a wry look.  “The day that my tactics and planning is better than yours is unlikely to be today Lord Lann.  Continue and, may I say before the warriors here, that I am grateful to you for my life. I would not be here if it were not for your reckless bravery.  I will reward you when the time is right.”

I gave an embarrassed nod and continued. “We must hold the bridge and entice the Saxons over. They can only bring ten men at a time for it is a narrow bridge and this plays into our hands.  Ten of our men can defeat any ten Saxons. We will use the superiority in archers to thin them out.  I am afraid that the horse will not be needed but, as we have lost a large number already, that is no bad thing.  King Urien will need every horseman he can get if he is to defeat this horde.” There were satisfying nods of agreement.

“My lord?”

Every eye turned to Myrddyn.  None doubted that he had the right to speak but I saw a sceptical look on Raibeart’s face.  He knew the young healer less well than any. “Speak for you have earned the right.”

“Brother Osric told me of the Romans and how they fought. They knew that they could only fight for a short time and to freshen up the fighters they rotated fresh men to fight at the front.”

Riderch frowned.  “How could they do that?  As soon as you stopped to turn you would be killed.”

“I am not sure but I have thought of a way we could do it.  If the new warriors had a line of spearmen behind them then the spearmen could thrust the spears between the heads of the warriors at the front and that would make the enemy recoil.  At that point the warriors exchange places.”