Viking Voices (22 page)

We draw level with the cove and can see right into it, it has all of our boats and they are still on the beach! None of them have been launched; we are getting very close to the narrow strait where we will have to slow down to navigate it safely. The plan will succeed in defeating Bardr but has failed us, as we must surely be caught now. I am going to die just at the moment of my greatest triumph. This must be the terrible price of blind loyalty to Ragnald when it means taking his position in the most dangerous place. He has let me down at the most vital moment!

As we draw past the cove we can finally see all of our boats being launched from the beach, each boat heaving with fully armed men. It should terrify the Vannin men immediately behind us, but it seems they have not noticed as they are still concentrating all their attention on us. They are very confident now of taking us, and apparently unaware of their own doom, the huge fleet which is now starting to take up position behind them and follow them, closing the jaws of the trap.

It looks to me like Ragnald may have deliberately delayed the launch to make certain that all of Bardr's fleet are caught in the trap, none of them could see his fleet before they entered into an area they cannot get out of, and he has succeeded completely. They are all caught, and can have no possible means of escape.

None of them will be able to escape unless they can also scrape through the narrow strait without hitting any of the rocks and they will need to pass by my small group to do that. The outcome of the main battle is almost decided already as Ragnald's fleet is closing the trap. Bardr, his boats and his men are completely trapped in the angle between the islet and he mainland. The only question left unresolved is whether they will kill my men and I before they are all killed themselves. It's a question I have a great deal of interest in.

I decide that I will continue to run before the wind right into the strait and take my best chance with the rocks. If I can make it, we will shoot straight through under full sail and therefore at full speed. We are very, very fortunate to arrive on the high tide which gives us far more depth of water and the channel is therefore also a little wider, though still perilously narrow. I am in the first of our six boats to arrive, leading the others and indeed we do shoot through under full sail, seeing the rocks pass close by us on both sides but missing us.

At its narrowest point the strait is only two or three boat's width, so we are through very quickly and then relatively safe in the open water beyond. I heave a great sigh of relief, as it seems I will survive another battle after all.

Of the remainder of my boats, all are following me through and the next one also survives but the next three all arrive together and attempt to go through side by side. There is simply not sufficient space for this. There is a terrible dull thud and a splintering of timber as the boat nearest to the main land comes to a sudden stop, tilting forward with a jolt and spilling many of its men into the water. It has obviously hit a submerged rock at full speed and is fatally damaged. The wrecked boat slews sideways across the channel and further restricts the width of the channel but the other two are also through.

We can see a few men on the surface attempting to swim, but it seems that most have sunk into the sea, carried down by the weight of their mail and their arms. A few more appear on the surface a minute later, having apparently discarded their arms, and are swimming towards the nearby shore. Others are picked up by a preceding longboat which has now stopped to rescue them. This boat is then rammed by another boat following behind, still desperate to evade the chasing Vannin boats, which are themselves desperate to evade Ragnald's huge navy. It is a chaotic mess but both these boats are still afloat, under control and eventually they are able to continue through to the open sea beyond the strait.

Now the first of the Vannin fleet arrives at the strait and catches the rearmost of our boats bringing about a clash of spears and swords between the men on the opposing sides. A few leap from one boat to the other which is brave but foolish, as they take their chances with either the waves or their enemy. Few of those jumping will survive as the boats separate.

Bardr's fleet are now all jostling with each other to attempt the passage through the narrow strait and are forcing their comrades on the outside onto the rocks on both sides. The channel is simply too narrow for all those boats at the same time. It was dangerous enough for a single boat to cross in calm unhurried conditions. Now they are trying in complete desperation to get thirty boats through. Their anxiety and fear drives them to try to crowd through, no doubt they now know that they face death at the hands of Ragnald if they turn, so they may as well try their hand at running the gauntlet in response to nature's challenge.

Although several of their boats are grounding and being wrecked, a few do get through before the strait becomes completely blocked with the wreckage. The boats at the back of the wreckage are joined by Ragnald's fleet and our warriors flow onto these boats bringing about a true battle, but a very one-sided one as the Vannin pirates are quickly overwhelmed by our numbers, exactly as we had always planned.

As a few of their leading boats have succeeded in getting through the strait unscathed and my group, just four remaining boats now, turn to face them. We confront them but we make no move towards them. The implication of this action is clearly understood by them. We will not challenge them if they do not challenge us. We are therefore content to allow them to escape, not seeing any need for greater bloodshed, particularly our own, and clearly they quickly understand the sense of this. They have eight boats which are now able to escape and these set sail, running before the wind and disappearing fast off to the east. Where they are going we do not know, maybe they do not know either, but they will clearly land somewhere in the north of Danelaw. I guess they already know of a place where they will find some friends prepared to protect them.

It is time for us to return to our main fleet on the other side of the strait, where the battle is now over. It takes us quite a time to get there since the strait itself is effectively closed and we must row through the heavily disturbed tidal waters as we pass right around the small islet.

Half of the Vannin fleet has been captured, along with around half of the crews. The rest of their boats are either in the small escaping group or were wrecked in the strait. Many of these men were very wise, and were prepared to give up the fight and agreed to yield immediately if their lives were spared, which Ragnald readily agreed to. It makes complete sense to him as they are fellow Scandinavians and he sees them as more new recruits to his army. The battle is now over and we have a complete victory. There is no sign of Bardr, although we search high and low to find him! It may be that he died in the fight or drowned among the wrecked boats or perhaps he was among those eight boats that escaped earlier. That last possibility would be a blemish on an otherwise total success.

We are now completely free to sail our entire fleet right into the safest part of the harbour in the river estuary which is close by the castle and from there we march unopposed into the impregnable castle. Bardr's mother and his queen have witnessed the battle from the battlements and, realising that all was lost, have already fled on horseback across the island, along with the rest of their family. They are undoubtedly still somewhere on the east side of the island and so we could pursue them and probably capture them if we are quick, but we are content for them to escape. They have little value for ransom now, as we are already taking everything they own. We have no need to fear their revenge any more, as we now have the kind of overwhelming strength that everyone will respect and very few will ever challenge.

Ragnald had a ferocious reputation across Danelaw before this action and he will seem absolutely invincible now. He has taken the impregnable fortress with minimal casualties and added, not just a fine new base, but also substantially increased the size of his own forces in doing so.

Ragnald issues orders that the town must not be burnt down, and our men are made to respect the women and children they find here. They are Viking people like us and we plan to have them integrated, together with most of their men, into our community. We manage to protect the lives of the inhabitants but cannot and will not save their property; a lot of plunder is taken, especially by the Danir mercenaries who now make up the bulk of our army. This is extremely ironic as these are their fellow Danish people that they are robbing and plundering.

As is so often the case after a victory the men take to feasting and wild drinking, and it is a good thing that all of the women and children of this community were taken away into the castle for their own protection before it started. Warriors often become argumentative and dangerous when they reach a drunken state, and no one is safe then. The victors knock each other around a great deal in drunken brawls and merriment, and there are many bruised and bleeding men before the morning comes, but just a few fatalities.

I love the company of the Danes, they are the best of men to fight with, to drink with and sing with but I prefer to stay clear of these mass drunken sessions, with their bawdy songs, drunken games and deadly drunken fights. The battles are dangerous, but the celebrations of the warriors when they have tasted blood are far worse! I feel no urge to celebrate today; I simply feel relief at having survived. I have had the most horrific and terrifying experience today and I know that I am extremely fortunate to have got through this ordeal. What's more it is not over. The coming night will bring my horrors back to torment me again, my dreams will force me to go through it all again several times, probably every night for many weeks.

Just as we complete the occupation of the castle and its town we can see the fleet of Sihtric and Guthfrith who are finally arriving into the port. The timing was not too far out, only a few hours, but they have still missed the entire battle. It must all have looked so easy to them. They are still important as they are here now to join the new community, and belong to the enlarged army which will be drawn from this community and which should now be the force that will be capable of recapturing Dyflinn. Ragnald and I are both ecstatic as our long-held dream is about to come true at last.

So many years have passed since I had first looked over this castle from the nearby hill and dreamed that a warlock would carry us as black ravens into this great fortress and then turn us back into men after we had flown into it. I feared that warlock, especially if he took the side opposed to us. Now I have created the black ravens, by painting them on the sails of our boats and we are standing here as men in the impregnable castle that could not be taken, having taken it with our boats.

I feel like the warlock is right here, right now. I have become the warlock.

We are now based in our formidable fortress in Vannin and ready for the attack on Dyflinn, which is less than a day's sail away. We have the ideal location to descend on them unseen from the sea, and they will have absolutely no idea of the mighty force that has gathered here to sweep them away. Most of the surviving Lochlain community expelled from Dyflinn all those years ago are reunited here, and are together with a large contingent of Danir, both from Bardr's Vannin group and the mercenaries who have joined us over the past few months. We have created a position of great strength, and morale is sky high.

It is unlikely that the Irskrs have the slightest awareness of our presence here, or of our intentions. They are not going to be ready for the assault that is coming. Our revenge and our return to our home cannot be long delayed now. There is nothing to stop us.

There is however, time available to reflect a little on the next steps before we move, and it is wise to plan properly. Do we want our families to join us here immediately? Or is it better to leave them where they are and then just move them once, directly back to the Dyflinnarskiri? Do we need new reinforcements or do we have enough men? Will we have enough strength not just to take Dyflinn but to hold onto it afterwards?

For once even the ever active and impatient Ragnald pauses uncharacteristically to think things through. For some reason he decides that he needs to return to Prestune to build his strength even more, and that is the ideal place to do it. Normally I would be surprised that he chooses to go there at such a vital time, but I know that he has reasons of his own to visit that place. Although we can almost certainly take Dyflinn now, that venture can obviously wait until Ragnald has satisfied his other needs.

When we do attack we are likely to take Dyflinn unopposed, as long as we take the town by surprise. We will, however, soon come under attack again by a unified army of the kings of Leinster and Brega, who will probably come together again as they did earlier. That will take them some time but it is certain to happen. So we can take the town more easily than we can retain it and that ongoing defence is the critical aspect. We will need to station an army of men there for some time, and we will need to keep them occupied and to feed them.

We know well that it is easier to recruit a mercenary army than to keep them in place. The answer will be to set the Danir loose on the Irskric countryside, ravaging their villages and towns before their kings can bring their army together. That will also hinder the efforts of their kings to assemble their army. As they may find plunder difficult to gather it will be necessary to pay them to go in the first few months.

For that purpose Ragnald will want me to recover the buried silver, so that will be my next task. The money is needed now to feed and pay the existing army and especially to make further recruits. After that we will look to move our families to Vannin as a preliminary step to following the army back to Dyflinn. The plan is in place to achieve the objective that we set ourselves on Dalkey Island all those years ago.

Before we can act though, fate takes a different turn and gives us more issues to consider. We have a visitor from Danelaw, and it is our new friend agmundr the Hold, who is here to request our urgent help. His lands are now being ravaged by a Mercian army who have now pressed into west Northumberland out of Mercia, having crossed the Mersam. They are pressing him hard and he is therefore in great need of help and reinforcement.

Initially Ragnald has little sympathy; he sees Agmundr is making the same request to him that Halfdan made a few weeks ago. Halfdan the King of Jorvik refused to honour his duty to help us then, as his battle with the Anglo-Saxons took priority. Why should Ragnald help the Danir now, when they did not help him? Let Agmundr go to Halfdan for that help.

I think things over and after contemplation I see things differently. So often Ragnald's ideas are limited by what he sees right in front of him. If he steps aside to view the wider context he might see that there are bigger prizes to be won. This could be Ragnald's opportunity to become king over both Jorvik and Dyflinn, and dominate the entire Scandinavian world. He now has the biggest Viking army, certainly as large as that of the Kings of Northumberland in Jorvik. He has attracted so many of their bravest and fiercest warriors already and his record of unbroken success is continuing to gain him new recruits. That is why the Danir are now turning to him rather than their own kings.

Halfdan, Eowils and Ivarr, the three Kings of Northumberland in Jorvik, are losing their battle with the Anglo-Saxons and so are likely to be deposed by their own people soon. That is one of the reasons so many of their men have come here to join Ragnald. It is not just evidence of Ragnald's strength but of their weakness, as their own army is now much reduced and under severe pressure from both the Wessex Saxons and Mercian Angles.

So Agmundr has come to ask assistance from us rather than from his own kings, knowing why their men are coming over to us in such great numbers. Although just a few weeks ago we saw our only prospect as begging assistance from the Kings of Jorvik but now our alternative strategy has succeeded so well that we are now stronger than they are. I think it is time of great opportunity; Ragnald can drive home his advantage, and take the crown of Northumberland for himself as well as take back Dyflinn.

We must, however, take care that there is a kingdom of Northumberland to rule. The Anglo-Saxons are a real and imminent threat to that kingdom and must be dealt with urgently. Their aggressive move into Danelaw makes dealing with that threat more urgent than the reconquest of Dyflinn.

If we take Northumberland from its Danish kings we can return to that Dyflinn project shortly with all of the resources of Jorvik behind us, and make its long term success even more certain. If we take Dyflinn first it will constantly drain resources out of our effort as it will then always need to be protected.

The emerging plan is therefore to divide our forces again just as we did with Ingamund, one force under Ragnald to take Jorvik and another, under Agmundr this time, to fight off the Anglo-Saxons. This is a plan we must keep covert, only Ragnald and I will know its total content.

Those most likely to stay staunchly loyal to Ragnald are the Lochlain, from the Wirral and also Gulthfrith and Sithric from the north, and so they will form the core of the force that will take Jorvik with Ragnald.

The Danir, both from Vannin and the mercenary army, might sympathise with the Kings of Jorvic in a fight against them, so they will be placed under Agmundr to fight the Anglo-Saxons. They will surely see him as one of their own, a natural leader for them in an assault on the Saxons. They will also instinctively feel that war against the Saxons is both natural and right for them, as battles between Danir and Saxon have dominated this land for several generations. It will also offer them great prospects of huge plunder, something that will appeal greatly to these greedy unruly men, and will take the pressure to provide them with rewards off us for a while.

If I say so myself it is a truly brilliant plan, incidentally one which once again allows Ragnald the chance to keep away from the most intense fighting. The city of Jorvik will already have been stripped of its troops to defend Danelaw against the Anglo-Saxons. He is very likely to take it unopposed.

There is a danger is that Agmundr will not succeed against the Saxons, who will then continue to be a threat. Mercia may be weaker now, but it is increasingly clear that Wessex is a strong kingdom lead by a determined King. Edward the Elder is the true son to his father Alfred and has inherited his fighting abilities, his leadership skills and his understanding of strategy. Agmundr would look inexperienced and lightweight in comparison, so it is good that he is going to confront Mercia rather than Wessex.

Perhaps a greater danger though is that Agmundr will succeed and return at the head of an enlarged and confident force to turn Ragnald out of Jorvik. Ragnald decides that he will counter that prospect by offering to strengthen the planning capability of the Danish force attacking the Saxons by lending my services to Agmundr.

I will be his adviser and right-hand man during the campaign and that is a great endorsement of my capability as a military strategist. Agmundr and I are already friends, and so it is natural and easy for us both to agree to co-operate. It is very acceptable to me to have Agmundr as the leader; I have no ambition to compete with him as I am a commoner and have no noble blood. I only want my fair reward from this dangerous venture.

Besides I know now that I can influence things as much from the position of adviser and ensure that an element of the force will be loyal to me and therefore to Ragnald should the campaign end in a face off at Jorvik. The risks are very high, but it is not being offered as a choice. Ragnald promises to make me the Jarl with control over Dyflinn if I succeed. It is the great prize that I have always coveted. The time for my glory is about to come.

On the other hand it makes nonsense of my promise to Aud and my own resolution to stay out of danger and spend more time with my family, but it is clear that this one last great project can secure immense power and riches for both my king and myself. I can then obtain all of the rewards I deserve, including the right to retire to Dyflinn with my family in great luxury and with the power of a Jarl. I will not even need to work iron any more, unless I choose to.

It is clearly an appropriate reward for all my efforts on his behalf. As king of both Northumberland and Dyflinn such titles would be easily in Ragnald's gift. I am sure that he will also grant me enough land in the Dyflinarskiri to keep my family rich for generations to come. Even if he did not I would be in a position to just take it. It is a prize which is well worth one last big gamble.

The two fleets are allocated boats; around eighty boats will be available to each group now, including those that Agmundr can supply. It is a very large number which reflects our growing power and numbers. We have increased our resources considerably and our ability to raise two armies is a clear indicator of the way we have prospered.

Agmundr and I sail first for the Ripam, where he will raise his army to join mine and we will then move south together under his command. ragnald will then follow a week later to make his move on Jorvik, although Agmundr is not made aware of this second part of our strategy. It is far better that he does not know at this point. Once Ragnald is safely established as the King of Jorvik it is certain that Agmundr be sufficiently pragmatic to accept him, but right now he might have confused loyalties having sworn to serve the triumvirate of Halfdan, Eowils and Ivarr. Once they are out of the way there will be no reason for such confusion, and Ragnald will be sure to put the trio securely in a place where they will never cause him any trouble in the future.

The approach along this estuary is very familiar now, but for once we will not proceed past the village of Prestune to the fording point where my silver is buried, nor will we continue to the old Roman road that leads to Jorvik. Agmundr takes just three days to gather his force which is quite an achievement in such a short time; it shows that he already has them in a high state of preparedness. This is the largest army I have ever seen, even larger than that which we put together to fight the Picts. It is certain to be needed as the foe we are now to encounter is more numerous, better armed, more cunning and in every way stronger than the Picts.

I am careful to keep close to Agmundr at all times, taking my place among the Jarls and confident now that I belong among them. I may never be a king but surely I deserve that status of a Jarl already, and I know now that Ragnald will give me the title, and the wealth that goes with it once the war against the Anglo-Saxons is finally won.

I am surprised and unhappy to see Bardr Ottarson appear among Agmundr's associates, having thought that he had disappeared for ever after the battle of Vannin. I had hoped that he was dead. Naturally I complain angrily to Agmundr about his presence here. He has no right to be communicating with the Hold as though he was also an adviser. The complaint is brushed aside by Agmundr as though it is inconsequential; I am told that Bardr has no importance in this group, as he has contributed just a handful of men.

I do not like this development and consider that Agmundr is not giving me the respect to which I am entitled. Of course, it is true that Bardr is a minor player now, and I must hold real power in having Ragnald's ear. So why is Bardr here at all? It makes me very uneasy. I will be certain to tell Ragnald of this incident and its implied insult and ensure that Agmundr is at least punished for giving Bardr a place of honour as Ragnald's enemy. It also casts doubt on his trustworthiness as an ally, and this is a very unexpected and unwelcome cloud over our alliance with him.

Once the army is completely assembled we form the plan for this venture. The Mercians are likely to know about our presence here and will already know that we are preparing to move south. They will therefore have fortified the crossings over the River Mersam, as indeed Agmundr has on the northern side, making it more difficult to go that way, perhaps costing many lives. Even when we have forded that river they will be prepared for our arrival. We have a large army that could make progress but it is likely to get very well spread out across the countryside. A few horse borne raiders could harass the small groups of our rearguard if they get behind. It is also going to be difficult to find enough food to keep them alive and many of us may be hungry.

I believe the plains of north Mercia will by now have been stripped of any plunder for us, at least in the foodstuffs which will be our first and most urgent need. I predict that this route will have been made difficult for us. It is better to use our great strength which is our mobility, especially by sea, and as we have many boats now that strength is even greater.

My proposal is therefore to sail the entire army around the west coast, around the land of the Welsc and to enter into Mercia from the south. They will not be expecting us to arrive that way and we will therefore be much better able to live off the land, and make good progress, probably unopposed for some time. During that time we will be well fed and be able to gather plenty of food and plunder for the journey north.