Chapter 2

As the men prepared for war, I called a council with five of my top warriors including Vegoff. We discussed the best way to attack the village. It was Vegoff that came up with the final plan. The archers in the tower were the main concern; they would be able to pick us off from a distance and at will unless we sorted them out first. The plan was to send Juran into the village with some bread and cheese. He was young and did not look like a Viking warrior. We could dress him in rags to look like a beggar.

He would climb the tower, and while the archers were distracted, we would attack. Once we had gotten in amongst the villagers, they would find it hard to use their deadly arrows. If there was one thing that we Vikings hated it was archers, they could kill from afar.

Juran was called over and the plan was put to him. He agreed, he was a brave lad and was eager to get involved in the fight. The rest of us would split into four groups and attack from all four sides of the village at once. The plan was to create as much confusion and panic as possible. Each group of men was led by one of my trusted warriors, I told them all to wait until I gave the signal. We split up and made our way around the edge of the village. We walked deep enough into the forest so as not to be seen. Jarun came with my group, he was nervous and I tried to calm him down, he was very important to the plan.

Jarun left us with his bag of food and we watched as he walked into the village. I could see him walking to the tower and watched as he climbed the ladder to the top. As he was around ten feet from the platform, one of the archers called out to him. I could not hear the conversation from this distance but they chatted for a few moments and them Jarun kept climbing. I motioned my men to start to sneak forward, we needed to make as much ground as we could before the archers realised what was happening.

I was worried about losing Jarun and hoped he would be clever enough to keep his head down once the battle started. Jarun was the son of my father’s warriors and I had been told to teach him well and to bring him back alive.

I watched as the archers moved away from the rim of the tower. I gave them a few minutes to start their meal and then looked at one of my men. I nodded and he blew on his battle horn. At the same time, we rushed from the undergrowth and into the people milling around the market stalls. I had my short sword in one hand and a dagger in the other.

I was a warrior that day. I took life just like a child takes milk from his mother. I slashed at everything around me, not caring about age or sex. The noise in the village was tremendous; I knew the other warriors were doing their duty. People ran in many directions, no men were looking to fight us they just ran for their lives.

We kicked over market stalls and one of my men grabbed a burning torch and set fire to several of the huts. Folks ran from them and they were chopped down as they ran. We moved forward as a line and killed everything that stood in our way. At one point, our line was broken when a bull charged at us; the fires and the noise had spooked him. We managed to dodge him, others were not so fortunate.

One of my men to the left of me fell to his knees and a glance told me an arrow had taken his life. I looked toward the tower and the archers were making ready to unleash another volley of arrows. I raised my shield and called for my men to do the same; there was a flurry of thuds as arrows bit into the limewood and bounced off without damaging us. I left my men to the fight and headed toward the tower, hidden from the archers’ view by the huts. I had to remove the threat of the bowman. It was essential to the attack.

I turned toward the base of the tower and there were three guards at the foot of the ladder. As soon as I was in view two of them charged at me. They were both armed with swords, Saxon short swords but no shields. The first man swung high at my head and I parried his blow, he fell to his left obviously off balance. The second man ran with his sword out like a spear and as he was inches from me I side-stepped and chopped down; the sword dropped to the floor, as did his right hand. His screams were mortifying. The first man came at me, he chopped and thrust at me but his sword did not find its target.

I thrust and jabbed back at him, waiting to find his weak point. After a few slashes with his sword, it became obvious, when he had made a few attacks his sword arm dropped and his chest was open to attack. I played the game, waited for the right time. As he tried to slash me, I used the heavy shield on my left arm to protect myself. Then he did it, his arm dropped and my sword arm thrust out. The tip of the blade only just pierced the skin but it was enough to put him off his strike. He looked down at the blood oozing from his chest and as he did so my blade entered his stomach, blood spilt from his lips as he cried out in pain. He fell to his knees and at the same time, I rushed at the last man guarding the ladder.

He was no more than a child and when he saw me running at him he bolted. I left him to run, it was more important to put the archers out of action. I looked up the ladder and saw no one looking down toward me so I dropped my shield and started up the rungs one by one. I peeked over the edge of the tower, the archers were all facing into the village, Jarun was sitting on the floor, and he looked at me and winked. I was as quiet as possible as I climbed over the edge and dropped to the floor. The archers were far too busy to notice me. I looked around; there was a bench that they had been using. I motioned for Jarun to help. We grabbed one end each and without a sound ran at the archers. The surprise of being hit from behind caught them off guard.

Three of the archers toppled over the edge, one grabbed a dagger as he turned toward us and I slashed at his arm, cutting it. Blood sprayed from the wound and his cry filled the air. The other archer was trying to get his bow ready to fire, my blade split his stomach and his intestines fell from the wound.

He was dead before he hit the floor; I turned to finish off the first man. Jarun was stood over him, an axe in his hand and the man’s head was nearly severed from his body. Blood covered the wooded floor of the tower.

“Good boy,” I shouted to him; his smile beamed forth, “can you fire a bow boy?”

“Yes lord,” he said at the same time grabbing a bow from one of the dead men. The string had broken and I watched as he started to restring the weapon. I heard a commotion and looked down over the edge to see men working their way up the ladder. I picked up the body of a dead archer and dropped it down; the men took his body full-on and they tumbled with it to the ground. The second dead body did even more damage.

I turned and watched as Jarun aim and fired at a group of Saxons that were getting ready to charge a group of men that were led by Bergvid. Jarun was good with a bow, he let arrow after arrow fly into the pack of men. I tried my hand with a bow but I was nowhere near as quick or as accurate with the weapon as he was. He seemed to be a natural with the weapon.

Looking down the fight was in good progress. My men were now dispatching Saxons with ease and the village was in total panic. I told Jarun I would be back for him and headed down the ladder. There were a two injured Saxons at its base. I put them to the sword and then I climbed up and chopped at the ladder making it useless. I did not want Jarun being surprised by the enemy. He was doing a good job with his bow and arrows.

I ran toward the battle, moving faster now without a shield to weigh me down. I saw three men as they dashed around the corner of the hut. Two carried spears, one a sword. The swordsman attacked first, his blade swished in the air and slashed down at me. He was quick, his arm was strong and his blade short. I waited, parrying his blows as he hacked at me. He backed off and charged; I met his charge with my shoulder.

I was twice his weight although he was taller than I was and I knocked him off balance. As he tumbled, I flicked my blade at his leg and found flesh. That put him off and as he looked at the wound my blade found his guts. Three quick thrusts and he was no longer a threat. Blood oozed from the wound and he died as he looked at the wound.

As he hit the ground, the two spearmen rushed me. As they advanced one fell to the ground, as his partner turned to look at him I hacked and slashed at his spear. This took him by surprise, and he dropped his defence. My short-sword took him in his throat and the fight was over. I looked at the spearman that had tumbled; an arrow was protruding from his chest. I shot a look at the tower and Jarun waved down at me.