The Next Day
The next day passed in relative calm. There was much discussion about next steps but the general consensus was that yesterday had been their best shot and the only viable course of action was to make themselves as safe as possible in Forchafn, await events and the return of the Blue Fish.
The four Eowan sentry ships took up their stations once more – far enough away to flee if challenged, close enough to see what was afoot in the harbour of Forchafn. The main activity for the Geats was improving their defences. Captured Eowan boats were dragged up from the harbour and turned into makeshift barricades between the buildings of the compound. In between shifts men would rest, stand guard or make it their business to torment passing seagulls with slings or thrown stones.
As had become the custom, the morning began with a report from Hildegund upon the progress made by the wounded and seith-sickened in her charge. The good news was that the number of those who were newly fit more or less matched the number killed or wounded in the previous day’s action.
At the briefing Wistan also introduced three scouts who he said had come from Wiglaf’s camp in the night. They were a woman and two men – surprisingly lightly equipped considering whence they had come. Most of the Gefndeners, at least, recognised them as being Wistan’s long-lost relatives with whom he had spent so much time in Wasterwic. Speaking privily afterwards with Osgar and Wistan, they confirmed the word of the Osprey scouts that the Black Pig and its consorts, and Thegn Osgar in particular, were being widely accused of treachery for abandoning the war and seeking private gain. Wiglaf had stated publicly that he would seek Osgar’s outlawry. Moreover it seemed that Eorl Sighere had been slain in the first assault on Borgholm and his sister-son Stithwulf, now leading the Sighereston contingent had sworn vengeance upon Osgar.
Little was seen of Wistan for the remainder of the day as he rested from the exertions of the past few days – and nights. For none had been as active over the past few days as the Wulfinga Aetheling.
Aelfferth
Once more the morning began with a report from Hildegund on the progress of the mind-sick and wounded. Once more a couple of the wounded were returned to active duty, along with five of the seith-stricken. Of these, the one of most note was a Weather Geat called Asser, who had been Brimwisa of his own ship. However, the one that was of most interest was an Eowan called Aelfferth.
The Brimwisas eagerly quizzed Aelfferth to see what they might glean about the island and the forces leagued against them. It seemed that Aelfferth was of relatively humble origins and had been taken by the witches to punish the his family for skimping on their tithes. He could not return home without endangering his family and so was content to throw his lot in with the Geats.
In terms of strategic information what he could give them was quite sparse. He told them that Eowland was ruled by a Coven of thirteen witches led by a Queen and that there were witches beyond the thirteen who vied for elevation to their ranks. Witches had various skills and specialisations: broom witches; seith witches; hedge witches. He did not know much about their powers, though he knew coven witches had more skills than ordinary ones. He knew that the witch of Sicvarp was called Mira. He thought she was one of the Coven. The witch at Forchafn was called Ursa and he was fairly sure she wasn’t.
He knew there was a great citadel in the centre of the island call the Stanbeorg – perhaps 10 miles from Forchafn. The most populous place on the island was Ekethorp in the far south which was a little inland but had a harbour at Ossby on the east coast. He had heard of Borgholm but had never been there. He himself was from the south of the island, from a farm on the fertile lands around Ekethorpe.
A Dead Goat
A few hours after dawn one of the lookouts noticed that there was something washed up in the fish-traps and sluice on the hillside above the village that fed the village pond and also provided fresh water to the hall. Wistan was summoned and could discern a shape that he thought was probably a dead goat. Fortunately they still had sufficient stocks of ale for the day, but Lytelman thought it sensible to send a party up to clear the sluice. Predictably the party sent up there was assailed with slingshots. However, those that bore shields formed a burgh to protect those doing the clearing and the party descended with no more than a few bruises to show for their efforts.
Almost as soon as they returned, however, they saw another goat-sized shape rolling down the stream into the sluice. Hildegund set coppers to boiling and bethought herself how to set some new ale a-brewing. For all knew that ale was sovereign against the foul aelf-poison that lurked in water tainted by dead flesh.
Mist and Miska
In the mid-morning, men began to notice tendrils of mist trailing down the hill from the windward side. Soon the settlement was enveloped in a thick pall of mist that settled also on the harbour and obscured sight in all directions. Saeric and Leofdag both averred that this was no natural mist but a conjuration of witch-craft. Men gripped their weapons tightly and Lytelman deployed his forces to protect both the makeshift palisades on the landward side and the harbour area and waited for the attack would surely come.
However, the first creature to emerge from the mist had his hands held high above his head and was crying out, “Friend, friend. No shoot! No shoot!” The shape solidified into Miska, the Swami scout who had disappeared during the abortive scouting mission two days previously.
Miska’s account of himself was necessarily brief due to his poor knowledge of the Geatish tongue. However, it seemed that he had spied upon Sicvarp for a while where there were many men and many ships. Then he made his way along the path up which they were carrying supplies and equipment and came to a huge stone burgh where there were many, many men – many inside, many outside. They had scouts going further west so he followed them and found the Geatish army encamped outside a burgh of hedges on the coast. Men noted what looked very much like a Geatish bow and a score of arrows on his back.
Then he made his way back to Forchafn. However, when he arrived he could see many warriors gathering all round Forchafn and ships lurking round the headland. He also saw the mist gathering and rolling down the hillside from the northwest to envelop the settlement. So he “Sneak, sneak” round to where he found a woman, bent over a great cauldron and chanting. He shot her in the back and put another three in her as she fell. There was great confusion and shouting, but mist now his friend. He “Sneak, sneak” through mist to come here.
The Attack
Shortly after Miska’s return the mist lifted, giving the defenders an opportunity to see the forces assailing them. At the harbour side the attacks were disorganised, perhaps the result of being enveloped in the mist themselves. As it blew away from the village on the northwest wind, it formed a bank into which the approaching Eowan fleet was forced to sail. The first ship into the harbour was met by the Osprey which had set itself crosswise athwart the two jetties and upon which the Geats formed their shield burgh. The second was sunk in the harbour mouth by those men on the bulwark above them throwing large stones and daroth. The fourth and fifth crowded in behind them but were prevented by the wreckage of the second from coming to the aid of the first. A couple of Eowan ships pulled alongside the rocky outer edge of southern jetty. One them nosed its way between the protecting rocks and began to disembark warriors from its bow. The other came up behind to use it as a bridge to land their forces. A number of Geats, led by Wistan and Herefrith with him disembarked from the Osprey to meet them. There was fierce fighting there but the Geats held them at bay. In the end the chaos in the harbour mouth and the unwillingness of the Eowan brimwisas to risk their boats amongst the rocks on the shore meant that their attack lost impetus and at length the Eowan boats departed leaving one of their number captured and another smashed in the harbour.
Meanwhile Lytelman was engaged in fierce fighting in the compound as Eowan fighters streamed down the rocky hillside and tried to pierce the makeshift barricades set up by the Geats. These proved effective in preventing the Eowan from deploying their superior numbers and in the end they were relatively easily repulsed. However, no sooner had they begun to stream back up the hill than those to the northwest mounted their attack. Had both wings attacked together it might have gone hard for the Geats. No doubt that had been their plan but, disrupted by Miska’s activities the southern group were late to the feast.
The fighting here was extremely fierce. Again the barricade gave the Geats an advantage but the Eowan had the numbers. They began trying to grab Geats who over-stretched themselves and pulled one fellow over the upturned boat he was fighting across. Scorning the protection of barricade and shield wall, Lytelman vaulted over to land amongst the foe, laying about him with his great Giant-wrought axe, eldritch helm upon his head, to rescue his comrade. Inspired by their leader, Geats streamed after him and such was the ferocity of their attack that the Eowan began to waver. Then disaster struck for the Geats as Thegn Osgar suddenly clutched his chest and fell to the ground insensible. There was a counter-attack by the Eowan and a surge from the Geats – both intent on taking possession to the Thegn’s body.
Amongst those struggling over Lytelman’s prone form was Tohrwulf. He too felt a cold hand clutch at his heart, but perhaps the Gods smiled upon him or perhaps his wyrd was simply otherwise, for he shrugged the curse off and cried “Sorcery!” Now lurking behind the battle lines was the bowman Herewulf who had borrowed some shafts from Miska. He had suspected as much when Lytelman had gone down, and Tohrwulf’s cry confirmed it. He spotted a dark-cowled figure and a pointing finger and let fly, piercing her in the body. With a cry, the witch went down and a shudder seemed to go through the Eowan ranks. As Osgar’s men had rallied around his body, so too did the Eowan around the witch. Though Herewulf loosed another shaft at her she was now in the midst of her followers so none saw where the shaft landed. As they began to bear her away the fight went out of the Eowan and they first backed away and then fled.
The Geats were left in command of the field of battle. They gathered up their own slain and wounded, and looted the bodies of their enemies. There were around half a dozen dead amongst the Geats and rather more wounded. Amongst those most gravely wounded were Thegn Osgar, who proved to be unconscious but alive, Sweyn, the giant Sweon who had taken a nasty head wound, and Leofric who took his third serious blow since leaving Gefndene.
They took around a score of Eowan prisoners. There was a party, led by Herewulf and Herefrith, who were in favour of simply slaughtering them. Hildegund was dead against this and seemed to be on the point of physically interposing herself between them and the bloodthirsty Geats. However, there were also wiser voices speaking in favour of learning what they could from them and others pointing out that they might have value as hostages or even a market value as slaves. Eventually Wistan, who had assumed command while the Thegn was laid low, agreed with those who argued in favour of taking prisoners and had them secured and held separately.
The Corn King and Queen
Amongst the prisoners, four drew the eye, initially because they seemed to be two pairs of twins – each twin a boy and a girl and alike to each other as two peas in a pod, saving their gender. The older pair seemed most significant at first for they looked formidable warriors and were far more heavily armed in byrnies and grimhelms than the general run of Eowan warriors. They had been prominent in the fight over Thegn Osgar’s body. However, witnesses observed that they seemed more intent on defending the other, much younger, set of twins than slaying Geats. Unfortunately, their charges had not made their jobs easy. The young man had led the charge when Osgar went down and taken a serious leg wound, rendering him unable to walk unaided. His sister had also left the sheltering ambit of their shields, taken a blow to the head as a consequence and gone down stunned. Their charges immobile and unable to leave the field of combat, when the tide of battle receded the twin warriors were left like rocks in the surf and surrendered. Once they had given up their weapons they would say no more but stuck like glue to the younger twins.
The other pair were much younger – barely more than children. The boy was conscious but in pain, the girl had been knocked out but Hildegund thought it likely she would rouse in due course. They too would say nothing. However, Aelfferth (who had taken to wearing a cowl when around the prisoners lest he be recognised and ill come to his family as a result) said that he thought they must be the Corn King and Queen. He had never seen them but he had heard that the old ones had gone to the earth a couple of years ago and that there were new young ones. They were the embodiment of the dual aspect of the god/goddess Nerthus. They would tour the country in a gilded wagon, drawn by white oxen blessing the people and their crops. What they had been doing fighting in the front line here, he could not say.
Truce
The sun was still high in the sky when a group of Eowan warriors led by a cowled woman picked their way down the rocky slope to the south under flag of truce. Wistan stood forth to speak for the Geats. The woman introduced herself as Mira of Sicvarp. She was interested in negotiating over three things: the retrieval of the dead; the return of the Eowan prisoners; the departure of the Geats from Eowland. Wistan said that for his part they could freely take their dead away with them – those that were not at the bottom of the harbour. The prisoners could be a subject for further discussion, but the witch should understand that they were not free agents, but in the service of Wiglaf, King of the Geats. The witch asked if she could send a herald to inspect the prisoners. Wistan agreed. When the herald returned and spoke in Mira’s ear, she proposed a truce until midday the following day, when she would return with silver. In the meantime they would send a ship to take the Eowan dead.
When the ship arrived it was manned by slaves and a small crew of Eowan, who loaded aboard all the corpses – nearly two score. They left behind two of the slaves ostensibly as a gesture of goodwill to match that of the Geats – a couple of East Geatish geoguth taken recently at Borgholm called Wighred and Tunbeorht. This dismal pair had nothing but ill to say of Wiglaf’s expedition to Eowland. They described a dire situation at Borgholm, with the Geatish army camped outside the great hedge-wall, struggling for provender and unable to press through to the burgh itself. They were captured while out foraging. Wistan mutters that they may have been deliberately planted by the Eowan to undermine morale.
The Eowan continued to station ships outside Forchafn but further back. If they were watched by land none could truly say. There was good cover in the rocky ground to the south and there were always gulls around despite the activities of the Geatish slingers and rock-throwers.
Second Parley
Though the Geats were watchful, lest the Eowan proved faithless, the night passed uneventfully and in the morning Hildegund announced a further trickle of recruits from among the seith-enslaved who had recovered and the wounded now fit to resume active duties.
At the appointed hour the witch, Mira, once more picked her way down to just outside Forchafn, this time accompanied by four slaves, carrying two large chests between them, as well as her guards. There ensued a prolonged, wide-ranging discussion between the witch and Wistan. The witch remained keen to pay the Geats to hand over their prisoners and leave. She indicated that the chests were full of silver and suggested that the deal might be extended to include the freeing of Geatish prisoners. Wistan prevaricated and denied being a free agent to negotiate a departure. At length the witch appeared to grow weary of Wistan’s refusal to commit to anything. She suggested she return before dusk to resume the parley, while Wistan consulted with the Brimwisas. They agreed that the truce would be extended accordingly.
The Blue Fish Returns
In the middle of the afternoon three sails were spotted to the north, along the coast. The Geats watched with interest as they approached. Suddenly Leofgyth let out a joyous cry, saying that she would recognise the Blue Fish’s lines anywhere. As they come closer it becomes apparent that her consorts are a longship and a trader, similar in dimensions to the Black Pig.
As they approached, the Eowan ships fled for the shelter of the bay to the south, where but one continued to lurk within sight of Forchafn but a couple of miles distant. The Geats made as much room as possible in the harbour. Enough room was made for the trader to squeeze into the harbour to unload. The longship and the Blue Fish lashed themselves together and anchored offshore.
Beorthulf, the Brimwisa of the Blue Fish, is shuttled to the shore in a captured Eowan boat along with a short, spry, handsome man in his mid-thirties who is introduced as Eahlstan, Brimwisa of the Sea Otter. They are joined by a stout fellow, in his middle years with hard, horny hands and coarse features – Cenwalh of the Fat Belly. Briefly, Beorthulf, who is no great talker, outlines his tale. They made good time to a harbour called Beornholm near the southern tip of the Isle of the Weather Geats – not the largest burgh upon the island but large enough to have a market and a few craftsmen. Although it was late in the day he rousted out all the weapon-traders, armourers and provisioners from their halls and did deals with them that he would not normally have countenanced, but he had plenty of silver and Eowan slaves to barter. In particular he bought up every arrow in the place and all the makings he could find as well. As a result he had around twelve score arrows and the makings of five times as many. He also bought half a dozen bow staves, a score or so war-shields, spears and some more daroth.
The Fat Belly just happened to be in the harbour, looking for a cargo to carry back to East Geatland, and awaiting better winds. Cenwalh had listened with interest to Beorthulf’s tale and thought it a fine thing to kill Eowan and take their slaves and silver. He agreed that he would carry supplies back to Forchafn in return for a share of the loot.
As they were loading up the Sea Otter arrived at Beornholm. Beorthulf let Eahlstan tell his tale. It seemed that Eahstan had been one of twelve Weather Geatish Brimwisas hired by Wiglaf in secret to come to the moot. It appeared that the King did not want it widely known that he planned war against the Eowan. This Eahlstan had always thought was a mistake, for had it been made public in the Isle in spring then he believed many more Weather Geats and their ships would have joined the King’s army.
When they got to Eowland, the Sea Otter had been left as one of the guard ships, holding the entrance to bay against the possibility of a seaward attack. After the burning of the fleet by forces coming from the landward side, Eahlstan bethought himself to use the favourable winds to return home and try to raise more forces to aid Wiglaf. Unfortunately, most of the Weather Geatish trading ships had already set sail on their own business, unaware of the King’s plans. He had picked up enough recruits to fully man his ship, but he felt that many of them were inexperienced and poorly equipped boys. He had, however, spread the word and spoken to the Ealdorman of Wisby about Wiglaf’s need. Perhaps more Geatish ships might arrive. When he encountered the Blue Fish and heard Beorthulf’s tale he thought that would be as good a way of prosecuting the war as any – and a way to make good some of the losses and expenses he had taken on the King’s behalf.
In all the arrival of Blue Fish and her new allies increased the strength of the Geats by around three score and ten warriors. Importantly, once the supplies on the Blue Fish and the Fat Belly were unloaded it got them much closer to their goal of being able to put to see with their entire force aboard.
That evening twilight came came and there was no sign of the witch or the Eowan heralds.