A disheveled Cuthraed appeared towards the end of the morning and reported to the moot held by Beornfrith. There was a force of maybe 1000 Eowans and maybe 20 wagons heading down the west coast, probably making for Ekethorpe. There was a large, high, rocky plateau and Ekethorpe was on its eastern spur. One of the renegade Eowan confirmed that with a wagon the only one sensible route from west to Ekethorpe and beyond was a broad gully through the plateau, which was used as a road.
The use of wagons seemed unusual to us Geats, being more used to boats or horses, but the renegade assured us that this was not unusual here. This gully seems to be a good place to force battle – avoiding the gully would enforce a detour of 20 miles for the wagons.
Although there may have been those who thought differently, but the only opinions voiced suggested that this was a gift from the Gods to avenge the death of our King. The only discussions were of where and how we should bring the Eowan to battle. It Was decided there would be 11 units of about 50 men each of men all armed with at least spear and war shield. There was some horse trading between the Brimwisas as some were in charge of units and others were not. Raedwulf was somewhat disgruntled to be under Eada the female Brimwisa of the Mermaid but there were no serious disagreements. Lyttelman was put in charge of the crews of the Black Pig and the Spearhafoc and had the pick of people released from the infirmary.
There were over 250 who could not scrape together war shield and spear. These were split into 2 groups either to form a screen in front of the shield wall and then fall back on either flank. Wistan’s wolves would be the core of one of these groups and Hunlaf of the Selkie took command of the other wing with warriors split between the two. Wistan had over 130 men including his cousins and most of his wolves, about 40, chose to go with him, although some with shields chose to depart. Beonfrith came in person to apologize and told Wistan that he wished to fight with his relatives. He gave his bow to the delighted Puttock. Wistan had 10 archers with 10 arrows each. There were maybe 100 others between the two groups, who although they were keen to earn a measure of revenge did not look as though they had the skills to achieve this.
The question of what force to leave in Ossby was discussed. There was a score of walking wounded, some non-combatants and some who might be available by the following morning. Beornfrith thought it would be best to keep all or most of the ships at sea. There were six Wade priests, who could wield spears, but some stayed with the ships to keep the waters calm and the others suggested they could go to the Isle of the Weather Geats as seals to see if more resources could be found, and this was agreed.
Wistan suggested some of the more ineffective skirmishers would be better used on the walls of Ossby to stand as guards and throw rocks and two score from each wing were left. Osweald an experienced warrior from the Wavestrider, who was one of the walking wounded, was left in command.
Our planned route would be to the south of Ekethorpe and then heading north west to the mouth of gully about 4 or 5 miles away. Cuthraed thought that the Eowan would camp short of the gully that night, so Beornfrith planned to set off at first light.
The Wulfingas carried out a reconnaissance early that night and found the Eowan camp about 5 miles beyond gully. They investigated the gully and found it to be clearer in the middle and sloped down from here in both directions. There was a rutted track from the end of the gully that led between 3 and 5 miles to their camp. There was a circle of campfires around a hall and the usual hedges. Wistan passed this information on to Ealdorman Beornfrith.
As planned, we set off early next morning, marching in our units with a small gap between each. We arrived without incident at the mouth of the gully and could see Ekethorpe half a mile away and must have been seen from there. We headed up a slope, which didn’t look as though it would be straightforward with a wagon but the ruts of other carts could be seen. After 100 yards it levelled off. Ahead was a cliff or outcropping on the right and a sharp slope to the left. We were forced to go along parallel to this sharp slope for around a quarter of a mile and then headed into what looked like a blind alley but which then opened out, as the cliff disappeared and the gully headed to the Northwest. It was a little wet underfoot. We followed this for around half a mile and it then opened out to the southwest.
We emerged from a wood of scrubby oaks into a clearing. It was quite flat and a little wider and we could see that it sloped up ahead, but not as high as the gully wall. We headed up to the summit, and it looked same ahead, maybe not quite as wide, but there was a flatter area below, with scrubby wood beyond. Beornfrith sent scouts into the woods ahead and deployed. It was now late morning. Thegn Osgar saw a large gull flying from behind us.
After an hour Miska and Puttock returned to report that the enemy were coming. Scouts were out ahead of them and the two scouts were sent back to skirmish.
It was now the middle of the day, as we drew up our array at the summit of the slight rise in the floor of the stony coombe. Ahead, down the gently sloping valley floor, we could see a wooded glade. We could see that it was filled with Eowan.
Ealdorman Beornfrith placed eight eoreds, each of fifty warriors or so, just downslope of the summit, with orders to draw up in a three deep shieldburgh to hold the level ground in the centre of the coombe. The two eoreds of geoguth – each around six score were set upon each flank, on the steep banks where they could array themselves on the rough ground, to shoot down upon the oncoming foe with bow, sling or daroth, but above all to ensure with blade and body that the Eowan could not out-flank the shieldwall. He held three eored, including his own, in reserve upon the summit itself where the taller of his warriors might see over the heads of the shieldwall to the valley below.
This caused anguish to those deployed in the reserve who felt their honour diminished and argued for a deeper deployment, but the Ealdorman insisted that he needed his reserve: “who knows what deviltry the Witches plan or where their malice might fall? They may set themselves to break our shield-burgh with witchery no man, however strong, may withstand, but if we can rebuild again from within, they may be thwarted.”
Thegn Osgar’s eored was given a place of honour upon the unshielded, rightmost flank. Beyond us, deployed upon the steep slopes were Wistan’s Wolves. The footing was treacherous on the lower slopes, for the gradient varied and was quite sharp in some places. There were patches of scree, and places where the earth covering is thin and crumbling. There was sparse vegetation – bushes, creepers and the odd scrubby oak. Higher up it became steeper turning into a scramble or even a climb. Wistan sent a couple of lads to climb all the way up to the top, as lookouts lest the Eowan try to approach from the high ground, but took up his own position some fifty paces ahead of the shield wall in a narrow gully, choked with briars, that conducted a small rivulet down from the high ground and into the valley.
Down on the valley floor four Thunor priests, led by a goda known only as The Goda, drew out a ward a few paces to the front of the shieldburgh. Their work done they dispersed to their eoreds. As Leofdag rejoined Thegn Osgar, he muttered, “It will not touch their warriors for Thunor is friend to all men – even Eowan – but it will take a toll on any wight that crosses it today till the sun goes down, should the witches conjure such forth”.
Two Frige-Priestesses, Saexburg and Godmari did their rounds. Clad in byrnies, with weapons at their belts, they gave blessings and words of encouragement. They were followed by a small band of leeches – most likewise equipped for war. They distributed to trusted men leather bottles of Bright Ale, fresh-brewed from the vats at Ossby, that would restore a man’s vigour when wearied by battle.
Four Woden priests gave their blessings to a band of their crazy-eyed, battle-wod adherents who took their places at the front of the shield wall. Then they sat cross-legged, in a circle, behind the summit, and passed a brew around between them, ignoring all else. Above the Geatish Here there was a seagull lazily gliding in circles upon the breeze. Suddenly above it there appeared two ravens who fell on it grabbing the seagull in their talons, and rending with their great beaks.
The seagull fell but none saw it land and the ravens flew off towards the woods, where they too were surprised – by a large raptor – and were forced to flee. An arrow shot up from our left flank and struck the osprey and it too fell and was lost from sight. Down in the shieldwall I gave a shiver as I could sense the presence of death. Maybe it was no more than a presentiment of the slaughter to come in this place, but perhaps it was something else.
Suddenly there was a blast of horns from the wood and the Eowan host stepped forward out of the wood and into the sunlight. Here and there were the glint of well-polished byrnie or plates of studded, but for the most part our enemy were lightly armoured. Many indeed seemed stark-naked, their bodies glistening with oil. Some were drinking from small flasks that they tossed aside after draining.
A cowled figure stepped to their front – surely a witch. To either side were two undoubted witches, brooms brandished aloft. Where they stood dust-devils arose – vortexes of wind that sucked up leaves, and twigs and earth from the ground. Speculative shots were fired by our skirmishers on both flanks but were absorbed or deflected by the whirlwinds. As they spun, they seemed to multiply and headed off towards our shieldwall. They winked out where they met the Thunor-wards but danced around the un-warded geoguth on our flanks.
The witch in the centre raised her arms the ground itself seemed to raise up in front of her. At her command the rocks shook themselves free of earth and debris and formed themselves into three great pillars, that sprouted arms and legs until they looked like giants, wrought of boulders. “Staenbogan”, muttered Leofdag, “I’ve heard of them but never seen the like. I doubt our wards will hold them, but let us hope they hurt them.” At a command from the witch, the Staenbogan started to trundle towards the Geatish shieldwall, in ground-shaking bounds. Behind them there was a great roar from a thousand Eowan warriors following in their wake.
The Staenbogan trundled ahead slightly faster than the Eowan host. In the midst of the Eowan were a group of witches, three of them waving brooms above their heads, generating a vortex of wind to stop any missiles. It soon became apparent that the Staenbogan each had a separate target – one heading for our left flank, one towards the centre and the last one making straight for Thegn Osgar’s eored.
The three Staenbogan ran over the line with the Thunor runes and there was a blue flash. I could see our foe throw back it’s head and give a voiceless cry and then lumber on. There was a crackling zap from Leofdag, but it barely faltered and crashed into our line straight at me. I tried to put up a shield block and stab it as it reached me. My block was successful, but my shield disintegrated under the massive force of its attack. I was hurled to the ground but not before I managed to stab it hard with my rune marked spear. As it burst into our shield wall both Osgar and Sweyn managed to hammer their axes into its back and it ended as a pile of rubble. Our shield wall was now in a sea of Eowan light infantry. I found myself under my comrades and had to crawl back out of the shield wall to regain my feet still grasping my spear but now without a shield. Both Thorwulf and Osgar managed to cut down Eowan warriors. We had cut down the Staenbogan and the shield wall had held but had been disrupted.
Amongst the skirmishers to our right Herewulf was struck by a slingshot in the shoulder and slipped down the slope and ended up facing an Eowan warrior who was scrambling up. He drew a saex and ran him through. Wistan saw one of his men down and surrounded by enemies and went to his aid. He took the first in the back and slew him. The Geat scrambled back up and Wistan took on the two remaining enemies and killed the first, but both he and his opponent were enwrapped by the roots of a scrubby oak. Wistan sliced through the root with his spear blade, but his remaining opponent went to the ground clutching his throat. Whirlwinds of dust played along the slope spitting out sharp stones that cut like weaponry.
Wistan could see that the Geatish shield wall was mostly holding but there was some disruption of Osgar’s eored and a Staenbogan was embedded in the centre eored. The Staenbogan on our left wing had been dealt with successfully by the shield wall on that flank, which had marched forward and trapped it on the line of Thunor runes. The witches kept pinging out wind sprites. They were heading along the lines to the flanks and there was dust over the whole plain.
Osgar killed another Eowan and then saw Hild on the ground and beset by foes. He rushed to her aid and lopped the head off an Eowan. He quickly slew another and helped Hild up.
Thorwulf killed one of the raving Eowan and then another before finishing another he saw lying prone on the ground. He suddenly felt a wave of weakness wash over him, undoubtedly a witch’s spell, but shook off most of the effects and carried on. He was faced by another Eowan warrior and cut him down.
I tried to make my way forward in the shield wall. I saw one of the crazed Eowan fighters and thrust him through. I managed to get into the second rank and thrust my spear past those in the front rank, but without a shield I wasn’t allowed into the front rank.
Herewulf tried to rejoin the other Geats further up the hill and was targeted by a wind sprite. He drew his rune marked scramasaex and thrust at the sprite. It drew back but still tried to attack him. He struck it again and it fled. He was now faced by an Eowan warrior and defeated him. The sprites seemed to be able to distinguish between the Geats and the Eowan but the but roots attacks seemed indiscriminate. It was now very dusty due to the sprites.
Wistan came to the aid of a Geat beset by an Eowan warrior and soon dealt with the foe. He then went after a wind sprite. It did damage him but Witan struck it with his spear and it backed off to seek easier prey; it was replaced by another. This inflicted more damage on the Atheling, but it just seemed to run up his spear and disappear and just left a vial at his feet.
Osgar now seemed to be restoring order in his shield wall, but the shield wall in the centre had been broken by the Staenbogan. The eored one in from the left flank had also been disrupted. There were a lot of people down. Beornfrith was manoeuvring his reserves. Around us there was a lot of dust and screaming Eowan warriors. Osgar exhorted his troops and the Geats gave a great shout; “Out, out, out!” and started to push the Eowan back.
Thorwulf killed one Eowan but then was faced by three more, one of which was low down trying to pull him off his feet. He was pulled down but still killed at least one of his opponents, even though he seemed to have iron like skin. He was walked over by the shield wall and ended up crawling out without spear or shield. I had the opportunity to drive his spear into the throat of another Eowan with iron like skin, who reeled off clutching ineffectually at his throat as it gouted out blood.
Herewulf was surprised from behind and was stabbed by an Eowan. Fortunately, it was not a heavy blow and he was able to turn to face the warrior, who was already wounded. He quickly despatched the foe.
Wistan looked around and assessed the situation. He tried to go where he was most needed. It seemed like the Eowan were not really trying to turn the flank, merely slaughter as many of the Geatish skirmishers as possible. He was stabbed in the back from below. He whipped round on an opponent who was playing dead. The miscreant was soon dead for real. The Atheling killed two more opponents and then stabbed another in the back as he tried to flee. He spotted another Geat pinned to the ground by a vine around her throat and went to her rescue. Wistan cut the vine, gave her a swig of a potion and then finished the remaining dose himself.
It looked as though two of the reserve forces had been deployed in the centre and had disposed of the final Staenbogan. The final unit was supporting Eda one in from the left flank, where there was a disturbance of some sort. Meanwhile Osgar had re-established control of his eored. The Eowan had shifted their point of attack from the centre to the left flank where it looked like they might break through. The witches had moved from the centre to the left flank.
Osgar lopped an opponent’s head off then carved another’s arm off at the left shoulder, he was then faced by a warrior with iron-like skin. This hardly slowed his rune marked axe and he split the Eowan’s skull in two. Thorwulf made his way to the second rank with his sword. Myself and others expunged one more Eowan and then a crazy enemy threw himself at the shield wall and I thrust him through with my spear.
Herewulf was still trying to get back up the slope to the other skirmishers. He killed an enemy and saw a path back. The way up led up the slope and an easy route would take him to a diagonal path then to a gully that marked the forward part of the line. He could see the gully was seething with plants, bushes, branches and bodies. The thrashing bodies were a mixture of Geats and Eowan. He started heading up that way.
Wistan looked for an opportunity to intervene. He found himself faced with two crazed Eowan. He thrust through the chest of the first and pulled out his spear. The second just seemed to rushes up his spear and fell back down the slope with Wistan’s spear still in him.
Looking down in the valley things were looking steady. There was a horn blast – the signal for an advance on all fronts. The Geatish line rolled forward. Osgar killed an opponent and noticed a very fine-looking sword which he grabbed. He dropped a shield he had picked up and killed another Eowan and then put the sword in his belt. Thorwulf picked up his own spear and shield which he stumbled across. I was struck in the head by a thrown franca, which knocked off my helmet.
Herewulf found his right foot grasped by a creeper. He managed to get free, but was then faced by two Eowan warriors. He cut one down after a struggle and then finished the second off more quickly. He climbed up and back to the starting level.
Wistan slid down the scree slope in search of his spear. He slid past the spear but put out a hand and grabbed it as he slid by, ending at the bottom of the scree slope on one knee. He found himself next to a comrade being strangled by a root. He lopped a tendril off the bush to the relief of his comrade. Wistan was faced by two more Eowan approaching, with the first frothing at the mouth. He slit the throat of the first and the second shortly met a similar fate.
Looking down at battlefield Wistan felt the pressure release as Eowan warriors fled back to the woods led by the witches. Beornfrith’s horn sounded the pursuit and Wistan pulled out his own horn and relayed the signal.
As Lyttelman commanded his Eored forward he realised that less than half were fit to follow him. Some were simply exhausted, others wounded, not seriously but sufficiently to make unable to join in, a few were more seriously injured and more than a handful slain, most either by the Staenbogan, or in the general disruption after its fall. I was lucky to take the fearful impact of that monstrous wight on my shield. We were now but two ranks.
As we approached the tree line, we were aware of Wistan jogging up on our right shoulder. The fight must have gone hard amongst this group has he had much the same numbers as ourselves even though he had started with close to three times as many.
At the command of the Herewisa’s horn, the Geatish Shieldburgh advanced along the valley, their ranks much thinner than they had been two hours earlier. Sibyrht and Osgar’s eoreds were much depleted; Ida and Arnulf’s all but destroyed; Hunlaf’s Harriers and Wistan’s Wolves had both been badly mauled. However, the Eowan had fared worse. As we marched, we stopped to dispatch such Eowan who were reluctant or unable to flee and no quarter was given. An attempted breakout by a core of Eowan on the Geatish left wing was snuffed out brutally by Eata, Higbald and the remains of Sibyrht’s eored and Hunlaf’s Harriers. Perhaps a handful of Eowan contrive to escape down the valley to the east.
Amongst those Eowan fleeing westward towards the trees, were the witches – four in all. Three carried brooms aloft, but they no longer commanded the Deafils of the Air to wreak havoc amongst the Geatish host. One stopped a moment, puts her broom between her skirted legs and soared into the sky to imprecations and threats from the woman in the centre, who waved her fists impotently at her departing form. There were no arrows left it seemed and she was soon out of slingshot range. Seeing this the other two did likewise and the fourth was left alone, to stagger into the woods.
Inside the woods we heard a woman’s voice screaming dread galdor. All could now smell the carrion stench, and none need my dark mutterings to know that there was evil afoot in this forest. There was a cry of anguish from Beornfrith’s eored in the centre who had been marching down the rutted track in the centre of the valley and a hesitation in their ranks. They could see deeper into the woods along the line of the trail than the other eoreds. For all the other eoreds of deguth there was a necessary hiatus as they shook out their formations to pick their way through the trees, bushes and undergrowth. There could be no shieldburghs in this terrain.
No such adjustments were needed for Wistan and his geoguth and they forged ahead. Into the woods the Atheling charged at their head. Plunging through the woods, leaping through the undergrowth, Wistan came unerringly to the source of the shrieking galdor. The witch heard his approach and whipped around bane-wand pointing as Wistan hurled his daroth. It is as if an icy hand grasps around the Atheling’s heart and he fell to his knees, gasping for his life but the Witch-Queen was transfixed by the daroth. She struggled to utter some last wickedness but choked upon her own blood and pitched forward to lie still upon the forest floor.
Meanwhile, the Geatish deguth encountered the fruits of the Witch-Queen’s labours. Lurching from the wagons came ghastly lichs, armed and armoured for war. A wave of terror emanated from them that caused many to back away or freeze in their tracks. Many have faced the dead before and are not daunted. Our eored in particular had pitted themselves before against the dead that walk and there were Hel-runing Woden-Priests amongst the Geatish host for whom the dead held no fears. Moreover, the lichs seemed weak and unsteady in the dappling sunlight, deprived of motive and intent by the Witch-Queen’s death.
The Woden-Priests walked amongst them and command the feeble spirits inhabiting the bodies to depart. For the most part they did so and the lichs collapsed lifeless to the ground. Where they resisted the Priests directed warriors to hack their heads from their bodies. In truth there were few that required this treatment and they were no challenge to warriors with strong stomachs, iron wills and rune-marked blades. Thegn Osgar found himself in great demand for the use of his giant-wrought axe.
I tried to emulate the Woden-Priests in commanding the lichs. He found some success in the sense that they clearly saw and harked to me. The first two I approached turned on him so that I had to hold them off with my spear, while others hacked off their heads. The third, however, turned and fled so that it had to be pursued. I saw that my efforts had been noted with some interest by the Woden-Priests.
In all there were but a score or so that had to be dealt with in this way. However, the wagons revealed a larger number of similar lichs, most completely inert. They were dragged out into the light. There proved to be exactly one hundred of them. The number struck dread into the Geats and it was not long before some begin to identify comrades – more from their accoutrements than their sunken-cheeked, eyeless faces. At length they brought forth a lich wearing the battle-boar decorated grimhelm of King Wiglaf. These were the bodies of the Borgholm Hundred.
The Wulfingas looted the body of the witch queen. Any ordinary jewellery went to the common pot, but there was a thin circlet of gold with runes and a girdle of gold wire with 12 jet plaques similar to something Lyttelman had found abandoned by the witch in Ossby. There was also sword with runes and a set of fine walrus hide armour.
The witch Lena, who had a wounded shoulder, had been captured and was co-operating. She had been shot in the form of an osprey at the start of the battle. Two more witches had been killed without a mark on them – Breda, who had twice before escaped our clutches and Hilda who had chewed up Eda’s eored in the form of a boar. It had needed rune weapons to bring down the boar and by then both Eda of the Mermaid and Raedwulf had been killed.
A rough count gave nearly 500 Eowan dead and a similar number had fled. Perhaps 2 dozen had broken through the shield wall and continued along the gorge heading for Ekethorpe. The three witches on brooms were the only ones of significance who got away to the west. We also had around 100 prisoners and had freed around 300 seith slaves, many of whom were our comrades recently captured. These were kept dosed for the time being as we didn’t have the resources to look after them.
There were 24 carts: 20 were set up to carry the undead with 5 to a cart; the next 4 had supplies the seith brew, the next had a variety of potions, some of which had been recently used, there were also healing potions and salve; the next was full of treasure with 531lbs silver in chests and boxes, there was also another 70lbs from the corpses; the last was full of trophies – fine blades, a couple of which were rune marked, fine armour and shields and rune amulets, of which a high proportion were Tiw amulets.
There was also a trove of fine quality equipment from the corpses burnt. There was a very large pile of our own dead and wounded – we had almost 100 dead, about half from the two groups of skirmishers, and about 250 wounded of various sorts; 100 walking wounded, 50 seriously wounded, and the rest between. The dead include three Brimwisas; Raedwulf, Eda and Higbald who had been the leader of one of the reserve eoreds; there were confused accounts of the death.
Among my companions Thorwulf had found a fine scramasaex, Herewulf had managed to crawl down a way and was then helped down to the lines where a leech bound his wounds. I found a Grimhelm and a shield and rejoined Lyttelman who was gathering his men. He had only about 30 warriors no worse than hit points down.
I sought out one of the Woden priests who had shown an interest when I had been able to affect the undead. Tatwine was probably the lowliest of the Woden priests. He told me that I had clearly touched by God and given some element of Helruning. He said that I could either just be grateful to the God that I could strike the undead and sense them and they could sense me. Or I could spend a long time learning runes and maybe I would have an advantage. Maybe with practise I would get better he suggested. He did warn that animals might not like me.
Aethelborg the Saetur priest was among Wistan’s dead – he had been, strangled by vegetation. So was Saefrith, who had been with him since ForcHafn, was also amongst the slain. There were 20 dead in all. Puttock was amongst the seriously wounded.
We left the Eowan corpses where they were after lopping heads off known witches. All the other bodies were collected together and placed on a pyre. Everyone was stripped under instruction from the pragmatic Woden priests. The last of the Saetur oil was poured on and the entire copse was burnt to the ground. We headed back over the summit and made camp, unfortunately still down wind of the fires.
We then made our way to Ossby with the carts pulled by the seith slaves and the newly acquired Eowan slaves. Nothing troubled our march. Ossby hadn’t been attacked during our absence although maybe 50 Eowan from Ekethorpe had come to take a look.