Free Saxon Fall by Griff Hosker Page B

the birds.  Nature always won in the battles between men.
    Gawan rode next to me. “Loidis then, brother?”
    “Not at first.  I intend to sweep to the east of the fortress and raid about the old Roman settlement of Eboracum. It is rich farmland.  I would make the Saxons starve this winter. Loidis is also easier to defend than some of the places we will attack.”
    “You know them well?”
    “I know them.  I campaigned with father.  Uncle Raibeart was married to the daughter of the last King of Elmet and Rheged joined the last alliance against the Saxons.  We failed.”
    “That is why you fight as you do.”
    “I will make alliances and use them but I will not rely on them in battle.  This band of warriors, brother, can defeat anything which is thrown at us, so long as we choose the field and we choose the time.”
    We saw isolated farmsteads as we passed along the road.  I dare say there would have been Saxons we could have raided but, in my head, I had a plan and I wanted to stay with it. We had three months before the autumn weather would make movement difficult.  Until then I wanted to fly from one end of the land to the other.  When we struck it would be in the heart of Northumbria.
    My scouts reported that there were Saxons at Stanwyck and they had refortified it.  We gave it a wide berth.  It would be visited, but not yet. Once we had passed the hill fort we made much faster time.  This was horse country and the flat vale was crossed in half a day.  We may have been seen but it was a risk we had to take.  It was important that we disappeared. We climbed the hills which protected the northern side of the old capital of Northern Britannia, Eboracum. There we found shallow valleys and high moors both afforded us protection from prying eyes.
    Aed and Dai returned to our camp by the fast flowing river which bubbled through a valley which was steeper than the others.  I hoped we could use it for a couple of days. They had been to the settlement to the south while Felan was away to the east.
    “Warlord, there is a Saxon hall and village to the south.”
    “Do we know its name?”
    Myrddyn, whom we had thought to be asleep said, “It is called Elmeslac.”
    “Are there any warriors?”
    “Not that we saw and there is no wall either.”
    “Lann Aelle, take twenty equites and twenty archers.  Burn their hall, kill their men and drive the women and children hence.  Take what you can to feed us and destroy the rest.”
    He hesitated before nodding and saying, “Aye, Warlord.”
    “Pol I want all but ten squires to be ready to ride as soon as Felan returns.  The ten can stay here to watch the camp and Myrddyn.”
    “I need no watching.”
    “I know wizard but the remounts do.”
    Felan rode in a short time later.  “There are many farms between here and the sea.  They have a fort at the end of the valley by the coast.  They have warriors there.”
    “Mount up and we will ride.”
    As we rode Gawan and Pol placed themselves close to me. Gawan was my brother and he could tell me what others could not. “This destruction of Saxon farms does not sit well with the men.  They do not mind fighting warriors but not making war on women and children.”
    I bit back the retort which sprang into my head. They were questioning me for the right reasons. “The Saxon is like a bear in a cave.  We need to make him come from the cave so that we can destroy him.  He is big and he is slow but once he gathers himself he will come after us.  We are goading him and making him weak at the same time. I intend to capture this fort and the warriors.  We will then return to our camp and then destroy the farms on the way back. In two days time we will be north of here.  The Saxons will begin to gather their forces. I know that my men are honourable and do not like to make war on women and children but there is no other way to make the bear angry.”
    I had explained it to them so that they would be able to answer