Free Varangian (Aelfraed) by Griff Hosker

each shield had some and it was better than nothing. The archery of the men was adequate and a bonus was that it was a skill which Eric had somehow acquired in his childhood.  He might not be able to stand and fight with a sword but, if we came to grips with barbarians, he could annoy them with a bow.  Snorri had taken to the boy for Eric had tended the warrior’s wounds and they soon became inseparable.  Snorri was a sound warrior who was very quiet but, when we had a practice with our swords, I saw that he was more than competent and he increasingly reminded me of Osbert.
    I was still worried about Ulf.   I hoped that he had drowned but I suspected that he had survived; he had had that sort of look about him. They say the good die young and that suggested that Ulf would live a long time. The attack on the other boats had happened too soon for him to be involved which meant he was still out there with the confederates from Velikiy. As we were not rowing, the night duties were not as tiring which was fortunate for two days after the portage, when we were anchored on the Dvina River, the attack came. Olaf was one of the sentries and he came to shake me.  “My lord, I have heard noises by the river.”
    I had drilled into them that they should wake me for anything which seemed strange.   I would rather lose a night’s sleep than men’s lives. “Wake Ridley and the others.”
    “It may be nothing.”
    I smiled in the dark.  “True Olaf, in which case, I will apologise to the men for the loss of their precious sleep.”
    I went to Pig, who was the other sentry.   Silently he pointed to the low trees which overhung the river.  I could see nothing clearly but the shape of the trees seemed wrong and there was total silence along the river bank.  That in itself was unusual for there were many animals that lived along the river and you would normally hear a duck or a waterfowl at night. It all pointed to men being on the bank. When Ridley arrived with the other warriors, all armed, I left them to wake the captain.
    He had the nearest thing we had on board to a cabin; chests surrounded a sleeping mat and an awning gave him protection. As soon as I touched him he awoke. “It may be nothing but we think there are men on the bank.  My warriors are ready.” He nodded and I returned to my men.  We were downstream and it would be simple enough to raise the anchor and float down the river but travel at night was dangerous.  My men had told me of the rapids we would have to navigate and we did not want to try those at night time. When I returned to the side of the ship I could see that there were, indeed, men at the river side and they were slipping into the water.  A horrible thought entered my mind.  What about the other side? “Ridley, stay here, Snorri, Hammer, Stig.  Come with me.”
    I took them to the other side and sure enough I could see the slick bodies of the barbarians pushing reed mats through the water. There was nothing to be gained now from silence and I roared.   “To arms! To arms!” The crew were instantly awake for the attack on the other boats had served as a warning to all of them.  Each man grabbed whatever weapons he could and they ran to the two sides.  I slung the bow I had with me as did Eric and we began to fire at the bodies coming towards us.  From the screams and shouts on the other side I knew that Ridley was doing the same. The night was dark and it was hard to aim accurately but I am sure that we struck four or five before they reached the side and began to clamber up.  They were wiry half naked men, each one with a topknot and pony tail.  They carried wicked sharp curved blades and they were numerous.  I dropped the bow and took up Death Bringer.  We were spread out along the length of the boat so that there were warriors and crew intermingled. 
    “Watch my blade!”The crew had seen me practise and they gave me room. The singing blade soon began to strike every warrior