Free Saxon Bane by Griff Hosker Page A

route so that we avoided the cattle and we found ourselves in a twisting river valley. The hill fort rose above us some thousand paces or so away.  The scouts who had been left behind reported what they had seen.
    “After Morcar had returned to the fort we saw some warriors, Saxon and Hibernian, come from those woods over there.” He pointed to a small copse of spindly trees some hundred paces below the ramparts.
    It became clear that the warriors in the woods were there to ambush us if we tried to rescue Morcar. Someone had a cunning mind.  This had been planned well.
    Myrddyn smiled, “Then we now have the solution to the problem. We will have men waiting in the woods earlier than those warriors and they can eliminate them as they arrive.  When Morcar and his guards emerge the last place they will expect an attack from is that direction.”
    I could see from everyone’s expression that they approved.  As I looked at the faces I saw that I could not have handpicked a better set of warriors: Tuanthal, Aedh, Pol and Lann Aelle all led warriors at home and Aedh and Pol had chosen the best of the scouts and equites we had left. They had brought the very best warriors we had.  If we failed then no one could succeed.
    “Aedh, take ten of your scouts and get to the cattle grounds early. Kill the warriors on the ponies and drive off the boys.  Make them think that they are lucky to escape.  Drive the cattle towards the south west.  I would think a couple of hours hard driving should do it.  That will exhaust them and then you come due east and find us.”
    “And us?”
    “We will find somewhere south of the woods to hide the horses and then we will spend the night in the small stand of trees.  When the warriors come, we will kill them.”
    Lann Aelle gave me a sceptical look. I sighed and began to explain. “They will have done this every day for four or five days. Tomorrow will probably be the last day.  They will arrive expecting the wood to be empty.  They will assume that the day will be as the others were; filled with no activity and a slow walk back to the fort.” I turned to the scouts who had watched.  “How many men will there be?”
    “There looked to be ten Saxons and ten of the Hibernians.”
    Tuanthal nodded, “That would make sense.  Oswald and Oswiu would want the majority of their men to be in the fort.  Twenty would be enough to protect Morcar if attacked and give the others the chance to fall upon us. Besides, that copse would struggle to hold a much larger number of warriors.”
    We had decided.  We ate while we waited for night to fall and then we led our horses along a route which kept well away from the hill fort. Aedh and his scouts remained where they were.  They would leave in the early hours of the morning for their diversion.
    We left five men with the horses.  Although we had Myrddyn and he was no warrior, we would still outnumber the warriors who came into the small stand of trees. Aedh’s best scouts who remained were at the very edge of the trees and they would be so well hidden that even I would not be able to find them.  Their job would be to make sure none of those who entered escaped.  This would be knife work.  The ones who would die had to die without a sound.
    I lay with my back against a tree.  Myrddyn lay on the other side. “Is there no magic you can use to aid us?”
    “This plan is our magic. We are like the travelling magician who visits a village and mesmerises his audience.  They will see what they expect to see.  Even when we attack them they will not believe it is happening.” He chuckled in the dark.  “Do not worry Lord Lann. I have a sharpened knife too.”
    He could be quite surprising at times. I had thought he would let the warriors do the fighting. He had, of course, briefly fought for me before we discovered his skills lay in other directions.  But he had not fought with a blade for many years. It is one thing to kill at a distance but