Chapter 10 – On the road

The morning after my wedding, we finally broke up. We bid farewell to Odin’s oak, where the corps of the cowmen still shuttled in the wind. At least what Odin’s birds had left.

We passed the meadows and woods of Cimbriheim. There were many familiar places and it made me sad to know that I would never see them again. There were many blessed places, where helpful spirits had always been to help us. What would await us away from home?

When I communicated this to my wife, Velleda smiled and said: “Do not worry, Gunnar! There will be guarding spirits everywhere we go.”

The column was many hours long. Glum had asked me to take care that it would not break apart. A nephew of me was steering our cart. The column toiled through the country. I had not foreseen that our traffic speed would be so low.

After three days, we crossed the edge of Cimbriheim and entered the country of the wild saw men. I knew this area from my last trip.

Most of the hamlets that were on our way were abandoned. We helped ourselves on their fields. Glum ordered small mounted units to screen our flanks and to spot foods. Food was always an issue. We tried to live from what the country could give, but from time to time, we got food from the hamlets we crossed. Unfortunately, most of the inhabitants rather left their homes than to give us food. It was then when our peaceful migration started to turn into a raid. It had never been our intention to steal from anyone, but hunger forced us to.

After several weeks, our equestrians spotted a village. It was larger than any we had crossed before. According to the numbers of hamlets, we assumed there had to be about 500 warriors.

Glum ordered Magni and me to assault it and to provide food. He gave us 2,000 warriors. Well, at least we thought we were worriers. Today I know that we had been farmers, hunters and fishermen. No warriors. We had no trained troops, only poor equipment and no clue about tactics and strategy.

Before we left Velleda asked me to be careful. She gave me an amulet: “Gunnar, this will guard you! Please, be careful! I need you! I will wait for you and I will pray for you. Freya shall protect you. My love will accompany you; it will surround you and keep all evils away from you.”

We approached the village during night. Magni and I conferred. The village was palisaded. We were sure to take it by surprise. Our plan was simple. I would lead a small team to open the gate. Then Magni would lead the rest of our army to penetrate and overcome the enemy.

This would be the first combat for all of us. Although we held all aces, we were nervous. Especially Magni. He was proud for being nominated to lead this operation and well aware of the accountability.

We waited until one hour before the break of dawn. Then I selected 10 men, all equipped with bows and weaseled to the gate. We were all experienced hunters, we could move invisible and inaudible. Near the gate, there were some big boulders. The men gathered there and waited for my signal. I looked at the gate. The moon was breaking through the clouds and I could see the contours of the guard. It was a strange feeling to sit in the dark and watch the enemy I intended to attack in a few minutes. My pulse was getting higher I waited for a moment and took a deep breath. Then I raised my arm. Three arrows whooshed through the air. Then events came thick and fast. The guard was not dead. Probably he had a strong guarding spirit. Or some spells protected the gate. Anyway, the guard started to holler. His cry was a mixture of pain and warnings. I did not know what to do. We had expected to take the gate without calling any attention. Obviously, we had failed and now we did not know what to do. We kept on firing as fast as possible but the crying did not stop.

Magni heard the cries and thought that the combat had started. He ordered his men to attack and soon 2,000 riders were standing in front of the closed gate. Then a volley of arrows came from inside the palisades and battered into the group of riders. Confusion spread among our men. Magni ordered them to dismount. Another volley hit them and we had the first wounded. Magni and some men tried to break through the gate. However, it was solid and resisted. I left my hiding place and hurried to Magni: “Magni, we have to do something. They shoot us like hares.”

Some men started to return the fire. However, as they could not see the enemy the fire had to be very inaccurate. The enemy sent another volley. Then we heard the noise of hooves n our back and soon raiders attacked us. Our assault threatened to become a complete mess.

I turned to Magni and I could see that he was pale and somewhat moony. He cried: “We have to do something!” turned to the place we I had been hiding before. He picked a huge boulder, raised it above his head, ran to the gate and dashed it against the gate. The door sprang open and our warriors attacked. They dragged me along. On the other side, there were several hundred enemies. They had just shot another volley. Most of them did not have a chance to reload or to grab their swords. We massacred them. Then they turned and our army regrouped. The swordsmen and germen stood in the first row. Behind them the bulk with bows. Soon the cavalry charge was repelled and our men started to clear the village. Here and there, there still was isolated resistance. We had to burn some houses to break it. Finally, we killed the last man and captured the women and children.

Therefore, my first battle was over. I felt as if I was drunk. The fear, the tension, the ease combined to a feeling I had never felt before. Euphoric! Moreover, the fact that I had killed, another man; for the first time in my life.

We cleaned up the city and lugged the crops of the enemies to the central place. There were far more than we had expected more than could have lived in this village. We asked a woman and she told us that the warriors knew we were coming. They had watched us for a week and called help from other settlements.

A crowd gathered at the broken gate. I went there to see what was going on. The men were standing around the boulder Magni had crashed against the gate. As I mentioned before it was huge. In the setting sun, it looked even bigger than at night. Three men tried to lift it, but they failed.