Saxon Fall by Griff Hosker

my warriors’ doubts.  I need not have.  They were oathsworn and I was Warlord but my father had taught me well. What I did not say was that this pressure would make their families back in our land, safer.  It would make the people of Rheged to the west safer. Edwin had many warriors but he depended upon the food that he grew to feed them.  Therein lay his weakness.
    It was a rich vale through which we passed.  The farmers hid as we galloped through.  We rode horses and they knew that we were enemies. I suspect they wondered why we did not attack them. We reached the fort on the headland by the afternoon.  There was a Roman fort atop the cliff and they had re-used it. That suited us for we were familiar with the layout of the forts. We spied upon it from a spot a mile inland. We rested before dark and then rode, silently, towards the stone structure.
    Although the Saxons used the Roman forts they did not understand them. They never maintained the ditches and they never used traps within them. Although they watched the walls they rarely used enough warriors to keep an effective watch. At night time they were vulnerable. We would exploit that weakness.
    We left the squires to guard the horses. I estimated that there were fifty or so warriors within the walls.  There would be a thegn there who would be responsible to Edwin, or possibly one of Aethelfrith’s sons. It allowed the king to control a large area.
    Daffydd and his archers watched the walls; they were ready to strike down any sentry alert enough to see us. The younger equites were thrust up on shields to scale the walls.  Kay led them.  I waited with Pol, Gawan and the more experience equites by the main gate. I thought that we had managed to eliminate the sentries silently but a sudden cry told me that the alarm had been sounded. The gate groaned open and we raced inside.
    I saw three bodies lying on the ground.  A light from an opening door revealed the Saxons racing out to meet us.  Some had donned armour but most had not. I used my shield to deflect the spear which was thrust at me from the side and I slashed the sword across his unprotected middle. I saw one of my younger equites as a huge warrior swung his axe and took his head.  I ran towards the giant. He was a little taller than me and he had put on his byrnie. Leaving my men to deal with the rest I faced him. It was a two handed axe he swung.  He had a shield on his left arm and he was strong enough to wield the long weapon with his right only.
    He grinned, his teeth showing in the light from the open door of the hall. “You have come here to die, Welshman!”
    “I have come here to snuff out your candle, Saxon!”
    He whirled the axe expertly and it came towards me at an angle designed to take off my leg at the knee.  I lowered my shield and braced myself.  This was not an Hibernian axe; this was a powerful weapon used by an expert axe man. It bit into the shield. As he pulled it away I saw a chip of wood fly off.  He saw the wolf design. He snarled, “So the Wolf Warrior has returned!”
    “Aye Saxon and I have teeth which bite.” Instead of swinging my sword, which he would expect, I stabbed forward at his face. He had a shield which protected his eyes but he recoiled as the wickedly sharp tip lunged at his throat. It meant he could not swing his axe and I punched forward with my shield.  He was already off balance and the blow sent him tumbling to the ground.  For a big man he was quick and he scrambled to his feet and swung his axe in an arc to give himself breathing space.
    My little flurry had damaged his confidence. Around us his warriors were being slaughtered but it was as though we were in our own world. He took a leaf out of my book and punched at me with his shield.  I pivoted and spun around.  His punch took him into the space I had occupied and I brought Saxon Slayer around to smash into his back.  He had a good byrnie but I felt and heard the crack as the rings on