Ragnar Viking Axe
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“They are here,” Aslaug said, and the whole crew stiffened.
She was standing on the bow deck, leaning over the rail with her arms folded across her chest, watching as the shore grew closer. “What do you think?” she asked Bjorn, who stood beside her.
Bjorn nodded, but he had not been able to see anything from the bow, and he wasn’t about to ask the women for help. They were the ones who had lost their eyesight in the first place. He’d seen the ships when they sailed up, and now that they were closing it was clear that there were five of them.
“How many men do you think are on each ship?” Aslaug asked.
“I don’t know,” Bjorn replied. “Maybe two dozen? It’s hard to tell.”
Aslaug nodded, and the wind blew her hair into her face. She brushed it aside with one hand. “You can go down to the hold and get some more food and drink for us,” she said. “We’ll need all we’ve got for this fight.”
Bjorn looked at the masthead where he had tied his sword. He could use it now if he needed to, but he did not want to risk leaving it behind. He’d already lost too much. “Yes, Mother,” he said.
He ran down the stairs and went below deck, and the crew settled back into their places as he walked past them.
“I can’t believe I’m going to have to fight these bastards again,” Sigurd muttered. “I thought I’d killed them last time.”
“Well, you didn’t,” Bjorn said. “Not all of them anyway.”
“But look how many there are,” Olaf said. “It’s like a pack of wolves. And they’re led by Ragnar himself. The same man who made us walk the plank.”
“Can you even hear yourself?” Jarl Randver said. “We’re still alive, aren’t we? We’ve escaped the clutches of Ragnar once already. What makes you think we won’t be able to do it again?”
Olaf shook his head. “That was when we were weak and sickly. Now we’ve recovered. We are a hundred times stronger than we were then.”
“And we have more men,” Bjorn said. “We’re not as strong as we were before, but we have twice as many as we did that first time. I’m not afraid to fight them, and neither are any of the others.”
“They are just men,” Randver said. “A bunch of ruffians and mercenaries. We could kill them all in an afternoon.”
“That’s what I hope to do,” Olaf said. “Kill them all, and take their ships.”
Bjorn stopped in front of the masthead and grabbed his sword. He did not want to leave it behind. There was no telling if he would be able to find it again if he did. “Let’s get ready for battle,” he said.
Randver nodded, and Bjorn moved past him and walked back up the stairs. The crew was still standing at their posts, but they were quiet now as if they were afraid to speak.
Bjorn paused on the deck. He could see the shore now, and there was nothing he wanted more than to be there. “We’ll need to make sure the oars are secured,” he said. “I don’t want any of them breaking free when we hit the water.”
“There’s no need for that,” Randver said. “We have more oars than they do.”
“Do we?” Bjorn asked. “I don’t think so. I saw their ships.”
“You didn’t see much,” Olaf said. “They can’t have more than fifty men on each ship. We have more men than that. I guarantee it.”
Bjorn shook his head. “If that’s true, then why did they not come aboard and fight us? They had plenty of time to do it. Instead, they chose to sail away.”
“Maybe they’re not as tough as you think,” Randver said. “Or maybe they just wanted to get away from us.”
Bjorn nodded. “It’s possible. But either way, I’d rather have them on my side than against me. That’s what I think.”
He turned to his father, who stood at the stern. “We’re ready to go,” he said.
“Good,” Aslaug said. “But not yet. Wait until the sun is halfway down the sky. Then we’ll set sail.”
Bjorn nodded and walked back to his place. He sat down and leaned against the masthead, and he did not look back at the shore.
***
The sun was half sunken into the sea when the ships finally left the harbor. They were a good distance out when Olaf pointed to the south. “Look,” he said. “We’ve got them.”
Bjorn looked over the side of the ship and saw that Ragnar’s ships were heading toward them. A little while later, they began to close the gap between them.
“It’s like they know where we’re going,” Bjorn said. “They must have some kind of magic in their ships.”
Randver nodded. “Maybe they do. It’s all we can hope for now.”
“No,” Olaf said. “I don’t think so. If that were the case, they would have caught us before we ever reached this part of the sea.”
Bjorn looked at his father, but Randver was staring straight ahead. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“You’re right about them knowing where we’re going,” Randver said. “But not because they have magic. They know where we’re going because we’re going to attack them.”
“Attack them?” Bjorn said. “You want to fight them?”
“I do,” Randver said. “And I think most of the crew does too.”
“Not me,” Bjorn said. “I’m not going to fight them. Not unless they try to board us. And even then, I might be able to talk them out of it.”
Randver shook his head. “It’s too late for that. They are already on our heels. We’d be fools to let them catch up with us.”
Bjorn shook his head. “Then we’ll run. I’d rather die than fight them.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Aslaug said. “If you do, we’ll all die.”
Bjorn turned to her. “Can’t you see? I’m trying to save us. You can’t do that if we’re fighting them.”
Aslaug stared at him, and he could tell she was not going to change her mind. He knew what he had to do. There was no choice. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just don’t think it’s possible. We need to turn back.”
Randver frowned. “What do you mean?”
“We can’t go on,” Bjorn said. “They’ll kill us. Maybe not all of us, but we’ll all die eventually.”
“But we’ve come this far,” Randver said. “The men won’t understand. They will want to fight. We can’t stop them.”
Bjorn looked at the crew. Many of them were nodding their heads in agreement. “Then I’ll have to make sure they understand,” he said. “I’ll take the men away from the ship and show them what we’re up against. I’ll get them to see that we can’t win. Then maybe they’ll listen to me.”
Randver shook his head. “You can’t do that. We’ll be lost without you. The crew won’t listen to me.”
“They won’t have to,” Bjorn said. “Just you. I’ll make sure of it.”
“No,” Randver said. “I don’t think you can do that.”
“Do you want to fight Ragnar’s men or not?” Bjorn asked. “Because if you do, then I need to know now. Because if you don’t, then we’re all doomed anyway.”
Randver stared at him, and his face was pale as death. Finally, he nodded. “All right,” he said. “I’ll tell them.”
He walked back to the ship and called for a meeting of the crew. “The gods have shown us what we are up against,” he said. “They have shown us that we cannot beat them. But we can run. And if we run, then we will live. That is our only hope.”
“So what do we do?” one of the crew asked.
“We need to sail south,” Randver said. “We can’t fight them. We’ll never win.”
“What about the gold?” another crewman said. “If we turn back now, we’ll lose it all.”
“Then we’ll have to hope they don’t catch us,” Randver said. “But if they do, then we’ll just have to find another way to get it. And if we can’t, then we’ll have to hope that we can sell it to someone else. If we can’t, then we’ll have to make do with what we have. That’s all there is to it.”
Bjorn stepped forward. “I’m going to take a few men away from the ship,” he said. “And I want you to follow me. I’ll show you what we’re up against.”
“What are you going to do?” Randver asked.
“I’m going to show you how Ragnar’s men will kill us if we go on,” Bjorn said. “I’m going to show you what we’re up against. Then you can decide whether or not you want to stay behind.”
The crew looked at each other and then back at Bjorn. No one spoke. Finally, a man stepped forward. “Very well,” he said. “Let’s go.”
Bjorn took four men with him and led them into the woods. They had gone about a mile when they came to the place where Ragnar’s men were camped. The enemy had left the forest and moved onto open ground.
“This is the first time I’ve seen them,” Bjorn said. “I think they’re preparing to leave.”
His companions nodded their heads in agreement.
“They’re making a stand here,” Bjorn said. “That’s why they are leaving the forest. They want to make sure they don’t get surrounded. But they won’t be able to hold out long. Once they’re overwhelmed, they’ll flee. I bet Ragnar has already sent word back to his father to come to get him.”
“They’ll burn us alive,” one of the men said.
“You don’t know that,” Bjorn said. “And even if they do, you can always jump overboard. Or swim to shore. It’s not like you’re going to drown.”
A moment later, a group of Ragnar’s men emerged from the trees. They were carrying shields and spears and swords. Their faces were covered with leather armor and helmets. All of them wore mail. They came to within fifty feet of Bjorn’s men, but Bjorn did not stop walking. He walked right past them without saying a word.
“What are you doing?” one of the men asked.
“I’m going to show you what we’re up against,” Bjorn said. “Follow me.”
He led his companions further into the woods. They passed a number of dead bodies along the way. Most of them were Vikings, but some of them were men from the Norsemen’s own crew. Bjorn knew they had been killed by the enemy. But he didn’t care. His only concern was showing them the truth.
Finally, they came to the edge of the forest. They could see the sea now. The sun was high in the sky. The water glittered as it reflected the sunlight. A small ship was anchored offshore. It looked like a fishing boat. And on board the boat was Ragnar. He was sitting at the tiller, and his father was standing next to him. The two of them were speaking with one another.
“The gods have shown us what we are up against,” Bjorn said. “They have shown us that we cannot beat them. But we can run. We can flee. And if we do, then we will live.”
“Why would you do this?” Randver asked.
Bjorn smiled. “Because I’m a fool, of course. I’ve been a fool my whole life. But I’m not going to be a fool when it comes to protecting you all.”
“Very well,” Randver said. “We’ll go with you. And we’ll leave the ship behind.”
“Good,” Bjorn said. “Now let’s get back to the others.”
The End