Saxon Fall by Griff Hosker

them from the side.” He pointed to the packhorses we had brought with us. “We have twenty lances.  They will break any warband.  When the squires have ridden through the first warband they do not head north but they head east. That way we destroy two warbands and we have broken their first cordon.”
    “That still leaves the larger warband.  How many are there Felan?”
    “I could not get close enough to ascertain numbers but it looked to be more than a hundred.”
    Pol looked at me and said quietly, “And that means we would be evenly matched.  Did you not tell me that one equite was worth two Saxons?  We outnumber them in ability if not in actual warriors!”
    I glanced at Myrddyn for confirmation. “I cannot see a flaw in the plan, Warlord, but perhaps a refinement?  You should attack at dawn and use the dragon banner for both of the charges.”
    “But we only have one!”
    “Then tonight we make another.  It is not difficult and your squire, Pelas, has small neat hands.”
    “And where will you be, wizard?”
    “I shall be with the squires for they may need my magic.”
    “In which case I shall lead them.” Lann Aelle had made the decision for me and I was pleased.  He was a good leader and the squires all looked up to him.  He had been a squire more recently than the rest of us.
    We only slept for a couple of hours as we needed to be moving early.  Dai and Aed had reported hounds moving from the south.  Edwin had sent men into the forest to flush us out. They would drive us towards their waiting warriors. The muddy ground and the wet day had both come to our aid and he had, temporarily, lost us but we were in grave danger of becoming encircled.
    We had to keep Felan with us for he knew precisely where the enemy was. Lann Aelle led away his men with their new banner.  They had Myrddyn and Daffydd to lead them; I was not worried. They were three sound leaders who would not panic. We moved forward and saw the lights from the fires of the warband we would attack. Kay had wondered why we did not attack at the same time as the squires. “Because we need to kill as many as possible and if we attack a moving warband then we will know that we have succeeded for they will not be able to form a shield wall.
    We waited in the dark and waited for the noise of the attack. We were just six hundred paces away in the dark. It was nerve wracking.  I knew, in my head what would happen. The archers would move closer, on foot, and loose from the shortest range possible.  After five flights they would mount their horses and Lann Aelle would lead the attack.  The wailing of the dragon banner would be our signal but we also knew that the screams and cries of the wounded and dying would carry great distances at night.  We would attack as soon as we heard the wail of the dragon banner. None of us were mounted yet.  We were saving our horses and keeping a low profile. There was no moon but it paid to be careful.
    As soon as we heard the cries in the night I said, “Mount!”
    The camp ahead of us soon filled with noise as men grabbed the weapons which were already to hand. They would race to the sound of their comrades being attacked. I knew that all would be dressed for war. Men would sleep and rest in their armour. The wailing of the dragon was the signal. I was not carrying a lance but those around me were. I raised my sword, kicked Star in the flanks and we leapt forward.  There were two lines of thirty one warriors and we were bearing down on fifty Northumbrians who were expecting an enemy to their fore. This was open farmland and we had few obstructions before us.
    The night aided us for they heard the hooves but were unable to judge the direction from whence we came. As soon as our dragon banner wailed some of them looked around.  By then we were less than a hundred and fifty paces from them.  They panicked.  Some continued running east and some stopped and tried to face us.  Both were the wrong