Having relieved Chester Drustina now visits the River Mersea (River Mersey) to determine how best the obstruct Harald Cold-bllod in his efforts to occupy Southern Britannia from the north.

This was roughly how Chester looked when it was first built by the Romans. Note the Bridge crossing the River Dee from the south.

Plan of the Upper Mersey showing the River Weaver up which Drustina escaped.

The Angry Mermaid 122.
Or
Y Morforwyn Dicllon. 122

As the allied ships approached the narrow entrance to Aber Mersea, Carl called across to Drustina.

“What d’you think Udris will do?”

“I suggested that he wait in Chester with his ships until Ethelred arrives. It gives the Wessex king another option to redistribute men using ships.”

Carl nodded. The logistical option held great potential but he secretly wondered if Ethelred had learned the lessons of the Solanta campaign. He looked up the Mersea and had his first sight of Harald Cold-blood’s massed fleet.

“By the Gods, how many sail d’you reckon?”

Drustina paid no attention to Carl’s curse as she concentrated on counting. Finally she gave up and confessed.
“There’s more than two hundred and we have only about one hundred and seventy.”

“How many of them are just merchantmen ferrying supplies across the river?”

“It doesn’t matter, it looks as though he’s using everything he’s got to ferry men and horses.”

“So is it to be plan A?” Carl asked.

“It seems there’s no choice. It’s going to be a crude slogging match and this flood tide is rushing us towards the battle. I’m
hoping our speed will give us momentum when we crash into their flanks.”

Drustina’s heart thumped with nervous tension as the shores on both sides swept by at an alarming pace. With her whole fleet behind her, if she had even tried to turn around, the massive longship hulls would have crushed her beloved mermaid under their forefeet. Silently she offered up a prayer to her gods. As the words slipped through her brain a call from Heliox distracted her. Heliox was on the other side from Carl and he had a slightly different perspective. Whatever he had noticed was of sufficient concern to make him close to within hailing distance. His words crossed the turbulent muddy water.

“Their ships are not beam on to us close by the southern shore. They seem to be showing us their arses. What trick are they playing?”

Drustina waved her sword to confirm she had received the message then she steered to port to try and approximate to Heliox’s perspective. As her angle of view widened she could see that Heliox was right, there was no doubt that Cold-blood’s ships were turning as they approached the southern shore and presenting their sterns to Drustina’s massed attack.

Longships were designed to meet a foe head on; the arrangement of the oars and high prow were orientated for a frontal assault. Showing the stern left the steersman vulnerable and exposed the rigging and stern sheets to attack by fire arrows. Drustina racked her brains to try and fathom out what the Vikings were up to. She called anxiously to Heliox.

“They should be turning to face us by now. What are they hesitating for?”

By now, Carl had noticed the same anomaly and he was waving furiously as he also swung to port thus putting the three lead mermaids all close to the north shore.

“What are they up to!?” He called.

“I don’t know.” Drustina shouted. “I’m signalling to Althred to stop the longship charge. Something’s not right here.”

A red arrow streaked skywards and for long moments pandemonium seemed to erupt through Drustina’s fleet as uncertainty piled upon suspicion. She asked herself again.

‘What the hell is going on with Cold-blood? Is he sailing his ships in a circle or something?' She wondered.

She studied the strange circuitous actions of Cold-blood’s fleet and tried to make sense until slowly a sneaking suspicion crept into her thoughts.

‘The Aber Mersea was narrow at the mouth but the estuary was shaped like a stomach and it widened further inland. If the tidal rush through the narrow mouth slowed when the belly of the estuary widened, she wondered if the siltation patterns were forcing the bigger Viking ships to go around a sandbar somewhere further up river. There was only one possible way to find out and it was dangerous. A fast Mermaid ship would have to try and test the idea by sailing close to Harald’s conveyor line and watching how his ships responded. There was no other way to make certain. If Drustina’s fleet simply charged pell-mell upriver with the flooding tide driving her on, there was no knowing how or where her ships might end up if there was a sandbar. The strength of the tidal currents was one of the reasons why ships favoured the Aber Dyfrdwy for trading on this coast, the tidal streams were far less powerful and handling the ships was therefore easier.’

She decided a foray upriver by one Mermaid would be suicidal so she shouted her ideas to her Commanders.

“We will have to try and determine why they’re crossing the river like that!”

“What’s your plan?” Carl bellowed across.

“We three, approach where they are crossing and try to provoke them into some sort of logical response.”

“And when they do respond, which they’ll have to do eventually?” Heliox asked.

“We’ll have to rely on speed to skedaddle out of there.”

“Back against the flood tide?” Carl objected. “You’d better take more men, we can’t sail against this tide in this wind, we’d have to row out of trouble.”

Drustina had hoped she could get away with it but Carl’s objection settled the doubts in her mind. She would need extra men to help with rowing if they hoped to return against the flood which was growing stronger.

As each of the command Mermaids approached the other ships there was no shortage of volunteers and the three ships were quickly double manned on the oars with archers as opposed to swordsmen. Drustina had no intentions of mixing it with the vast Viking fleet strung out across the river. Within thirty minutes the three Mermaids were racing up the estuary towards the Viking supply train.
Eventually the Vikings showed clear signs of response as a dozen longships set out from the north shore further up river. Drustina noted that these ships were not loaded with men and equipment so it was obvious they were setting out to address the threat of three ships approaching quickly.

Once again however, they first steered north along the northerly shore before eventually turning south-west to cross the wide belly of the river. Eventually the Viking warships composed themselves in a conventional formation to confront the threat of Drustina’s three, fast-moving, smaller ships.

As each commander judged the Viking approach it was Carl who first noticed the turbulence around them and he bellowed across to Drustina.

“We are in shallow water! I’m sounding the lead!”

As he spoke his leadsman was swinging the lead and called out ‘one fathom’!

Carl had already swung his ship around but realised he was now inside the Viking line of approach. Drustina realised he was trapped unless he could reverse his course and row back quickly.
Finally the riddle resolved itself to Drustina.

The Mersea certainly got shallower as they went further up river but the channel was NOT midstream. The sandbank was slap in the centre of the wide belly of the river while the two separate navigable channels ran close to the north and south shores. The Viking ships were forced to sail upstream as they set out from the north shore against the flood tide, then they had to cross around the tail of the bank then finally head south and downstream with the flood tide along the south shore to land on the Wirral shore. They could not cross the Sand bar.

Drustina cursed a happy curse as a solution to beating the Vikings began to form in her head. However, her immediate problem was helping Carl get clear. He was trapped behind the Viking line in the shallower water on the bank. For him it was stale mate. He couldn’t escape through the Viking line but they couldn’t get close to him and they were all out of arrow range. Until the tide rose high enough to allow the Vikings to cross over the banks, Carl was safe.

High water was due in about two hours enough time for Drustina to concentrate her longships in the deeper water while her Mermaids gave her the added advantage of attacking any enemy ship from all sides as they sailed freely without fear of grounding. She decided to concentrate close to the southern shore on her starboard side and attack the Viking ships where they were turning to proceed up the southern channel. The Viking’s freedom to go where they pleased would be limited by their draught and the mid-channel sandbank. She came alongside Heliox and explained her plans as she transferred some of her men to help with rowing Heliox’s ship back against the tide.

“Tell Althred to separate the ships. The mermaids are to join Carl in the shallower water while the longships follow me into the Southern Channel. Carl will be able to attack any Vikings from the shallow water while we make a heavyweight charge down the channel close to the Wirral shore.”

Heliox objected.

“Your ship isn’t a heavyweight Lioness. You’re certain to get sunk or killed.”

“My plan is to get very close to the southern shore where the water shallows again. Hopefully I’ll be able to avoid being boarded by bigger, deeper longships. Besides, I’ll be in close contact with Althred’s ships.”

Heliox was obviously not happy but they had to somehow convey the plan to Althred. Reluctantly he prepared to row back with the message then he had one last thought.

“What about the Viking princess. Do you want her to come with us?”

Gisela cursed before Drustina could offer her safety.

“Damn the Vikings to Hell! I’ll die by your side if I have to Lioness.”

“Very laudable girl but we’ll be in great danger. I might not come out of this. It’s your last chance to get yourself a safer position.”

“No! I mean it, better dead than my father’s prisoner.”

Drustina shrugged; there was no more time to waste. She fired a green arrow in the air thus calling Althred’s ships to advance towards her as Heliox angled back down the river to meet them with Drustina’s instructions. Even as she and Heliox separated, the roars of the Viking longships were already audible across the gurgling, swirling river. She turned to Gisela.

“Get ready by the tiller girl; my bow is going to be needed. Steer for the Southern shore; the ships over there are mostly merchantmen. I’m not ready to mix it single handedly with the longships. I must hang off until Althred gets here.”

Gisela need no further encouragement as each crewman nocked an arrow into his bow and set it beside him on the thwarts ready to fire if needs be. Then to a man, they rowed furiously across to the southern shore.

The six Viking longships set out after her but after a few hundred metres they were forced to face the overwhelming threat of Althred’s ships as they plunged southwards with the tide forcing them along. Drustina calculated with a sagging fear in her belly that she might have delayed too long, The Viking ships would be upon her before Althred could assist. She cursed as she realised she had one option and that was to steer south down the channel with the Vikings in pursuit while Althred’s ships would follow on.

This in itself would have worked except that returning Viking ships were crossing back across the Mersea. These ships were rowing against the stream as they were going to collect more of Cold-blood’s forces from the North shore. As Drustina looked down the channel she could see at least three Viking Longships steering straight towards her. Unless she could get past them she knew she was in for a sure-fire hammering, probably a fatal hammering. At that location, the option to run close to the shore was denied her because Cold-blood’s army was spread out along the river bank as formations of troops were being readied to march on Chester. Now even Gisela could see the danger. The fear was clear in the tremor of her voice as she asked.

“How will we get past them Lioness?”

For moments Drustina stared mesmerised at the approaching trio as a plan escaped her. She had no idea how much water she had on the other side of the channel and the Wirral shore promised certain death or capture. She sighed as she cursed herself for having been so careless.

“I don’t know Gisela. The Wirral shore is a definite no and I ... wait a minute! Those idiots aren’t keeping formation! Look, they haven’t spread themselves across the channel and they’re actually racing each other to get to us first. They’re beginning to form a line astern!”

“So why are they racing each other?” Gisela asked.

“They want to be the first to get to me I suppose ... they’re after the big kudos they would get if they killed me.”

“How do they know it’s you?” Gisela asked thoughtfully.

“Well it’s ob-!” Drustina stopped in mid word as the dawning struck her.

‘Gisela was right! How indeed did they know?’

She looked around and all the mermaid ships looked similar each with a red patch on the sail and more or less identical rigs. It was virtually impossible to tell any mermaids apart and certainly impossible to discern the identities of any commanders. The distances were still too great. Drustina wagged her head for the answer escaped her

“I don’t know princess. But they’re hell bent on getting to me and that’s to my advantage.

“Ship oars everybody and tighten sail!”

“What’re you going Lioness?” Gisela squealed.

Drustina had no time to explain as she called out further orders.

“Six men form a turtle around me. The rest of you make turtles for your comrades and make ready you bows.”

“Surely you’re not going to attack them!” Gisela cried fearfully. “They’ll overwhelm us!”

“Just get down below the rail and make ready your bow or use your shield to protect another. Quickly!”

Her crew were far more trusting and better trained than the young Viking princess and they quickly formed their defences as Drustina prepared her approach. Gisela watched mesmerised as Drustina caught all the wind available in her sails and started to angle narrowly across the lead longship’s bow.

“He’ll ram us!” Gisela screamed as she crouched down with just her eyes visible.”

“Shut-up girl and just have your bow ready damn you!”

With the following wind on her quarter and the powerful tide driving her along, the Angry Mermaid gathered pace like a racehorse making for the finish post. Then, just as it seemed that the stem of the longship would cleave into the Angry Mermaid’s shoulder, Drustina threw the tiller over for a couple of seconds before heaving it back again. The Angry Mermaid ‘dog-legged’ violently but
just enough to put her on a perfectly reciprocal course to the longship but about six feet apart.

Before anybody else had realised it, the Angry Mermaid was slamming at high speed past the longship and smashing the Viking’s oars as she sped past. Within seconds the damage was done and the longship was swinging around violently; all her port side oars were splintered and useless as the broken blades were left floating in a trail of mute evidence to the hardness of the Angry Mermaid’s Welsh oak planking.

Two Vikings on the longship had the wit to try and leap across to board Drustina’s ship but such was the combined passing speeds that they injured their ankles as they landed on the Mermaid’s rail. It took but a moment for the Mermaid’s crewmen to despatch them into the sucking gurgling waters of the muddy Mersea.

Deep breaths of relief erupted amongst the Mermaid’s crew but Drustina had little time to sit on any laurels. The Second ship was approaching fast and already its captain was taking action to avoid a repeat. He had his oars-men ‘backwater’ momentarily to upset the approach speeds and subsequent angles that Drustina was trying to judge. Drustina cursed as she had to take avoiding action that took her too wide of the longships oars. Drustina’s ship came storming past the Viking but he was already preparing to strike. Drustina recognised the glint of spear-blades flash occasionally below the Viking’s rail and she called out a warning.

“All down and tighten your turtles! Spears!!”

The crew knew what this meant. Spears were much heavier than arrows so the sheer force and weight could readily dislodge the shields of the turtle-shell. Drustina also crouched down behind her own shrinking turtle so that only her hand was visible as she peered through a tiny gap. If a spear blade managed to pierce the tiny sight hole then it was truly bad luck. She made herself as small as possible and winced as a rain of spears thudded and slammed into the woodwork or any soft flesh that happened to inadvertently expose itself. Drustina felt a spear whistle past her shelter and just graze her white knuckles as she flinched from the thunderous cascade of Viking heavy artillery.

“Shit! That was close!” She cursed as she peered through the tiny slot to try and find the third Viking ship.

Her efforts proved in vain for there followed a violent crash that told Drustina they had slammed into the bow of the last longship

The Angry Mermaid was now grinding and slewing violently as Viking oars snapped like carrots and the Drustina’s lighter ship bounced and scraped down its side. Drustina screamed her orders mainly to galvanise her crew into recognising the urgency but even as she drew her bow she could see Vikings leaping wildly as they sought to board the impudent invader. Fortunately her crew had their bows to hand and several boarders were pierced before they could recover their balance to leap forward amongst Drustina’s men.

Nevertheless a score of Viking swordsmen were quickly amongst the foremost turtle and the battle became very real as blades clashed in resounding cacophony of rage.

For her part, Drustina was forced to attend to her ship by intermittently checking her rudder then firing off another deadly arrow as and where she thought it would do the most harm. Throughout the action there was the constant cracking and snapping as more Viking oars got broken before the Angry Mermaid finally broke free and clear. However, the fight was not over. There were still a score of Vikings fighting furiously in the forepart and they were giving a good account of themselves. Drustina screeched to Gisela.

“Take the tiller girl, I am going forward! Steer to take us further upriver, past that creek where these ships came out.”

Gisela grabbed the tiller and Drustina immediately gathered her stern crew to assist the faltering bow crew. The only viable tactic was a furious charge by dashing along the thwarts and pitching headlong into the middle of the swordfight. The sudden advent of a dozen extra swords eventually subdued the Vikings but not before a score of her own men had been killed or injured. As the last Viking fell, Drustina slumped exhausted against the mast only to see that more longships were emerging from the creek where Cold-blood had been disembarking his forces. Edburg the cook wagged his head as he attended to his own wound.

“We can’t face those Lioness, the men are half done!”

Drustina span around to look and saw a substantial portion of Althred’s fleet bearing down upon them. Never was a fleet of ships more welcome.

“No need Edburg. Althred’s ships will take care of them. Once we are above the creek we’ll stop and take stock.”

The Angry Mermaid had recovered control and the crew were tidying up while Drustina and several of the more experienced warriors were checking the hull for damage. They found a cracked plank right at the waterline but for the time being, the calm waters of the Mersea would pose no threat. With the hull checked out they checked the rigging and loitered just above the creek until another group of longships emerged from the same creek. Instead of going to assist the first squadron against Althred these ships immediately turned to starboard and set off in immediate pursuit of The Angry Mermaid. It was obvious they were dead set on capturing the Angry Mermaid and her captain.

Drustina cursed nervously because her crew were already depleted through injury and death whilst furthermore exhausted from rowing and fighting. She scanned around looking for inspiration but none came. All she could do was tighten her sheets and make all sail but this took her further and further away from her own fleet and any support they could offer. Besides her ships were too busy engaging Vikings. Fortunately by concentrating on one shore and one channel, Drustina’s fleet had inadvertently divided the Viking fleet in two. The success of the sea battle now lay in her commander’s hands. Drustina was cut off and isolated by a dozen Viking longships furiously pursuing her further and further up river.

As the rigging creaked with the strain of the tension in the sheets, Gisela turned nervously to the Lioness.

“We are going to have to land somewhere; this river does not go on forever.”

“I know that girl!” Drustina snapped impatiently as the tension and fear began to show. “I’m hoping to find a shallow beach where we can land further up the sand than the Vikings. Then our only hope is to make a run for it inland and hope to hide somewhere.”

“Then I shall cook as much food as I can for there’s no knowing when we will next eat ... if at all.” Edburg declared prosaically.

Drustina had to smile at his phlegmatic behaviour and it served to ease her own tension. She apologised for snapping at the Viking princess who immediately forgave her. She offered to take the helm to let Drustina go amongst her men and explain their options. After circulating amongst her men she returned aft to study her Viking pursuers. She sighed with relief that they were making no headway against them. A call from the masthead gained her attention as the youngest, lightest crewman called down.

“There seems to be a smaller river emptying into the main river up ahead!”

Despite her fatigue and injuries, Drustina wasted no time in climbing up to see for herself. Panting and grunting with pain, she joined the lookout who pointed towards the shore.

“Just behind that hillock. I saw it just now. When we get past that hillock you’ll see it again. There’s a lot of marsh and reeds.”

Drustina perched precariously and uncomfortably for a few minutes until they cleared the hillock and she got a good look at the tributary. It flowed out through some flat marshland but further inland it curved around behind a headland and out of sight. Compared with the wide expanse of the Mersea, the smaller river offered a choke point that prevented the Viking longships from attacking from on all sides. If she took the Angry Mermaid up the river there would be no turning back and at some future point they would have to abandon their beloved ship and retreat overland. Her biggest problem was her wounded. They would have to be left behind to some unknown fate but definitely a fatal one. The Vikings were not known for their clemency. Her only hope was to push on up the narrow river and hope to land amongst woodlands where there was some hope of hiding the wounded. Unusually she did not consult with anybody as she chose what appeared to be the only option offering a reasonable chance of escape.

Having made her choice, Drustina pulled hard on the tiller and the Angry Mermaid turned hard to starboard. Gisela and her crew turned nervous eyes towards their leader and the same thought was running through everybody’s mind.

‘Was the tributary long enough and deep enough to enable their ship to reach the shelter of the trees?’

At least if they made it to the forest at the bottom of the high escarpment then there was hope for them.

Without needing any prompting from Drustina two men joined the lookout forward and started casting the lead to check the depths. Another nimble lad joined the lookout high up the mast to help spot any shallows, sandbanks or rocks. The rest of the men prepared to ship the oars that the Angry Mermaid carried. They would use them conventionally to help advance their progress or alternatively use them to fend off obstructions or push the ship over any shallow mud banks. When no more progress was possible, it would be time to abandon ship.

The two main military advantages Drustina had won for her men was that firstly, the Viking ships, being bigger and deeper, would not be able to advance as far and as quickly up the smaller river and secondly the heavily armed Vikings could not disembark and run along the river banks. The estuary was surrounded by extensive marshes and bogs that would have sucked an armed man to his thighs and trapped him. Drustina could see that the marshes extended quite far inland and it would take several hours before any foot soldiers would find suitably hard ground to run along the river banks.

The further up the river she progressed the more she realised she was actually gaining on her pursuers. After an hour of cautious progress all she could see was six Viking masts and sails sticking up above the beds of high reeds. She looked up at her own sail and realised it was almost limp and adding little to their progress. She had a brainwave!

‘If she lowered her mast and sail she would be invisible behind the tall reeds!’

‘Fortune smiles on the brave,’ she told herself as she explained her idea to her crew.

Despite their fatigue, they could see the logic and weary nods concurred with her plan.

The sails were quickly lowered and the main mast was taken down. Only the shorter foremast was left standing because it was smaller and narrower and at a distance, was hard to distinguish from the tall reeds. The young lookout was helped up the narrow foremast and he lodged himself on the small truck block. It wasn’t comfortable but it would not be for long. Only until they could be sure that the Viking longships could progress no further. The sharp-eyed lad spent all his time peering aft and keeping track of the pursuing sails.

“Just keep us informed of any changes lad!” Drustina called up to encourage him.

To everybody’s relief, the river proved to be quite long and they managed to progress to within a couple of miles of the high rocky ridge called ‘The Frod’.

Woody thickets now encroached to the river bank and it eventually became impossible to force the Angry Mermaid any further. Drustina felt a quiet satisfaction for she and all the crew could see that the Vikings would never be able to force their ships so far upstream. They would have been set afoot several miles down-stream where the marshy land would have impeded progress for several hours.

The Vikings would have squelch through deep, treacherous puddles and sharp reed stalks that would act like dragon’s teeth. She did not envy them.

She did not have time to sit and reflect however; the pressing problem was how to get her wounded safe. She had three seriously wounded, four slightly wounded out of a crew that had started out numbering twenty five less two dead. There were fourteen able bodied men, and two female warriors. The four slightly wounded could walk and that was a good thing but the three seriously wounded were going nowhere far.

“Leave us Lioness, just hide us well and if we die, we die! When the battle is over, come and seek us.” The least wounded croaked.

“”You’re not being left here,” The Lioness assured them. “Even if we are forced to leave you it will be somewhere warm and dry. This is too close to the river and it’s cold and damp.”

Within minutes three crude stretchers were fashioned and everything surplus to the march was hidden deep amongst the trees. The Mermaid was pushed as far up a little muddy creek as possible then covered with branches. Drustina studied their attempts and shook her head sadly.

“It will have to do. I’ll be sad if my beloved companion is found and damaged. She’s served me well.”

The crew watched respectfully as the Lioness knelt by the nondescript pile of branches and offered up a small prayer.

“Goodbye old friend until and if we meet again. Sorry to leave you but I will return if I survive these coming days.”

So saying she turned tearfully away and joined the column as it stepped silently towards the dark sandstone ledge of Frod. The steep bluff that marked the end of the high escarpment offered some hope if they could find a suitably defensive location.

They trudged slowly with all able bodied men and women taking their turns with the wounded until they found themselves at the foot of the rocky buttress. Every time the column rested a lookout would creep ahead and find a viewing point to see if they could determine how their pursuers were faring. Eventually one of them located the Viking column tramping determinedly along the river bank after eventually emerging from the reed marshes. It was clear they had lost much time wading through the marshy reed beds
Having located them, Drustina and several of her older, more experienced companions held a moot.

“They are about three possibly four hours behind us so what do we do?” She put the question to the assembled band.

“There are about two hundred men Lioness,” one of the senior men observed. “We cannot even dream of meeting them.”

“Indeed not and the worst of it is they will be able to spread out once they have some Idea of what we have done. They will almost certainly find our ship as they travel the river bank.”

“Are we to abandon our companions?” Gisela asked.

She was brave to put the question for it was on every man’s mind. It would send a cruel message through the whole group that when push came to shove, it was every man for himself. The three wounded men were the indicator that their band was still a united company of trusted companions.

“No!” Drustina replied emphatically. "We are companions in arms and we shall die together. If any of you are afeard of this then speak now. Yea or nay!”

She felt a hot rush of love for her men as every one of them voted silently to stay together.

“So we must find a defensible position and make it costly for them.”

The band spread out and eventually one of the men called Cedric returned with hope flickering in his eyes.

“I have found a deep cave Lioness. It looks even as if it might have been a mine. The entrance is easily defendable for there is a broad ledge from the entrance to the edge of the cliff. Any attackers will have to cross the open ledge if they want to attack the cave entrance.”

“Show us,” Drustina demanded.

A short steep climb brought them to the cave and everybody agreed it was certainly the best option. The approaches were steep and actually required an awkward climb up some vertical rocks that would expose an aggressor to a fearsome assault while he struggled to keep his hold with both hands before surmounting the ledge.

“This is perfect! Well done Cedric, this will make it costly for them. Let us move some rocks around to make it even more impregnable.”

The experienced band needed little instruction about fortification and preparations went on apace. Furthermore there were spoil heaps just inside the cave where it had been widened by ancient searches for some useful product. They had an endless supply of ammunition until the last of them fell dead.

Having finally done what they could they settled down to await the final curtain. Silently they ate their rations and waited while they watched from their high vantage point. Periodically they saw separate, small search parties emerge from the trees below as the Vikings sought out Drustina’s band.

It was Gisela’s young female ears that first heard the sound of discord in the woods below and she hastily summoned Drustina. Several of the man also joined them as they strained to hear what Gisela had heard.

“It was men cursing and I could have sworn I heard a horse!”

“A horse! Are you sure kid?” Drustina pressed.

There was another feint shout followed by another distinct ‘neighing’ but this time several of the younger men heard it as did the Lioness.

“They didn’t have any horses!” Gisela remarked.

“No, they didn’t,” Drustina concurred and that wasn’t the shout of friendship it was anger. There’s a horseman or horsemen in trouble down there.”

“Look! Look!” Cried Cedric

His cry was superfluous for several of the others had seen a horseman emerge from the thickets and ride furiously around the foot of the Frod ledge. A dozen Vikings were emerging from the thickets like hornets from a hive as they tried to encircle him. Drustina almost let out a shriek of joy as she recognised the horseman’s colours.

“He’s one of Edrinor’s men; he’s wearing Edrinor’s colours!”

“But how to rescue him! And to what end?” One of the senior men asked.

“We need his information!” Drustina explained. “Edrinor must be somewhere around here and he’s got a whole bloody army! If we can rescue that horseman, he can lead us to Edrinor and safety! Follow me! That’s only a Viking search party down there so if we can save the man and his horse, there is hope yet!”

Drustina did not wait for the men to decide, she clambered over the ledge and scrambled frantically down into the woods as her men and Gisela gathered their bows and followed. At the foot of the ledge they could hear the horseman desperately giving his all as the cries of victory rang from the Viking’s throats.

Drustina emerged from a dense thicket to see the horseman giving his all as Vikings closed in on him. She did not shout for her female cry would have distracted the horseman from his desperate task. Instead she silently drew her deadly bow, took careful aim and killed herself a Viking.

At first no Viking noticed that one of their own had fallen but when the second one fell, they certainly did.

They turned to see a woman drawing her bow for the third time and finally one of them recognised her!

“It’s the bloody sorceress! The lioness of Carthage!"

At first sheer disbelief froze them but they quickly recovered and turned to ignore their mounted quarry as the ten remaining Vikings hurtled towards her screaming their rage. She felled one more then retreated to the edge of the thicket where her companions emerged to protect her. Such was their rage and frustration, the Vikings did not stop their charge and they roared defiantly as they eventually clashed with Drustina’s band. At first the Vikings held their own and gave as good as they got but Edrinor’s horseman now realised the newcomers had saved him.

'Whoever they were, they were his allies and deserved his help'.

He urged his horse in a wide arc that took him across the Viking phalanx and in one thunderous charge he smashed through their angled sword-wall. The Norse roaring turned to cries of anger and dismay as they saw their precious prize being torn from their clutches at the very last gasp. The Horseman had already turned to charge again at the Viking backs and their formation broke as the Norsemen scatter desperately into the thickets.

The rider halted his horse then stood staring wide-eyed and panting at his saviours.

“Who are you?” He gasped.

“I am the Lioness of Carthage, I presume by your colours you are one of Edrinor’s knights.”

The man’s jaw dropped and he immediately saluted with his sword. Drustina returned his salute then spoke quickly.

“We have no time to stand here, there are two hundred Norsemen searching these woods. Those escapees will no doubt be returning immediately with their news. Where is Edrinor?”

“He is but five miles away across the River Weaver, his whole army is marching on Chester. I was scouting ahead but finding you shocks me. What news have you?”

Drustina quickly explained the situation and the knight wheeled excitedly on his horse.

“I will report to his majesty immediately and we will send our horsemen ahead to relieve you where will you be hiding?”

Drustina pointed out the rocky bluff and the man nodded.

“I must take the roundabout route back around the southern end of the ridge, if the Norsemen occupy the forest I cannot reach the river at this northern end of the bluff. My message to Edrinor is too vital to risk by confronting them.”

Drustina nodded concurrence.

“Well said horseman. One last thing, if we see you and you cannot find us, we will fire an arrow with green smoke into the sky. The signal will mean we are still alive and hopefully fighting. Now, ride like the wind; we will return to our Hideout.

~oo000oo~

Author's note.

If anybody is getting lost, Google earth will readily show where the River Weaver enters the Mersey and the rocky ridge that stops as a steep bluff at the town of Frodsham. Another nearby town is Runcorn where the Weaver today enters at the Manchester Sho Canal.