Robin Hood | Thief of Skandia

Chapter 23 (The Battle Begins)

Song: You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC

It was a muted sound – surf on a beach a long way away, or maybe the rolling of distant thunder, Robin thought. Except no thunder had ever sounded like this. This sound never seemed to start and never seemed to end. It just continued, over and over, repeating itself constantly.

And, gradually, growing louder.

It was the sound of thousands of horses cantering slowly towards them.

Robin flexed the hand on her weapon a couple of times, testing the feel and weight. Her eyes were fixed on the point where they all knew the Temujai army would appear – a kilometre away, where the narrow coastal strip between the hills and the sea jutted out in a promontory, temporarily blocking their view of the approaching army.

She grinned at the first sight of the Temujai horsemen as they swept round the bend, she was ready. From the ranks of Skandian warriors around her, there was not a sound.

Now, above the dull rumble of the hooves, they could hear the jingle of harness as well, a lighter counterpoint to the rumbling hoof beats. The horsemen came on, moving closer to the waiting ranks of silent Skandians. Then, at the single blaring note of a bugle, they reined in and came to a halt.

The silence, after the rumbling beat of their approach, was almost palpable.

Then a massive roar rose from the throats of the Skandian warriors who stood by their defences. A roar of defiance and challenge, accompanied by the ear-shattering clash of axes and broadswords on shields. Robin felt Erak do the same as her beside her. Gradually, the sound died away. The Temujai sat their horses silently, staring at their enemies.

The eighteen hundred Skandians were drawn up in three ranks on a narrow strip of flat land between the sea and the heavily timbered hills. They waited behind carefully constructed earthen breastworks. The sloping ramparts facing the Temujai were thick with sharpened stakes of various lengths, designed to impale the enemy's horses.

Halt and Robin had located their main defensive position at the spot where the strip was narrowest, with their flanks protected by the steep, wooded mountains on the left and the sea on the right. Hallasholm itself was barely two hundred metres behind their line. Will's force of archers were on an earthwork berm on the right, some metres behind the main defensive line. At the moment, earth covered wicker ramparts kept the archers hidden as they crouched behind them.

Robin, Halt, Erak and Ragnak were in the command position, more or less in the centre of the Skandian line, on a small knoll.

Now, more signal flags were seen and the advancing cavalry broke into a trot, beginning to wheel slightly towards the Skandian left flank.

The Temujai charge was gathering pace now, breaking into a fast canter, then a gallop. As they neared the Skandian line, a major part of the force swung away, seemingly deterred by the fortifications and the sharpened stakes. They wheeled their horses to run parallel to the Skandian line for a few seconds, then began to curve back towards their own army. The Skandians yelled abuse and scorn at them. A shower of spears, rocks and other missiles erupted from the Skandian line. Most of them fell short of the galloping horsemen.

A smaller group, maybe less than a hundred, continued to close on the left wing of the Skandian line. Leaning forward in their stirrups, shouting their war cries, they forced their shaggy mounts up the earth breastworks, ignoring the screams of those horses who were struck by the stakes. About two-thirds of their numbers made it to the Skandian line and they leant down from their saddles, striking left and right with their long, curved sabres.

The Skandian defenders joined the battle eagerly. Huge axes rose and fell and more horses came down, with agonised screams. Obviously, the Temujai thought of their horses as a means to an end, and had little affection for them.

The seething battle occupied one corner of the Skandian line. For some minutes, there seemed to be no clear picture of what was happening. Then, gradually, with cries of panic, the Temujai began to give ground, backing down the sloped earthworks, wheeling their horses and moving away, and letting the Skandians come after them with increasing eagerness.

Yet, to the more distant observers, it was obvious that the retreating enemy weren't moving as fast as they might. Even those still mounted made no real effort to gallop clear. Rather, they withdrew gradually, maintaining contact with the foremost of their pursuers, drawing them further and further from the defensive positions they occupied and into the open ground.

In response to more flag signals, and unseen by the defenders on the left flank, several hundred riders from the original Temujai charge had now completed a full circle and were wheeling back to the aid of their embattled companions.

In the command post near the centre of the Skandian line, Erak muttered to Halt. 'Here they come, Halt, just as you said.'

Ragnak, standing beside him, peered anxiously over the breastworks at his exposed men. Nearly a hundred Skandians had streamed out of the defences now and were engaged with the Temujai.

'You called it correctly, Ranger,' he agreed. From this remote position, he could see the trap about to be sprung. Had he taken his normal place, at the thick of the fighting, he would have been totally unaware of the tactic.

'Can Kormak be trusted to keep his head out there, and not let his men get out of control?' Halt asked the Oberjarl.

Ragnak scowled at the question. 'I'll kill him if he doesn't,' he said simply.

The Ranger raised one eyebrow and Robin smiled at him, one without out mirth. 'You won't have to,' she said.

Halt aggreed, then turning, he gestured to one of Ragnak's signallers, who stood nearby with a huge ram's horn in his hand. 'Get ready,' he said and the man raised the horn to his lips, pursing his mouth to form the right shape to create the mournful but penetrating note.