Tip of the sword

The first wave

It was a rainy afternoon on the southern coast the waves roared and crashed as they struck against the stone riddled beach. Out just beyond the mouth of the bay three ships made their way to the beaches. Longboats fashioned in English iron oak and viking steel, the ships rocked and swayed with the movement of the ocean. Their passengers, all warrior age men from a clan in the far south, All armed with swords, spears, and homemade shields or other weapons...and each ship bears a carved dragon on its bow. The long bearded men reach their destination...battle cries of excitement can be heard as the 150 men pour from the three long boats.

Each man grabbed his weapon and proceeded inland with haste. Archers make their way behind the group and follow, quivers full of poison arrows for their victim.
In a small village not far from the bay where the intruders had landed, stands a small village, children play, dogs bark, the sound of the village Blacksmith hard at work fills the air. Suddenly the sky is blacked out by 200 arrows soaring through the air and hitting their marks, some miss but anyone not able to reach shelter lay dead on the ground.
Cries from the village rise up as 30 military age men carrying sword and shield in hand run out to meat this foe. A second volley flies to meet them "Shield wall!"  A man yells and all the men drop in unison to interlock their shields forming a barrier. But some are not fast enough and are struck by arrows. Now 23 men are left standing, a cold battle cry from the tree line in front of them rises up sending shivers down their spines.
In seconds the invaders charge from the wood line, the men stand still locking their shields to form the barrier between the invaders and the village. Swords clash and bang on shields for everyone of the village men taken, three invaders fall with him, but reinforcements only take the invaders place and continue to try to break through the line...the village men now down to 15 continue to repel the enemy attack.
Until ultimately the line is broken through due to lack of warriors left to defend the village...the invaders rob they burn they ravage women while their comrades keep the village men busy...then take children as slaves and retreat leaving ten of the village men alive, but 7 are seriously wounded. Women of the captured children scream and cry, some commit suicide but everyone remembers the enemy's last words...."We will Return!"