The son of an old enemy plots the downfall of Jarl Dragonheart and not only his life but that of his family are threatened. Forced to fight off Norse, Danes, Franks and Frisians he and his warriors are stretched to their limit. When he hears of a great treasure, hidden in the heart of Neustria he boldly takes his war to the Franks. There he will repay their treachery and enrich himself in the process. This is a fast moving novel filled with battles on both land and sea.
This is book 13 in the Dragonheart series. It mirrors some of the events in Hrolf the Viking. It is fast moving with sea battles, land battles and even battles in rivers. I hope fans of the series will enjoy it.
Excerpt
He rode forward five paces and drew his sword to show that he meant war. “A Viking who comes in peace? I do not trust such an action. From your cloaks you are the men from the Land of the Wolf and as Ketil the Coward hides behind you I am guessing you are the one they call Dragonheart.”
I glanced at Ketil who kept his face impassive. I nodded, “I am Jarl Dragonheart of Cyninges-tūn. From the tongue on your shield I believe you are Coenred of Hagustaldes ham.”
“I am. Now go back to your land before we slay you!”
I had his measure now. He wanted to impress his men by making me flee and yet he did not trust them to defeat us.
“I come in peace. I am on a peace mission. We are travelling to Bebbanburgh to speak with your king.”
“And I will not let you pass! What say you?”
We had been speaking in Saxon and I knew his men were hanging onto every word. They would be taking in my warrior bands and my armour. They would see the jewelled sword hanging from my belt and knew it was a sword of legend. They would glimpse the golden dragon around my neck. They knew who I was. Whatever I said next would determine whether this ended peacefully or not.
“I have no quarrel with you and I do not want to kill you. Let us pass and I am sure your king will reward you.”
“Reward me! Crumbs from his table?” He pointed his sword at Ketil. “You, hiding there behind this old man, come and fight me! I owe you a death! You destroyed my village and stole my cousin!”
I held my hand out to silence Ketil. “This is discourteous even for a young man like you. Ketil Windarsson is oathsworn to me. He cannot fight you without I give him permission and I do not. So let us pass.” I waved a hand at those behind me. “These are Ulfheonar. There are no finer warriors in this whole land. We are all mailed and your men are not. If you try to stop us we will slaughter you and I do not wish to do that. Let us pass peacefully.”
I kept my voice calm and reasonable. I saw his men looking at each other. They did not want to die. His four oathsworn looked ready for a fight but not the rest. The Saxon thegn looked around to gauge support. He did not like what he saw.
He kicked his horse on. “Then I will fight you in his stead!” He roared it loudly so that all would hear the challenge.
“I do not wish to fight you.”
“You are afraid?”
“I did not say that.”
“Then fight.”
I pointed to his men. “You will bear witness that I refused to fight. I want no bloodshed.” I saw one or two of his men nod. “I say again, Coenred of Hagustaldes ham, let us pass peacefully.”
He dismounted. “The only way is through me. Do we all fight or just you and me?”
I dismounted. “I would not have any man’s blood on my hands but if this must be then so be it. I will fight you alone.” It was unspoken but we both knew that this would be to the death. I wondered if this was the first time he had done so. I had fought like this more times than I cared to recall.
I handed my reins to Haaken. He said quietly. “He will be quick, lord.”
“You will be teaching my horse how to run next, Haaken.” I smiled. “I know that he will be fast and I know that he will be strong. I have to trust in my sword and the Allfather.”
I swung my shield around to my front. He glanced at one of his oathsworn and I knew what was coming. He would rush me before I reached the middle. I pulled my shield around tighter as I stepped towards him. He ran at me roaring a war cry and swinging his sword. He aimed it at my head. I planted my left leg on the ground and angled the shield up to cover the lower part of my face. I needed to see him. It was a mighty blow. It shivered my shield and slid up to my helmet. My thongs held it in place and the adornments Bjorn had applied prevented damage. He roared in joy and turned to face his men and their cheers. It was another trick for he hoped to entice me to attack his back while it was turned.
He suddenly spun and sliced his sword towards my shield side again. He was quick. He was like lightning. I had a sword struck by Thor’s lightning and my left hand came down as I stepped forward. The sword crashed onto my shield. It was not as powerful a blow as I was closer to him. My forward movement meant he overbalanced slightly. His helmet only had a nasal and I saw the look of disbelief on his face. He had expected it to be over.
“Old man can you no longer fight? Give me this so-called magical sword and I might let you live as a dog in my kennels!”
I said nothing but stretched my left arm out and then pulled it tight again. I knew that silence from behind my face mask would be unnerving. I had yet to use my sword which I held slightly behind my body. Once again he used brute force and speed to try to overwhelm me. He came at me swinging quickly with looping cuts. I used my shield to fend them off and my feet to keep me out of trouble. After a flurry of eight such blows he stood, panting and sweating.
This time I spoke again and I spoke loudly enough for his men to hear. “I ask you again. End this and let us go to visit your King. This cannot end well for you.”
Through gasping breath he said, “How have you lived so long when you cannot fight? Your shield can only take so many blows!”
He was tiring and I watched as he took a deep breath to launch yet another attack. As he pulled his sword back I knew that he would strike over his head. He was a big man and he would be able to create much power when he did so. I did the unexpected. I stepped forward and punched him in the face with my shield. My left arm ached but I had a boss on my shield. The boss caught him squarely in the nose, bending his nasal. Blood and cartilage sprayed from the wound. The edge of the sword caught the rim of my shield and it stuck there. As he faltered I swung my sword from behind me and it bit into his knee. I pulled and twisted it out. This time it was not a war cry which came from his lips but a cry of pain. He did not step back but lurched back the blood pouring from the wound.
His face was a mask of blood and fury, “You trickster! Now I will end this!”
