Legends Never Die: Danegeld (ch. 77) (Patreon)

The battle was a fierce one, but Acre still fell to us in little time. And not wholly because we managed to overcome the defenders. I felt it in my bones that Hadi, the commander that had proven to be a thorn in my side since this war began, was behind it. They contested our landing, drew what blood that they could, before large swathes of the defenders fell back to the citadel.

The citadel itself was not overly impressive, but that stemmed mostly because of how old it was. I did feel a thrill of excitement, knowing that Alexander the Great had once besieged the same citadel however. Though, it hadn't been guarded by three thousand men who had run out of places to run then. They were in a corner, their backs against the wall, and they knew they had to fight or die.

I didn't relish the prospect of battle here. We would take it, I knew, but there would be a blood cost that I wasn't sure I wanted to pay. I had already lost a number of men, more were wounded, and I wanted to plunder the unprepared coast after this.

So, I gazed out at the gates of the citadel, the high stone walls and thick iron gate acting as a barrier. The walls were lined with men, all armed with bows. I could probably take the walls with minimal issue -- it wasn't that different from a normal assault on a city. The citadel itself, however, posed a challenge. It was a sizable castle, and I knew that the narrow halls would be packed with men. It would be a long grinding battle, even with me leading the way. And I expected Hadi to do something to sour the victory.

As I pondered the issue, out of the corner of my expanded vision, I saw Thorkell approach. “The new ones are obeying the rules,” he informed me, and I knew behind me the sacking of Acre was already underway. “They're a bunch of fanatics but… well, they're treating your word like it comes from the gods themselves.” My lips thinned ever so slightly but I shrugged.

“So long as they listen, I suppose,” I replied lamely, knowing that it was going to be an issue eventually. The gods favored me, but I imagine that could change if I started to claim that I was one of them. “We can't afford to lose the men to disciplinary measures.” The newer recruits were trained in our ways, but it would take more than a month to make our ways instinct. I had feared I would need to flog some men, but so far…

Things were going well. “It is a rich city,” Thorkell said, almost hearing my thoughts. He very well might have, given his boon. “Makes men's blood cool when they know there is enough to go around. And when there is more on the horizon.”

“I don't like leaving them here. The prince is in that building. Taking him hostage would benefit us greatly,” I said, pointing at the citadel. “Towns and cities would open their gates with a blade to the neck of their prince.” And I wouldn't have to waste the men taking the walls with force.

Thorkell hummed in agreement, “Aye, I imagine so. Don't like the idea of leaving an army at our backs myself, even reduced as it is. Their commander is a bold warrior. He'd attack Norland while we raided up and down the coast.” I agreed with him completely.

“I should have killed him,” I sighed. He had earned my respect with the charge outside of the Abbasid settlement, but I had been distracted by Zafir. He was a worthy warrior and I had decided to give him a warrior's death, but I was forced to flee when the rest of the settlement realized where my men and I were. I did feel bad about that -- I had taken his arm, but I didn’t manage to take his head, crippling him. Thankfully, it wasn’t his sword arm so he could still fight.

Thorkell clapped me on the back, making some of my wounds sting, “I'm sure you'll get the chance soon enough. Come -- let's see the haul,” Thorkell coaxed and I was admittedly curious to see the treasures of this city. My gaze lingered on the citadel for a moment more before turning around.

There was still some resistance, but it was swiftly being crushed and the looting had begun. People cowered as men entered their homes in groups of five to ten, pillaging it for everything of value. I hadn't ordered it, but I saw that my men had taken to having the inhabitants of a building sit outside under guard while the building was looted. It was a fine addition to the system I had devised.

The goods that were being brought out were both familiar and unfamiliar to me. I saw spices that I did not recognize, even the ones I saw in Constantinople's markets. Other times, I saw tapestries in a different style than any I knew, but still recognizable. There was wine, bolts of fabric, jewelry, coins, and more. All of which was gathered up at the end of each street where it would then be loaded up onto wagons and placed in a single unified pile.

Honestly, it looked less like looting and more like… aggressive tax collecting.

At the docks, where our ships were, the goods were all being compiled. Categorized and divided with a clerk marking down who brought in what. Already, a great pile was building up and I realized we had a problem. “We're going to need more ships,” I muttered, feeling a surge of annoyance directed at Hadi once more. He’d burnt my ships. I had worked hard for those ships. I won a war for them!

And he burnt them.

It was entirely justified and fair -- I'm sure Hadi and the prince were quite annoyed with me as well this very moment. Still… those were my ships.

“Worse problems to have -- too much loot,” Thorkell agreed. “We have some of their ships. Sluggish things, but they have the room. More than we have in our longships.”

I hummed, walking forward to inspect some of the goods taken. My gaze went to a pitcher that was engraved with silver and gold, embedded with gemstones. Then to a long row of silk so fine that I could have taken a yard of it and folded it up to fit in my pocket. Then my gaze landed on a blade. “What is that?” I questioned, picking the blade up and inspecting it. It wasn’t a practical knife, I quickly decided.

The handle was too heavy -- a dark wood inlaid with silver, gold, and gemstones, which made the balance of the knife very poor. The blade itself was the length of a hand with a gentle curve to it but the richness of the blade wasn’t what drew my attention to it. The metal of the blade was familiar to me. A dark smokey color while the steel seemed to ripple like water. I drew an inch of the blade that was at my hip to find that it wasn’t quite the same, but it was close.

And that piqued my interest. It was the first time I had seen such steel before and even if the knife was impractical, it still carried a sharp edge.

“That something important? Got a look in your face,” Thorkell informed, offering a cheeky smile and I chuckled, sliding the knife into my belt.

“Aye,” I agreed, looking out to the docks. “We’ll be taking thralls, I think. Craftsmen and artisans,” I decided. I would need to search for the source of this metal, but I would find it, and I would find those who could work the steel. The craftsmen would be captured and brought back to Norland and there, they would take apprentices to impart their knowledge. When those apprentices could produce satisfying results, the craftsmen would be freed. And rewarded, if they proved cooperative.

We would bring the wealth back to Norland before setting out. But I disliked the idea of leaving a dagger at my back like this -- Hadi and the Prince had proven to be troublesome foes, and I knew I could not leave them be. I could leave a detachment to keep them inside of the citadel, but it would need to be a sizable one, which would make further raiding more difficult. But better that than to have Hadi and the Prince sail after-

An idea struck me. “We'll seize the ships -- all of them. From warships to fishing boats, I want them,” I decided. We would need to take more thralls to row them, but it also meant we could load up more treasures. I could also bait the Prince and Hadi into making a mistake. After all, I doubt that they would expect us to take the ships purely for taking loot.

Thorkell hummed in agreement, looking out at the ships in question. “That'll work. They won't be able to get to Norland unless they swim.”

“It'll draw them out of the citadel. They're clever, but I do not know this prince well. When they realize that I am taking their ability to strike back at me, they will act. Either they'll race to secure the ships or to protect their coastline cities. The Prince, however, could try to slip away back to the Abbasid heartland.” I ventured, considering the course of action.

Thorkell laughed, “And some men will stay behind to ambush and capture him. I like it,” he gave his approval. “How many men are you giving me?” He asked, already knowing that the task would be his.

“How many would you want?” I asked, feeling comfortable with letting him decide.

He seemed to think on it for a moment, scratching up at the scar that nearly took his eye for a moment. “I'd say a hundred. Horses too. But I can't promise anything -- We don't know if the prince is a coward or not. He might leave the coast with his men and abandon it to us. Unlike some, I can't cut through thousands of men and ride off.” He said and I nodded, accepting that risk for what it was.

“I know. Only attack if you feel like the odds are in your favor,” I instructed. “I'm going to bait Hadi towards Anatolia, raiding the cities that way. I'll make them think I intend to join that front. If the Prince does try to flee, I want you to take him south, towards Hafia, the next coastal city south of Acre. There will be a ship waiting for you there, and I want you to sail back to Norland.”

Thorkell nodded, “How goes the war in Anatolia? When Hadi realizes he has been misled, he's not going to try to follow you south. He'll likely continue up towards Anatolia and reinforce the invasion there.” To that, I nodded, finding it likely.

However, it wasn't my concern. “I was instructed to hold Crete and stop an invasion coming from there. We have done so. If the Romans are defeated in Anatolia, then that is through their own failings and the will of the gods.” Thorkell clapped me on the back, in full agreement.

I had received scarce news from Anatolia, just what trickled in from the traders. The Abbasids had invaded with an army of forty to sixty thousand strong, if rumors could be believed. They moved as a single whole and laid siege to a castle. I had yet to hear of a battle, but I knew that Strategos Tatzates and Michael were mustering an army to crush the Abbasids, far more freely now they did not have to worry about an invasion from the sea. I had no idea how that battle would turn out, nor did I have any expectations.

Even if the Romans lost, my actions should have balanced the scales enough that the war would not be lost. Especially if I were to take highly valuable hostages. My hope was that to inflict enough damage that the Abbasids would quickly sue for peace, win or loss, and I could return to Norland.

“As it should be,” Thorkell replied, nodding at me.

I clasped his firearm, “Gods be with you.” I told him with a smile, knowing that it would be some time before I saw my friend again.

“They always are,” Thorkell replied, clasping my forearm and nodding. With that, he walked away to gather his men. I watched him go, curious on if he would be successful or not. But, no matter what, I fully expected to see my friend again.

…

The next two weeks were a flurry of activity. I took my army and sailed back to Norland, the ships heavy with goods and skilled thralls. The fifteen ships that I lost were replaced with thirty of the much slower Abbasid ships, which turned a single day journey into a day and a half. Once we unloaded everything, taking a day of rest, before I took my men back out to sea heading straight for Tyre. The first town on a string of coastal cities.

I got the reaction that I hoped to get from Hadi, with his men marching up to Tyre in force. The four thousand men had been reinforced with another thousand from Acre, men who likely wanted vengeance. I think he suspected my intention because when I arrived at Tyre, I found that the guard was raised in forewarning.

We still sacked the city, but it was more of a fight than I had expected. And when the battle turned against the defenders, they fled into fortified manor houses. Which, I swiftly learned, had a concentrated amount of wealth where the rich had hoarded it to protect it from me.

That turned into a long day of fighting where I damn near toppled buildings to get at the men inside of them. All the same, we gathered up the wealth, took the skilled tradesmen, then gathered up the ships. Hadi's force, which marched through the night to catch us in the act, arrived just as we were leaving.

It was a slow journey back to Norland, but we arrived without issue. We unloaded the ships heavy with goods, building a fleet of ships that began to line the surrounding shores when we ran out of room at the harbor.

Then, with another day of rest, we sailed to Tripoli. As we did, I scoped out the army that marched to defend the next city and found that it had swelled in size once again. Now it numbered seven thousand. They weren't even slowed by their baggage train, racing to beat me to the next city. And, again, I found that Tripoli had been forewarned about my arrival.

This time, Hadi almost caught up to me. I was forced to burn the ships in Tripoli's harbor rather than sail off with them. We didn't even manage to load up all the loot by the time they reached the gates, and I saw them watching me as I sailed off back to Norland. With a third city sacked, Norland was overflowing with goods, to the point that Jill had taken to constructing dedicated warehouses to hold the thousands of gallons of wine, the miles of velvet and silks, while also finding places for the skilled thralls.

However, it was when we set sail to Antioch that I saw my luck had run out.

“They burnt their ships,” Hoffer called out to me, as if I could not see the dark rising plumes of smoke that came from the harbor. I smiled at the sight as I gazed out at the old city of Antioch, nestled against Anatolia. The walls were tall and uninviting, a large chain around the natural harbor from the river we sailed up through. The city itself was located on an island that parted the river.

It was a subtle misdirection, but one that had paid off. By taking their ships for ourselves, I had hoped that it would give the impression that I had a need for them beyond denying them to the Abbasids. After all, I took a great many more ships than I needed. Or could use. Hadi could not see what I was doing with them, so I knew they would assume the worst.

An invasion into their nation, with their own ships delivering Roman soldiers to their shores.

It would be the natural assumption for them, because it was exactly what they intended to do to Rome.

“The men have fight in them, but not enough to take on a reinforced city,” Hoffer called out to me, and I knew that was true. We had rested a little on the sea and in Norland, but we were far from our best. We had done too much fighting in too short an amount of time. We had barely recovered when we sailed to Acre, and I only did so because I wanted to avoid this exact scenario across the coast.

“Turn the ships around,” I decided. We would not be taking Antioch this day. It was a fine city, and a well defended one. Maybe we could take the town that grew on the opposite bank of the island, but I knew that Hadi would have left little there for us. All the wealth would be concentrated in that island guarded with at least six thousand men, perhaps closer to ten thousand with the locals joining in the defense. “We'll rejoin Thorkell in the south.”

Hoffer nodded and blew a horn, signifying the retreat of the army as I stood at the bow of my ship. My vision was washed in gray as I activated True Vision, and it was then that I saw two golden figures standing on the walls through the billowing smoke. Hadi and the Prince, I realized with some annoyance. Hopefully, Thorkell caught some other noble hostages trying to sneak deeper inland.

My lips pursed for a moment, “I'm going to speak to them,” I called out to Hoffer, and a brief look of alarm passed over his face. “I want to gain the measure of the men that have been such a pain in my ass,” I added, earning a bark of laughter.

“Just don't sail too close, Wolf-Kissed! You've been a bigger pain in theirs!” Hoffer said as the mast unfurled and my ship began to sail forward. I saw a bit of a reaction from the walls as the two golden figures briefly vanished. My disappointment was momentary, thinking that they were fleeing, but they seemed to want words with me as well, because they both emerged closer to the ground.

Neither the Prince nor Hadi seemed to be the breed of men that would give me so much trouble. Both were older than me, not particularly well muscled, tall, nor handsome. They didn't strike me as warriors. Though, that could simply be because they both looked exhausted, and I had my answer how they beat me here.

They must have marched through the night for days on end. Neither of them looked like they had slept in at least two.

My ship slowed to a stop some distance away from the shore. I was within arrow range, but they didn't seem to have any pointed at me. I propped a foot up on the bow of my ship and leaned forward, looking at Hadi and the Prince, who were guarded by other familiar faces such as Zafir. “You burnt my ships,” I opened with, looking at Hadi.

He looked like he wanted to cross the waters and strangle me. “You ambushed us,” he replied curtly.

“You survived the ambush,” I retorted.

“Which one?”

“Both of them.” I had hoped to capture the leaders during the chaos of the fireship, but they held themselves together and pressed forward. The fireship, in that regard, was far less effective than I hoped.

“In that case, I was repaying you in kind. Actually, I think you owe us a few more ships,” Hadi shot back, glowering at me. It was less impressive with the dark bags under his eyes. “And a few thousand men.”

My lips twitched. He might not have the bearing of a warrior, but he had the will of one. “If you wish to collect those heads, I'll be happy to face you on the field of battle,” I offered, putting on appearances. My men weren't in the condition for another pitched battle. And, if I was being perfectly honest, I wasn't either.

None of my wounds were severe, but I had done a great deal of bloodletting in the past two weeks. I had picked up injuries here and there, bruises and nicks. My muscles ached, and I felt about as tired as Hadi and the Prince looked.

“That,” the Prince spoke for the first time in a soft voice, “very well may happen. We will not allow your entrance to Anitolia,” he stated, his voice firm.

I regarded him neutrally. The Prince, I was less certain of. I didn't know him personally, and the only thing I did know was he had the wisdom to listen to Hadi. Which, in all fairness, made him wiser than most. “I have no interest in Anatolia,” I admitted, and I saw their eyes narrow in confusion. It didn't matter if they believed me or not. Either way, I had accomplished what I set out to do, even if I would have preferred to sack Antioch for its treasures.

“You expect us to believe that?” The Prince questioned, his tone suspicious.

“I am a mercenary, Prince Harun. My job is already done -- denying you a launch point from Crete. I raid now for my payment,” I said, knowing the effects of my words. Either they would believe me, and they would abandon Anatolia to reinforce their army in the region. Or, they wouldn't and they would remain, leaving the forty thousand men to fight alone.

If they reinforced the army in Anatolia, and the Romans lost the battle… then my mercenary company became more valuable to the Crown. If the Romans won, then the war would be over and I could return to my studies.

To my faint surprise, a calculating glint entered Prince Harun's dark eyes. “So you have. I have seen the aftermath of your actions. They do you credit. Often, I have heard of the savageness of pagans, yet your men acted with more honor towards my people than I could have expected from any other.” I tilted my head at the sudden flattery, but I knew what he was about to do.

“I'm afraid you cannot purchase my warriors, Prince Harun,” I interjected. “I swore an oath to fight for the Romans, and I will not betray it. My word is worth more than gold.”

That had been the Prince’s hope, I saw, but he recovered quickly. “Then I offer a payment to you, Lord Siegfried. In exchange for your returning to Norland and inaction until deliberately ordered otherwise by the Emperor… I offer you knowledge.”

I perked up, betraying my interest in the offer. “What knowledge do you have that I cannot find in Constantinople's university and libraries?”

Prince Harun seemed almost triumphant, “A great deal more. I am also a lover of knowledge and wisdom, Lord Siegfried. For many years, I have imported texts from far off lands and sponsored learned philosophers. On your word that you will not raid my people any further for the duration of this war, I shall share what I have gathered with you.” The offer was an intriguing one, I had to admit. I was very curious on what the Abbasids would have…

In the end, my greed won out. “I will make that oath. I cannot swear to you that I will not give battle when ordered by my employers, but I can swear that I will return to Norland and I will not leave Crete until I receive such an order. Even when I do, I swear that I will not raid your people. Cities, however, are spoils of war, but I will treat them with honor.” I could tell that it was not entirely the oath he wanted, but it was the best that he could expect given the circumstances.

What he really wanted, I knew, was to keep me out of the war while he went to reinforce his father. And with this deal, he got that.

“I accept your oath, Lord Seigfried. Upon the conclusion of hostilities between the Abbasids and Rome, I will send the first shipment of texts and translators for them. Now, leave my shores,” Prince Harun instructed.

I inclined my head to him, giving the word to set sail, feeling richer already.