The Raven and the Cross by C R May

Author:C R May [May, C R]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781999669515
Published: 2018-11-28T16:00:00+00:00

Erik laid a hand on his banner man’s shoulder as his eyes turned back to the fight. ‘Then let us watch our men as they overcome this horror with pluck and war play.’ All eyes were on the fiery ball as it flashed towards the Okse, the trajectory flatter now that the ship had come fully within range. Erik felt Thorstein’s grip tighten on his sleeve as the war-fire lost momentum: ‘it’s going over!’ But just as the huskarl’s prediction looked to become fulfilled the missile took a sudden dip, smashing into the mast top to send a net of fire and smoke raining down onto the ship, and the men in the fleet looked on in horror as the great sail quickly became a sheet of flame. Erik’s guts tightened at the sight but the ship’s oars were already sliding proud of the hull, and crewmen moved to offer what cover they could to the rowers as blazing strips of wool fell among them like fiery rain. The stern of the Okse began to swing to starboard as the ship lost way, but the oarsmen were pulling with all the fury of men who were fully aware that their lives depended on it, and the ship straightened up as a tendril of smoke showed that the southern trader’s crew were preparing to finish the job.

The now familiar sound of torsion ropes being released carried to Erik’s ears, but to his surprise no fireball came from the ship. He just had time to exchange a look of confusion with the men crowding the bows of the Draki when a flash of flame caused him to raise to eyes and look to the west. Harald Eriksson had also seen the attack on his brother’s ship and the Auk had brought forward its own attack, cutting the corner to sweep down on the stern of the markab despite the increased risk, drawing the fire from the enemy vessel to give their friends and kinsmen a fighting chance. It was obvious now that the defenders only carried a single fire thrower, that was the reason for the long delay between the shot which had scored a hit on the Okse and the follow up, and Erik’s eyes took in the scene even as the flaming ball hurtled down towards the skei. Alert now to the danger the men in the bows of the Auk had formed a curtain of shields, each overlapping to make the roofed defence which Erik knew the Roman’s had called a testudo, and the men around him gasped as the missile slammed into the centre of the defence to explode in a starburst of flame.

Even as the men on the Auk were throwing their burning shields over the side Erik’s attention had switched back to the Okse. Gamli’s skei already resembled a funeral ship as burning strips of sailcloth detached themselves and drifted down in the breeze, the remaining shards festooning the yard looking for all the world like the spring maypoles of home.

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