Warriors at Heart (The Last Kingdom Fanfic)

Chapter 56

***Quick thank you for being patient with me! I was on a roll, and then I got dare I say its name...Covid... Its been rough, and I still have lasting symptoms, but I am doing WAY better and hope to get you all more story more often moving forward :-) We got a lot of ground to cover and catch up on!

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Asser seemed to be a bit confused, but seeing Uhtred in a rage seemed to at least calm Peredur's doubts. Uhtred quietly spread word to Leofric that we were to fight with the Danes. Leofric looked skeptic but did as he was told. 

"Do you trust him?" Uhtred asked me in Danish.

"About as far as I can throw Leofric," I replied.

He chuckled at my response and we watched as Svein, so far true to his word, exited the fort with his men. This should have been a warning to Peredur and Asser, but the two were clearly unskilled in combat, or believed that Svein was proud enough to believe he could destroy us on the open battlefield.

The monk shouted at Uhtred that he should attack. Uhtred brushed him off and pretended to be, or for all knew was, studying the Danes on horseback. Their numbers were greater than our measly bunch, and I prayed to Odin that Svein kept his word.

"Why don't you attack?" The monk demanded again.

"Do you want to be in the front when those warhorses charge at us?" I hissed at him.

He shut his trap and watched. Svein's men formed a shield wall in front of their mighty war beasts. They banged their weapons against their shields and their horses impatiently pawed the ground. Uhtred called for our shield wall, and commenced the usual taunting and cursing that was customary for battle. Lots of cracks at each other's manhoods and of course, their mothers. They spat and violently raged at one another. Asser seemed to be fooled by the deception, but he kept insisting that Uhtred attack. Seeing that Leofric was not quite finished with his task, Uhtred continued to play for time, insulting Svein's sister. Whether or not he had a sister, who knows. Asser looked frustrated, so I flashed him a wicked smile while stroking my blade. He flinched and ran back to his king. The two began praying.

"Poor fools," I laughed.

"Let us hope we are not the fools," Uhtred replied.

"Silver's silver," I reminded him. "Danes don't risk men unnecessarily."

"Aye," he nodded.

Leofric came to stand on Uhtred's other side. "Do you trust him?"

"I trust him," Uhtred replied. I later learned that Uhtred had only put his trust in Svein because Svein was a Dane, and Uhtred had a fondness for us Danes. Svein was the closest thing to the Danes we had at that moment.

The insults were finished. Svein shouted something about spilling Uhtred's blood and guts on the battlefield and pissing on his dead body. Uhtred ordered men to take up their arms, and the slaughter began.

We marched forward as Svein's army grunted and shouted their way towards us. Their shield wall split in half and the began circling around us. Uhtred gave the signal, and our men turned on Peredur's and blood flowed. Svein's horsemen kicked into gear and leveled their spears, sticking anybody in their way. They gave chase to the men fleeing down the hill. 

It was not a battle, it was a massacre. A few of Peredur's men put up a fight, but we easily cut them down, sticking their throats with our blades. The monk fled the opposite direction of the slaughter, and Uhtred's men refused to go after him. I offered to pursue, but Uhtred shrugged. "He's as good as dead."

Another flank of men under Uhtred's order had gone with Haesten to secure the chests of silver. We rushed to meet them and found ourselves face to face with Svein's newly formed shield wall.