A Saint To A Sinner

3.19

Finan and Sihtric rode to Tettenhall with a strange feeling in their chest. They fought every battle against the Danes with Y/N, and now she wasn't here. It somewhat felt wrong to them. Once they arrived in Tettenhall, they both hoped she would be with Cynlæf, that she was close to him. Finan and Sihtric looked around, finding no one insight, and it made them nervous.
"Is this the place?" Finan called out as he scanned the area.
"Yes." Æthelflaed said plainly.
"I'm not sure I can see Edwards camp." Osferth questioned.
"I'm not sure I can see anyone." Sihtric added as he looked back Finan, almost feeling hopeless. "Is this a bad time to say I wish our wife was here?"
"Just a little bit." Finan grumbled, even though he felt it too. He just didn't want to say it out loud. Finan kicked his horse to follow Uhtred and Æthelflaed down the hill to the field, waiting for a sign of Edward and his men.

Finan looked around, noticing armed men in the trees that were not Danish nor Saxon.
"Lord?" Finan called as he drew his sword, telling the others to do the same. The men were armed in red, representing Weales. Finan looked at Sihtric as if he missed something. Where they an enemy or not?
"You do not look like Christians." Uhtred called out to them.
"We are men from Weales, loyal to King Hywel." A man spoke. The men looked at each other, confused as to why the Welsh came this far.
"Are you an ally or an enemy of Mercia?" Æthelflaed asked the question they all thought.
"We are here to fight Cnut, Lady." Finan was relieved at his words but did not trust them. Sihtric smiled at Finan, giving him a nod. "And best the Dane as we have bested the Saxon for so many years."
"And the fyds?" Ætheflaed queried.
"I put then under the command of the little bald priest." The Welsh man said just before Father Pyrlig showed himself, "I am not bald! I'm certainly not little."

The men relaxed knowing Father Pyrlig came from Wessex to help them.
"He rode to Weales to beg King Hywel for his army." The Welsh man confirmed. Sihtric and Uhtred hit their wrists against one another, feeling positive about the fight for now.
"Lady Ælswith sent him?" Finan whispered to Sihtric and Osferth.
"That is not a good start." Osferth whispered to him back. It wasn't. If Edward was not here and it was just them and the Welshmen, it was still a small chance.
"Finan! Sihtric!" Father Pyrlig greeted the two men with a happy smile.
"It's good to see you are alive. How is your wife? I do not see her? It is unlike that feisty woman of yours not to be here." Father Pyrlig asked as he hugged the two men.
"Oh, we know, Father." Finan said gruffly. "She is with our son."
"She is with us in spirit!" Father Pyrlig stated with his arms outstretched.
"We know." Sihtric said with a nervous smile as he watched Finan walk off to scan the area.

They were in open ground and had nothing to defend. The few men they had created an anxious feeling at the bottom of his stomach as he looked around.
"There are worse places to defend." Uhtred half heartdly said.
"With a few more men, we'd stand a chance." Finan said as he folded his arms across his chest. Sihtric tapped Finan when he had an idea.
"Look at the dip?" Sihtric whispered, "Lord, could we cover it in time." Uhtred turned around with a smile at Sihtrics words.
"Follow me!" Uhtred with a smile pointed them towards the trees to take down the branches to cover as much as they could. Each and every one of them worked as fast as they could to bring as much down so they could place it across the dip line.
"Will it work?" Finan questioned worriedly while Sihtric tried to get a splinter out of his hand.
"I do not know." Uhtred spoke honestly. He, too, did not really know the answer. "They're coming, get into positions."

Sihtric and Finan drew the swords and waited. The Mercians headed towards the woods, leaving them in the field as Cnuts men arrived. Finan and Sihtric felt sick at the sight. They were incredibly outnumbered. Finan held his sword against his head as he whispered to himself, "be merciful to me, God. When I am afraid, I will trust in Yu. In God, whose word I praise. In God, I trust. For my family. I will not be afraid. And what can a man do to me? Nothing..." At the same time Sihtric held onto Thors hammer with shaky hands, whispering to his Gods, "may all the God's protect me in this fight. May Thor grant me unending sturdiness. May Odin keep me and my Christian friend alive to return to our wife. As she must never be alone." And what neither of them knew was their wife was in Salwtic praying with their son and Stiorra by the fire, with a burning offering.
"We pray to Odin for the protection of our loved ones who fight bravely in the battle." Y/N drank for the cup before handing it to her son. "We pray to Thor to bring our fathers all the strength they need." Cynlæf drank from the cup before giving it to Stiorra, "and we pray to Tyr, to give them the power of all strength to face the fear. To walk through the unswerving of fire and blood and steel."

With their own individual power and strength, they gripped their swords as the Danes road straight towards them into their trap.
"Now... Charge!" Uhtred called out. They ran towards them with power and strength as they cut through the men. Keeping them pushed down into the ditch. Sihtric struggled to keep them at bay and slipped slightly down the ditch.
"Sihtric!" Finan called out as he killed the men that were on top of him to pull him up.
"Don't tell her." Sihtric said with a laugh as he pulled his axe up, feeling his chest release fear that burst in him for a split second. They pushed back as hard as they could. Throwing the men off of them that came towards them, with everything they had, that neither of them noticed Edward and Æthelreds men had joined them in the fight. It wasn't until Uhtred told them to stop Cnuts men from fleaing that they looked around to see the Mercians and the Saxons had joined them, that it bought them more confidence to fight harder.

Once the fight was over, Sihtric dropped to the floor shaking, holding his axe as he pressed his head against it. His head was bleeding from the blow, and his body hurt, but he did not care. He was still alive, and so was Finan, who sat on the ground holding his sword, staring into space, wondering how each of them made it out alive.