HIORUNGA BAY.
"Forward!" Jarl Sigvald's war-horn rang out its command, and the
fleet pressed on to support their rash chief. Sigurd gave a groan of
dismay, but Vagn encouraged him.
"He won't be taken, Fairhair, but will return when he sees the trap.
Nevertheless, we have fallen into it, for Sigvald cannot back out now
with honor; we must go forward and fight like Jomsborg men!"
Bui's ships disappeared around the north end of Hod Island; then, as
Sigvald got his fleet into battle array, with each half-dozen ships
lashed side by side, they came back into sight, with lowered sails
and oars lashing the waters to spray.
The ship of Bui was the first to reach the fleet, and as he stood in
the forecastle and shouted of his discovery, Sigvald checked him, and
ordered him to form his battle-line behind the fleet. Bui rowed past
Vagn's ship, and as he did so Sigurd sprang on the rail, with a shout.
There was no time for stopping, so his father only waved his hand in
passing, and called out, in joy and surprise, "Skoal, Sigurd! Use
your best weapons to-day!" It was the last word Sigurd ever had with
his father, Bui of Bornholm.
As the fleet moved forward slowly, one by one the ships of Bui
straggled back and formed behind Sigvald's line. The Jomsborg men
might have fled still, but they scorned to do that, and it was
against their laws. The day was clouding up now, and as they turned
the headland into the bay, the wind suddenly changed and blew dead
against them--and there, moving on them, lay the Norse fleet!
Spreading out like a great crescent, glittering with oars and steel,
Hakon's fleet moved forward, while Sigvald broke his array into three
parts. Vagn Akison, by virtue of his father's place and his own
renown, commanded a third part of the ships; beside his vessels lay
those of Bui, while Sigvald commanded the last twenty.
"Look, Vagn!" cried Sigurd, as they watched the Norsemen, still a
half-mile distant, "they are breaking up likewise!"
"Yes," replied Vagn bitterly, "but there must be nearly two hundred
ships there, crowded with men. That means sixty or seventy against
each of our divisions of twenty!"
Then, leaping into the waist, Vagn distributed the byrnies, or shirts
of woven steel rings, and opened several chests of swords and axes,
so that the men could get at them. He and Sigurd were fully armed,
and naught remained but to await the attack.
It was not long in coming. Jarl Hakon's banners were suddenly
raised, with a great burst of war-horns, and a flight of stones and
arrows fell among the Jomsborg ships. Sigvald's banner was run up
likewise, and his men replied, but the Norsemen had the advantage,
for the wind was with them, and fast rising to a gale. Nevertheless,
the Jomsvikings shot well, and occasioned great confusion among their
foes, for their long, sharp shafts pierced shield, byrnie and body.
As the two fleets drew together, most of the bows were flung aside,
and the spear-racks were emptied. Sigurd and Vagn, standing on the
high forecastle with their chosen men, plied their weapons fast; but
a minute later, with a crash that nearly threw them to the deck, the
fleets came together.
"Concentrate on the ship against us!" shouted Sigurd, and a hail of
spears poured into the large ship whose prow ground into that of
Vagn's. The Norsemen strove to board, but a terrible burst of
weapons met them, and an instant later Sigurd gave a cry of joy.
"Hurrah! We will win yet!" Vagn echoed the cry, for their attacker
was slowly withdrawing.
"Cast a grapnel on them!" ordered Vagn, and as the Norse ship was
secured he leaped into her, followed by Sigurd and his forecastle
men. The Norsemen gave way, but as the Jomsvikings pressed forward a
new burst of horns arose, and into the press sailed a dozen fresh
ships.
"Back for your lives!" called Sigurd, as he saw a crowd of the enemy
pouring aboard. "Back to our ship!"
They could see nothing of the battle on either hand, for they were
surrounded by the Norse ships; but as they gained the deck of their
own vessel they heard a wild shout from Bui's ships, and again the
Norse line shrank backward. As Sigurd looked around, he saw Jarl
Hakon's ship just behind their own.
"Look there, Vagn! Order the men to turn their spears on Hakon!"
Vagn did so, and a storm of spears and arrows poured upon the Jarl's
ship. He stood proudly in the forecastle, and for a moment the rain
of weapons almost hid him; then he reappeared, smiling, but his armor
was ripped to pieces, and he shook himself free of it.
Now a fresh burst of foemen bore down on Vagn's division, and only
the higher sides of the vikings' ships saved them. Men were falling
fast, but as yet the vikings had not suffered nearly so much as had
the enemy. The fighting had not yet become hand to hand, and in the
thickly crowded Norse ships not a Jomsborg spear failed of its mark,
and the trained skill of the vikings told heavily against the
unskilled levies of Hakon.
Suddenly Sigurd laughed, and staggered. "What means the laugh,
Fairhair?" called Vagn, who was directing his men in the waist.
"An arrow, but in the arm only," replied Sigurd. A shaft had pierced
his arm, just above the elbow, but he snapped off the barb and drew
it through the wound, and continued fighting. The next moment,
however, another arrow flew past his head and was buried in the rail
behind him; a third followed it, glancing from his helmet.
Sigurd realized that someone was aiming at him steadily, and marking
the direction from which the arrows came, he saw the face of Thorkel
Leira in one of the ships below. The man was just aiming a fourth
shaft, half covered by the shield of a follower.
Catching the arrow on his shield, Sigurd flung a spear in reply, with
all his force. The weapon struck full on the shield that covered
Thorkel, pierced it, and Thorkel staggered back. A fresh attack drew
Sigurd's attention, however, and when he looked for Thorkel again,
his ship had withdrawn. Now there happened a strange and terrible
thing.
The day had steadily grown darker, with a rising wind. Suddenly a
blaze of lightning fell athwart the sky, and Jarl Hakon's ship stood
forth in the sight of all, wrapped in lambent flame, the Jarl himself
standing triumphantly in the stern, grasping a hammer like that of
Thor.
A cry of horror arose from the Jomsvikings, who took the figure for
that of the war god; and the lightning was followed by a thick hail,
the stones as large as eggs, which burst full in the faces of the
Jomsborg men.
"Thor with us! The gods fight for us!" An exultant shout pealed
upward from the Norse host, who pressed onward with renewed vigor.
All at once a cry broke from Vagn, a cry of anger and dismay.
"Sigurd! Look yonder!"
There behind them Jarl Sigvald had cut the lashings of his ships and
was fleeing! The Jomsborg men seemed wild with terror, for now they
thought that Hakon was right, that Thor and Odin were in truth
fighting for him, and they lost heart.
Sigvald's ship cut through the press close behind that of Vagn, and
as it passed the boy called out:
"Sigvald! Turn and fight! Turn and fight!"
But Sigvald only urged his men to greater efforts, and the sail was
run up. At this Vagn seized a spear from the deck, and with a curse
hurled it at the fleeing Jarl. The spear missed him, but struck down
the helmsman at his side, and the ship was gone from sight in a
moment.
Louder and louder pealed the war-horns of Hakon, as ship after ship
followed Sigvald in his flight. Vagn's men gave one angry yell, then
fought on in silence. Presently their attackers drew back for
breathing-space, and as they did so the boys saw Bui's ships close at
hand.
Bui was without hope, but he was true to his vows, and fought on
stoutly. The Norse ships gave way before his onset, and with a shout
of triumph Bui's men cut their lashings to pursue. It was a fatal
error; for even as they did so fresh Norse ships drove down on them,
broke their solid front, surrounded them and began to pour in
boarders.
Sigurd, watching helplessly, saw the Norsemen sweep aboard and slowly
clear the deck; Bui retreated to the forecastle with a few of his
men, but he was surrounded now, and his foes closed in. The old
warrior fought on steadily; Sigurd caught a glimpse of his father in
single combat with a gigantic Norseman, wielding an axe. Bui
slipped, and the axe whirled above him and fell on his helmet,
wounding him terribly; but recovering, Bui cut down his foe, then
leaped to the rail.
"Overboard, all Bui's men!" rang out his voice, loudly. Just then
the fight closed in on Vagn afresh, but Sigurd caught a flash of
armor, and knew that his father had died as a viking should, beneath
the waves.
The Jomsborg ships broke up now, each fighting desperately to the
last. One by one they were boarded and swept clean of men, and at
length it came the turn of Vagn's ship.
Then, as the Norsemen swept over the side, the vikings put sword and
axe in play for the first time, the boys at their head. Time after
time the flood poured across the bulwarks, and time after time the
Jomsborg steel stemmed the tide and drove it back. At last a wild
yell arose behind them, and those of the crew who were left retreated
slowly to the forecastle, fighting desperately.
A very handsome man, of lofty stature, swept over the prow with his
men, and cut his way to Vagn. The two met with a clash of swords,
and the tall man, evidently a leader of note, fell beneath Vagn's
blows; he was up again, however, and his men swiftly closed around
Vagn. Sigurd gave a shout of rage, and sprang to his friend's side,
but too late.
The sea of fierce faces swept down on him, but recoiled before the
Jomsborg axes. Vagn lay motionless, and Sigurd, bestriding his body,
faced the handsome leader, axe in hand. The other's sword flashed,
and for a moment Sigurd was hard put to it to ward off the storm of
blows; then his axe fell on the other's helm, and the man staggered
back. Before he could follow up his advantage, Sigurd slipped in a
pool of blood--he saw a sword whirled above him, gave his battle-cry
once more--and sank across the body of Vagn.
With the fall of Vagn and Sigurd, the battle was over. Thirty-five
ships had fled with Sigvald, twenty-five had remained with Bui and
Vagn. One by one they were boarded and cleared, for Jarl Hakon gave
no quarter; one by one they floated out of the whirl, empty but for
dying and dead. The vikings died beneath sword and spear, or
followed Bui's example and plunged beneath the waves, while far in
the distance the white sails of Sigvald glittered awhile and then
vanished to the south.