'Go and see what's spooking them,' Hereric said to the man beside him who nodded and walked off towards the horses. 'Wybert, go with him.'
Hunwald suddenly jerked forward but I yanked my arm even tighter round his neck and he gasped.
'Don't test me again, Hunwald,' I hissed. The muscle in my arm was trembling and cramping but Hunwald must have known he had missed his last chance to break free.
'Where in Saint Aidan's beard did they get to?' Hereric said suddenly, watching me with baleful eyes. I had forgotten about the two men who had gone to the horses some time before. Darkness had fallen across the salt marsh and only the shingle by the sea was touched by the stars' light. The horses were quiet now.
A warrior gestured back towards the horses, seeking Hereric's permission, and when the ugly man nodded a knot of Wessexmen gathered their shields and ran up the beach. The others remained facing us, waiting for either Hunwald or Hereric to tell them what to do.
'Jarl Sigurd?' Cynethryth said. But I did not answer her because I was concentrating on keeping the blade at Hunwald's throat and my arm across his chest.
'They're not here, Hereric!' a man called from the top of the marsh.
'What are you saying, man?' Hereric shouted, the edge of fear in his voice.
A stone clacked near the Wessexmen and when they turned to the sound a spear thudded into Hereric's back. He screamed, fell to his knees and then collapsed on to his belly, still screaming. The English crouched low because they were not holding shields. They called out in alarm to each other and to Hereric too who lay on the stones yelling in agony. They were fools because in their panic they had not thought to make the shieldwall. They squatted anxiously on the shingle, their weapons quivering in their hands. Then another man cried out in the darkness. Frightened faces looked to Hunwald, but they would get no advice from him because I was squeezing his windpipe so that he could barely breathe.
'Come on, Hrothgar,' one of the crouching men snarled and he and the other stood and stepped towards me and I knew they meant to finish it. Then Hrothgar spun and fell clutching his face, pulling at the bone hilt of the knife that jutted from his cheek. He gurgled and bawled and the other man bent, stepping back into the shadows.
'Who's doing this, Raven?' Cynethryth muttered. She gripped her spear and stepped towards the screaming Wessexman.
'Leave him,' I said because the man's wailing along with Hereric's was terrifying these English and as long as their heads were filled with fear they would not be filled with sense. They should have been afraid, for death was stalking them in the salt marsh and that death was silent and cruel.
But the men who had gone to the horses were marching back down the beach towards us now and their shields were overlapping. The three crouching on the shingle saw the small shieldwall and slowly stood, looking to each other for courage.
'We've got to move, Cynethryth,' I said, stepping backwards, pulling Hunwald with me. She nodded. Then I saw a shadow fly across a Wessexman and he went down without a sound.
'Floki,' I whispered and I could not help but smile even as the English shieldwall strode towards us.
'Ready to kneel before your god, Hunwald?' I spat. Then I ripped the knife through his neck and threw his corpse to the shingle and stood before Cynethryth, sword raised. 'A spear, Cynethryth,' I called and she threw me one. I hurled it at a man but he turned and the spear flew wide.
Then Black Floki appeared beside me, shieldless and blood-spattered. His feet were bare which must have been how he had moved silent as the breeze amongst the English, cutting them down.
'Sigurd?' he asked, staring fiercely at the approaching Wessexmen.
'There was a fight. I don't know,' I said. He looked at me, his cheeks and jaw sharp lines beneath his black beard. 'Thank you, Floki,' I said. He tilted his head. 'You could have stayed a spirit and guarded Sigurd's silver.'
'And watch these bastards cut down one of the Fellowship?' he asked, his teeth flashing in the reflected starlight.
I grimaced and took Cynethryth's hand. 'Any ideas, brother?'
He spat towards the Wessexmen who were emboldened now that they could see their attacker. 'Ask the girl if she can swim,' he said.
I turned and looked at the sea and Cynethryth must have understood for she squeezed my hand. 'I am ready,' she said. The Wessexmen were twenty paces away.
'Now!' I yelled and we turned and ran into the breaking surf, pushing out until the cold water was up to our chests and still further until my feet began to flail for the sandy bed. Any deeper and our mail would drag us under and we would drown. I tried to say as much to Floki but salt water poured into my mouth and I choked.