Prologue

Beneath the waning moon,the women and children of Scotland slumbered fitfully, their sleep disturbed by dreams of fire and fear. Ever since the Rus struck from the seas, there had been chaos in a land already torn apart by invaders and famine. The Sasacas had summoned the clans for an invasion of hated England and the men had put aside their ploughs and taken up their swords. from all corners of the realm the scots rallied to their chief, putting aside clan rivalries for the nonce. And into a land denuded of its fighting men, the Rus had struck, from their longships. Aberdeen had fallen in a single day, its garrison of young boys and old men dropping to their knees and begging for quarter before the marauding Rus. Mercy was rarely granted and a worse fate had awaited the women of Aberdeen. Queen Glenna herself did not escape. Rumour had it that she had been presented to the chief of the Rus, whose terror had spread far and wide in to the remotest realms of Scotland and when the glow of burning cities lit up the stormy nights, the remaining men huddled deeper into their blankets or fled for the hills, whispering to each other "Cursed though he be, the Sasacas is our only hope. Where is he? and where are our armies?"

The Rus are coming!

"Faster, faster ..." screamed Sasix, Sasacas to his adopted countrymen . His horse had died miles ago and now, like most of his soldiers, he was on foot, pounding along at the best possible speed, wanting to get to get to Aberdeen, thoughts of revenge on the English now forgotten and Glenna ... he wouldn't think about her .... who were the barbarians form the sea? He had sent men to negotiate and discover their intentions . One negotiator had returned, blinded and maimed, but the Rus had left his tongue intact and the message conveyed was "Come and get us...". Sasacas gained a hill and paused a moment, to look back. the plain was black with thousands of Scots, running silently .The proud Galwegians rode by themselves, scorning to gallop . They were supremely confident, they had seen off many invaders, and they would send these new lot packing too.And then to get rid of the Sasacas .....

Sasacas drew in three huge gulps of air and ran down the hill, toward the east where dawn glimmered. By all accounts his army outnumbered the invaders . The Galwegians may be insufferably arrogant but by God they could fight... "Large numbers, high morale and inspired leadership" he thought to himself..."How can we lose?"

Farmer McGregor was awakened by a pounding on his door .Groaning from a sleep induced daze he threw the door open and held a lantern high ... and a Viking Battle ax buried itself in his head.As he went down like a log, greedy hands were already searching his corpse for anything of value. As the invaders fell to ransacking the poor dwelling, a long skinny figure entered the doorway and, after prodding McGregor's corpse with his foot, said in a very quiet voice "Boys, that's enough Now get out of here... ". Three of the four Vikings immediately turned and ran for the door, but the fourth, who was tearing the floor apart, looking for buried gold, was a trifle too slow in obeying. Swift as lightning the newcomer stepped forward and rammed a steel hard hand into his throat, locked his fingers tight and tore out his throat.As the blood spattered the newcomer, the three Vikings fell to their knees and waited ... one of them had the presence to wail ... ... "All hail Lord Mohanus, Chief of the Rus, Bane of the Seas .... " and his voice trailed off into silence, for he well knew of the terrible rage of their chieftain which, once aroused, was rarely sated till rivers of blood had flowed.....the Vikings kept their heads bowed and eyes downcast and waited... after an eternity of suspense, Mohanus chuckled dryly and licked the blood off his fingers... "with such of these, I seek an empire ......Get out .... and take these corpses with you ...." . The Vikings obeyed >as they dragged the corpses out, they could see Mohanus' sub commanders file in . Some of them threw a glance at the pale Vikings and the bloody corpses.One of them shuddered and forked the Sign of Warding ....

On the Hill

As the sun rose in the east, Sasacas' army assembled on the plain facing the hill on which McGregor's farm stood. Sasacas, threw a glance around him and was grimly satisfied. Unlike many other occasions, none of his army had deserted. On their way they had seen sights of the depredations of the Rus and the sights of the burned farms and the bloated, innumerable corpses had fired their resolve.The ordinarily boisterous Scots were silent and their wrath went before them and some of the Rus, looking out from their camp quailed .... but did not run ..... The Scot army may be fearsome but the thought of what their chief would do to them if they were caught deserting froze the blood in their bones. they gazed at the vast silent host opposing them, the sunlight now glinting off the thousands of spears, trembled, prayed ... and went forward .......

Mohanus arranged most of his bowmen and veteran spearmen on his right, facing oncoming Scottish army and asked a small force of pechenegs to guard his right flank. Giving his commander, Balanca, his instructions he galloped toward McGregor's hill where the Vikings were milling around!

Sasacas peered at the Rus encampment, now visible as the mists slowly burned off. he wasn't too happy with what he saw. the hilltop, which Old man McGregor had fenced off in one his wilder moments, swarmed with Vikings. Taking that would be tough . To the base of the hill on the right,the Rus camp sprawled, disorganised, empty and so vulnerable, Sasacas snorted to himself, The Rus may be fierce but they certainly weren't commanded well.He would push his spearmen and Galwegians forward on the left and through the centre, ask his cavalry to guard his flank and sweep the Rus away ....And then to deal with the English ....

Russian Dances

Mohanus was strapping on his lion's pelt, as he walked his horse over to the centre McGregor's hill. The Vikings sullenly lowered their eyes and fingered the edges of their battle axes .Mohanus sneered at them and spoke curtly, I want you to hide behind the fence and not move a muscle till I tell you to. I don't think we'll need you today . That's it. The first man to show himself loses his head .A snarl of protest rose from the Vikings... skulk ? thy were the fiercest warriors of all ....Mohanus swept his cold blue eyes over them . the Vikings quietly slunk away to crouch by the wall....

Mohanus looked across the field to where the standard of Sasacas flapped in the breeze. This would be a tough battle. His troops though cowed temporarily, were dispirited .. and outnumbered 3 to 1 .The enemy was fighting on his home ground, He would not win this battle through ferocity . he waved the chief of his bodyguard and issued a whispered order. the man, though used to his masters' ferocious ways blanched but instantly ran to obey, begging all the gods for forgiveness for the terrible crime he was asked to commit ..... Mohanus watched him go, then rode over to the pechenegs . Impervious to the mood of gloom in the Rus camp, the Pechenegs were happy enough to be back on land ....The decision to accompany the Terrible Mohanus had proved a good one with mountains of loot and many strange lands to plunder and women to rape. And if any of them missed the vast steppes they didn't show it as they marched behind Mohanus, with his lion skin cape streaming behind him. A vast silence fell. The Pecheneg had no fear of Mohanus and adored him as one of their own. Some of them whispered that he was a demon in human form but that was fine by them. Mohanus pointed to them, pointed across the plain to where the Galwegians were trotting forward on their ponies . "Those idiots don't know how to use a horse? Imagine! Once they get into combat range, they get off their horses and charge!! Now you tell me, is that nay way to use a horse? "

"No,.... " roared the pechenegs, offended that anyone would so dishonour a horse. Mohanus continued .. "I want you to show these land lubbers how to use cavalry . Would you do that for me boys ? " "Yes general ?!!! " they roared back and galloped off toward the Galwegians, unstringing their bows......

Mohanus galloped back towards McGregor's hill,leaving his brother Golbanus in charge of a few mounted Viking and a lone unit of pecheneg slaves to guard against any flank attack.

Across the plain the Sasacas was happy at the way the battle was turning out. The Rus were all bunched up on his left a few lightly armed horsemen were riding hard toward his Galwegians. The Sasacas smiled ... the Rus had taken out a few lightly armed garrisons and had obviously never faced the Galwegian frenzied charges before!And since the Galwegians had horses too, they would just mount and ride after the Rus when they ran away, By Glenna ! not one Rus would ride home today . The Sasacas rode forward and rode in front of his advancing wall of spear men, his standard bearer keeping pace and his still ominously silent army marching grimly beside him. he could never remember a battle field so silent. except for the early morning wind keening over the plain, the only sounds were the steady shuffle of advancing feet and the clip clop of his horses hooves.

But wait what was this ? a lone unit of light cavalry was moving through the waiting ranks of the Rus archers. at their head rode a man who was obviously a slave and behind him on his saddle was .......

"Glenna " he roared and almost began to ride forward .... he stopped himself just in time....The light cavalry was obviously deserting ... they were too few to prevail against such a massive host .... maybe the man hoped to be spared if he returned the queen unharmed .....

The scots broke into a trot ....surging forward to welcome their queen back. She was waving at them now and now a roar went up among the scots ... and the scot army surged forward In the distance the Rus archers turned around smartly and started marching back and the Rus spearmen wavered .....

Now the Rus slave was few hundred yards from the scot line . he stopped and the Scottish Queen slid down from the saddle and ran toward her husband, tears streaming from her face. A grim faced Sasacas rode forward, extend his arm to her....

Disheartened by this treachery the Rus spearmen slowly began to retreat . Sasacas could see his queen clearly now! he stopped and turned toward his army drawing his sword and waving it in the air ...

Suddenly the Rus slave spurred forward with two pechenegs . As the pechenegs a seized the queen and ripped her gown off her back,the slave drew a wicked double headed axe. In a vicious arc he buried the axe between her legs ... he looked directly at Sasacas and shouted "I am but a slave...but thus do we screw your queen..." With a second swing he took her head off. He lifted her head by her long tresses and tossed it towards Sasacas "And thus we screw you...." .

As the stunned Sasacas stared unbelievingly at his queen's head, the slave turned his horse and trotted back towards the Rus camp. The pecheneg cavalry whooped a war cry and charged the Galwegians, sending a cloud of arrows forward . the Galwegians roared and rode straight at the pechenegs, roaring out their fury, descending like a storm on the pechenegs who fled fore them ... the disorganised Galwegians pursued exultantly but were stopped in their tracks by a second volley by the pechenegs who rode into the shelter of their lines unscathed.

The Galwegians are Dead

On the Scottish right flank too the pechenegs charged the furious Galwegians who charged them impetuously. Their commander had just managed to restrain them, when they saw the execution of their beloved queen and lost all control! they charged the pechenegs again, who danced away . the Galwegians were fierce fighters but poor horsemen . try as they might they could n't cope with the pechenegs who took a steady toll of them then . The dispirited scots almost turned back when they spied a Rus General on top of a hill with some poorly armed troops. The Galwegians instantly charged the hill, going straight for Golbanus, who watched, surprised, as the scots charged screaming .... .

Not for long. With a yell he rode pell mell down the hill towards the Galwegians and spurred on by their General's charge, the pecheneg slaves and Vikings followed, . disorganised by a long chase the Galwegians had no chance they went down in a chaos of screaming horses and the fleeing pechenegs turned around and charged back in . Half the Galwegians had ceased to exist .

Golbanus reeled in his saddle . he had been badly hurt but he was happy. after such fierce losses, surely the Scots would retreat ... he looked across the plain to see, a second line of Galwegians, as numerous as the first groups gallop toward them. Barely conscious he waved the pechenegs forward ..

They needed no urging. Though surprised at the resilience of the Scottish army, the pechenegs obeyed, screaming towards the Galwegians. On the other flank Sasacas snapped out of his trance and through howling from grief inside, he managed to prevent his spear men from breaking ranks. He led them into an all out assault all along the line.

On McGregor's hill, Mohanus' eyes narrowed. the scot army had taken tremendous losses but they were still coming .He waved at the spearmen guarding his camp and waved them backward, exposing the camp to the second line of Galwegians... who took the bait and rushed forward to pillage, ignoring their screaming commander ...

And were taken in the rear by the rampaging pechenegs who rode into them like a scythe though a wheat field, mowing them down by the hundreds.... the Galwegian component of the Scottish army had ceased to exist.

The pechenegs drew their tired horses to a shuddering stop and wiped the sweat from their brows. they had exterminated fully a third of the Scott army. Now to chase and plunder, they turned back towards the enemy...and watched aghast as the whole Scottish army broke into a run, screaming at the top of their lungs...

Mohanus watched stunned. The murder of their queen had, instead of discouraging the Scots had enraged them.

For a moment, even his steely will wavered .... and was submerged by an exultation that came from his very blood as Mohanus screamed a blood curdling war cry and charged, alone, off Mc Gregor's hill and rode alone into the flank of the last remnants of the Galwegians, who took one look at the lion mane clad apparition and fled before him!!

The Rus army cheered their general, who had single handedly put a hundred Galwegians to fight and even the Vikings jumped up and down in glee ... the Rus line hesitated and then firmed up...

At this point, Sasacas lost all control and galloped forward... He never saw the arrow which appeared out of the sky and pierced his throat...

With a great groan Sasacas fell back into his standard bearer's arms... And his standard fell to the ground...

Through the flood of blood which choked him, Sasacas saw the front ranks of the Rus spearmen slam into his spearmen ... As his sight faded, he managed to whisper... "I am sorry...Glenna...my poor Glenna..."

As the Sasacas was carried away from the field, a great shudder ran through the scot army And Mohanus smiled...

But the scots didn't run...They charged senselessly into the waiting Rus...And fell in droves .Very few Scots ran...Most stayed on the filed, forming shield walls around their Queen's body . till the Rus cut the last warrior down.

As the reached the zenith of its course, Mohanus was still on McGregor's; hill, watching the scots being massacred.

Even is legendary blood lust was slaked that day...and this is what he said to his horse as he rode back toward his camp...

"Fools, all of them, especially the fool with the banner...fools...but what magnificent fools...".

Epilogue

The Rus disappered off the face of Scotland as mysteriously as they had come. Many who expected them to make a grab for the English and Scottish crowns were surprised. Apparently, Mohanus chose not to rule over what he described as fools...But evidence of the Rus adventure remained all over the place. For years to come, the balldeers would sing of the Devil which devoured the land...

Sasacas lived to see the light of another day. The arrow that pierced his throat had not been mortal. But he permanently lost his charming voice and began to speak in a guttural and outlandish accent. But atleast he was safe. Sasacas tried to forget the nightmare that was the Rus, and concentrate on the future. Afetr all, the English Crown was yet to be won...