“Were there any cattle?”

“None that I saw, lord. And the men all have shields and spears.” He meant they were warriors. Men raiding for livestock rarely encumbered themselves with heavy shields; they preferred to travel swiftly, running from a fight rather than seeking one.

“Did they see you?” Finan asked.

“They saw us,” Eadric said. “It’s open land. They showed themselves when we crossed the crest.” There was a slight rise in the road ahead, and Eadric said the woodland where the strangers had appeared lay a mile or so beyond it.

“Sköll?” I asked.

Eadric looked uncertain. “I didn’t see any of those gray wolf cloaks, lord. But it could be his men. Could be anyone.”

Damn it, but had Sköll somehow got ahead of us? If he had men who knew this country, then that was possible, but they must have ridden hard. I looked east and west, but on both sides of the valley were low, bare hills. If we tried to evade the men ahead we would be seen crossing the skyline. “Maybe they’re friendly?” Eadric suggested.

“The only friend we have is Sigtryggr,” I answered, “and it won’t be him. Were they flying a banner?”

“None that I saw, lord,” Eadric said.

“We can’t avoid them,” I said, “so let’s confront them.” If they were hostile, and they probably were, then perhaps our numbers alone would persuade them to let us pass. But only if we outnumbered the strangers. The alternative was to turn away, either retracing our steps, or riding eastward. The horsemen ahead might be Sköll’s men, but instinct alone told me that was unlikely. I still felt certain that Sköll was behind us, so turning back offered no hope, while to turn east or west was simply to invite pursuit from new enemies. Sometimes all we have is instinct, and I was tired of running away. “We’ll keep going,” I said.

“And if there’s too many of them?” Finan asked.

“We’ll find out,” I said grimly, and spurred Tintreg. I waved my men on. Perhaps the dozen men Eadric had seen were all that opposed us, in which case we would brush them aside and keep going. And perhaps my instinct was wrong and the mysterious warriors ahead were allies of Sköll and had numbers enough to trap us and slaughter us.

I crossed the low rise in the road. The valley widened ahead, the drove road leading straight southward between open pastureland. There were no settlements in sight. A mile or so ahead the road turned slightly eastward, staying beneath a wooded ridge, and it was there that the horsemen waited. “Still only a dozen,” Finan said.

The horsemen stood motionless, just a dozen warriors barring the road. By now they must have seen how many we were, and if they numbered just a dozen then their best course was to turn and flee from us. They did not. “We need to get on the ridge,” I told Finan. The ridge was high ground, and in any fight the higher ground is the best. “But not yet,” I added. If there were more warriors waiting among the trees then I wanted them to think we would stay on the road. I would take the high ground at the last moment.