'Hurry!'
I saw now that the enemy ship was drawing closer as the Sea Wolves hauled on the rope. Fintan, Clynnog, and Faolan leaped to the grappling hook and tried to throw it off. Dugal, at the tiller, flourished the oar as if it were a weapon. The Sea Wolves howled, eagerly brandishing their axes.
Cadoc stood by the mast, calling down the aid of angels. The rest of us struggled with our oars, desperately trying to stay out of reach of the black ship's warriors. The sea swell lifted Ban Gwydd high, slewing our little ship sideways, threatening to spill us all into the water. But the wave passed and the ship righted itself.
The Sea Wolves, pulling mightily on the rope all the while, were now upon us, the black ship's prow almost touching our stern. Six enemy warriors swarmed the prow, standing on the rail, ready to leap upon us.
Dugal, swinging his oar in a great arc, kept them off balance. Meanwhile, Fintan, red-faced, the veins standing from his neck and forehead, strove to dislodge the three-pronged hook.
'Aidan!' shouted Dugal. 'Here!'
Taking up my oar, I joined Dugal at the stern. Bracing myself against the rail, I did my best to keep my oar in the enemies' faces. I jabbed here and there, the oar unwieldy in my bloodied hands, while the Sea Wolves, perched precariously on the rail, swiped at it with their axes, and looked for the first opportunity to jump aboard. Everyone was shouting and falling over one another in confusion.
'Row!' cried Mael, trying to make himself heard above the shouting. 'Keep to your oars! Row!'
One of the Sea Wolves-a great stout giant with red braids under his war cap-swung out, holding to the slender neck of the serpent prow and slashing with an enormous club. The blow caught my oar and shivered the wood in my hands so that I almost dropped it. Mael appeared beside me, swinging an oar over his head. The Sea Wolf gave another vicious swipe with the club. Mael lowered the oar, catching the foeman on top of the shoulder. The man screamed in rage and pain, swayed, and almost fell into the sea; he was dragged back by his companions at the last instant, however. And, quicker than a blink, another Sea Wolf took his place.
The two ships were almost touching now. The sea heaved beneath Ban Gwydd, tipping one side-rail skyward and drowning the other in the waves. Water gushed over the rail into the boat. When the ship righted itself once more, it was half-filled with water.
'Help me!' cried Fintan.
The rope had slackened as the ship rolled over, and, for one fleeting instant, the pilot had succeeded in loosening the grappling hook-before the enemy pulled the line taut again, trapping his hand between the iron hook and the side of the ship. I dropped my oar and darted to his aid.
Seizing the hook, I put my foot against the rail and pulled with all my strength. The hook gave but little.
I heard a shriek and glanced up as a Sea Wolf leaped onto the rail. His axe split the air above my head and I fell back. Fintan screamed in pain as the iron hook tightened on his hand once more. I rolled onto my knees and grabbed the hook, jerking wildly at the one free prong as the Sea Wolf on the rail steadied himself and prepared to strike.
I saw the axe hover in the sky, and descend. In the same instant, I heard a whir in the air and an oar flew up to meet the falling blade. The axe bit deep into the oarblade and stuck. Dugal yanked hard on the oar, jerking the foeman towards him.
As the enemy warrior toppled, Dugal lunged, throwing his elbow wide, catching the man in the chest and driving him backwards over the rail. The oar, with the axe still embedded in it, clattered to the bottom of the boat. Dugal stamped down on the oar, grabbed the axehandle and tried to pull it free as the sea swell gathered, lifting the ship and tilting it.
The axe came free, and Dugal chopped at the rope secured to the grappling hook. I saw him hacking at the rope as another Sea Wolf appeared.
'Behind you, Dugal!' I shouted. The enemy warrior threw an arm around Dugal's throat and pulled him back. But the big monk did not cease chopping at the rope: once…and once more…and crack! The rope broke. Suddenly free of the black ship, Ban Gwydd surged into the swell.
Sea and sky changed places. The ship rolled. I felt myself sliding and put out my hands to brace myself, but there was nothing to hold onto and I fell headlong into the swirling waves. The taste of brine in my mouth cut short my scream.
The shock of the cold water startled me. I kicked my legs and flailed my arms, swimming for the surface. My cloak and mantle clung to my limbs, dragging me down. Panic rising, I struggled. My lungs burned.
Above me, I saw a dark shape-the ship, I thought. Thrashing furiously, I swam for it, and, with one last effort, broke the surface. I only had time enough for one gulp of air, however, before another wave fell upon me.
As my head slid under, my flailing hand struck something hard. I grasped it and held on. A moment later, I managed to pull my head above the water and discovered that I was holding onto the ship's rail; the vessel was now overturned, keel up, and half under water.
The wave that overturned us had pushed the Sea Wolves well past. I could hear them jeering at us, their raucous shouts assaulting heaven with their vulgar sound.
I pulled myself a little higher up the side of the ship, and dashed the salt water from my eyes. I could see very little, for the waves towered over me on every side. But the sea swell rose, lifting the half-sunken ship, and I glimpsed the enemy vessel moving slowly away.
It appeared as if the Sea Wolves were attempting to turn their ship so to come back on us, but the waves were carrying us quickly towards the shore and, at same time, bearing them away. By the time they had turned around, I reasoned, we would be within reach of the strand. The swell rolled by and Ban Gwydd descended into the trough. When the next billow raised me up once more, the black ship was further away. I did not see it again.
'Aidan…help!'
I heard splashing behind me and turned to see Brocmal struggling in the water. Gripping the side of the boat, I leaned out, snagged the edge of his cloak, and pulled him to me. 'Here, Brocmal…take hold.'
Sputtering, shivering, he found a handhold on the ship's cladding and pulled himself up the side of the overturned boat. I now turned my attention to finding others. 'Hold on, Brocmal,' I said, lowering myself back into the water.
'Where are you going, Aidan?'
'To search for others.' Clutching the submerged rail, I made a circuit of the overturned ship. Reaching the prow, I swung under and started down the other side. Clynnog, Faolan, and Ciaran were clinging to the cladding.
'Aidan! Ciaran!' shouted Clynnog when he saw us. 'Have you seen the rest?'
'Only Brocmal,' I said. 'He is just the other side of the ship. What about Dugal?'
'I saw Brynach, I think,' answered Ciaran. 'But no one else.' He glanced around at the high-topped waves. 'I do not know what happened to him.'
'What should we do now?' I asked.
'We can do nothing more until we reach the shore,' the seafaring monk replied. 'But we are fortunate, the wind and waves will soon carry us onto the strand.'
I could but marvel at his placid acceptance of our predicament. Fortunate? I do not think I would have chosen that word in this extremity.
'I will return to Brocmal,' I replied, 'and explain our good fortune to him.'
Thus, I continued my circumnavigation of the overturned ship and, finding no one else, came once more to Brocmal. He had pulled himself higher up the hull. I called to him to help me, but he would not give me his hand for fear of sliding back into the water. 'You can climb by yourself,' he told me briskly. 'I dare not risk another fall.'
'Clynnog, Faolan, and Ciaran are just the other side of the keel,' I said, squirming up the side of the ship beside him. 'Clynnog says we shall soon be ashore thanks to the wind and waves.'
'What of the others?' Brocmal asked. 'What of Bishop Cadoc?'
'I cannot say. Ciaran saw Brynach, but no one else.'
'All drowned, I suppose,' observed Brocmal. 'Your Dugal included.'
I did not know what to say to this, so I made no reply.
The rolling up-and-down swell of the sea grew steadily more severe as the boat drifted nearer to the shore. Now, when the ship rose up high, I could see the staggered ranks of waves breaking from the swell and pounding
