Viking Invasion-Chapter 64 — The Gate

They spent the night in an unnamed hamlet—a place too small to mark on any map—then set out again at dawn. By noon of the following day, the Viking host reached the northern outskirts of Repton.

The march was long and bone-shaking. Ragnar rode at the head of the column, his cloak dark with frost, listening absently as Paschal recounted the deeds of the long-dead King Offa.

"By your account," Ragnar mused, his breath a pale cloud in the chill air, "King Offa reigned near forty years—A.D. 757 to 796. Under him, Mercia stood at her height. The other six kingdoms bowed to his power, and even Charlemagne treated him as an equal. Yes..." He smiled faintly, his eyes narrowing with thought. "A mighty king indeed."

Then, almost idly, he turned to Paschal with a sharper look. "But tell me this—why did Mercia crumble so swiftly after his death? His heirs were crushed by Wessex and now pay tribute to those they once ruled."

Paschal hesitated, drawing his cloak tighter. "Sire, that is a grave and difficult question," he admitted at last. "Forgive me, but I cannot answer it in haste."

Before Ragnar could reply, a rider came galloping from the vanguard, snow spraying from the hooves of his horse. "Your Majesty!" he shouted. "Seven hundred Anglo soldiers approaching from the southeast—their march leads straight to Repton’s eastern gate!"

Ragnar’s head lifted sharply. "Intercept them!" he barked, instinct cutting through the winter air like steel.

He spurred his horse, and a cluster of nobles and guards thundered after him toward a low hill that overlooked the plain. From the crest, Ragnar could see them—an undisciplined column winding through the frost-hazed fields. Shields clattered, ranks wavered. The enemy was ill-equipped, disordered, their courage thin as smoke.

"Rurik, block their path. Gunnar, swing around and cut their rear. The rest, with me—"

Rurik raised his hand. "Your Majesty," he said quickly, "I’ve a better plan."

Below them, the Mercian soldiers had spotted the horsemen on the ridge. At once their ranks faltered. Seeing the dark mass of riders cresting the hill—shields gleaming, spears lifted high—their hearts failed them. A murmur of fear ran through the host, then panic: dozens broke formation and ran.

"Hold the line! Stop them!" the Mercian commander roared, sending his own guards to stem the rout. He stood tall in the saddle, straining to gauge the enemy’s numbers.

A moment later, his eyes widened in horror. Over the ridge poured a sea of men—three thousand at least, black against the snow like a flood of shadow.

"God preserve us," he whispered.

Hope guttered out. He wheeled his horse and shouted hoarsely, "Fall back to Repton! Keep the formation—bring the wagons!"

But no one listened. Men threw down shields and bolted for the walls, stumbling in their haste. The commander’s voice cracked against the chaos.

"Sir—ride! We must go!"

His five bodyguards pulled at his reins, forcing his horse around. Even as he fled, he looked back again and again, despairing at the twenty supply wagons abandoned on the road.

The baggage carried the army’s armor, bows, and arrows, meant to spare the men’s strength until battle. Now, before a single sword was drawn, the whole hoard was lost—forty suits of mail, barrels of grain, all surrendered to the enemy without a fight.

"Damn you!" the commander shouted at his fleeing men. "You cowards! That was my fortune—my life’s savings!"

No one answered. His guards pressed onward, heads low. Then, from the forest to their right, a sudden hiss split the air. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Arrows.

A storm of black-feathered shafts burst from the trees, striking into the mass of fleeing men. Armor clanged, bodies fell. The sharp thud of iron into flesh echoed down the road.

"Vikings! The Vikings are upon us!" someone screamed.

Panic became chaos. The column shattered completely. Men scattered in all directions—some for the west gate, some across the open fields toward the south. Few reached either.

The commander, pale as death, could only clutch at the silver cross beneath his collar. His voice trembled in prayer. "O Lord above, deliver me from evil... let me survive this war."

The East Gate of Repton

From the watchtower, the garrison had seen the Norse host advancing long before the fugitives arrived. Once the villagers had been herded within the walls, the gates were barred, archers posted along the parapet. Now, hearing the uproar beyond the moat, the soldiers peered down in confusion as hundreds of their own countrymen clawed at the gates, shouting for entry.

They despised the rabble—men who fled before a fight—but four hundred living bodies could still man a wall. Under the captain’s orders, six soldiers cursed and grunted as they heaved the massive beam from its brackets.

"Hold ranks! Don’t shove!" someone yelled.

The doors cracked open. The crowd surged like floodwater through the narrow way, trampling the gatekeepers beneath their boots. Weapons and torn shoes littered the passageway.

"Close it! Close the gate, damn you! The Northmen are right behind them!"

The last stragglers stumbled inside. The captain ordered the gates drawn shut again, then descended the stairs to confront the trembling men in the courtyard. "Where is your commander?" he demanded.

He never heard the answer. A sudden pain seized his belly—white-hot, bewildering. He looked down to see the blade already withdrawing, slick with his blood.

"Now!" someone barked.

Fifty Vikings, hidden among the retreating soldiers, drew their blades and struck. The courtyard erupted into slaughter. Though the defenders fought back desperately, the Norsemen held the gate long enough—for three precious minutes—until the thunder of the main host filled the air.

When Ragnar’s warriors poured through the breach, the battle was over before it began.

Surrender was swift. The surviving Mercians cast down their weapons, gathering wordlessly in the square beneath the cold gray sky.

Ragnar rode in not long after, surrounded by his jarls and hearthguards. Dismounting, he climbed the blood-slick stairs of the wall and stood looking out across the city—the once-proud heart of Mercia.

Repton had been a royal seat in its early days, home to kings and councils, its skyline dominated by the spire of Saint Wystan’s Church, a stone needle visible for miles. Beneath its vaults lay the tombs of Mercia’s ancient rulers, sealed in carven sarcophagi.

Ragnar rested a hand on the rough, cold parapet and exhaled slowly. "Thanks to Rurik’s quick thinking," he said, "we’ve taken the old capital at the cost of only twenty men. Well done. Another tale for your saga, I think."

He clapped Rurik’s shoulder, his voice rich with approval, then turned to his guards. "Keep the men in line. No looting. No harm to the church or the townsfolk."

"Your Majesty," said Gunnar, captain of the royal guard, hesitant. "You mean to forbid the men from taking spoils? It’s... against our custom."

"Custom?" Ragnar’s eyes flashed. "My word is custom."

Gunnar bowed sharply and hurried off to enforce the order.

Ragnar remained upon the wall, gazing down at the uneasy crowd, then spoke more quietly to the lords beside him. "The age is changing," he said. "We are no longer raiders, but kings and nobles. We must learn to rule with dignity. Restraint after victory breeds respect—and less hatred from those we conquer."

There was wisdom in it, though few yet understood.

From the moment Ragnar first beheld the city, something within him had stirred. He meant to claim Repton not as a prize to be plundered, but as a jewel of his new dominion—a royal holding, inviolate. Only a fool would allow his soldiers to ravage what he intended to rule.

And so, as dusk fell over the captured city, the fires of pillage never rose. Instead, the streets lay silent, save for the low chant of prayers from Saint Wystan’s church, echoing beneath the spire that had watched kings rise and kingdoms fall.