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trio as we headed east to the hill fort.  Wolf gave us the first warning that something was amiss; his ears went flat and he began to growl.
    I trusted him implicitly.  “Get your weapons ready.” I strung my bow as did Raibeart.  Aelle took out his sling. “Wolf, guard the sheep!”
    The sheepdog went down on all fours and watched the small flock. I raced forwards, towards the fort with my two brothers close behind. We could hear screams and the clash of weapons.  There could be but one explanation; the Angles had come and, they were attacking our homes. I crouched as I crested the rise before the northern ditches. I could just see over the top and then I saw mail shirts.  It was the Angles and they had breached the wall.  The wolves were once again in my home.

Chapter 3
    I turned to my brothers.  “Our home is being attacked and we must save our family.” It says much for them that they just nodded, biting back on their lips but gripping their weapons with determination. “We must be careful. We will climb to the top of the north wall. Aelle, you will stay at the bottom.” He looked ready to argue. I held up my hand.  “They will come for us when we attack them and I want you and your sling shot ready to strike every warrior who appears on the wall behind us.” He nodded. That was the first time I had led warriors into a fray and the skills appeared to come instinctively to me.  If a warrior knows why he is doing something then he will fight better.  So it was with my brothers. “I do not know what we will see,, Raibeart but you must be ready to loose and keep on loosing until I tell you to run back to Aelle.”
    “I will not let you down Lann.”
    “I never thought you would.  Now let us go!”
    We climbed the steep wall.  I had steeled myself for anything but what I saw almost made me cry in anger. The Angles had killed many of those inside already. Their bodies lay in untidy heaps throughout the settlement. I could see a knot of people with my parents and some three other men fighting twenty Angles and it was clear that the Angles were winning. Monca and my mother had the shields the boys had used and were striking with our small axes while my father fought manfully against two mailed warriors.  I could see that it would only be a matter of time before all was lost. “We must get closer. Aelle, stay there!”
    We slid down the slope.  When we were a hundred paces away I notched an arrow.  “Raibeart, wait until we are closer.” I paused and loosed an arrow. It struck a warrior in the back and he fell. The rest stopped for a moment and we were suddenly twenty paces closer. I loosed again as did Raibeart and three more times we loosed; the arrows were coming as though we were not doing anything.  It was hard to see whom we struck for over half of them raced towards us.  There were eight of them but I had seen that they only had swords and axes.  We could still outrange them.  “Run like the wind, Raibeart!” We laboured up the mound but I knew that the Angles would be slower.  “Turn and loose one more.”We both turned and loosed.  We could not miss our targets for they were but twenty paces from us and two warriors fell with arrows sticking from their foreheads.  We slid down the bank to land at the bottom of the ditch.  As we scrambled to the other side the six warriors stood on the top. Aelle was accurate and his stone struck one firmly on the forehead. We reached the top of the other bank and turned.  My breath was coming in short spurts but I had to concentrate.  Aelle struck a second warrior and then Raibeart and I loosed two more arrows and two more warriors fell this time struck in the legs.  When Aelle hit his third warrior there was but one left and he was at the bottom of the ditch.  Our two arrows struck home and he fell dead.
    “Come brothers.  We will help our parents.” I paused to grab the dead warrior’s sword.  As we climbed the bank two of the wounded