Chapter 28

"There would be no food for them if we left them alive. And leaving them alive means supervising them. If even a single person escapes and spreads the word that the enemy is settling in this territory, we'll be surrounded at once. And we can't have that."

- Askeladd

Night Attack (夜間襲撃) is the 28th chapter in the series and the last chapter of Volume 4.

Overview
In the Earldom of Mercia in Central England, December 1013, Askeladd and his men are caught in a blizzard. Ragnar notes that Askeladd's luck only deserted him once he panicked at the onset of the snow and altered their course. He asks that they go back to Wales to spend the winter, but Askeladd refuses, since it would mean leaving behind their plundered treasure. He tells Ragnar that in any case, they cannot spend the night exposed to the elements. In a nearby village, a young Christian English girl named Anne is having supper with her family. Her father tells her siblings of the Day of Reckoning, coming in twenty years, when the wicked will be sent to Hell and the righteous will be saved and go on to live in a new world. Anne excuses herself to go to the bathroom, going outside to contemplate a ring she had stolen from the market and to think about what it will mean for her on Judgement Day. She notices strange men near her home's door and hears Willibald screaming at the villagers to run for their lives and that the Danes are attacking, before he is knocked unconscious and tied down by some of Askeladd's men. Askeladd's men pile together the villagers' food and round up the sixty-two villagers. Anne's father implores Askeladd to leave them at least half of the food to survive the winter, but Askeladd tells him they'll no longer have to worry about any winters, since they are being freed from their earthly sufferings. Anne, still hidden, watches on in horror. Despite Willibald and Ragnar's protests, Askeladd says that there is not enough food to leave the villagers alive and that besides, they cannot risk even a single villager escaping and telling others the enemy is wintering on their territory, as it would cause them to quickly be surrounded. Askeladd gives the order to kill the villagers. Anne walks for an undetermined amount of time, finding herself alone in a field. She asks God if her family has reached Him and supposes He did not want her after all.

Summary
A young Christian English girl named Anne talks to God while standing outside into the snow. She asks him if the faithful must really be pure in all aspects of their lives and tells Him her father told her even angels would be punished if they disobeyed God's teachings. She adds that she's just a lowly girl who doesn't understand His thoughts, but that His kingdom seems very hard away — that it is hard to bear that He sits on His throne and looks down upon them on Earth. Anne's mother calls her back inside to help set up for supper. She places something inside a hole in the tree she is next to and complies. In the Earldom of Mercia in Central England, December 1013, Askeladd's band is still marching, caught in a snowstorm. Askeladd tells Ragnar that complaining to him about the weather is no use, since they're sailors that can't be expected to understand the weather in the middle of England. He adds that no one would have expected a blizzard of the scale they are experiencing that early in the winter. Ragnar says the issue is that Askeladd's luck has forsaken him, since the heavy snows only hit them when Askeladd panicked at the onset and altered their course. He says they can barely push their way through England and comments that Askeladd's men are rattled. Askeladd says that his men have been through worse and asks Ragnar if he sees any of them failing to obey his orders. Ragnar insists that they cannot cross Mercia and that they should turn back to Wales, where they'll be better served if they have to stop and wait out the winter. Askeladd thinks it's a bother that Christians like Ragnar are fixated on mercy. He tells Ragnar that they'd have to leave behind all the valuables they've plundered if they were to turn and march back through the snow, and that in any case, they can't spend the night in the elements and need shelter. Askeladd asks two of his approaching men how it went and they tell him the formation's in place and ready to go. Ragnar cautions him that when a man's luck runs out, even his best plans fail. Askeladd asks him what has him so unsettled, since raiding and pillaging is the time-honoured tradition of the Nordic people.

Inside Anne's home, the family says grace before supper. One of Anne's younger brothers asks their father why they have to pray every night. The father says it is because Jesus says they should, and that those who don't pray are punished. He says that nonbelievers are punished and their souls go to Hell, where Satan and his demons torment them for all eternity. The father tells his son to remember that if he prays like a good boy, he'll go to Heaven on the Day of Reckoning. Anne says it is hard to imagine that sometime soon, everyone will be judged and sent to either Heaven or Hell. Anne's mother, concerned, says she couldn't stand if the family got split between the two, and the father asks if she'd rather have them all be together in damnation. The father is asked why God is in a rush to judge everyone so suddenly and the father clarifies that it's always been planned for a thousand years after Jesus came back to life, another twenty years from now. He says that in twenty years, all of the wicked will be sent to Hell, while the righteous will be saved and go on to live in a new world. One of the children asks if he means wicked like the Danes, which the father agrees with, saying they're the worst of all since they do everything someone shouldn't do, like steal, kill, and violate young women. Anne starts to leave, saying she has to pee when her father asks where she is going. Throwing herself in the snow, Anne wonders what she should do, since she doesn't want to be torn apart by demons. She heads to the tree she was standing next to before supper, reaches into the hole, and pulls out a ring she had placed there. She puts the ring on her finger and wistfully contemplates how beautiful it is. Anne wonders how much the ring cost and if God would forgive her sin if she paid for it now, though she doesn't have the money for it. She berates herself for having gone looking through the market with no money in the first place and thinks the Devil must have tempted her to steal the ring. She sadly thinks she'll be the only one in the family who doesn't go to Heaven. She takes off the ring and tries to throw it away, but cannot let go of it and puts it on again, noting it is even beautiful on her left hand. As she admires the ring, she notices armed men approaching her house's front door through her parted fingers. She wonders who they are and goes to hide the ring, but is startled by a nearby lone man screaming for the good people to run away for their lives and that the village is under attack by the Danes. Some of Askeladd's men get a hold of the screaming Willibald and knock him out, wondering what he's doing and deciding to gag him tight. Bjorn, standing in front of Anne's family's door, asks the man next to him what the noise was about. The man says it sounded like the prince's mad drunken priest. Bjorn asks if he's truly gone mad this time and wonders if what he was screaming in English was a tip-off for the villagers. As they start hearing screams from nearby houses, Bjorn and the men bust into Anne's family's home. The children startle and the father asks them what they are doing there, noticing their swords. The men start grabbing anything that could be a weapon. Bjorn looks at the barley porridge and dried meat they have on the table, lamenting the fact that it has onions, which he hates. He tries some and spits it out, saying it tastes terrible. Anne's mother approaches him, saying there's no need to waste perfectly good food and that it's a sin, but Bjorn simply hits her without sparing her a glance. She crashes to the floor and her husband rushes to her while some of their children start to cry. Bjorn asks one of the men how the phrase goes in English, then pokes Anne's father's head with his sword. In broken English, he demands all of their food, or else he will kill them. Askeladd's men round up all of the food they took from the villagers. Askeladd asks if that's all there is and asks about the people; Bjorn tells him there are sixty-two, twenty of them children, and that they are rounded up outside. Askeladd does the math and deduces that it amounts to enough food for the winter for fifty, counting two kids as one — far from enough for all of their warriors. Nearby, obscured by the snowfall, Anne observes the captured villagers and wonders who the men are and what she will do. Askeladd approaches Willibald, tied to a tree, his face bloodied, bruised and swollen. He tells him that he will forgive him this once, since he is the prince's teacher and priest as well as a nominal guest of their band, but that he has no love for holy men and will kill him on the spot the next time he interferes with his plans. Anne's father, tied and kneeling in the snow near where Askeladd is standing, asks if they are Danes and if any of them can understand them. He implores them to leave them half of their winter stores to allow them to survive and says they have babies to feed. Askeladd says not to fear, since they have a plan to take care of them, and that there's no need for them to worry about the winter. The man is surprised. Askeladd says there's no need to worry about next winter or the winter after that either, since there will be no more winters to trouble them and they are freeing them from their earthly sufferings. Willibald tells Askeladd that the villagers are not fighters. Askeladd says that there would be no food for them if they left them alive, and that it would also mean supervising them, since a single person escaping and spreading word of the enemy settling in their territory would cause them to be surrounded at once. Askeladd asks some of his digging men how the hole is coming along, to which they reply it's big enough for sixty-two. Ragnar tells Askeladd that the villagers are devout Christians. Askeladd replies that it's what's best for Canute and asks if anyone else has questions. Thorfinn apathetically looks on, silent, while Canute distractedly plays with a hair strand. Anne watches from the distance, covering her mouth with her hands. Askeladd gives the order to get started, and blood starts to spill. Anne stands in a field of snow alone, not remembering how long and how far she walked. She looks to the night sky and talks to God, asking if He is watching her now and if her siblings, parents and grandfather have reached Him yet. She supposes He did not want her after all and that after all, her heart went racing when everyone was murdered, the same way it did when she stole the ring. She adds that she never thought there could be such evil men in the world, so bold and daring and unafraid of His judgement.

Supplemental Material
The end of Chapter 28 includes a Map of Thorfinn's Travels (including information boxes for "Marlborough near Bath", with images of young Thorfinn, Thorkell, Ragnar, and Canute); the "Kingdom of Morgannwg", with an image of Gratianus; the "Kingdom of Brycheiniog", with an image of Asser; and the "Village in Mercia", with images of Askeladd and Anne).

It is followed by the short Viking Girl Ylva.

The Afterword talks about how hard it is to raise a child and of how Vikings' mothers must have been exasperated to raise them just to have them rush to their deaths.

Translation Notes: Fyrd, Thegn, Burh, Yule, Ragnarok, Einherjar, Bifrost, Legatus, Córdoba, Gwenhwyfar.

Bonus Story: For Our Farewell Is Near Part 2

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Thorfinn
 * Anne
 * Canute
 * Ragnar
 * Askeladd
 * Bjorn
 * Willibald