Furious was now the drinking, and a man cast a spear at another without cause, laughing to see him struggle and bleed.
"The evil spirit hath entered them all!" groaned Ben Ezra. "This is that which I feared greatly. Every man's sword is against his neighbor."
Terrible was that fighting, for warriors who had lost all skill of warding blows or parrying spear casts were still strong to throw or to strike.
"Where is now this jarl of ours?" yelled a drunken viking. "We will see if he be a son of Odin. We will slay him and then we may sail at our pleasure. He hath ruled us with too hard a hand."
Steady and stern had indeed been the rule of the son of Brander, and he had brooked no gainsaying, but he had been a prudent captain from the first, and there were a full third of the men now to stand by him in his peril. Would there had been more, for on both sides the slain were many. Moreover, when a man went down that was quickly his end, on whichever side he fought, for an enemy came to thrust him.
"Wake, son of Brander! Wake!" shouted Tostig in the ear of Ulric. "Call thou upon Odin, thy father, and draw thy sword."
Waiting for no orders from any man, Lysias was sending his arrows, sure and deep striking, calling out:
"With me be thou, O Apollo, god of the bow! With me, O Mars, god of battles!"
But Ulric opened his eyes slowly and breathed hard. Then he sat up and he saw the men fighting and the blood flowing.