The Crypt of Clontarf

This is the beginning of a novel I began back in 2011/12, with the working title: 'The Crypt of Clontarf'.  The central character is the writer Bram Stoker (author of Dracula) and the story is a fictitious account of his life along a mystical theme, linking back to the Vikings, and mythologising Dracula.

This short extract is from the opening chapter, which describes the Viking sacking of Alt Clut.

THE CRYPT OF CLONTARF

They came when the sun was at its highest.  Like dark worms, they emerged from their hiding place, the forest, and swarmed on the horizon.  Each face, dirty and hungry, was dyed in the blue of the life-giving sea and the blood of slaughtered enemies.  As they marched down the crest of the hill towards the round houses, the cattle scattered and fled.  Then the children saw them.