Kirstie

Kirstie blinked. “Kirstie,” she said. “I’m a Christian too.” She pulled out her little wooden cross to show.

“Wilam,” he answered, and examined the cross carefully even if it was plain as can be.

“Wilam Halfdan,” the old man named the young one.

“Kristina Arnedottir.” Kirstie named herself as Wilam blinked.

“And the old man is Captain Olaf.”

“I’m not that old.”

Kirstie shook her head and looked away from Wilam as she spoke. “I killed the hag in Scandinavia, and the one in Saxony. I’m here to kill this one.”

“Oh, that would be very dangerous,” Wilam said.

Yrsa interrupted. “My Lady can be stubborn.”

Skarde interrupted the interruption. “We are as ready as we can be.”

Kirstie looked around at all the men who were looking at her. She pulled herself together as she walked to the door, Wilam on her tail. She handed Wilam her sword. She handed Captain Olaf her long knife and drew her axe and grabbed her shield off her back. The shield, a bit bigger than an ancient round Roman cavalry shield, had a dull red circle around the edge, a dull blue circle in the middle with a bright white star painted in the very center. “Try not to kill any innocent civilians unless they attack you. Self-defense is acceptable, but you will likely have to focus on the soldiers and mercenaries. Ready?” She did not give them any time to answer.

Kirstie burst out the front doors and some hundred and thirty men filed out after her. They stopped on the front steps. The square was covered, all exits blocked by at least three hundred well-armed soldiers. The men were reluctant to attack trained men holding spears and pikes with only chair and table legs. Besides, the hag stood in the midst of them and took everyone’s attention, towering over her men like a bear or a hairy giant.

“Kairos. You are too late,” the hag said.

“I don’t see the Ass here,” Kirstie responded.

“The invitation has been sent. He will be here shortly and all the continent will be his.”

“That is a long stretch from a little port on the coast of France to all the continent,” Kirstie answered.

“Perhaps, but it is inevitable. Abraxas is the one true god, and unlike my sisters, you see there is no great water handy in this place.”

“The fountain,” Kirstie said, but the fountain dribbled at best, and the hag laughed.

“So, what are you, like the three witches in Macbeth? No, more like the Sanderson sisters in Hocus Pocus. You know I killed your sisters in Norway and Saxony.”

“Lady,” Yrsa whispered loudly. “Don’t provoke her.”

The hag stepped forward into the open space between the men on the steps and the soldiers but stopped when Kirstie raised her battleaxe and shield and said, “You know my weapons were not made by men.”

The hag roared. “You are as nothing, just another stinking mortal. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. It is too late.”

A great light that became almost as bright as the sun slowly entered the courtyard. as it grew in strength, all the men present had to cover their eyes. Yrsa was not bothered by looking directly into the sun. Kirstie could do that as well, and she could certainly handle this light because the light was not pure luminescence. Abraxas was not a sun god, so in the place of pure light, Abraxas’ light shone with the sense of awesome majesty and power, the kind that would cause ordinary men to fall to their knees, or their faces in abject terror and worship. Most of the men did that very thing. The Christian men maybe did not go to their knees, but they did have to close their eyes and turn away. Even Carrots and the gnomes trembled. Kirstie just lowered her axe and frowned.

Before Abraxas could fully manifest in his moment of glory, Kirstie found herself set aside and Danna, the mother goddess of the Celts and of Gaul, the very land she was standing on, came to stand in Kirstie’s shoes. “He was warned,” she said generally to whomever heard. “He was told to set foot on the continent would be his death.”

Abraxas caught a glimpse of who was waiting for him, and he shrieked, sounding remarkably like Leif. He vanished, no doubt going back to Northumbria. Thus it was, in Ancient Egypt when Osiris banished Set from upper Egypt, Set tried to get the people of Abydos and Thebes to build him temples and invite him to return to the land. He thought a human invitation might outweigh the god’s decision. That debate among the gods never got settled. Clearly, Abraxas did not want to test it. He knew Danna owned that place and would have power over him in any case. It just was not safe.

“What? How? What happened to the girl? Who are you?” The hag sounded remarkably like Carrots, and like an astonished little old lady, even if she appeared like a monster.

“Your end,” Danna said. Danna’s primary element was fire, the fires of the earth, and the molten metal that her dark elves and some of her dwarfs loved so dearly. She simply waved her hand and the hag caught fire. “Away,” she said, and the hag flew instantly to the sea where she screamed and melted to wash out on the tide. “End of story,” Danna said, and remained aware that the people and soldiers would come quickly from the enchantment. She showed just a bit of her own divinity to keep the soldiers and pagan men inclined to want revenge on their knees.

“Captain,” she called to the mercenary captain. He appeared before her, still shaking his head from the enchantment. “You and your men are supposed to be in a battle that is ten miles in that direction.” She pointed and he looked. “Prepare yourselves,” she said as her only warning, and waved her hand. All the soldiers disappeared and reappeared ten miles away in the midst of the battle.

“Harbor Master and Loudmouth,” Danna called, and the two men appeared before her, each holding out a piece of amber. The harbor master immediately turned on the Loudmouth.

“You said they only hid the one piece of amber.”

Loudmouth looked sheepishly at his employer and finally did not know what to say. Danna spoke for him. “No more stealing in the name of confiscation or anything else. If you find some hidden goods not listed on the inventory, you must add them to the list and deal honestly with the merchants or I will send you somewhere you don’t want to go.” She let them glimpse a little hellfire.

“Please. Mercy.” Both men fell to their knees and cried out.

“Here is my decision. These men came here in good faith, and you have all of their goods they hoped to sell. Since you have already seen fit to resell some of their things, there is no point in returning their items. Therefore, you will pay for the items at the preferred price. Both of you will become beggars until you can sell some more. and, furthermore, since together you do not have enough gold and silver to fully cover the costs, the money will beggar the guilds as well. Half of the amber and ivory will be returned to Captain Hagenson because even all the guild coins are not enough. The rest of these men will return to their ships where they will find the silver and gold waiting for them. It will be up to you two and the guild masters to decide how to sell the remaining goods and recoup your money. It is so.” She waved her hand and the two men disappeared, presumably going back to where they came from.

“Captains,” Danna said, talking to all four ship captains at once. “You have been paid for your cargo. It may not be as much as you wanted, but it is more than you might have expected. Please leave this town in peace, and Wilam, Kirstie hopes that she may see you again.”

Jarl Hagenson found the courage to say something that was on all their minds. “I’ve lost a third of my crew.”

“I am sorry for your losses,” Danna said and vanished, letting Kirstie come back and face the men.

The Danish captain spoke first. “I’m glad we did not have to fight them with pieces of furniture.” The captain from Wessex said nothing. They simply left. Captain Olaf smiled for her.

“Thank you. We were sure to all be killed if we did not convert.”

“You’re welcome,” Kirstie said, but honestly, she was still processing what all just happened.

“My Skipari here is Brant Svenson. Wilam is my navigator, though he is just twenty-two and still learning the ropes.”

Kirstie suddenly looked at the young man and smiled. “I’m a navigator as was my father.”

Wilam returned her smile. “I hope to see you again as well.”

What Danna said caught up to Kirstie’s brain. “How could I do that to myself?” She looked up at the clouds or the heavens. “That was mean.” She looked at Wilam. “Sometimes I don’t like myself very much.”

“So, I take it what the lady said was correct.”

Kirstie growled at him. “Yes. Maybe. Come on Yrsa, back to the ship.” She raised her voice. “Thank you, Carrots and all of your friends.” She marched off without looking at Wilam. “Come on Old Man Skarde, you are falling behind.”