Njord

Medieval 6: K and Y 18 Aesgard to Avalon, part 1 of 2

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Kirstie

Wilam opened the simple latch door and peeked. Kirstie pushed up to look over his shoulder. A hearth across the room held a roaring fire. Everyone suddenly felt the cold on their backs as the fire helped them feel toasty and warm in front. One old man sat in a comfortable chair facing the fire, a bowl of soup held up to his chin with one hand, and he sipped the soup with a big spoon. He spoke.

“Come in my daughter, and friends. Come in.” He even sounded old.

Wilam and Kirstie pushed in so the others could follow. Wilam and Brant looked around. The room was much bigger than they imagined from the outside. Inga and Kirstie looked at the fire, the several chairs that faced it, and the old man. There did not appear to be anything else in the room. Erik said “Wow,” softly, but did not otherwise know what to think.

“Come. Sit. Warm yourselves,” the old man said.

Kirstie pushed forward, so the others followed, and she was the first to speak to the man. “I expected this whole place to be deserted,” she said.

“Eh?” The man responded like he did not hear, but he followed up with a word. “It would have been. It should have been, but I stayed at the last minute. Someone needed to keep the fires burning for a while longer.” He set the soup down on a side table beside his chair and turned his head to take a good look at his visitors. He named them after a fashion.

The husband with the impossible legacy. The skipper who needs to captain his own ship. The brilliant and understanding heart who is a witch without magic. The rebellious, runaway boy whose parents could use his help. And my son who at present happens to be my daughter.” He looked at Kirstie and squinted a bit like maybe his old eyes were not very good. “That is what your mother used to call you.”

Kirstie looked again and saw the missing hand. It was possible he made an illusion of being two handed until she figured it out, though he practically told her who he was. “But Father,” she said, taking the seat next to his. “How is it that you have gotten old?”

“Idon has gone. The apples of youth are not tended.” he smiled and shook his head. “That is not entirely true, but it is what people have been told. To be clear, it is one thing I never experienced before.” he paused long enough to turn to the fire. “I see getting old is not fun.”

Kirstie sneezed again and shivered, which contrasted with the others who were well warmed in the face of the great fire. Wilam asked again if she was all right, and Inga seconded that question, but Kirstie answered in a straightforward way. “No. I’m sick. I’m cold. I feel as if someone is walking on my grave, which is odd because I have a hundred graves, but I am not dead yet.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Erik said. No one else interrupted, and as was her way, Kirstie did not explain.

The old man sat for a minute and stared at the fire. “Your Abraxas came here as I knew he must.”

Kirstie looked at the floor. “Three times I let him live, and three times he failed to do the right thing.”

“The right thing?” he asked. “I suppose,” he answered himself and turned to look at her again. “It took him years to discern your mother’s secret way between her home and your home in Avalon. Sometimes, she would disappear and go to visit all the little ones who loved her so dearly, and Lady Alice who keeps Avalon from crumbling to dust. She always came home refreshed and ready once again to take on her burden of humanity.” He got lost for a moment in some memories and she had to nudge him.

“He found the way?”

“Yes. A portal between one world and another. Yes. Then he attacked your son Soren with a debilitating disease, and while I was preoccupied with concern for the boy, he snuck past me and into your realm. He had in mind to attack you with the disease, but I chased him and drove him back out of your place. I have watched the way ever since, but in my old age, the time came when I slept. Such dreams I had. But he escaped my hand and went again to Avalon. That was several months ago, but now you are here, and you can stop him if you will.”

“I don’t know if I can,” Kirstie admitted her fears.

The old man finally smiled. “Just do your best. That is what you always say to others. The gods do not make promises, but we may pledge to do our best and leave the outcome in hands greater than our own.” he reached over to take her hand but ended up putting his good hand on her head. “Let me do this for you,” he said, and he gave her a gift, part of which was courage.”

“Father… Where is this way?” Kirstie felt the tears coming up into her eyes to see the man in such a condition, old and with trembling hands. She had to say something to distract herself.

“Right here,” he said. “You must walk through the fire.” he pointed at the fireplace. “But since you are not of the gods, since you are flesh and blood, you must first put out the fire. Just be warned. If you put out the fire, this realm will crumble away, and I will be no more. You will not be able to come back this way.”

Kirstie protested. “That is not fair.”

“That is the way it is,” he responded. “My life has been over for a long time. You will merely send me to your mother. Did she not ask this of you?”

Kirstie nodded, before she threw her arms around the old man. She hugged him gently because he was old, and she cried all over him until he pushed her away and she wiped her teary eyes. “I’m ready,” she said, and added, “Hold hands,” because she was not sure exactly what might happen.

“Thank God,” he responded and closed his eyes.

Kirstie took Wilam’s hand without looking back, turned to the fire, and searched for the gift of Njord inside of her. She opened her mouth, and a river of water came and put out the fire. As the fire went out, the room became utterly dark, as dark as a cave where no light ever penetrated. Kirstie stepped forward, and on the third step she seemed to see a light in the distance, or her eyes started paying tricks on her. After a few more steps it became a definite light ahead. She tried not to hurry but let them get there in good order. She saw then that the light appeared to be at the end of something like a cave or tunnel.

When they reached the light, she had a bad feeling and asked the others to stop and wait. She thought she recognized the place, and it did not look right to her. She could see mountains and fire, like volcanic maybe in the distance. She stuck her head out into the sunlight and immediately pulled it back. Tremendous flames came from somewhere above and covered the whole outside of the cave opening. They heard a roar.

“Dragon Island,” Kirstie said. “That is not right.” She lifted her hand, and something appeared on the cave wall. “Mother Freyja did not set her portal to come out on Dragon Island.” She pushed her hand up again and again as lines of some writing appeared to shimmer against the wall.

“There is something behind us,” Erik said. They all heard the chittering sound and Kirstie had to quickly choose.

“He has the whole program messed up,” Kirstie complained. “He doesn’t know how to use it. Moron.” The chittering grew louder. “Damn. Not the best choice. Hold hands again,” she yelled the last and grabbed Wilam’s hand as she touched a line of writing on the wall. Everything around them changed in less than a second.

Medieval 6: K and Y 17 The Rainbow, part 1 of 2

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Kirstie

The next morning, Kirstie did not feel a great deal better. She tried to shrug it off, but her heart and head knew there was more to it than that. The excited cries and shouting in the far distance woke her. She wondered if they caught the murderer. Poor Father Damien. He worked tirelessly to bring the good news to her pagan people. He seemed to be making some real headway in Nidaross and up on the Frosta Peninsula, but then he got found three days ago by the Varnes River, shredded to pieces. Some said a bear did it, but others whispered the word Hag. Kirstie thought it could not be a hag. Abraxas, the would-be-god, and hag maker was banished to the second heavens and not allowed again on the earth. It had to be something else, but what?

The shouts came again all the way from the village. She recognized that sometimes, in the right weather conditions, the sound would echo off the mountains around the fjord. Still, this was shouting and loud. She could not imagine Strindlos making all that fuss over a sail on the horizon. Old Captain Olaf was expected. She imagined it was him coming from his stop in Nidaross. She sat up with hope. Wilam stood by the window and tossed Kirstie her dress. “Hurry,” he said. “They are coming this way.”

Kirstie took a moment to reflect. That much sound coming all the way from the village suggested something more, like maybe fighting. She stood and rejected the dress. She called to her armor back and it arrived, but with the weapons all detached. She grumped and had to attach everything by hand. She just got all the blades and accoutrements exactly where she wanted them when she heard a knock on the door.

“Kirstie.” Thoren, Kare’s friend called. “You, too, Halfdan.” He called Wilam. “The council wants to see you.” Kirstie let him finish speaking before she opened the door. Inga came with Thoren, but quietly stood a step behind. She would not look up. Kirstie sneezed.

“You didn’t sail with Frode?” Kirstie asked.

Thoren shook his head. “We had a falling out. Mostly, I was not willing to move Hilda and the family to Nidaros.”

Kirstie understood. She deliberately took Wilam’s hand. “I’m ready,” she said. “Did they catch the murderer? Is there more trouble looming around on the horizon?”

Thoren laughed. “Captain Harrold asked, what murder? Does another dead Christian count?”

“Yes,” Kirstie said firmly and hit Thoren in the arm hard enough to be sure he felt it. He stopped laughing.

“A shame on our homes and hospitality.” Inga finally spoke.

“You’re right,” Thoren admitted. “But no murderers caught. It’s the bow,” he said, and then he said no more.

Kirstie did not ask.

When they arrived, Mother Vrya met them at the door and led Kirstie away from Wilam and the men, or maybe Kirstie led the crippled old woman to a seat. Captain Olaf sat there along with the captains Jarl, Harrold, Frode, and Kerga the Chief. Kirstie turned to get Inga’s attention and only then noticed Inga had moved away.

“This is foolish,” Jarl said and pointed to the rainbow clearly visible in the middle of the room. “It is a mirage, such as one sometimes sees when at sea. I can walk right through it.” He did, and Kirstie noticed the rainbow came down through the roof and shot to the floor.

“What need have we to hear from the women?” Frode wondered with a glance at Kirstie.

“I have said Inga may tell what she knows.” Kerga said, gruffly. Kirstie caught the chief looking at Mother Vrya and her slight nod in agreement.

“And I have said I will listen.” Harrold growled. “Sit down, Jarl.”

The captain sat. Brant Svenson said nothing since everyone knew of his closeness with Inga. Likewise, Olaf, now with Wilam beside him, knew it was not his village and not his turn to speak. Behind the Northumbrians, Kirstie saw Hilda and Thoren’s Erik at the front of the crowd of witnesses. Erik, seventeen-year-old, newly married, and newly accepted by Frode for a spot on Frode’s ship pulled up a spot right behind Wilam as Inga stepped up to speak.

“It was the year the Vanlil came, and the Hag drove them to war. I was eighteen, and my young charge was ten and a handful. Kirstie’s parents were already killed, but she did not know her father was also gone, and so we used to sit along the south beach as she looked for signs of a sail. I remember the day as if it was today. We were always searching the horizon and so we did not notice the boiling of the sea which began at our very feet. Soon, however, the boiling of the sea became violent in that one small place before us. Then, to my shock and near death at the sight, Njord himself rose from the waters, larger than this big house and more awesome than all the men of Valhalla put in one place.”

“Nonsense!” Jarl began, but Harrold slugged him. Harrold liked a good story, even if he did not believe a word of it.

“Kairos.” Njord spoke to the girl as you might speak to a good friend not seen in years. “Traveler.”

“Once Grandfather,” Kirstie responded with the slightest bow as if the Lord of the Seas himself deserved no more. “But why are you here? Did you not cross over with the others, ages ago?”

“More than eight hundred years ago,” the Great God spoke.

“Yes, and Old One Eye wasn’t too happy about it, I bet.”

“Frigg had to drag him,” The god said, and young Kirstie giggled. I tell you, she laughed. I did not know what to think.

Kirstie felt beet red at the moment, and surprised that Mother Vrya was not appalled at the flippant way she spoke to the god and referred to the King of the Gods as Old One Eye. Certainly, the others in the room looked appalled.

“But what are you doing here?” Kirstie continued.

“Where the Waters are, my Spirit will always linger and never be far away,” Njord spoke again. “But I am not really here. I am just reacting to the fire still loose in the world that is seeking to harm my grandson, though at the present you happen to be my granddaughter.”

“I don’t understand,” Kirstie admitted. I remind you; she was only ten.

“Just open your mouth and close your eyes and you will get a big surprise.” Njord said, and she did, trusting him with a complete trust. Then I saw the Great God change into a mighty river, then a roaring stream, and last a gentle fountain of water that filled Kirstie, entering her mouth, and vanishing away.

“The girl seemed the same after that day, but in some ways, she was also subtly changed. You know how she swims, and the cold of the waters do not harm her. You know how the fish always come when she casts her line, and how she knows the storms at sea before their time.”

“A fantasy!” Jarl interrupted.

“A fanciful tale.” Harrold agreed. “But what of the truth?”

“It is true.” Kerga astonished everyone. The room became completely still. “The good Mother Vrya and I were not far from that very spot on that day. I would even say that was a very plain telling. The truth, Harrold, was far more frightening and hard to believe even when seeing and hearing it with my own eyes and ears.”

Several people looked at Mother Vrya, but all she could do was nod her assent to what Kerga said.

“But Lord.” Inga struggled to regain the floor. “There is more.” The quiet came slowly. “I did not understand the references to Grandfather, Grandson, and Granddaughter when the words were spoken. All these years I kept those mysteries in my heart. But now, after the events of the evening when Father McAndrews came to us in peace and we brought shame on ourselves in his murder, events which I suddenly remembered in great detail when his young companion, Father Damien was most recently slain, I begin to understand. It was not Elgar the Saxon, or Mother Greta, or the good doctor, but one we have not met. My heart keeper, the beautiful Fryja was his mother, wasn’t she?” Inga and all eyes turned suddenly toward Kirstie. Where she had been embarrassed and then felt very uncomfortable. Now she felt mortified. She could not even look up.

“More than two thousand years ago,” She mumbled in utter softness.

The crowd began to make noise again, but somehow Thoren stood and said, “Wait. There is more.” He shouted in echo of Inga’s words, “There is more,” and the people quieted to hear.

Medieval 5: K and Y 2 Gifts of the Gods, part 1 of 3

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Kirstie

On the third day of Kirstie’s stubbornness, Inga herself brought a small morning meal. Chief Birger, Captain Kerga, and Mother Vrya walked up to the short ridge above the docks that separated the fishing boats from the actual village. It was the place people came to look out on the fjord in search of the sails of loved ones. They talked about the exiled chiefs and the men with them, and what they could do about the Vanlil invasion. Knud and the others might have found men willing to turn to them against the harsh rule of King Harald Fairhair, but they made a grave mistake in attacking the outlying farms to feed their men. Some could not get over the killing of women and children. Instead of supporting those chiefs, the men were angry and ready to fight against those chiefs. Chief Birger sent men north and the word he got back was that the same raiding happened in Varnes, Oglo, and all the way up the Frosta peninsula.

Inga and Kirstie knew none of this. They had a pleasant breakfast filled with small talk and not too much gossip. Inga began to clean up. She just reconciled to the idea that Kirstie would sit there and wait for her father if she had to wait a month or six months, when suddenly the sea began to boil in that spot. Kirstie stood and stared at the churning water. Inga stood and took a step back. She quickly looked but saw no one around in the immediate area.

The water began to lift into a waterspout that slowly shaped itself into the watery figure of a twelve-foot giant. Kirstie blinked. Inga took a couple more steps back but stopped when the giant spoke.

“Kairos.” The giant spoke to the girl as if speaking to a good friend. “Traveler.”

“Njord,” Kirstie named the giant and then shocked Inga with her next words. “Once Grandfather.” Kirstie offered the slightest bow as if the Lord of the Seas deserved no more. “But why are you here? Did you not cross over with the others, ages ago?”

“More than eight hundred years ago,” Njord said.

“Yes, and I bet Old One Eye wasn’t too happy about it,” Kirstie said.

“Frigg had to drag him,” Njord admitted with a slight grin, and Kirstie giggled. Poor Inga did not know what to think.

“But what are you doing here?” Kirstie asked again.

“Where the Waters are, my Spirit will always linger and never be far away,” Njord said. “But I am not really here. I am just reacting to the fire still loose in the world that is seeking to harm my grandson, though at the present you happen to be my granddaughter.”

“I don’t understand,” Kirstie looked down.

“Kairos. I can tell you this. You father will not be coming home. He fought bravely in Normandy and died a hero’s death. I am sorry, but now you have greater concerns.” He whispered and directed his words to Kirstie’s ears so Inga would not hear. “That Abraxas who should have gone over to the other side has sent emissaries to all the coasts. He awaits only an invitation to return to the continent where you forbade him to go. His schemes must be ended. His days are over.” Njord appeared to clear his throat and spoke up again. “I am here to give you a gift. It will be enough.”

“But grandfather. What gift are you talking about? Enough for what?”

“Just open your mouth and close your eyes and you will get a big surprise,” Njord said, and she did, trusting him with a complete trust. Njord changed into a mighty river, then a roaring stream, and last a gentle fountain of water that filled Kirstie, entering her mouth, and vanishing away.

Kirstie opened her eyes and saw that Njord was gone. She panicked and called to him. “Njord. Grandfather.” She took three quick steps and dove into the cold water. They were fully into spring, but the water was still cold with some ice in places along the shore. Inga worried when she did not see Kirstie come up right away. She began to panic.

“Kirstie,” Inga called, thinking the girl must have come up behind a skiff or fishing boat where she could not see. “Kirstie.” She got ready to jump in to look for the girl, but Kirstie popped her head out of the water right where she jumped in. She stood and walked back to shore, dripping wet.

“That was warm,” Kirstie said. “But the air is cold.” She had a blanket and wrapped herself. Poor Inga did not look like she knew what to say, do, or think. Kirstie let out a sigh. She sniffed. “We might as well go to Mother Vrya’s.”

“What about your father?” Inga asked.

Kirstie sniffed again and lifted her head as high as she could. “He won’t be coming back,” she said, and collapsed in another fit of tears. They passed another night of no supper and Kirstie crying herself to sleep.

Yasmina

Yasmina walked in the garden with her friend, al-Rahim. He was her guardian even as he guarded her father when he was a young prince, but in his way, he was also something of a grandfather figure. He always watched out for her.

Yasmina loved the garden. She drew in the sweet aroma of the flowers before she had to sit. She began to cry, though it was not as bad as when Kirstie lost her mother.

Al-Rahim knelt beside her. “Are you well? Do you feel ill?”

Yasmina shook her head. “I’m fine. It is my friend Kirstie.”

“The one with the yellow hair,” al-Rahim clarified, though he knew who she was talking about. When she was five, he followed her all around the harem looking for the girl her age who had yellow hair. She wanted to go out in the street to look for her, but of course that was not allowed.

“The one I can only meet in my dreams,” Yasmina affirmed and sniffed to hold back her tears. “First, she lost her mother, and her sister, her thralls, and her puppy. They were killed by men from over the mountains come to invade the great fjord. But her father was not there. He sailed off in his longship in search of trade and adventure, but now it seems he got caught in a fight in a foreign land and got killed. Kirstie is all alone. She is an orphan, like Inga. I wish I could be there for her.” She cried some more.

Al-Rahim thought it through and came up with a valid question. “How did she hear about her father? What evidence did she see? Maybe it isn’t so.”

Yasmina shook her head. “She was told by the ancient god Njord, the god of the sea in that place. Njord would not be mistaken about a thing like that, and he certainly would not mislead her, her being something like family and all.” Yasmina did not explain what she meant by all that, but al-Rahim caught something in what she said and quickly looked around to be sure no others might have overheard her.

“Princess. You must not talk about the ancient gods like that as if they were alive. They are dead stone and wood to be destroyed. They are not to be worshiped. If others should hear you, you might be accused of being a pagan and an infidel. Such idolatry is to be condemned by all.”

Yasmina looked around even as al-Rahim looked and she nodded her head that she understood, but then the tears came again.

Reflections Wlvn-5 part 3 of 3

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Wlvn did not stay asleep for very long in that dim light of dawn. The girl had the others help her take his cloak off so she could fold it into a pillow. It seemed a nice gesture, but Wlvn’s arms and legs got cold fast and that brought him back awake. When he opened his eyes, he found the girl sitting beside him, on her knees, staring down at him, and smiling for all she was worth.

“Do you have a name?” Wlvn asked.

“Elleya,” she said.

“Hmm. Not from around here I assume.” Wlvn sat up and put his hand to his head to ward off the headache. He saw Thred there, safe and sound, and Number Two came over and nudged him while he patted the horse’s nose. The girl looked every which way.

“No,” she said at last, while a touch of confusion rose up into her eyes. “I’m not from around here.” She helped Wlvn stand. Meanwhile, Wlkn and Badl had been banished to the fire where they sat cooking several flounders. As Wlvn and Elleya went to join them, Elleya spoke again. “I prefer mine fresh and raw,” she said, and she picked up a fish and took a bite and smiled. The fish had not even been cleaned and they could all hear the crunching on the scales. Wlvn looked at the girl more closely. Though a buxom one, and with plenty of flesh, she did not appear to be what might call fat. She had yellowish hair, though maybe it leaned toward the green side. Otherwise, she looked normal enough. She also looked rather scantily clad, and even as Wlvn pulled his cloak tighter, lest he be asked to give it up, he had to ask.

“Aren’t you cold?”

Elleya shook her head while Wlkn spoke. “I asked her that. She says she never gets cold.”

Elleya took another bite and appeared to nod in confirmation of Wlkn’s words.

“Lord.” Badl handed him a piece of fish.

“Thanks,” Wlvn said. “I don’t know any life when I especially cared for Sushi,” he added, as an offhanded remark.

“Sushi?” Elleya asked. Wlvn pointed at her fish, but she thought he was pointing at her. “No, my name is Elleya.”

“And we’re all pleased to meet you,” Wlkn said, sincerely, which got the girl to smile where they all got a good look at the fish guts and scales stuck between her teeth.

“Could we use her as N. C. bait?” Badl asked.

“Hush,” Wlvn said, but he didn’t say, no.

After breakfast, the newly rejuvenated Wlkn got promoted to Gndr’s horse while Wlvn got Elleya up on Brmr’s mare. Fortunately, she proved lighter than she looked, and when he got her legs around the horse in the right way, he thought he would hand the reigns to Wlkn to bring her along. Meanwhile, she started spouting.

“I have nice legs, don’t you think?”

“Very nice.” Wlvn patted her thigh while he noticed they were utterly hairless, not as soft as they looked, and a bit shiny in a way that felt hard to describe.

“I think you can have me if you want,” she said. “I didn’t know what to think at first, you know. I’m really very shy, but you are very handsome for a man. I would not mind being with you as a wife. Of course, I would like to see my family again, and Wlkn is very handsome, too, even if he is a skinny one. I didn’t know anyone could be that skinny.”

“Wlkn!” Wlvn interrupted her. He handed the man the reigns. “Here you go, Skinny,” he said as he got Number Two’s reigns, got up on Thred, and made sure he rode out front and hopefully out of ear shot. He wondered, what on earth made her think he wanted a wife?

They rode all that day, once again by secret paths that only Badl knew, and in this way, they put some real distance between them and any remaining night creatures. Since they were out of the swampland, they made a good day of it. When they settled in for the evening, Badl announced that even night creatures could not cover that much ground in a single night. That seemed a good thing, because they all needed some real sleep, and would have got plenty if they could figure out how to turn down the volume on Elleya.

The morning came with a red sky in the East. Elleya immediately declared that a storm was coming. “I thought that was only if you were at sea,” Wlvn commented, and that set her off on a whole host of stories about the beauties of the sea, and storms at sea, and how lightning could flash across the sky in an endless display of beauty, and the thunder could make the waves roll and felt where it tickled her tummy. To his credit, Wlkn listened patiently to every word, and Wlvn only thought, better him than me.

Sure enough, the drizzle came by nine that morning and Wlvn immediately started looking for some place where they could shelter. This flatland seemed just the right kind of environment for the swamps. They got out of the undulating hills of the upland, so the land did not have all the rocks and boulders spread here and there. Wlvn knew if a blow really came up, it might not be a good idea to shelter under the trees. He looked hard, and just before noon he got rewarded to find a very short cliff with a reasonable rock overhang. Wlkn almost had to duck to get under since he stood rather tall. Not much they could do about the horses but hobble them, and otherwise let them roam and seek what shelter they could find. But for the people, this rock overhang would do, and they immediately set about gathering as much wood as they could find before it became too wet to burn. It had been raining lightly for a couple of hours by then, and it felt like a cold icy rain besides.

At noon, just as they sat around the fire wondering what they might eat, the sky opened up in all of its fury. The lightening felt like it never stopped, and the thunder echoed continually in their ears.

“Freakish weather this late in the season,” Badl pointed out.

“But lovely,” Elleya said, as her eyes stayed on the heavens, and she even applauded several times. Wlvn could tell that Wlkn did not think it lovely at all. He had his back to the cliff wall and his eyes closed most of the time. Wlvn mostly tried to count the time. He thought if they did not make enough distance that day, the night creatures would surely be on them in the dark.

The whole storm came to an abrupt end around two in the afternoon. Wlvn gathered the horses while Wlkn put out the fire and cleaned up the camp. Badl helped and scattered their unused wood back into the wild. Elleya watched. She was good at watching. Once they were ready, a man came striding out of the mist straight toward them. He looked like a big man with wild looking blond locks kept barely beneath his helmet of horns. The helmet matched the armor the man wore, and the weapons he carried. They were sophisticated weapons for that age, like Wlvn had, so it told Wlvn that here was another one of the gods. He had figured out that the man by the river, the one who saddled him with Elleya had to be Njord, god of the sea; but which one was this?

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MONDAY

Thy run across Thor and Frigga before they find a human village and pick up another young woman to travel with them.  Their journey is getting crowded and they are running out of horses.  until them, Happy Reading

 

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Reflections Wlvn-5 part 2 of 3

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The two night creatures did not give their fallen comrade a second look, but they paused when Wlvn started walking to meet them. They were not accustomed to willing confrontation. They growled and then let out a roar, but still, Wlvn stepped forward. He tried to find Odin’s gift in his gut, and as soon as he had a clear shot, he let it loose. The night creatures also noted when the way became clear, and they leapt. They were incredibly fast, but nothing could withstand the awesome power that came from Wlvn’s hand. The whole area lit up like a battlefield, indeed, and two fried night creature carcasses fell straight to the ground, the blood that seeped out of them boiled.

“Ride!” Wlvn shouted with all the volume he could muster as he tried to keep to his feet. Thred had tugged free and backed up at the last, but the horse could not go far. “Ride!”

Badl did not hesitate, and Wlkn came right on his tail. They brushed past and turned off the safe path in a direction that took them away from the screams of the creatures, screams which were much closer than before. Wlvn clutched his stomach as he stumbled over to catch Thred’s reigns. He managed a comforting pat on Thred’s neck before he hauled himself up. Then he spoke to himself as he tried to guide Thred down the safe path, the horse trying very hard to stay as far away from the burning creatures as he could.

“I knew Odin was too young to be giving out such gifts. It’s a wonder I didn’t bake myself. Normal, human flesh and blood is not designed to hold such power.” Then he stopped talking to himself. He had to concentrate to keep from passing out.

Thred ran much too fast to be running through a swamp in the dark. Sadly, Wlvn, in no condition to guide the horse, needed all of his strength to keep from going unconscious. He hoped Thred would follow the other horses, but he guessed he got too far behind. After a time, Thred began to slow. Noises started up behind them, mostly normal swampy kind of noises which were spooky enough, but not necessarily life threatening. Wlvn lifted his head enough to check the sky. It would be light in another thirty minutes, he guessed.

Wlvn halted Thred and dismounted when the pain in his gut stopped feeling like he ripped every muscle. He could not see the river, but he figured it had to be safer to walk than ride. They had been lucky so far, racing through a swamp full of quick mud and sudden drops and deep pools, but there was no telling when that luck might change, and the cry of the night creatures could still be heard in the distance. They were still coming on and he could not imagine what he could do to stop them.

A loud crash and splash sounded off to his left. That prompted him to move to the right.  He started thinking of starving bears and wolf packs trailing him, and he thought they would have to get in line. He looked up again. No light yet, and the moon looked about to set. He felt a little surprised that it had not rained since he left the land of the abomination. It seemed cold enough, being early November, that maybe he should have said snow. “Talk about the weather,” he mumbled to himself. He laughed.

A second loud crash startled him, but this time it came from his right. Wlvn paused. He did not like the feeling that he was being herded toward something. All the same, he found his feet slowly taking him to the left. Bog creatures. He remembered. They were lesser spirits, spirits like ghosts of the swamps, but Badl said that they were hungry.

Something growled behind them and Thred almost bolted. Wlvn turned to see two yellow eyes, night creature eyes, staring right at him, not ten paces down the path. He might not be able to make out the creature exactly in the dark under the trees, but he knew full well what it was. He pulled the sword at his back, not that he knew what to do with it.

“You need lessons,” Diogenes spoke into his mind.

“I need to survive.” Wlvn responded out loud.

The night creature began to roar, but the roar got cut off suddenly and got followed by a brief whimpering squeal like the noise from the creature that fell into the quick mud. That squeal also quickly cut off, and the eyes of the creature disappeared into a kind of deep, shapeless blackness. Wlvn did not hesitate to return his sword, mount and ride. The night creatures were terrors. He had no interest in something that could swallow a night creature whole, maybe especially if it was a hungry boggy spirit.

This is stupid, he kept telling himself. This is dangerous. On the third telling, he ran into a low-lying branch and got scraped right off of Thred’s back. The horse kept on going. Thred was a good horse, but he was only a horse and could only take so much. Wlvn did not blame him. Instead, he thought that now the pain in his back and head matched the pain in his gut. He looked himself over when he could, and he thanked every god he knew for the armor of the Kairos. That fall would have killed many a person and torn up the rest, but his armor absorbed most of the impact while he was cushioned in his fall by his inner clothes, and while he felt the branch tear at his arms, he saw only one small blood spot near his elbow, where his fingerless gloves did not quite reach his suit’s short sleeves.

Wlvn stood, a little wobbly, but he managed to get to his feet. He began to stagger in the direction Thred had run, as near as he could tell. He honestly did not feel sure of anything at that point. “Sun! I could use some light about now!” He shouted out and as if in answer to his call, he thought he saw the first faint bits of light break through the trees. He felt sure he could see his hand clearer than before. He stopped to cry in relief, but a new crash from behind kept his feet moving, and he even tried to hurry up.

A second crash followed, and a branch almost as big as him just missed smashing him against a tree. Wlvn ran but paused when he saw something off to his side. It was the swan, and she sang to him. He went after her. Naturally, she took to wing, but she appeared again not far away. “Chase me, chase me.” Wlvn smiled, delirious. A boulder landed not far from where he stood and he ran again, following the swan, trying hard not to lose sight of her, and trying even harder not to look back because he could hear the pursuit.

Ten minutes that felt like hours passed when he burst out from beneath the trees and on to the bank of the river. He saw horses and four people across the water, but felt no way he had the strength to swim across.

“There he is!” Wlvn heard Wlkn shout as he fell face down on the riverbank and prepared himself to be eaten. He only paused long enough to say thank you in his heart to the swan, though he figured her help had been in vain. “Huh?” Wlvn breathed the word when he felt his face pull out of the muck. His whole body got lifted until he floated on air, and while he felt a presence behind him, at the edge of the trees, he knew this had to be something else. He found himself pulled then, skimming across the water of the river like a flat stone cast in just the right way. He skipped a couple of times on the water and landed on the far side where he immediately turned to lay on his back and take in the rising sun. He saw the swan circling overhead before it took off again for the southwest, but all he could do was smile at his lucky charm before he heard a voice that roared like the waves in a nor’easter.

“About time you got here!” The voice sounded perturbed, as if Wlvn could do anything about it. He imagined he did his best just to get to his knees. Fortunately, Badl and Wlkn came over and helped. “I have this one.” The man continued in a softer, more normal voice and pointed at a rather chubby young girl beside him. “She belongs to my counterpart in the southern sea, somewhere around the mouth of the great border river. I understand you are headed to the great river to get whatever you need against the Titan.”

“Yes?” Wlvn did not feel sure what was being asked of him.

“Good. You can take her along.” The man tried to smile before he appeared to remember himself. “Oh, and here.” He stepped up and laid his hands on Wlvn’s head which made Wlvn’s head spin and think, not again! Then the man vanished. No surprise there.

“Good to see you,” Wlkn said.

“Lord, I’m glad you’re safe. I am truly glad.” Badl spoke like this became some great revelation for him.

“Leave him alone, can’t you see he is hurt.” The girl seemed more practical than the others. Wlvn did admit that she had a pretty face. Not a bad view, really, to be the last thing he saw before he passed out.