By Lincoln Reed
Sunlight glinted as Rayna the Red unsheathed her sword. Fierce lips hissed an incantation caught up and drowned by whipping coastal winds. Seagulls squawked overhead, taunting, foretelling a bad omen as the sky turned shades of amber violet.
“Witch!” Hrothgar, Son of Ragnar, awaited her on the beach, sword ready. “You’ve led us across the great sea to our deaths. Rid us of your curse. Give me your head.”
Shipmates and Viking sailors cleared a path as Rayna approached. Heads bowed and eyes lowered with reverence or fear—lifting only when she inspected each, measuring countenance and morale. Her hair was as red as the blood in our kindred’s veins; her skin, as pale as the rolling clouds above. When she stopped before me, I averted my gaze.
She gripped my arm. “Courage, Val. The gods are with me.”
Our company gathered around Rayna and Hrothgar, forming a combat circle while our seer waved her slender blade from side to side, testing its balance.
Hrothgar entered the ring’s center, facing Rayna. Uncut hair hung at his shoulders, while a beard, untrimmed and unkempt, covered rotting teeth. He stood at least four hands taller than Rayna and doubled her girth.
Nary a man would face Hrothgar willingly, but Rayna was no man. The blood of greatness flowed through her lean body. She was our priestess. Our sage. And, as long as she led us, I would follow her through the gates of the underworld.
“Hrothgar, you call me witch, but I cast no lies,” Rayna said as they circled each other, swords raised. “Did I not predict we would find a new home for our people at the ends of the world?”
“Stay your tongue.” Hrothgar sneered. “I know your tricks.”
Their swords clashed. Sparks sprayed. Hrothgar pushed Rayna off her feet. She collapsed into the sand. I helped pull her up.
“End this madness,” I said into her ear. “Hrothgar will kill you, and then what will come of us?”
Rayna shrugged me off and turned to her challenger. “You’ve had nightmares, Hrothgar?”
He spat on the beach. “There is an evil here. We will perish.”
He swung his sword. Rayna ducked and weaved. Hrothgar continued his advance, panting, his legs shaky after months away from dry land. “Rayna, you cannot deny… you have seen—”
She attacked between Hrothgar’s breaths. Sword flashing, Rayna deflected his lunge as Hrothgar’s footing slipped in the loose sand. Seizing her opportunity, Rayna kicked him to his knees, holding the blade to his thick neck.
Seagulls squawked as a salty ocean gust whipped through Rayna’s fiery hair. “Let us test your visions, Hrothgar,” she said with stoic resolution. “Then, the gods will decide your fate.”
By the third day, our first hunting party had not returned. Two more groups were sent to retrieve them. After another three days, they too did not emerge from the darkness beyond the trees. On the seventh evening, Hrothgar sat next to Rayna as I fed our campfire.
“Do you believe now?” the warrior glanced toward the forest. “This is not a homeland.”
Firelight reflected off Rayna’s eyes as she stared into the flames, muttering, “The skull has antlers of the deer. Its eyes are caverns of death.”
Hrothgar grunted.
“What do you see?” I dared ask.
Rayna blinked, the spell broken. She patted my shoulder. “Gird your bow, cousin. Tomorrow, we will know.”
Rayna commanded the rest of our crew to wait with the ships until we returned. At daybreak, she led Hrothgar and me into the forest.
We followed our kindred’s footprints until the sand morphed into dense undergrowth. From there, Hrothgar tracked ahead of us, Rayna followed, and I guarded the rear—bow in hand, a quiver slung across my back.
As dusk fell, Rayna commanded Hrothgar to halt. “It is here.” She tapped a finger to her lips. “I sense it.”
Hrothgar unsheathed his blade. “How many?”
“Just one.”
“One?” I nocked an arrow to my bowstring. “We’ve lost a dozen men.”
Rayna pointed ahead. “Hrothgar, scout forward.”
He started to protest but relented at the sight of brimstone in Rayna’s eyes. She gripped the hilt of her sword and motioned for me to stay. I lowered the bow.
Blade ready, Hrothgar crept onward and descended into a cavernous basin where a hollow gaped, its entrance murky black, large enough to swallow an entire ship.
Rayna squeezed my arm. “Ready your arrow, cousin.”
As I prepared my bow, Hrothgar approached the mouth of the cave. He paused at the threshold, chanced a wary glance back at Rayna, and then disappeared into the grotto.
We waited until the nighttime sounds of the forest dissipated into an uneasy heaviness, a pressure that weighed on my bones until—
A shrill wail cut through the silence—the piercing scream of a woman, a bear, a wolf all twisted into one hellish cacophony. I pulled the arrow tight against the bowstring. Rayna muttered a prayer.
From the cave, Hrothgar’s headless body sprinted and collapsed into the dirt. Following behind, a skeletal creature emerged, taller than two men, skull adorned with antlers, holding Hrothgar’s lifeless head.
My arrow deflected off the demon’s crown.
Rayna and I retreated into the forest, not stopping until we reached the sand. I cursed and dropped to my knees, staring at the empty coastline where Viking ships once adorned the beach.
“They left us!” I gasped. “We’re doomed.”
I caught my breath as Rayna motioned toward the ocean horizon. “Others will come. We are not the last to discover this land.” She knelt beside me. “The gods sent us here for a reason, cousin. And, I believe it is this… We must slay the guard of Helvegr so our kin may settle here in peace.”
“And if we don’t?”
A wry grin painted her face. “A noble death is a precious gift indeed.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vivid action sequences. Loved it! I liked the Viking viewpoint.
Thanks for reading, Arlan!
since Rayna bested Hrothgar i would expect Rayna can best the beast. i hope we find out how that happens.
Thanks for reading!