by Resa Nelson
The cousins laughed.
They stopped when bloodcurdling screams ripped through the still air.
The cousins’ faces paled.
“They’re here,” Benzel said. “The creature’s family is killing yours.”
The cousins fumbled for their weapons but then stood still in terror when the screams became more terrifying.
“The children,” Sven said. “Most of them didn’t go to the feast. They’re in the houses.” Sven pointed at the other ships alongside the small one he would have boarded with Benzel. “If we bring them here now, we can save them.”
Without another word, Sven, his cousins, and Benzel raced back to the courtyard.
While the screams persisted behind the now-closed door of the tower, the Scaldings who had failed to go to the feast hovered in the doorways to the houses lining the courtyard. With stealth and silence, Benzel, Sven, and his cousins hustled the petrified Scaldings to the dock, where they boarded every ship.
After boarding the last ship, Sven reached out his hand toward Benzel, who stood on the dock.
A shattering roar made them all look up at the tower, where the creature perched.
Now on board the boats ready to sail, children screamed and clung to their mothers.
Benzel watched the creature, ready to follow its lead.
The creature used its powerful legs to spring from the top of the tower. Its momentum helped it soar above the boats before it landed in the water between the dock and the open sea.
“We’re trapped!” one of the cousins cried. “It’s going to kill us all!”
Benzel took Sven’s outstretched hand and climbed onto his boat. To the occupants of all surrounding vessels, Benzel shouted, “There is only one way to end this war with these monsters. Only one way to keep you alive. Trust me, and follow my lead.”
Hoping that the creature heard his words, Benzel gained confidence when it swam away from Tower Island and headed north. He stood tall and pointed at the swimming creature. “We must go where it goes, so I can end this!”
“Let the children go to the Northlands,” Sven called out while the Scaldings rowed the boats away from the docks and raised sails.
Again, Benzel shouted so those on all surrounding boats would hear him. “Bring the children! The Scaldings created this mess by claiming an island that belongs to dragons. Let your children see with their own eyes the consequences.” Benzel pointed at the Northlands. “Sail there only to prove your cowardice!”
One boat filled with bawling children set its course for the Northlands.
The rest followed Benzel as he commanded his boat to trail the swimming creature.
For the remainder of the day, the creature swam fast enough to keep ahead of the boats pursuing it and sliced through the waters alongside the western shore of the Northlands.
When a large outcrop appeared near the shoreline, the creature climbed its steep banks to the plateau and hissed at the boats below.
With his boat leading the others, Benzel pointed at the base of the outcrop. “Over there! Take me to where I can climb up.”
Sven stood by Benzel’s side. “It’s too dangerous.” Sven pointed at the choppy water slamming against the sides of the outcrop. “That’s the sign of shallow water and a rocky seabed.”
Benzel stared at Sven. “I have to face the beast. If I don’t, you and your family will be haunted by it and its kin forever. Do you want your entire family to die such ugly deaths like the ones we’ve already witnessed?”
Sven shook his head while he studied the ocean surrounding them. He pointed to one side. “That way gives us the best chance.”
The Scaldings steered Sven’s boat, but the other vessels held back to keep vigil in safer waters.
Sven’s boat pitched high enough that the Scaldings had to cling to the nailed benches to keep from going overboard.
With a resounding crack, the boat crashed against sharp rocks hidden underwater and split into pieces.
Shouting in panic, Sven and his Scalding cousins bobbed in the rough sea until they found and clung to broken pieces of the boat.
Benzel swam toward the outcrop. Although the dark water clouded his vision, Benzel thought he saw the presence of dragons swimming below. Instead of having to struggle to stay afloat like Sven and the Scaldings on his ill-fated boat, Benzel found a path in the water that felt easy to swim.
The dragons. They’re making it easy for me to reach land.
It took a short time for Benzel to reach the rocky edge of the outcrop. He sensed being pushed up toward it, and took hold of a ledge. With ease, Benzel climbed onto the ledge and noticed a clear path of hand- and footholds toward the plateau high above.
The shouts and screams at his back convinced Benzel that the Scaldings watched his progress.
Heaving his body over the ledge and onto the plateau, Benzel sighed in relief at the sight of the creature now facing him. “Now what?”
“We fight. And then you will discover that you possess a powerful ability to place curses.”
Mindful of the Scaldings watching from the boats below, Benzel drew his sword and launched an attack with the intent of making it look relentless while avoiding any real contact with the creature, who writhed and hissed and sprang around him.
After a long period of exertion, Benzel delivered a blow that landed on the ground but brought him close to the creature’s face. Benzel wheezed in exhaustion. “I can’t keep this up much longer.”
With a slight nod, the creature said, “Then step back, point your sword, and shout words to curse me.”
Benzel pulled his weapon free of the ground, pointed it at the creature, and took a few steps back. “I curse you, Creature! Be gone with you!”
The creature gave a persuasive shudder. In a low voice, it said, “Tell the earth to swallow me whole.”
Benzel stood firm and shouted, “Let this ground take you captive! Let it eat you alive!”
The creature shuddered and shifted into the shape of a dragon.
Below, the Scaldings cried out from their boats.
The creature stood raised on hind legs and crossed its front limbs across its face. It gave a cry of agony and then twisted its body as if suffering.
“Go into the earth’s gaping mouth!” Benzel shouted.
To his surprise, the dragon creature tapped a foot against the ground, which cracked open in response.
Lowering his voice so the Scaldings wouldn’t hear, Benzel said, “How did you do that?”
The dragon creature gave a smile too quick to be noticed by anyone other than Benzel. “I am the dragon god of earth, and it obeys my command.”
Astonished, Benzel fought to keep his powerful stance. “Be gone!” Benzel shouted at the dragon god.
Releasing a scream of anguish, the dragon god squeezed into the cracked earth, which immediately surrounded and entrapped him. The encased dragon’s body stood like a statue that now appeared to be a natural formation.
The cries and cheers from the boats below shook Benzel out of his surprise. He climbed down the side of the outcrop. Again, Benzel noticed dark figures swimming in the depths below while he found his way easily to one of the Scalding boats, now crowded with the drenched survivors of Sven’s wrecked boat.
Climbing on board, Benzel pointed up at the rocky outcrop. “Call it Dragon’s Head,” he said. “And let it be a warning to all Scaldings that I’m the only one who can protect you from the creatures that murdered your kin. And I’m the only one who can release this creature from Dragon’s Head to let it finish the job.”
At Benzel’s command, the boats sailed throughout the night back to Tower Island.
Once there, Benzel directed his boat to dock and the others to wait offshore. He climbed onto the dock while motioning for the Scaldings to stay onboard.
Benzel spoke to Sven. “Tower Island belongs to me now. The Scaldings must never set foot on this island again. I’m giving it back to its rightful owners. Tell Snip I’ll see her
soon.”
Frightened and exhausted, the Scaldings made no protest.
Benzel stood on the dock and watched the Scalding boats speed away. The cousins’ ship with its red sail was surrounded by others with square white sails that caught the last rays of the setting sun and gleamed against the twilight sky.
Before following the creature, the Scaldings had left one small ship behind, which remained docked. It creaked and scraped against the dock as if protesting at being left behind.
“Don’t worry, little ship,” Benzel said. “We’ll be gone by morning.”
CHAPTER 21
When Benzel saw the Scalding ships sail far enough away to be convinced they would soon land on the Northlands shore, he walked back to the tower.
Benzel thought he heard a faint sound of bones crunching. It convinced him to head toward the house farthest from the tower. Once there, entering that house made his skin crawl.
Blankets lay crumpled on sleeping palettes. He remembered the Scaldings resting there had rushed out of bed in a race to get out of the house and to the dock before monsters could find them.
A hunk of potato impaled on a dagger rested on the floor, indicating someone eating had been in such a hurry that he fell oblivious to leaving a valuable weapon behind. The hearth fire smoldered, ignored and abandoned to the point of imminent death.
A sleeping palette nestled on top of a bench next to the wall appealed to Benzel. Someone had folded blankets and piled them neatly on top of the palette.
He closed the door but didn’t bother to lock it. If the dragon gods failed to keep their word and betrayed Benzel, no locked door would offer enough protection.
Benzel preferred to trust the dragon gods. So far, they had kept their word and done everything they had promised.
Once bundled into bed, Benzel fell asleep in an instant. He slept deep throughout the night and didn’t wake until morning.
It was the best sleep he’d had since the night before the berserkers destroyed his home.
* * *
Benzel came awake gradually to the sound of something pawing at the front door. He opened his eyes, wondering if he were still asleep and dreaming.
It’s the dragon god. He’s come to check on me.
Benzel rushed out of bed to get dressed. Thinking it best to be safe, he kept the sheath holding the Scalding sword attached to his belt when he put it on. As the pawing continued, he hurried to open the door.
Instead of the dragon god, he saw the wolf that had run away shortly after arriving on Tower Island.
“Grey-Eyes!”
The wolf had red-brown stains on his fur, mostly on his face and legs.
Blood.
Grey-Eyes looked up at Benzel and then sniffed his shoes as if to make sure it was him. Grey-Eyes then padded back outside and sank his teeth around the empty eye socket of a clean skull. The animal dragged the skull to Benzel’s feet, released it, and then looked up with hope.
Benzel sank to his knees and gave the wolf’s head a good rub. “Good job, Grey-Eyes. I missed you.” He gestured for the wolf to follow as he walked toward the tower.
Grey-Eyes gave a snarl when he looked back at the skull left behind.
“Don’t worry,” Benzel said. “There’s plenty left for you to chew on.”
Just as he expected, Benzel found the tower littered with the hideous remains of the Scaldings who had failed to take his advice.
None of this would have happened if you’d listened to me.
Grey-Eyes kept a steady pace by Benzel’s side but sniffed the air. The wolf scampered among the bodies and skidded on the stone floor, still slick with blood.
It took the rest of the day for Benzel to clear the bodies from the tower, burn them, and then bring buckets of water from the well to wash the floor as clean as he could get it. Benzel gave the wolf an arm bone that he expected would keep the animal happy for hours.
Finally, Benzel climbed the spiral staircase to the spherical room, the only place in the tower he hadn’t yet searched for the creature. Benzel found the room empty. He walked to the center of the room and said, “Hello? I’ve done all you asked.”
His voice echoed inside the room. Then it filled with silence.
Far below, Grey-Eyes’ yowls caught Benzel’s attention. He sped back down to the main floor of the tower but slowed when he saw Grey-Eyes growling at a stranger seated on the staircase’s first step. “Who are you?” Benzel demanded.
The strange man looked back over his shoulder at Benzel. Even when seated, the stranger’s small stature suggested he’d fail to stand as tall as any Northlander woman and looked as slender. His close-cropped hair looked as black as fertile soil. His nose and cheekbones and chin were as sharp as jagged rocks. “You’ve done well,” the stranger said.
Benzel recognized his voice at once.
The creature. The dragon god of earth.
Returning his attention to Grey-Eyes, the dragon god held out his hand and let the wolf sniff it. After doing so, Grey-Eyes climbed onto the step next to the dragon god and settled down alongside him.
Benzel took that as a good sign and continued to the bottom of the stairs. He sat next to the dragon god. “You’ve left Dragon’s Head?”
The dragon god smiled. “Briefly. Just long enough to speak to you. I’ll return shortly.” The dragon god paused and then said, “I will stay until someone of your blood line will take my place. That is what mortals will know as the curse of Dragon’s Head.”
Benzel shifted in discomfort. “I have no bloodline. All I have is me. I have no plan for that to change.”
“Don’t be so certain. Plans can change.”
Benzel felt chilled by the dragon god’s words but decided to ignore them. “I did what you wanted. Everything you told me to do.”
The dragon god smiled and rubbed Grey-Eyes behind the ears. “As I said, you’ve done well.”
Benzel waited but the dragon god said nothing more, seeming more intent on lulling Grey-Eyes into a trance-like state.
“You promised to help me,” Benzel said. “You promised to tell me how to find the berserkers.”
“When you find them, you will kill them,” the dragon god said. He made it a statement instead of a question.
“Of course.”
“Are you certain you want this knowledge?”
The question befuddled Benzel. “Yes, I’m sure. I’ve spent my life trying to find them. No matter what I’ve done, my efforts feel like nothing more than chasing wild geese. No matter how hard I try, I’ve done nothing but fail.”
“Once I tell you what you want to hear, it cannot be undone.” The dragon god flashed a dark look at Benzel. “The knowledge will change you forever.”
“I don’t care. I finally have a chance to track them down and rid this world of their horrible presence.”
“I see.” The dragon god smoothed Grey-Eyes’ fur and nudged the content wolf back on the stone floor at Benzel’s feet. “Then you’ll be pleased to know I’ve already helped you in your quest.”
Benzel mulled over the dragon god’s response for a moment. “I don’t understand.”
“The Scaldings,” the dragon god said. “They are the berserkers you seek.”
CHAPTER 22
Overwhelmed with rage, Benzel left Tower Island immediately with Grey-Eyes at his side. Approaching the Northlands, he scanned its shores for the Scaldings’ ships but saw nothing. When he landed, Benzel searched the shore for anything that would indicate where the Scaldings had gone but found none.
I know where I can find one of them. And before I kill him, he’ll tell me where I can find the rest of them.
Traveling by foot, Benzel arrived at Hidden Glen within a few days but left Grey-Eyes at the village’s edge to protect the animal from what would soon happen.
Benzel snaked through his village with the Scalding sword in one hand, ready to kill. “Sven!” he shouted.
Late in the day, the villagers of Hidden Glen streamed in from the su
rrounding fields after working the crops.
When neighbors drew near Benzel and tried to placate his fury, he ignored them and continued to call out the name of his brother-in-law. He pushed aside anyone who tried to get in his way. “Sven! Show your face!”
Finally, Benzel saw a group of men emerge from a field, looking worn out from a long day’s work.
Sven walked among them. He smiled at Benzel and raised a hand in greeting.
All the rage that had grown and flourished in the deepest recesses of Benzel’s mind came rushing out in a wealth of hatred. He remembered his mother and father and how much they’d loved him before the berserkers attacked their village and killed them. He remembered his pet rabbit Fluffyhop and the way it vanished. He remembered his village Heatherbloom, his house, and the kindness of his neighbors.
All gone. All for no good reason. All because of the greed and heinous minds of berserkers like Sven.
“Berserker!” Benzel used the Scalding sword in his hand to point at Sven. “Berserker! Kill the berserker!”
Sven jerked to a stop, and his face drained a shade lighter. He shuddered, appearing fearful and faint.
The men surrounding Sven stepped forward. “Benzel,” one of them said. “Calm down.”
Benzel stood his ground and kept his gaze locked on Sven. Benzel noted every nuance of the Scalding’s changing expression. He kept the Scalding sword pointed at his brother-in-law. “Sven is a berserker. All of the Scaldings are berserkers.”
Another villager took a slow step toward Benzel. “You’re in no danger. You know everyone here. Why don’t you put the sword down?”
“I see it in your eyes,” Benzel said to Sven. “It’s all over your face. You’ve finally been found out and you know it. Admit it!”
“Benzel!” Snip cried as she ran toward her brother and husband, surrounded by a growing crowd of villagers. She pushed her way past her neighbors. “Put that sword down at once!”
Benzel refused to look away from Sven. “He killed our parents! He destroyed our villages!”
Snip rushed to stand between the sharp point of Benzel’s sword and her unarmed husband. “You put that weapon down right now.”