‘They moved at a speed beyond anything you could imagine. They were relentless, hardly needing any rest.’ She had watched the branches and clouds and stars passing overhead, her body racked with aches and gnawing hunger. She told of the degradation of being force-fed forest carrion, the shame of relieving herself before her captors, the teetering brink of madness. The pendulum swing between delirium and determination – the songs she sang in her mind to keep it from shattering.
‘All the while, the cold burrowed into me. And when we came to the icefall and plunged into darkness. . . That’s when I made my last resolve. To remember the way down. The rest. . . the rest is best forgotten. I was dead.’ She nodded at Erlan. ‘Until I saw your face.’
A tear welled unbidden and fell in a silver stream down her cheek. She brushed it away hurriedly. The last thing she wanted was anyone’s pity, least of all the stranger’s.
‘My wounds are nothing to what you’ve suffered,’ he said. For some reason, the trace of tenderness in his voice annoyed her.
‘Well, my lady, here’s something better ’n carrion, I hope.’ Kai passed her a steaming bowl, and held out another to his master.
Erlan was about to take it when the boy pulled it out of reach. ‘Uh-uh!’ he chuckled.
‘What?’
‘It comes at a price.’
‘Well?’
‘I want to know what happened down there,’ whispered Kai. ‘And above anything else, what the Hel that weird rope thing you’re keeping so precious is all about.’
Erlan sighed. ‘I suppose that’s fair. Give it up then.’ Kai passed over the bowl and his master sank his fingers into the stew and scooped some into his mouth greedily. After a few more mouthfuls he began to talk. And talk. Lilla watched the boy hanging off every word like a dog begging scraps, his bright eyes wide. Many times he interrupted, straining every last detail from Erlan’s memory until the boy was satisfied he had it right.
‘Has anyone ever heard the like?’ cried Kai when Erlan had come to the end of his tale. ‘Hohoooah! And here you both are! Why, my skaldman friend would’ve given his thumbs to hear this. Oh, he’d make a fine song of it – wouldn’t he just!’
‘Song of it?’ Erlan grunted. ‘I’d rather forget all about it.’
‘Tsk! You would, master,’ the boy scolded. ‘That’s ’cause you’re a miserable son of a bitch at the best of times.’
Lilla couldn’t stop herself laughing at that.
Erlan just shook his head at them both.
‘Still,’ said Kai, leaning in all sly, ‘if we’re making a song of it, there ought to be a verse or two for me.’
‘You’ve more to tell?’ she asked.
‘Might be I do,’ he replied, with a wink. She found it impossible not to return his smile. ‘You haven’t noticed, have you?’ he said to Erlan.
‘What?’
‘The bird.’
Erlan looked about him. ‘Of course – I’d forgotten. Where is it?’
‘Dead,’ declared Kai, with a jut of his chin. ‘Two ravens came and did for him. I never saw the like.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘It was like they were sent for it. Deliberate, you know.’ And then Kai told how the ravens had hunted down their winged friend.
Lilla still didn’t understand. ‘What was this bird to you?’
Her companions exchanged glances, apparently unsure how to answer. Eventually Erlan spoke. ‘It led us to you.’
‘A bird? How?’
He scratched at his tousled hair, searching for an explanation. ‘We came across it in the forest. It was a jay of sorts. . . It seemed to know which way to go. No, it did know – because it led us to the icefall.’ He shot Kai a look. ‘We came to think it wasn’t what it seemed.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Shape-shifting,’ he said.
Naturally, she knew of it. Her mother had sworn her never to do it, but she knew there were some who could. ‘Before we came to Sveäland,’ he continued, ‘we met a seidman deep in the Forest of Tyr. He told us he was a shape-shifter and knew the forests. His name was Grimnar.’ Erlan looked at Kai again. ‘The Witch King told me he was dead.’
‘You think the bird was this Grimnar?’ asked Lilla.
‘I couldn’t credit it myself,’ said Kai. ‘But like he said, it did lead us to you. And something else happened while you were down there.’ They listened as Kai told more. With peculiar relish, he recounted his fight with the wolf and the twisted deformity of its limbs once it was dead. The human hand. He pulled back his sleeve and revealed his swollen arm where the wolf bit him.
When he’d finished, Erlan gave a long whistle. ‘I’d say you’ve earned your verses, boy. More than that, even. How does Kai Wolf-Hand sound?’
‘Better than it feels,’ grinned the boy. But she could see how it pleased the boy to impress his master.
‘You did well,’ she agreed. ‘This Witch King has many servants who do his bidding.’
‘Had,’ corrected Erlan.
‘So you hope,’ she replied sharply. ‘But if they’re alive, even though he is dead. . . what evil might they yet do?’
Her question hung unanswered in the air. In the fire the wood snapped and popped.
‘Where did you come across this bird?’ asked Lilla at last.
‘Where the trail split into three. We had no way of knowing which would lead to you.’
Lilla suddenly felt a dreadful chill inside her, a memory lurching out of the shadows of her mind. Why had she not remembered earlier, when she had related her journey? She felt the blood leach from her cheeks.
‘My lady? My lady!’ Kai’s touch jolted her out of her nightmare. ‘Are you all right?’
‘I . . . don’t know why. . . I had forgotten till now. But it’s coming back to me.’ She looked up at them. ‘There were others.’
‘Others?’ echoed Erlan.
‘Yes. But different from the ones who took me from the Kingswood. Different from the creatures in the caves. They were larger. Fiercer. Fell creatures that could only have been spawned in the darkest caverns of Hel.’
‘The Watcher spoke of others called the Vandrung. The sirelings of the overlords. A mongrel race.’
‘I know nothing of that.’ Lilla screwed up her eyes, put her head in her hands. ‘My memory is not clear. It is more like trying to recall a dream. But there were some. . . some who stood much taller than you.’ She nodded at the stranger. ‘The smaller ones were cowed by them.’
‘You saw none like them below?’
‘I couldn’t say. The darkness obscured so much.’ Lilla shook her head. ‘But now I remember that when the company split, in spite of my fear, I felt relief. The smaller ones are full of malice. But those others – they were not human. Their very breath was evil.’
‘How many did they number?’ asked Erlan.
She shook her head again. ‘I can’t say for certain.’
‘Try!’ he urged, his voice rising. ‘You must remember more.’
‘I was in agony. Trying to keep my sanity.’ Her voice quavered.
‘How many?’ he barked.
‘I don’t know. Dozens, at least. Perhaps more.’
‘More than a hundred?’
‘I don’t know,’ she cried. She didn’t want to think of those horrible creatures any more.
‘Were there more than a hundred?’ he said again, seizing her arm.
‘No. . . I don’t think so. I don’t know. Leave me be!’ And she tore her arm free.
Wings fluttered in the treetops. All three of them started at the sound and looked about them. Suddenly, the darkness seemed full of menace.
‘So much for sealing that place with your sorcery and spells,’ grimaced Erlan.
‘What should we do, master?’ For the first time that night, the boy looked fearful.
‘Ride faster.’
‘I’m serious,’ returned Kai.
‘So am I!’ Erlan snarled. He got to his feet, went to the pile o
f gear and pulled out the Watcher’s tail. He flung his grisly trophy out to its full length. ‘Whatever evil these things possess, here’s the proof that it can be beaten. With sword and sinew.’
Lilla shuddered. The tail glistened black as tar in the flickering flames. ‘Why do you have to keep that thing?’ she said quickly.
‘What would you have me do with it?’
‘Burn it! A thing like that can bring nothing but ill from a place so dark.’
‘And yet it has power,’ he whispered, looking on it with wonder. ‘I saw it. So did you.’
‘The thing is ill-fated!’
‘No! It’s the proof that the Watcher and his foul kingdom can be destroyed.’
‘Why keep a memento of what you have destroyed? You’re no better than a child!’
‘I keep it not to remember what I destroyed. . . but what I won.’
‘And what was that?’ she said, her tone acid.
‘Life!’ he cried, looking up into the night. ‘A reason to live.’
His cry sailed off into the darkness. After a few moments, she murmured, ‘Are there not many?’
‘For some, maybe. But not for me.’ His eyes met hers, and in them she saw for the first time a deep, deep wound. ‘Not for me. . .’
It was a while before she spoke again. ‘I would bring nothing from that place. It is all accursed.’
She could see him wrestling the question in his mind as he gazed upon his trophy. ‘Very well – I won’t keep it.’ She let out a sigh of relief. ‘But I will at least keep something from it.’ He didn’t wait for her protests, but took out his knife, sat down on the fur and began skinning the smooth surface off the tail’s thick core.
There was no convincing him, she could see that much. But that only disturbed her all the more. Instead she and Kai watched him in silence.
The skin seemed strangely dry, peeling away in tough, supple strips. Erlan lay each one beside him until, in the gloom, they looked like so many dead serpents.
‘What are you making?’ asked Kai, at last.
‘A belt to remember this by.’
‘This?’ she said.
‘The life I won back. The fire can take the rest.’ So saying, he flung the monstrous tail into the flames.
It bucked and snapped like dry wood, tongues of fire flaring around it. And before long the blaze had devoured it all, leaving nothing but embers and ash.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
They smelled them before they saw them.
The scent of pine and spruce mingled with sweat and horseflesh. Then they heard the crackle of dawn fires and muttering voices.
‘Sviggar’s scouts!’ cried Kai.
And suddenly a shout went up. There was a clatter of armed men getting to their feet, a babble of startled voices. The three of them rode on into the camp, nodding at the dirty faces gawping up at them. For the first time in a long while, Erlan felt secure. Kai was grinning like his head might split.
‘By the fires,’ said a hoarse voice. ‘We never thought we’d hear from you again!’ Earl Bodvar was pushing his way through his men. For a change, the flint-faced old bastard was smiling.
‘You nearly didn’t,’ returned Erlan.
Bodvar slapped Kai’s leg. ‘And you, young rascal – we can’t shake you, can we?’ He turned to the princess. ‘Lady Lilla – your father will be overjoyed to know you’re safe.’
‘Where is he?’ Her beautiful face was creased with anxiety.
‘With the main force. We’re just ten. The king and two hirds are perhaps half a day’s ride behind us.’
‘How many?’ asked Erlan.
‘Nearly three hundred men in all.’
‘You took your sweet time. You’re nearly four days behind us.’
Bodvar gave a surly grunt. ‘We lost the trail after the snowfall. Eventually we found your markings and by then the king’s force was catching us up.’
‘Can we go to him?’ said Lilla. ‘He must know I am safe.’
‘Of course, my lady. My men can be ready at a moment.’ He turned to the other scouts. ‘Well, you heard her. We leave immediately.’
The huddle of men split obediently and set about breaking camp.
Bodvar gave Lilla a craggy smile. ‘I promise you’ll be with your father before nightfall.’
And he was right.
Three leagues further on, they made contact with the king’s vanguard. Sviggar’s hirds buzzed with excitement to see the princess and the stranger among Bodvar’s men. But Lilla hastened on through them all, impatient to greet her father.
It was Earl Heidrek who told them that her father was a little way back among his men. The earl’s wiry face was even paler than usual. ‘He’s not well, my lady.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘The king is no longer a young man.’
‘Oh – why do you always have to talk in circles!’ she snapped. ‘Tell me quickly – what’s wrong?’
‘Forgive me, my lady. The weather has worn hard on him. He suffers from a breathing sickness.’
‘Take me to him at once,’ she said, hurrying on. Erlan followed with Bodvar, Kai bringing up the rear.
They found him soon after, propped up on his horse’s back by Finn the archer and another attendant. But he seemed hardly able to keep his seat. His head hung low, his body slumped like a half-filled sack of grain.
Lilla cried out, slid from her horse and hobbled to him as fast as her injured feet would allow, pushing aside Finn’s horse. ‘Father! My father, I’m here! I’m alive.’
Erlan was shocked to see the old king. His breath rattled in his throat like the sea sucking shingle. Sweat beaded along the wrinkles of his hanging brow.
‘Lilla,’ he croaked. ‘My child – you’re returned to me.’ His cheeks flickered a smile.
Lilla reached up and caressed his thigh. Her cheeks were wet with tears. Sviggar blinked down at her, almost in a stupor, then bent over to stroke her hair. Suddenly he slumped forward and would have fallen on her but for Finn’s quick reaction holding him on his horse.
‘The old goat’s in a fine fucking state,’ whispered Kai sidelong. Erlan shot him a warning look. Now really wasn’t the time.
‘This is madness,’ Lilla cried. ‘He shouldn’t even be on a horse.’ She tried to ease him out of his saddle, and glanced angrily round at Erlan. ‘Help me, can’t you!’
Within moments, furs had been thrown on the ground and the ailing king lain upon them. By now, the whole force had come to a halt and was dismounting. Lilla sent Kai off to fetch water and the lad scurried off to retrieve a skin from his horse.
‘I’m all right, I’m all right,’ croaked Sviggar, trying to prop himself up, while his daughter fretted over him. ‘A winter fever, nothing more. Here, help me.’ Lilla got him comfortable and pulled the fur tighter round him.
‘You must lie down and rest, Father.’
‘Of course,’ he wheezed, ‘but how could I rest till I knew you were safe?’ Suddenly the fever shivered right through him. Kai arrived with the water. Lilla snatched it from him and put it to her father’s lips. The old man drank a while before pushing it away. She moistened a corner of her cloak and started mopping his brow.
‘You mustn’t fuss, child. I’m not dying.’ He coughed a deep rasp in his chest. He bloody sounds like he is, thought Erlan. At last, Sviggar recovered himself. ‘Where’s the stranger? Is he with you?’
Erlan stepped out of the circle of men.
Sviggar looked up and smiled. ‘So my bet was a wise one.’
‘Or lucky.’
‘Ha! Either way, you’ve rendered me a service greater than any man alive or dead. I’ll not forget it.’ He coughed again, hard. ‘Tell me. I must know. What is this enemy? You have seen them?’
‘Aye.’
‘And? Are they men? Or beasts?’
Erlan glanced at Lilla, then back to her father. ‘Perhaps men who’ve become beasts. Though they had a king who was certainly no man.’
‘H
ad?’
‘I killed him.’
Sviggar grimaced. ‘Bravely done. You’ll be honoured for it – you have my word. What manner of king was he?’
So Erlan told him, and all the company lent a full ear as he described his descent into that demon’s warren. He told of the Witch King and the Nefelung thralls, of the overlords and the mysterious Vandrung. They listened to his account of the hall of horrors, of their escape through the darkness back to the light. And lastly, how, thanks to Kai’s madcap plan, they had sealed them in the depths for ever.
‘For ever?’ Bodvar sounded doubtful.
Erlan exchanged glances with Lilla. She gave a curt nod. He shrugged. ‘Say until the Ragnarok. That’s long enough for me.’ It would take a giant to clear through all that rock and rubble.
‘From what you describe of the place, much of the entrance is sealed by this icefall. Is that right?’ When Erlan nodded, Bodvar gave a sharp snort. ‘And what happens when the spring thaws come? What seal protects the kingdom then?’
The truth hit him like a slap in the face. How could he have missed it? Perhaps it was the shock of his ordeal, or relief at their escape, but something had blinded him from seeing what was so damned obvious. Blinded all of them. ‘Fuck.’
‘Quite,’ agreed Bodvar.
‘Perhaps summer doesn’t reach this part of the land,’ piped up Kai, ever the optimist. ‘You wait, my lords. It’s the very end of the world! The ice – why, it’s thicker than the walls of the greatest hall – ten times higher than the tallest tree. I’d bet my arm that icefall would stand a hundred years if it stands a day!’
‘The lad’s arm will be poor recompense if these Nefelung are able to break free again,’ said Bodvar.
‘I fear, my lad, your confidence may prove ill-placed,’ said Sviggar hoarsely. ‘How many of them were left?’
‘Many,’ conceded Erlan.
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