He shrugged. “Come now. You saw me out there. You think breaking my fingers and toes will get me talking? No, I’ll come back from the dead and hunt you all down.”
I nodded bravely, his promise oddly believable. Come back from the dead? “You would do that for Bero?”
He spat, looking at me murderously. “Bero? He has paid me well. Man should serve the one who pays him. But no, I’ll do it for me. You’ve grown too tall for yourself, lad. Kill me now. I care not. I’ll find you later, trust me. Kill me. Isn’t that what you want?” he mocked me with a tilted head and an inane smile. “You need to be angry to kill me? Fine. Bait. The boy. He whimpered like a baby. And the bitch.” He smiled spitefully, and I had to stop myself from smashing the hammer in his head.
“Which bitch?” I growled, and placed the hammer under his chin. “Gisil? Ingrid?”
He smiled. “Let’s not pretend. You know everything, except what Raganthar will do with the sword. Well, most everything. There are things you’d love to know. About Gisil.”
“Is Gisil alive?” I asked him harshly and pushed the hammer.
It didn’t bother him. It was like pushing iron at a rocky wall. He thought about it and grinned. “Why not? I’ll tell you that. She’s alive. Raganthar needs her.”
“Why?”
“That I won’t tell you,” he laughed. “I’ll let you find out.”
“Their den. The place where they live. Where there are holed up in? Do you know more?” I asked him.
He shrugged, smiling. “I think I know what they’ll do with the weapon. I’ve got a pretty good guess, at least. Though not where,” he said, enjoying my discomfort, as if he was feeding off it. “Did you wish to know what I did to Ingrid? She didn’t enjoy it.”
I hated him. I hated him enough to make the darkness creep in, and Woden’s rage surged in my veins. He saw it, and smiled. “It will be interesting, if we ever truly fight. Perhaps I’ll tell you more to see how far you’ll go. Ingrid.”
“Shut up,” I hissed.
“Adalwulf—” Iodocus began.
“You shut up as well,” I roared.
Leuthard tilted his head forward. “I left her alive. A bit alive, at least. Her hair came with me. She ran, ran far in the night. I let her go for a moment, and she feared so much as she panted. I saw every movement of hers. I was always near as I ran after her. Oh, how she feared. She pissed herself. She pissed and shat herself when I caught her, and what I left for the ants, wasn’t a woman. Oh, worry not, I didn’t touch her like that. I ripped her apart, slowly. Perhaps I’ll do that to Ermendrud one day? The little bitch that told Fulch lies about Helm? She’s part of this, isn’t she?”
I hit him with the hammer.
They had left the chain mail on him, the armor jingled with the strike, and he yelped as the weapon smacked down on his belly. He turned to his side, laughing and vomiting, as I stood over him, trembling. “You’ll tell me where they are. And I’ll send you on your way. I’ll do that for you. You don’t deserve it, but I’ll send you to Hel. And you won’t come back.”
He was forcing the words out breathlessly, vomit on his beard. “I’ll go elsewhere, Adalwulf. And I’ll come back. We have that power, you see. Kill us, and the god promised us we’d return. Once. We can return once. Perhaps more, if we have pleased him well. And I have.”
“What filthy god is this?” I hissed.
“Hati,” he whispered. “Hati the Wolf, the son of Fenfir, who is the son of Lok. Hati is the Sky-Wolf, like his day-faring brother Sköll. I’ll be back,” he grinned. “Once. At least once.”
“I’ll kill you twice, then,” I roared, and pressed a palm on my face as I tried to calm myself. Ingrid. Poor Ingrid. I should have told her to hide away.
“You failed to protect them,” he whispered, looking at me, his eyes bright and deadly, and I felt he had read my mind. “And I’ll not help you.”
I grasped the Feud Settler from my back, and his face went slack and serious as I turned the sword before his eyes. They followed it, as if they would the face of a lover. “Iodocus,” I said steadily.
“Lord?” he said, calling me that for the first time.
“You’ll take this bit of coward’s steel,” I told him. “You’ll go silently and softly, and find Danr. Or he’ll find you. Then hide away near Hard Hill, and if I don’t come to Balderich's hall in five days’ time, you throw it into a river. No, better, piss on it, and have some smith smelt it. Then have it made into a plough.”
Leuthard sat up straight, still looking at the blade.
“I can’t leave you,” Iodocus whispered as he crouched next to me.
“Danr said the same thing. You’ll leave me all right,” I said tightly. “Do not worry. Leuthard here will get it back, if he aids me. I think he will do it.”
“Why would I get it back once you get what you want?” he asked, surprisingly calm and sane for once.
I poked him with the blade. “We’ll go on a trip together. We’ll plod through shit and piss, find out a very dark secret, you Hati humped spawn of evil. We will suffer and hate each other all through it. In the end, I get what I want. I get Hulderic’s sword. I get to know what happened to Gisil. I’ll be sad and filled with hate, and then you and I will meet somewhere. We’ll meet and fight to the death, and you’ll use this blade. I’ll use this hammer. And then you get to come back alive, as you threatened. That’s what you get. A fight, and a chance to keep your filthy life. And the sword. You love it more than Bero.”
He sat there, and unable to take his eyes off the blade. It was his life. It was his legacy, as old as time, handed to him by his father, and his only real weak spot. “What do you want, exactly? A trip?”
I nodded. “You will help me with everything I need. First, we find Raganthar. We’ll go to the—”
He spat. “To the Den. Where the Brethren live,” he said tiredly. His eyes twinkled, and then he was laughing softly, shaking his head. I saw him pulling at his bonds, and I heard the rope creak, but the Gauls had been especially careful with him, and so he couldn’t break free. He relaxed, though his eyes didn’t leave the sword. “I’ll take you there.”
“Then, you’ll aid me in recovering it,” I snarled, and handed the sword to Iodocus. “You’ll aid me, and you’ll fight the bastards for me.”
“You want me to fight them?” he mused. “I will, all save one.”
“That Ear?” I asked. “The one you seemed keen on keeping safe?”
“Yes,” he said with shrug. “Don’t want him dead. Raganthar, I don’t care about.”
“I don’t give a shit about your friends. I’m surprised you have any, but if he stands in my way, I’ll have his head. You’ll give your oath to me, or your heritage will be used to plough mud and shit.”
He grimaced at the thought. “Ear will obey me. He survives, and I’ll help you.”
I shrugged. “You’ll give an oath to me. Serve me until I have that sword. I’ll give you your steel in the Hard Hill.”
He glowered at me, and looked over my shoulder at the Roman and Iodocus. He smiled wolfishly, and his teeth flashed. “I give the oath. And you are right. So very right. You’ll weep after this journey. Long before we fight, even.”
I nodded. “So be it.”
I got up and walked away. Iodocus shuddered as he took the blade in both hands. “I’m to go away then?”
“Go,” I said. “You and Danr will survive this, friend. The rest is up to me.”
He wanted to say something more, but I smiled at him, clasped him to me, and whispered farewells to his ear. He smiled, spat at Leuthard’s feet, and left with the sword. I stood there, staring into the darkness he left behind, and wished him well. I ignored Decimus, who was scowling, half forgotten, and I kneeled next to Leuthard.
He growled. It was not a man’s growl, but that of an irate animal, and he shifted in his seat. “This is all fine and well. But how will you stop the man? Raganthar is more that a match for you. He has enough men to kill me
, even.”
“But you’ll come back, right?” I mocked him. “I’ll try, and so will you. That’s the best we can do. Two weeks ago, I had never fought in a shieldwall, and now I have slain many. Few men do that, and live to boast about it.”
“I did that,” he said angrily. “I killed ten men in my first fight up north.” He heaved a huge breath. “I’ll lead you to them. Bero won’t be happy, but he can go hump himself. I want the sword and your head, and that’s the game, then. Sword for a sword, and one head at the end of the road. Untie me.”
“Let’s give Iodocus some time to get lost. Do you have any idea what they’ll do with it?” I asked him. “You said you have a guess.”
“I have a guess,” he said with a beastly smile. “They are mercenaries. Many use their services here on this side of the river. Some hire them over on our side. I didn’t ask, but come now. You know. You heard us speaking. He wanted the blade, and someone hired him to use the sword to—” He went silent.
“To what?” I asked brusquely. “I know they will kill someone to embroil the Marcomanni in a war. It’s a perfect tool for that. Kill a famous man, or a woman, and leave it there. Everyone knows who is to blame.”
He shrugged. “Yes. They’ll kill a man to discredit Hulderic. And more, the Marcomanni. It’s a well-known weapon, like mine,” he said with resentment. “Well-known.”
I rubbed my forehead, but Decimus spoke up. There was a note of worry in his voice. “How would they discredit this Hulderic? They’ll kill a Roman?”
Leuthard stretched his legs. “Something like that. They are planning on leaving the sword in the gut of someone high and mighty. Very high, very mighty. Roman. A legate, a noble? It will be someone who matters.”
“Do you know who hired them?” I asked him.
“Someone who will benefit from a Roman war with the Marcomanni, obviously,” he said with a bored voice. “I don’t know who. It could be anyone. He’ll be hard to stop out there. The Romans won’t trust you, or me. And Raganthar will have allies and conspirators helping him along. A plan like this must be executed perfectly. I don’t care if he dies at your hand, Adalwulf, but it is unlikely when we have no allies in the Roman service.”
We went quiet.
We turned to look at the Roman, and he had a huge grin on his face. “Did you say they plan on killing some high Roman?”
“Yes,” I whispered. “Someone who matters.”
His face took on a sympathetic frown. “A noble quest you are on, Adalwulf. For a sword. For peace? For a … woman? I see you love her.”
“Yes,” I said angrily. “I’m not a woman you have humped, you fop. Stop trying to charm me.”
Decimus snorted, and the indolent look disappeared. “It sounds like a promotion to me. Money, glory. It might make me feel better about losing the coins. It would do well to explain why I lost my men, their gear. A conspiracy. I’ll be celebrated. Stopping the murder will make me a hero. I will help you. I imagine it won’t be someone meaningless they are after, is it? To start a war, you kill someone that matters. I agree with you.” He mulled it over. “Likely, it will take place in Moganticum. That’s where we should go. They will know the blade of this Hulderic. And many high Romans visit the place.”
“Shall we go to Moganticum?” I asked Leuthard.
Leuthard shook his head. “No. We might, eventually. But now, we’ll travel in the wilds. The Den of the Brethren is not far from Moganticum, and we will find men there who know the truth. A man, for sure. We should go now.”
“Yes. I think Iodocus is far enough.”
He smiled nastily. “I’ll pay him back one day. So, let us leave. To the Den. We’ll find answer there. And perhaps the fate of … a woman? She’s alive, don’t worry. A lot will be made clear to you there. And your road of suffering will continue.”
He thrust his bound hands forward.
Gisil? Was she truly alive? How would he know? I felt the hand of fate, a cold grasping thing embrace my heart. There was something in Leuthard’s words that made me flinch, to fear the truth. The uneasy thoughts thundered through my mind, like thousand spears beating the hide of a shield, and I got a hold of myself with great difficulty. “Where is it?”
“I said I’ll show you,” he snarled. “Are you too afraid?”
“No,” I lied, but cut the ropes anyway.
He got up, and looked down at me. “Let’s go find some answers. Our road begins. Free the Roman.”
“I don’t trust him,” I murmured.
Leuthard snorted. “We don’t have to trust each other. We’ll travel together for a while. That is all.”
I cut the Roman’s bonds.
CHAPTER 20
We made our way out of the cellar, looking out for trouble. There was none. A sizable fire burned in the town above us, and so we rushed out of the hill in relative peace. We crossed some fields, rushed across wooded trails, and Leuthard, who had raided the land before, found a house with a fine stable. The men were busy in Sparrow’s Joy, fighting the Marcomanni and the fires, and none stopped us from taking some mounts. The boy left to watch them wisely made himself scarce when we appeared. We mounted the beasts, and guided them to the yard.
“Will they give chase?” I wondered.
“No,” Leuthard grinned. The village could be seen well from there. There were distant screams, and terrible amount of smoke pouring to the dark sky. I decided that would be the end of Seisyll’s home. “They’ll be busy for days,” the champion said, and turned his horse away.
We made haste, and let Leuthard show the way. He was silent, gazing carefully around in the darkness, picking routes we would never have found on our own. We followed a reedy stretch of river, which led to the wilds of Gaul. I thought we were headed north. He slapped his horse forward at a canter along the river’s banks, his head turning left and right.
We kept close to him, fully aware how dangerous he might be, but then, I didn’t trust Decimus either. I spend half my time cursing I had not taken Iodocus with me, and tried to convince myself I’d do well without him. He should survive, him and Danr, and take the news to Hard Hill.
Eventually, I rode next to Leuthard, keeping an eye on the blackness like he did, suspicious of the thickets. Eventually, I had to fight a yawn, feeling exhausted after the horrible night. “How much longer?”
“Long,” he said nebulously. “Too long.” He looked back at Decimus, who held a spear uneasily as he tried to listen on our Germanic banter. “Isn’t this a strange alliance.”
“It’s a strange one indeed, as desirable as a thief in a feast,” I said, hating the man. “Built on lies, greed, hatred and we’ll do well to finish with it fast.” I looked at him, and he shrugged.
“What?”
“Why didn’t you ride after Iodocus? You might have killed us,” I said, and he rolled his eyes, as if that was a fact. “You might have found him out there, or in Hard Hill. You had five days to do it.”
He thought about it. “Why? Obviously, I might fail. You guessed right I would do much for that blade. It is precious to me. Iodocus could lose it easily, if he saw me coming. He’ll be looking out for me. But there’s more, of course.” He was nodding to himself, muttering. His head and neck were still caked with blood, and he had been wounded many timed in the battle, but he seemed unaffected, indomitable like a demi-god, ready to ride for days. “You have been very lucky,” Leuthard said at length. “They say you fought very well in the hall of Teutorigos, and that was your first fight? What, you got bruises and that stab wound and that was only a flesh one. Some slaps in the face? Raganthar was a fool not to make sure you died. A fool. And then you charged the back of Fulch’s men?”
“We stopped them, actually, he just helped,” Decimus said resentfully. “We held the Celts in line, when they were crumbling. Lost some lads in the process.”
Leuthard chuckled. “There. There’s luck, and there’s Roman steel to aid you. There will be a time you’ll get truly hurt. Then we see what kind
of a berserker you are. Woden might or might not give you a seat in his hall, and it depends on if you can die smiling. I have faced many men in my past. I’ve never turned down a challenge. I do this for my Feud Settler, but also to settle my feud with you. You get what you want, I get what’s mine, and gods will watch as we settle it. You’ll be a changed man by then. It will amuse me. Yes, I'll enjoy seeing you break. That’s why I’m doing this. But, for now, we will ride for hours yet. Conserve your strength.”
We rode for a time, and I felt my eyes closing. I don’t know how long I fought it, but in the end I napped, and woke up with a start when Sunna was trekking to the sky. Leuthard had left the river, and Decimus was leading my horse. I pulled the bridle from his hands, and he grinned at me tiredly. “Had a nice nap? All rested? No Roman could sleep like that in a saddle, but our auxilia can. Lazy mules.”
“We’ll all rest when we get there,” Leuthard said from the front, before I slapped the Roman out of his seat.
We dodged a small copse of beech trees, thundered up a hillside with yellow flowers, and spotted a lonely tree on top. The branches and leaves were swaying in a light breeze like light clouds across the sky, back and forth, and it looked both peaceful and eerie, as if the spirits of the night were there, lingering a moment after the long night, warning us off. Instead, Leuthard stopped by it, and looked over the land. Decimus was speaking with his horse, some odd Roman chant, and that was the only sound other than the snapping of the leaves.
“When?” I asked Leuthard.
“Soon,” he answered with a snarl. He was fidgeting and shrugged as he guided his horse closer to me. He pointed a finger across a dark wood with elevations, rocky crags, and some green rivers snaking across the woods. “We ride northwest. Raganthar’s mercenaries are a reclusive lot, and enjoy their privacy in a secluded spot near what we call the Gray Fur Hills. The locals around here call them something different,” he said with a crude smile, “but the locals don’t come there any longer, so they have lost the right to make up names.”
Adalwulf: The Two Swords (Tales of Germania Book 1) Page 26