Emily's Saga

by Travis Bughi

  It was dark wherever the colossus was, still beneath the water, but she was shocked to find it had stopped moving. She felt her pulse rise and commanded it to take a step forward and peer above the waves.

  It obeyed, lumbering forward up the steady slope until its head peeked above the ocean for the first time in half a year. Through its eyes, Emily saw the darkened village she’d arrived at only hours before.

  Yes, she sighed in her dream, relief washing into her mind. Yes! It’s here! If you’re still alive, Nicholas, hold on. I’m coming.

  Chapter 10

  Before Emily awoke from her dream, she commanded the colossus to kneel so it would sink beneath the frigid water and not disturb the inhabitants of the small village. She awoke feeling fresh and full of purpose and had no qualms about disturbing Takeo’s sleep with a kiss.

  He murmured awake, stretched, and then rubbed an eye.

  “Good morning to you, too,” he said.

  “My colossus is here,” she whispered.

  Takeo’s fluttering eyes popped open, and Emily felt him tense beneath her.

  “Truly?” he asked, hopeful.

  “Yes.” She kissed him again. “It’s so close I can feel it even now. I could command it with a thought, I’m sure!”

  Takeo glanced around, but Gelik wasn’t in the cabin anymore. He pulled Emily close and ran his hand through her hair to tuck it over her ear.

  “That’s great news,” he said. “Judging by the fact I don’t hear anyone screaming, I’m guessing you somehow hid it away?”

  She nodded. “It’s beneath the waves just off shore.”

  “How soon can we leave? Can we use it to reach Ragnar’s lands?”

  “Maybe.” She shrugged. “First we have to know where those lands are, and it might be faster to travel by boat with the colossus walking beneath us.”

  “We’ll also need some food.”

  “That, too.”

  They found Gelik outside, chopping wood, still in his fur suit, but now wearing boots. Jarl Valgrith was outside, too, seated on a low stool just outside his door, stuffing a pipe. He was still shirtless, letting his thick chest hair serve as the only barrier to the cold morning air. Emily shivered just looking at him, but he didn’t acknowledge either of the village’s visitors, not even when they approached him.

  “Morning,” Emily said.

  “Aye, it is,” Valgrith muttered, looking out across the water. “Perceptive, ain’t you?”

  You wouldn’t last a second in a minotaur’s presence, she thought, then said, “Yes, now if you’re finished being rude, you said something about mutiny and food last night?”

  Jarl Valgrith finally glanced up at her, and she saw a flicker of change in his features. His eyes softened for a moment, and he sighed.

  “Sorry,” he muttered. “Don’t get too many visitors around here, and I didn’t have much luck out on the last voyage. Savara ain’t as easy pickins as I remember it being. Pull up a log.”

  Emily and Takeo took a seat in front of the jarl, giving them a view of not just him, but also the slowly awakening village. Gelik chopped away while others began exiting their homes. There was a young couple who brought out their small baby to see the newcomers, an older man who took his son to go off to the woods with axes in hand, and an old lady who stepped out to wash a set of tiny clothes. They all gave Emily and Takeo lingering glances, especially the little boy, but did nothing else. The jarl acknowledged a few of them with a slight nod.

  “My name’s Valgrith Valgrithson,” he said.

  Shocking, Emily smirked.

  “I’m Emily Stout,” she responded, “and this is Takeo Karaoshi. Pleased to meet you.”

  Takeo nodded, but Valgrith just pursed his lips and broke eye contact again. He stared out toward the water, took in a deep breath of cold air, and exhaled hot steam into the windless morning.

  “I haven’t been to Ragnarson’s lands for a few years,” he said. “Last time I did, my wife decided to stay with him, and I didn’t take too kindly to that. I guess I can’t blame him for taking advantage of an honest whore’s ways, though. I should have known that was coming when I stole her out of a pirate captain’s bed.

  “But anyway, mutiny. I heard rumors that Ragnar ran a string of bad luck and was replaced, rather brutally, by some upstart—by that, I mean a foreigner he raised up by his own hand—so the whole thing sounded tainted to me from the get-go. When I heard the news, I didn’t bother to inquire much more. I didn’t have many dealings with Ragnar, not since the last I saw him.”

  “Mutiny by some upstart?” Emily brought the conversation a step back. “It was a foreigner? Do you know if he was young?”

  Was he my brother?

  “Couldn’t tell you,” Valgrith said. “Like I said, I didn’t ask about it. I ought to. I really should. Anyone who lives in The North had best know his neighbors if he wants to survive, but I’ve only been back for a short while with other things to occupy my time. Might be you’ll get better information as you head that way. The place you’re looking for is directly east, straight as the coastline will take you. It’s at least a month or two’s travel by foot around the mountains, though I’m not sure, as I’ve never made the hike myself. Vikings prefer to travel by sea. If you had a ship, you could be there in a few days.”

  He chuckled at the joke he thought he was making. Emily, however, saw nothing funny. As far as she was concerned, the jarl had just made her a tempting offer.

  “So, you could sail us there?” she asked.

  “Aye,” he snorted, “if you paid well enough. I don’t deal in promises, though, so unless you stashed a hoard of treasure up that hill, you might want to start packing. You asked me about food, so here’s how it will go. You can ask the people here for the things you need and do some favors in return. I got some dirty jobs that need doing, too, so if you’re interested, you can start by scraping my ship’s bottom clean of the all the gunk that’s decided to started growing on her belly. It’s hard work, but I suspect the two of you could finish in a couple days, maybe less, then add another week in for helping my crew and their families and—”

  “What will it take for you to sail us?” she cut him off.

  Valgrith coughed the rest of his words and then eyed Emily like she’d lost her mind. His upper lip curled as he glanced at Takeo, but he must not have seen anything worth noting because he turned back to Emily and snorted.

  “I already told you I’d have to be well paid—”

  “Just think of a task you need done,” she cut in again. “One of such importance that you’d sail me to Ragnar’s lands—or whosever lands they are now.”

  Valgrith was eyeing her harshly, questioning her sanity, but she didn’t care at this point. She’d never been too concerned with her pride or reputation. This jarl could think as little of her as he wanted, just so long as he sailed her where she wanted to go.

  It wasn’t just her brother that she feared for. That was a strong worry, of course, wondering which side of the mutiny her brother had been on, but judging that Ragnar had adopted Nicholas as a son, Emily doubted her brother had turned on the old jarl. There was a chance, though, and she wanted to spend as few nights as possible waiting to find out the truth. A month or two of travel would not cut it.

  Not to mention she had a rakshasa and vampire to kill . . . again.

  It’s a good thing you never told me what I was signing up for, Emily thought of Quartus. I might have taken death.

  “You could build me a second ship?” Valgrith raised an eyebrow.

  “Do you have something that requires less skill?” Emily asked. “Maybe something that could be accomplish by brute strength?”

  The jarl smirked, then chuckled, then laughed, slapping his knee and drawing the attention of yet more villagers who were rising along with what meager light passed as the sun’s rays in The North. He continued laughing both long and hard enough that he had to stop and catch a breath.

  “You want a task?” He
wiped a tear from his eye. “Alright, here’s a task. Do you see these mountains all around us and that small pass you used to get into our little cove?”

  He pointed in the direction Emily and Takeo had come, as if they wouldn’t know otherwise, and then to the mountains that surrounded the cove, as if they would think he was talking about some other mountains.

  “I lord over a relatively small establishment,” he continued, “as you can see. Just me and about a dozen others capable of fighting, and nearly half of them are related. The women have to steal husbands, and the men have to steal wives when we go raiding, just to keep things interesting. I have to leave old man Gelik behind so he can train the young ones to replace us when we go on to Valhalla. He doesn’t like it much—thinks he’s going to hell—but one day I’ll square off with him and give him the death he wants. Long story short is that this place ain’t as nice as some others, but it’s home, and we like it ‘cause it’s quiet.

  “Unfortunately, though, quiet don’t mean peaceful. I don’t own any slaves or wargs, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, but I do have the occasional orc problem. I don’t mind the excitement—fighting is something we vikings live and die for—but I’d rather they didn’t raid us when I’m not here. It’s not enough of a problem for us to post sentries, but if I could close this cove off when I wanted, that’d be something. That pass there is just a tad too large for my liking as it is, and if it were a tunnel instead. . .”

  He breathed out and looked up at the sky. His eyes suggested he could see what he wanted, and Emily glanced up, too, but could not see his vision.

  “You want a tunnel?” she clarified. “I give you that, and you’d sail us to Ragnar’s old lands?”

  “Aye, something tall enough that it’d be hard to climb and easy enough to defend,” Valgrith answered. “The tunnel should be wide enough to take a cart through, but small enough we could wedge it closed with a boulder. So, assuming you don’t die from the labor or I don’t die of old age before you complete it, then, yes, I’d take you to see whomever it is that lopped off Ragnar’s head.”

  He smiled, and Emily felt inclined to smile back. His suggested she was crazy, while hers suggested he’d made an error in judgment. She didn’t blame him, though. Being underestimated was something she was very good at.

  Emily rose from her seat and walked towards the water.

  “You might want to get started!” Valgrith called after her, chuckling.

  “I am,” she said over her shoulder.

  Takeo leaned forward to place his elbows on his knees and gave Valgrith a slow blink when the two exchanged glances. Emily hid her smile and stepped forward until her boots touched the frozen ground just shy of where the waves touched. That water was far too cold for her liking—or the liking of anything warm-blooded besides a leviathan.

  She found herself dreaming of having a leviathan nearby, heating the water enough for her to take a hot bath. She could have really used one—not only because she was beginning to forget what warm water felt like, but also because she stunk. Neither she nor Takeo had bathed since their time with the dwarves, yet they had sweated plenty in their warm clothes.

  How odd, she contemplated, that every solution brings new problems.

  And then she closed her eyes, reached out with her mind, and touched the hallowed stone that nestled beneath the waves. In her mind, she saw dark water all around, while above, she saw a feeble shimmer of light that sparkled and dimmed as the icy waves rolled overhead. She felt strong, tough, and solid, and realized she had lost touch with her own body. In fear, she recoiled from the colossus and re-entered her own skin, opening her eyes.

  But though her breath had quickened, she was still standing. For a moment, she’d been worried that she’d fallen or collapsed, but she was glad to see she hadn’t.

  “What are you doing?” Valgrith shouted.

  Emily heard Takeo shush him, and she focused again.

  Don’t be afraid, she thought. Rule one: remain calm.

  She reached out again and touched the stone with her consciousness. It was strange, to slip out of her skin and into the stone body of something inhuman, but she’d had plenty of practice in her dreams and found the only difficulty was in not getting distracted by how easy it was.

  I wonder if me being inside this thing makes it sentient, she thought. Now rise and come forward.

  And the colossus obeyed, rising to its feet in a motion that appeared slow for its size yet was incredibly fast all the same. Its grey eyes, visible behind the slit in its stony helmet, broke into the open air, and Emily heard shouting and cries of terror from the shore. Then the colossus stepped forward, pushing the water aside to create a small tidal wave that thundered towards the shore. With each step, the ground shook, beginning as nothing more than a slight shift, but rising in intensity as it approached. By the time the colossus’ chiseled upper body was above water, finding its second touch of air in nearly a year, the ground was trembling with every blow, rocking even the surrounding mountains. The fall of rocks shifting loose and tumbling down into the cove could be heard among the infrequent gaps between shouts and cries from the vikings.

  And still the colossus approached, and Emily heard a cry that was not as much a scream as it was a sign of battle. She commanded the colossus to stop and opened her eyes, turning just in time to see Jarl Valgrith charging her with axe raised and mouth open in a perpetual war cry.

  She made no move to dodge him for there was no need. Takeo was on the man in a moment, barreling into him while sweeping his feet. The viking crashed into the frozen ground and went still when he felt the cold tip of a katana press against the back of his neck.

  “Stay,” Takeo commanded.

  But Jarl Valgrith was not alone. He had a crew, all who were capable of fighting, and at the sight of their jarl’s courage, they shook free of their fear. With fervent cries, they raised weapons and charged down, encircling Takeo.

  “What are you?” Valgrith yelled at Emily from the ground. “What in the world are you? Tell me!”

  He still gripped his weapon, knuckles bone white, and Emily knew he was ready to die. She waited until the crew’s attention shifted from Takeo to her, and then came forward slowly to stop just before the jarl’s face. Her boots were wet from the waves, and the water behind her still lapped from the disturbance. Even the jarl’s ship was rocking, despite being dragged halfway up onto the shore. Standing stoically behind her, the colossus towered above them all while sunk halfway into the ocean. Its beautifully carved body, made to appear like the epitome of male fitness, was only marred by the green slime that clung to its stony skin.

  “I’m human,” she said to the jarl, “just like you. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

  “You don’t scare me!” Valgrith balked, his words sounding more reactive than honest.

  “I didn’t mean that either,” she said, barely holding back a smile. “What I meant is that I’m sorry I didn’t warn you that I have . . . inherited power. I wasn’t going to show it at all until you made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I meant what I said when I met you last night. I mean you no harm. I just want help, that’s all.”

  The viking, his crew, and their families stood gasping. They looked at Emily as if she were a freak, and then she realized she probably was. A part of her wanted to be offended by their stares, but such an emotion seemed weak and pathetic. She had never needed sympathy before, and she certainly didn’t need it now. What did she care if they thought differently of her? When had anyone, other than Takeo or Chara, considered her an equal? For better or worse, she was used to being judged wrongly, and she found it easy to keep her face placid against such hostility.

  “That’s a colossus, ain’t it?” Valgrith asked. “One of the ones from Lucifan? I saw them once.”

  Emily nodded.

  “By Valhalla,” the jarl gaped. “It listens to you. You can’t be one of them angels, can you? I never saw one, and I don’t know a viking that did either
. I heard they’re like valkyries.”

  “Similar, I suppose, but less in common than you think. But no, I’m human, remember? Don’t you worry about why this one follows me. It’s a long story, and you’re better off not knowing. Just tell me something: does your offer still stand? If I build you a tunnel—or this colossus builds you a tunnel—you’ll sail me where I want to go?”

  Takeo took his blade off the back of Valgrith’s neck and sheathed it. The other vikings relaxed only a hair while they stared at their jarl. He, in turn, gave Emily several disbelieving blinks.

  “You’re asking?” Valgrith squinted. “You have a colossus at your fingertips, and you’re bargaining with me? Hahaha! You got yourself a deal, girl! Build me a tunnel, leave me and my people alive, and I’ll put you on my back and swim you to Ragnar’s old lands.”

  Chapter 11

  For reasons she couldn’t explain, Emily felt guilty for not realizing she could have simply demanded passage from the jarl. She could have made an extraordinary display of power, stood tall—or as tall as her short stature would allow—with her hands on her hips, hair blowing in the breeze, and ordered the village to do her bidding. She could almost imagine herself overlooking the vikings as they gathered supplies and readied the ship under her command.

  Maybe she could have thrown in a maniacal laugh while she was at it?

  That was all fantasy, though. She would not have done any of that, but it seemed disturbing that the idea had never come to mind until Valgrith had brought it up. It was like she was blinded, unable to see all of her options and incapable of taking advantage of her abilities. It brought to light her training with Takeo in the forests of Juatwa and how long it had taken him to break her of the unnecessary limits she’d placed upon herself. Everyone always told Emily that she was a swift learner, but it was Takeo who had realized she’d never learned to teach herself. He’d pushed her beyond that plateau, made her realize there were no rules in war, and now here she was, on the edge of civilization, making rules that applied to no one but herself.