We stood in silence, listening to the sounds of the Vargr as they grew steadily closer. I noticed that everyone had their hands casually laying on the handles of their weapons. I found that even I was keeping my wrists on the pommels of my two swords. We might be agreeing to work with them, to fight alongside them and possibly die with them; but that didn't mean we trusted them. Trust would not come easy.
When they emerged from the trees, I noticed that there were two less than there had been the night before. Ten of the warriors were riding on the backs of the gigantic Vargr and there were two of the monstrous animals following along behind them that had no riders. I wondered if they had encountered the Eldjötnar since we had spoken to them last. I didn't like the thought of that, since it meant that the Eldjötnar were close.
When they rode up to us and stopped, I noticed that it was Vigdis and Valdis who were missing. The thought of them both falling to the enemy bothered me more than I expected it to. I think that Thrym could see the look on my face as I glanced up and down the line of mounted warriors.
“Do not fear,” said Thrym almost mockingly, “The frost-sisters still live. They are bringing along a gift for you all.”
Before I could question that statement, I heard a sound that I recognized almost instantly. It was the thundering of hooves. More specifically, it was the sound of heavy horses moving at a quick pace. Turning towards the source of the sound, I saw a sight which I never would have expected. Coming towards us was a small herd of massive horses being led by Vigdis, who was riding the lead horse. Altogether, there were close to twenty of the magnificent animals. The iconic look of them allowed me to recognize them instantly.
“Isn't that the Budweiser Clydesdales?” said Butcher, pointing.
“I believe it is,” I replied, shaking my head. “Where did you find them?”
The last question was directed at Thrym.
“Near the city of St. Louis,” he replied. “I knew that you and your people would need different mounts than we have. After all, the Vargr would not let you ride them. They serve only us.”
I noticed that four of the horses were pulling a sleigh loaded down with bundles of gear. I could only speculate what would need to be pulled by four of the powerful Clydesdales. Whatever it was, it had to be heavy. Valdis was driving the sleigh.
“What's in the bundles?” I asked, gesturing at the sleigh.
“Saddles and tack for the horses,” explained Thrym, “and armor and equipment for your people.”
“Not that I don't appreciate the generosity,” I said, turning towards him, “but what will all of this cost us?”
“Nothing,” replied Thrym. “This equipment belonged to warriors who fell in battle. We will honor their memory by using it to defeat the Eldjötnar.”
“Fair enough,” I said, frowning.
I knew that something like this rarely came without a price tag. Thrym didn't strike me as the type of person who would waste an advantage by not attaching strings to the gift. I had the distinct feeling that he would use this against us when it suited him. I was going to have to be careful when dealing with Thrym. It would be better for us all if we stayed out of his debt.
“Let's head back to the compound and get this gear unloaded,” I called out to the group. “Once we're inside, we can get a bite to eat and start planning our next move.”
“The Vargr cannot come inside,” announced Bergelmir. “They cannot be trusted around the horses or the children.”
I could see the frown on Thrym's face, but he didn't argue.
“He is right,” added Aurvandil. “It would not be wise to bring them inside with the others. The cold will not bother them and they can hunt for their own food. They will be fine outside.”
I watched a dark expression pass over Thrym's face as he shot Aurvandil a sharp look. I wasn't sure if it was for speaking up or for agreeing with us. I knew that they had nothing to gain by allowing the Vargr to kill the horses or any of our people. It would only cause trouble between our forces and we really didn't need that. We had enough enemies to fight without fighting each other. That would come soon enough.
Instead of trying to saddle any of the horses right then, we just led the group back to the entrance on foot. I sent Marko on ahead to open the big gates. There was no way that we would be able to bring the horses down the stairs. They were simply too big to fit through the doorway, even if they could have managed going down the steps. With the massive hooves of the Clydesdales, that was highly unlikely.
The Hrimthurssar climbed down from their Vargr mounts and began removing saddles and gear. Once they were unloaded, Thrym turned to his own mount, which was the largest of the pack, and spoke to him.
“Stay close and be ready to come if we call,” he said, stroking the beast's muzzle.
With that it turned and headed off towards the trees, with the others right behind it. By the time the gates began to rumble open, the Vargr had already disappeared into the woods. Only the occasional short howl could be heard on the wind. They were definitely hunting something. Whatever it was, I knew that it didn't stand a chance against the unbridled fury of the Vargr.
Once we had gotten everything inside, the gates began to rumble shut behind us. I could see that quite a few of our own people had come out to see the new arrivals. No one was willing to step forward and greet the newcomers, especially since everyone knew that our last encounter with them was when they were trying to kill us all.
“I asked Karen and the kitchen crew to put out some food for us,” said Marko. “She didn't seem too happy about it when I told her who was coming to breakfast.”
“I didn't really expect her to be,” I said, smiling.
“Who is this Karen?” asked Vigdis, from behind us.
“My wife,” I said, turning to face her.
“I am interested in meeting her,” said Vigdis, folding her arms across her chest. “I want to know the woman who could have such a hold over you.”
I remembered when she had said she would kill her so we could be together. I wondered if she still intended to try. I didn't doubt that Karen could defend herself against most threats, but Vigdis was something different. Vigdis was a warrior and would not be easy to fight. Karen would lose. The thing is, I also told Vigdis that she would have to kill me before she would get to Karen. I meant every word of that, too. If she tried it, she would find out just how serious I was.
As Vigdis walked away, she glanced back over her shoulder at me with a devious look on her face. I had no idea what she was planning, but I knew enough about her to know that whatever it was would be swift and deadly. If she did make a move, it was going to degenerate into a full-on battle between them and us.
We separated the gear for the horses from the armor and equipment. We led the horses to the stable area that we had already set aside for our own horses. I smiled when I noticed that Ebon was two or three hands taller than the largest of the Clydesdales. After we put away all of the gear for the horses, we started sorting out the armor and weapons. Then we carried all of it into the big kitchen.
I could see that the dining area had been emptied of people, but the smell of cooking food and the clinking of dishes indicated that the kitchen staff was inside and working to accommodate the meal for our group. It smelled really good, too. The best part was the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.
We began by laying out all of the gear on the tables. Then we matched suits to each of our people as close to their size as we could find. Valdis demonstrated just how easy it was to customize the armor and soon we had our entire group fitted with the same black armor that I was wearing. Those who didn't have weapons of their own chose from the assortment that had been set out for us to pick through.
By the time all of the selections had been made, Karen and the others were setting out breakfast foods in buffet pans and warming trays. Once everyone had filled their plates and taken seats, Karen came over and sat beside me with a forced smile on her face. I knew from years of
marriage that she wasn't even remotely happy. The smile wasn't fooling me at all.
“Wylie,” she began through clenched teeth, “just what in the hell were you thinking, inviting them in here?”
“They won't be here very long,” I explained. “We've got to prepare for a new enemy. For the moment, they're on our side.”
“I don't like the sound of that,” she said, the smile fading from her lips.
“I won't let anything happen,” I assured her. “They need us more than we need them, at the moment. They won't start anything. Even if they do, we'll finish it.”
“If they do,” she said, turning to face me, “a lot of people in here will get caught in the crossfire.”
“We'll keep them away from the main group, as much as possible,” I said, smiling thinly.
“Good,” she replied. “I don't like having them here.”
“No one does,” I said, softly. “We'll just have to make the best of a bad situation.”
After everyone had eaten, we set aside an area for the Hrimthurssar to use as quarters. While we were arranging the furniture, I looked over to see Vigdis and Valdis were talking to Karen. While the conversation wasn't loud enough for me to hear from across the room, I could tell from Karen's body language that she was on edge. The warrior sisters stood almost casually, with smiles on their lips, but I could see that all of their eyes would occasionally flick in my direction. Even Karen would glance at me from time to time. I had the uneasy feeling that I was the topic of the conversation.
Since we were busy at that moment, I didn't take the time to go over to find out what was going on. Karen is a big girl and can take care of herself. If there was trouble, I would get involved. I knew from first-hand experience that she could out argue just about anyone, myself included. When it came to verbal fencing, Vigdis may have bitten off more than she could chew. If it came to blows, I would be more than happy to step in.
Once our guests were settled in, I headed down to the armory. I found Johnny Bowman working at the reloading station. He'd been busy since the last time I had been in there. He had stacks of ammo sitting on a shelf with my name on it. I recognized the writing on the boxes and realized that he had stockpiled a massive amount of ammo for the Beowulf and for my XVR. When I went into battle again, I would have enough to see me through.
“Wylie,” he said, smiling broadly. “I was just finishing up with the last of my .50 caliber brass. I think I have enough ammo for you to last a while.”
“I certainly hope so,” I agreed, nodding appreciatively. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” he said. “What brings you down here?”
“Well, I wanted to resupply my ammo,” I said, gesturing at the stack, “but I also need a favor.”
“Name it,” he said, turning to face me.
“I want you to take a suit of this armor and tear it apart,” I said, tossing him a bag that held a full set that we hadn't used.
“Alright,” he said, catching the bag. “What am I looking for, specifically?”
“I want to know the weak spots,” I explained. “I need to know where I need to concentrate my defense and…”
“Where to hit the big blue guys when the time comes,” he finished for me, smiling deviously. “I had a feeling you would be planning for that contingency.”
“I don't trust them,” I said shaking my head. “We may have to work with them at the moment, but I'm not naïve enough to think they won't turn on us as soon as we defeat the Eldjötnar.”
“If there's a weak spot,” he said, nodding, “I'll find it.”
“Thanks, Johnny,” I said, reaching for his hand and shaking it.
“You're expecting this fight to get nasty, aren't you?” he asked, his expression growing dark.
“Yes,” I said, softly. “I think it will be the biggest battle we've faced. Only this one is for all the marbles.”
“What if you win?” he asked.
“Then we stop Ragnarok,” I said. “The world will begin to heal and we'll have a real shot at creating a life here.”
“And if we lose?” he said, dread in his tone.
“Everything is lost,” I said. “The world ends and everyone with it.”
“So, basically,” he said, shaking his head, “no pressure or anything.”
“Basically,” I said, shrugging.
“Oh, by the way,” said Bowman, smiling. “I discovered something that you might find interesting.”
“What's that?” I asked, turning towards him.
“I found a box of synthetic lubricant,” he said, reaching down beneath the table and grabbing a bottle.
He tossed it in my direction and I deftly caught it, examining the label. It was in the usual military jargon, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary about it. For all I could tell, it was just another type of gun oil.
“Ok,” I said, shrugging. “I'll bite. What's so special about it?”
“It's made from a silicone base,” he said, smiling. “It won't freeze until it gets a hell of a lot colder than it has been. This should be good down to minus fifty or so.”
I grinned and looked up at him like a kid given a new bike on his birthday.
“Yeah, I know that look,” said Bowman, returning the smile. “That means you can use your guns without worrying about them freezing up. Just keep them dry and try to keep the snow out of them. Other than that, you should be good to go.”
“Out-fucking-standing,” I said, smiling broadly. “I'll be putting this on all of my weapons tonight.”
“I'll make sure everyone else gets this stuff, too,” he said, grabbing the box. “There should be enough of it to last us a while.”
“That's the best news I've had in days,” I replied. “Thanks Johnny.”
“No problem,” he said, grinning proudly. “That's what I'm here for.”
Grabbing a duffel bag, I began loading up all of the ammo that he had prepared for my weapons. I was surprised at the weight of the boxes of bullets for the Beowulf. They felt heavier than I had remembered.
“Is there something different about these?” I asked, holding up one of the boxes.
“You're damned right there is,” he said. “I did away with the soft-core jacketed rounds and replaced them with a monolithic solid slug. You'll get much heavier penetration on bigger targets.”
I noticed that when he said “bigger targets” he was jerking his thumb towards the sleeping areas. I couldn't help but smile at that. The Beowulf had been effective against them in the past, but now it was going to be downright devastating. I hoped that it would have the same effect on the Eldjötnar.
“Outstanding,” I said, smiling.
Heading out of the armory, I slung the bag of ammo over my shoulder and headed for my own quarters. As I was crossing the big vehicle bay, I saw one of the Hrimthurssar emerge from the hallway and glance around. When he saw me, I could see the smile form on his face as he headed for me. I ran through their names and remembered he was called Aurvandil.
“Grant,” he said, as he approached. “Do you have a moment?”
“Sure,” I replied. “Aurvandil? Isn't it?”
“Yes,” he said, nodding. “Can we take a walk? I would prefer to not have the others overhear us.”
I was curious about what he wanted to discuss, so I just nodded and gestured to the area on the far end of the bay where we had stabled the horses.
“How about over there?” I asked.
“That will be fine,” he agreed.
We fell into step beside each other as we made our way towards the stable area. Although he was easily a foot taller than me, he matched my pace so that I didn't have to practically sprint to keep up with him. We walked in silence until we were entering the penned area. With a quick glance around the area to make sure we were alone, he turned towards me and nodded.
“I think it is safe for us to talk,” he said, keeping his voice low.
“What's on your mind?” I asked, matching his conspira
torial tone.
“I just wanted to say that not all of us are your enemy,” he said.
“I thought we were all allies here?” I said, not wanting to tip my hand.
“For now,” he said. “If things do not go well, just remember that not all of us are like Thrym.”
“I will,” I said, nodding. “Should I be expecting trouble?”
“Not yet,” he cautioned. “But once the Eldjötnar have been defeated, it will be a different story.”
“Thank you for the head's up,” I said. “I'll keep it in mind.”
With that, Aurvandil headed out of the stables and disappeared into the vehicle bay. I stayed and checked on the horses, since I was already there. I waited for a few moments to make sure he was far enough away before I turned my back on him. Maybe his warning was sincere and maybe it wasn't, but I wasn't about to trust him until I had a reason to.
Once I was certain I was alone, I took out my battered harmonica and turned it over in my rough hands, examining the engraving on the sides. The dings and scratches added character to the old instrument. Since it had belonged to a soldier who had fought in the Civil War, I knew that each of those marks was a story. I wondered what stories it could tell, if it could speak. I also wondered what kind of stories it would tell, once I was gone. I hoped that they were worthy of the Unknown Soldier who had carried it before.
Bringing it reverently to my lips, I began to play. Softly at first, but with growing power and confidence. Soon the haunting notes echoed around the chamber, bringing to life the haunting tune that seemed to eerily fill every shadow and corner with its song. Once again, I found myself playing The Ashokan Farewell.
I closed my eye and let the chilling notes flow. I felt a cold tear making its way down my cheek at the images that the tune evoked in my mind's eye. Battles fought with musket and sword, blood and sweat, courage and honor. My visions swam and I could see the battles that we had fought, as well. As the haunting song began to come to an end, the visions were moving into battles that I had not yet fought. Were they visions of the future or just my own fears taking form?
Ragnarok Rising: Desolation: Book Five of the Ragnarok Rising Saga Page 13
