Outsider
Page 12
‘This way!’
‘There!’ Jarl yelled, seeing Knud’s hand scrambling up from a hole in the ground, his nails clawing at the dirt as if something was trying to pull him down. His scream echoed and he disappeared.
Without a second’s hesitation, Jarl flung himself into the hole. Skad and Halvard reached out to grab him but it was too late.
‘Do not follow us!’ Astrid ordered, quickly tossing her wolf-skin onto the ground and hurtling into the tunnel after Jarl.
Down below, Jarl’s torch all but went out as he plummeted at a frightening speed before slowing and hitting the ground. He shook himself off, shuffled himself forward, and looked around to see he was in a large cavern, with the sound of several loud creatures shuddering in the many tunnels leading off from it. Jarl raised his torch. The flame picked up and shone brightly, the light bouncing off the silky smooth stone. Huge shadows backed down the tunnels, away from the light.
‘Help me!’
Jarl turned towards the sound of Knud’s voice and threw himself into the tunnel to his right. He crawled as fast as he could, Knud’s yells getting closer and closer. The tunnel began to slope downwards and he pressed his arms and legs tightly against the walls to stop himself from falling, using the ridges in the stone like the rungs of a ladder.
‘Knud! Don’t move!’ Astrid shouted. Jarl turned and saw her crawling down the tunnel behind him. ‘Don’t move or they’ll crush you to death!’
Astrid grabbed hold of Jarl’s leg and yanked him backwards. ‘You have to put the torch out!’ she hissed.
Using his legs to hold himself up in the now almost vertical tunnel, Jarl closed his hands around the burning torch and the flames hissed as they were smothered by his bare skin. He grimaced but didn’t make a sound. Dropping the torch, he let go of his grip on the wall and hurtled down the tunnel, landing with a thump. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he drew his sword and dagger, his eyes flitting around wildly. Something large shuffled towards him, and Knud, to his right, whimpered in the dark.
Astrid dropped to the ground behind him, barely making a sound.
‘Knud! Don’t move!’ she whispered.
It was pitch black and Jarl couldn’t see a thing. The creature slid across the ground a few feet away from them both.
‘Jarl!’ Knud cried out, his voice a deep rasp as he struggled to breathe.
Jarl raised his sword and took a step forward, but Astrid reached out and grabbed him tightly around his neck, pulling him back.
‘No! Don’t move!’ she whispered. ‘Whatever you do, don’t move! It’ll kill him! You need to trust me!’
He wanted more than anything to ignore her, to help Knud, but he knew he was out of his depth. He had to trust her. Astrid loosened her grip and Jarl backed up against the wall.
Inching forwards, Astrid looked over at Knud, her eyes adjusting to the dark. Curled around him like a snake, the Angu worm had him trapped, its stony skin pulsating as it tightened its grip. Knud’s face was red and terrified and he struggled to breathe, his hands scratching around in panic.
Reaching the Angu worm, so close her knees were almost touching its sides, Astrid stretched out her hand and grabbed Knud’s. Knud screamed out as he felt someone take it in the darkness, but Astrid held it firmly so he couldn’t pull away.
Jarl suddenly saw a faint, blue glow in the darkness ahead of him, which slowly got stronger. He could just make out the shape of one of Astrid’s hands holding Knud’s, the blue glow from her other hand partially illuminating the cavern. He could hear dozens more worms in the nearby tunnels, rattling threateningly but not approaching. The blue light wasn’t hurting them, but something about it was making them stay away.
Astrid fixed her eyes on Knud, urging him to look at her. Slowly he calmed, and bit by bit, the Angu loosened its tail. Jarl noticed that Knud’s breathing was no longer pained and heavy but that Astrid appeared to be struggling. Each of her breaths was deep and short.
‘Good! Almost there! Don’t move!’ she whispered. The worm had almost completely unravelled and began to slide into one of the many worm holes speckling the wall. Within seconds, it had disappeared.
‘Are you ok?’ Astrid asked gently. Knud nodded, but his legs suddenly gave way.
‘My legs! It grabbed me by my legs!’ he said, peering down at his steel boots that were dented from the Angu’s powerful jaws, the only thing that had stopped them from being mutilated. The rest of him, his arms and hands especially, were visibly bruised.
‘We need to get back outside,’ Astrid whispered, hearing the other worms in the nearby tunnels shuddering as they approached.
‘I can’t see anything,’ Jarl muttered, doing his best to keep his voice as low as possible, but it resonated against the cavern walls and vibrated through the tunnels. Several of the worms slithered out and approached them slowly. Jarl grabbed Knud and pressed his hand over his mouth to stop him from screaming.
Nobody moved. Knud whimpered as he felt one of the Angu slide by, its stony skin making a scraping sound on the steel of his boot.
Astrid reached out to Jarl and grabbed his arm, then inch by inch, guided him through the darkness. Jarl had a firm grip on Knud’s arm, and together, slowly, they made their escape. Every few steps they stopped and listened, and when one of the worms slithered around their feet in a circle, Knud shook like a leaf but didn’t dare move.
For a moment, Jarl felt Astrid let go of his arm when a second worm appeared, and he closed his eyes, praying Knud wouldn’t start screaming.
There was a loud clatter in the distance, like a stone hitting the wall further down the cavern. The Angu around their feet unwound themselves and slithered away, and Astrid’s hand reached out in the dark again and led them away.
Jarl felt a breeze above him, and looking up, saw a faintly lit vertical tunnel. A little reflected moonlight was enough for Jarl to be able to make out the rough outline of Astrid’s face and the worried expression on it. He looked up again at the tunnel and although he could see ridges further up, there was no way they could reach them.
‘Don’t move!’ Astrid whispered, stepping back from the moonlight and retreating into the darkness. She took a breath and ran towards him, leaping up as high as she could, using Jarl’s shoulder as a stepping stone. Her hands just about reached the edge of the first ridge and she hauled herself up, securing her feet against either side of the tunnel’s walls. Catching her breath, she peered down at the others. Even if Knud used Jarl for a step-up, there would be no way for Jarl to join them.
Reaching up to her face, Astrid unwound the veil from around her neck and lowered it down the tunnel towards them. Jarl motioned to Knud to climb it and he quickly did as he was told, struggling at first. Astrid pulled on the veil as he climbed and grabbed his hand to help him manoeuvre past her. As soon as his feet were securely against the tunnel walls, Astrid dropped the veil back down for Jarl, her eyes widening as she saw one of the large Angu sliding towards him. Jarl reached up for the veil and gripped it firmly, ready to climb as fast as he could. Astrid braced herself.
‘Jarl! Watch out!’ Knud hollered from above them, seeing the worm circling. Astrid glared at him, urging him to be silent.
Jarl fixed his eyes on Astrid’s face, not trusting himself to look at the Angu, worried he would instinctively lash out if it came too close.
Feeling his eyes on her, Astrid gripped the sash tightly, looking past Jarl and at the Angu worm. She was certain that Jarl was looking at her like every other stranger did when they first saw her face - with disgust and horror. But when her eyes caught his for a moment, she was shocked to see that she was wrong. Jarl was looking at her like he couldn’t even see the scars, his blue eyes fixed on hers. Looking only at her eyes.
After circling him several times, the Angu worm slid away, and Jarl climbed the sash frantically. Astrid reached down and took his hand, helping him climb past her into the tunnel above.
Halvard and Skad yelped with relief as soon as the
y saw Knud’s bright red hair emerging from the earth. They reached down and hauled him up before turning back to help Jarl.
Seeing none of them turn to help Astrid, Jarl turned back and reached down the tunnel for her, took her hand firmly in his and pulled her out. Halvard and Skad saw her face and grimaced, Halvard gasping loudly, revolted by the sight. Astrid quickly wrapped the sash veil back around her neck and clipped the end over her face, then picked up her wolf-skin and strolled back to the clearing.
Back around the fire, Jarl saw just how powerful the Angu worm’s grip had been. Knud’s left boot was heavily dented.
‘Let me see,’ Astrid said gently. She knelt down in front of Knud resting her axe on the ground, unstrapped his boot, and took his foot in her hand. The skin was red and already bruising around the ankle. ‘This should help,’ she whispered, smiling under her veil. Her hand glowed blue as she ran her fingers over the skin. The redness vanished with her touch. Halvard gasped in shock as he watched what she was doing, the air crackling with magic.
‘How did you do that?’ Knud asked, amazed, staring up at her in awe.
‘Doesn’t matter,’ Astrid replied. ‘Never wander off again.’ She moved her hand to the edge of her veil to check it was fixed firmly in place and then moved away from the fire, leaving her hammer axe on the ground beside him.
Halvard, with his hand on his sword, looked like he was about to draw it at any moment and attack her.
‘Where are you going?’ he asked, his tone a mixture of suspicion and disgust.
‘I want to check we’re the only people around,’ she replied, not looking him in the eye. ‘I think Knud woke the dead with his screaming.’
The snow had stopped falling a few minutes earlier but a thin, white blanket covered the canyon. It was deathly silent, the moonlight illuminating everything, the sky having cleared completely. Only the moon and stars remained up above.
Jarl sat down next to Knud and peered down at his now healed ankle, then turned to flash Skad a questioning glance. Skad ignored him.
‘She’s a witch!’ Halvard hissed
Skad snorted. ‘She’s not a witch.’
‘You should get to sleep,’ Jarl said to Knud, fondly ruffling his fingers through Knud’s curly, red hair, his heart still racing from their adventure in the tunnels. ‘Don’t ever scare me like that again.’
‘I’ll try not to,’ Knud replied, the last traces of fear still etched on his face. He pulled out his sleeping blanket and laid it out near the fire, then lay down and hugged it around him. Within minutes he was gently snoring. Jarl was amazed that he could go to sleep so easily after what had just happened.
He settled down just a few feet away and watched Knud like a hawk, half expecting one of the worms to pull him down into the ground again. He glanced across at Astrid’s hammer axe on the ground and picked it up, running his fingers over the emblem on the axe head, his attention caught by the pattern of thorns entwined around a thistle. Jarl was sure he had seen the pattern somewhere before, but couldn’t place where or when.
‘Something’s not right about that woman,’ Halvard said from the other side of the fire. ‘Did you see her face?’
‘She saved Knud’s life,’ Jarl muttered, not bothering to say anything more. That was all that mattered to him.
‘That’s a face only a mother could love!’ Halvard went on, not even hearing what Jarl had said. Skad chuckled and Jarl looked up at them, disgusted. He got to his feet and grabbed one of the burning torches from the fire, then walked out after Astrid with her hammer axe in his hand. He followed her small footprints in the snow until he saw her in the distance.
‘Thank you,’ Jarl said as he approached her, handing her the axe. She took it from him and fastened the leather wrist strap to her belt before turning back to look at him.
‘Your friend doesn’t trust me.’
‘No, he doesn’t,’ Jarl replied, not seeing the point in lying to her.
‘Why? Why don’t dwarves trust...other people?’ she asked, her tone making it sound oddly personal.
‘Some people just fear what’s different.’
Nodding, Astrid turned away and held her head up to the moon. ‘You should get some sleep. We’ll leave at dawn,’ she said, walking off again to circle the camp.
Jarl strolled back to the fire and spread out his own sleeping bag close to Knud’s. He tossed a few more logs into the fire then settled down and closed his eyes.
He awoke a few times during the night and instinctively looked up to check that Knud was still there. Each time he glanced across at Astrid who sat with her legs pulled to her chest and the wolf-skin wrapped around her, its head over hers, making her look like a wolf in the firelight. Her green and grey eyes glinted in the red light of the embers.
Make Me Strong
37 years ago...
‘Wake up!’ Skad barked from the top of the stairs. ‘Bring the axe, don’t bother with the bow. I won’t teach you to use that thing!’
Still groggy from sleep, Astrid sat up, rubbed her eyes and stumbled to her feet. Skad looked in disgust at her charcoal-covered blanket and the smudged drawings of her parents on the floor of her room. She carefully stepped over them and padded down the stairs after him. Dag was fast asleep on his bed by the fireplace, and she followed Skad outside and closed the door quietly behind her.
Skad, ignoring her, led her into the forest, and when he reached one of the many glades further up the mountain, he turned to face her. Astrid stood perfectly still as he observed her for a few seconds. She held Arnbjörg’s hammer axe tightly in her fist.
‘You’re too young to use that,’ Skad said, walking forward to grab it. Astrid’s grip on the handle tightened and she glared at him.
‘I want to use it!’
‘You can’t. It’s too heavy.’
‘I can get stronger!’
‘You’re too weak!’
Like a fire had suddenly been lit inside her, Astrid’s eyes flashed with determination and she pushed Skad away.
‘I’ll get stronger!’ she said again, clenching the axe and holding it tightly at her side.
Skad glared back down at her. ‘Fine!’ he spat.
He stood in front of her and spread his feet apart, instructing her to do the same. ‘Stand firm! Legs apart! The axe is making you fall over! You need to balance the weight with the rest of your body!’
Astrid spread her feet and tried to balance herself. Not having the strength to hold it in front of her, she rested the hammer axe head against her chest.
Skad moved towards her as if to attack and Astrid stumbled back and fell, the heavy axe toppling her over, hitting her chest and winding her.
‘See? It’s too heavy. Now put it down.’
‘NO!’
Frustrated, Skad moved to take it from her, his hand pressing firmly over hers. Astrid grabbed the handle and swung it at him, for a brief second seeing red. The blunt end of the axe caught the corner of his brow bone and scraped the skin away, removing half of his eyebrow in one swipe. Skad pressed his hand over his face in pain.
‘I’m sorry!’ Astrid said in horror. She dropped the axe and moved towards Skad, her hand extended and glowing.
‘Don’t...touch me!’ Skad hissed at her, glaring at her with disgust, brown blood seeping between his fingers.
‘I can help,’ Astrid whispered.
‘I don’t need your help!’
Skad lowered his hand and Astrid winced as she saw what she had done.
‘I can heal it,’ she said quietly, holding her hands together nervously.
He ignored her. ‘You want to use that thing? Fine! Pick it up!’ he snarled, spreading his feet apart and taking his stance again. Astrid picked the hammer axe up again and held it in front of her.
She managed to miss the first sweep of his axe but wasn’t fast enough to step back in time and dodge his second attack. He swept her legs out from under her with one kick of his leg. and Astrid fell heavily to the ground.
Getting to her feet, her breath knocked out of her from the fall, Astrid held her axe in front of her again. ‘I know,’ she replied. Skad easily knocked her down again. Astrid got up again, her face fixed in a determined glare.
‘I will be strong!’ she muttered to herself, taking each fall and picking herself up, over and again. ‘I will be strong!’
* * *
Astrid strolled into the hut and sat down opposite Ragi. The goblin looked up at her curiously.
‘Is the dwarf still with you?’
‘Yes,’ Astrid said, her hands hanging by her side, barely having the strength to raise them. The muscles felt as if they were on fire.
‘Don’t tell him about me,’ Ragi warned. ‘If he doesn’t like you, he’ll probably kill me.’
‘I’ll kill him first if he tries!’ Astrid said, and Ragi laughed, despite knowing how serious she was.
‘I have no doubt you would. He’s a miserable creature.’
‘You saw him?’
‘I was watching from the trees. I don’t like him.’
‘I don’t think I do either.’
‘Then ask Dag to send him away,’ Ragi replied indignantly.
‘But he can teach me to fight,’ Astrid said, shrugging her shoulders.
‘I’ll teach you to fight!’
‘He’s a dwarf though.’
‘And I’m not,’ Ragi muttered.
‘I...I didn’t mean it that way!’ Astrid spluttered. ‘I just want to know more about dwarves. And elves. It’s not that I don’t like you!’
Ragi just looked at her, and Astrid stared at the ground, ashamed.
‘Dag told me it’s your birthday this season,’ he finally said. He reached into the large wooden chest behind him and pulled out a long, thin bundle wrapped in green silk. ‘Open it,’ he said, passing it to her.
Astrid’s hands shook as she struggled to undo the twine wrapped around it, every muscle sore and weak from exhaustion.