‘How long will it take to get there?’
‘Another two days, one and a half if we hurry.’
‘What friends?’
‘Humans.’
‘How did you meet them?’
‘Is that a question?’ Astrid asked.
‘Yes!’
Walking alongside them, Jarl listened, Astrid not minding in the least that he could hear. She realised to her surprise that she quite enjoyed the audience.
‘I met them when I was travelling with some merchants from the Gold Coast to the Salt Monasteries. They joined the caravan, and after we reached the Monasteries I took them out here since we were both heading in the same direction. I think they’ll still be here.’
‘You think?’ Jarl asked.
‘Humans don’t live for long, and I haven’t been back in over a decade, but I hope so.’
‘How old are you?’ Knud asked.
‘Is that a question?’
‘No!’ Knud said, deciding it would be better to save his last one.
‘Yes it is!’ Jarl said quickly. Astrid looked at him surprised. ‘I would like a question!’
‘You have to give something in return,’ Knud pointed out, and Astrid turned and flashed him a look. Knud quickly shut his mouth, the sentence fading out as he finished it.
‘A question for a question?’ Jarl suggested, and Astrid nodded. ‘Very well then, how old are you?’
‘I’m forty-seven.’
‘So young!’ Jarl exclaimed. ‘I thought you would be at least one or two hundred!’
‘Why would you think that?’
‘Because you look like you’re my age.’
‘How old are you?’
‘One hundred and twenty-five.’
Astrid couldn’t help bursting out laughing as soon as Jarl finished speaking, a loud and full laugh like it had been repressed all of her life. Her whole face lit up.
‘Sorry! I didn’t mean to laugh!’ She giggled, wondering why she was even giggling in the first place. ‘I’ve just spent so much time around humans I’m used to their ages!’
‘I suppose to humans I would be an old man.’ Jarl grinned. ‘Wrinkled and bald!’
‘You’d more likely be dead!’ Astrid laughed morbidly. ‘That’s so strange. You’re seventy-eight years older than me!’
‘It’s not that old.’ Jarl said. ‘I’m a young dwarf. There’s a couple hundred years still left in me!’
‘My turn to ask a question now!’
‘No, you already asked one!’ Jarl said.
‘No I didn’t!’
‘You asked my age!’
Realising he was right, Astrid shook her head, smiling. ‘Very well, what’s your question?’
Taking a moment to think, Jarl looked at her and Astrid felt her cheeks getting hot. She reached to her veil and moved it to cover her face. Jarl reached out and stopped her, gently holding her hand back. Astrid stopped in her tracks.
‘You don’t have to wear that. Halvard isn’t here to make comments.’
‘I prefer to hide my face,’ Astrid muttered, pushing past his hand and attaching her veil.
‘Not around humans you don’t.’
‘What?’ Astrid asked, turning to stare at him. Jarl looked back at her, his eyes glinting.
‘I know you only wear that around us, or your face would be lighter where the veil hides it. Especially if you travel to Bayswater and the Gold coast,’ he said calmly, not even a shadow of doubt in his voice. He knew what he said was true and Astrid stared down at the ground.
‘I don’t like people asking questions about the scars,’ Astrid finally said, continuing to walk ahead, Jarl with her and Knud a few feet away, pretending he couldn’t hear every word they were saying.
‘Then I won’t ask any questions about them,’ Jarl said firmly.
Slowly she reached up to her veil and pulled it away. ‘What is your question then?’
* * *
Sitting down in the grass, they all breathed an exhausted sigh, Astrid’s a little less obvious. Knud flopped to his side in a heap and pulled his bag under him like a pillow.
‘Knud wait! You need to eat something!’ Astrid said, pulling him up and passing him a few of the oat cakes the monks had given her. ‘If you don’t eat now you’ll be even more tired tomorrow. Just have half of the cake and I’ll be happy.’
Snatching it from her hands, Knud ate it as quickly as his exhausted body could manage. Even his jaw protested as he chewed.
‘There. Finished. Can I sleep now?’
Astrid had barely nodded her head when Knud dropped like a rock back onto his bag, curled into a ball and closed his eyes. He was asleep in seconds.
‘I’ll take the first watch,’ Jarl said.
‘No. I like taking the first one.’
‘Will we reach this village by tomorrow?’
Looking down the plain for a moment before she answered, Astrid shook her head. ‘No. We walked too slowly today. We’d have to walk far too quickly for Knud to keep up if we wanted to reach the village by sunset tomorrow.’
‘You were asking too many questions!’ Jarl laughed, pulling his bag next to him as if about to go to sleep, but instead he sat up to talk to her.
‘If you didn’t want me to ask questions you shouldn’t have offered to answer them!’ Astrid said. ‘Tomorrow it’s your turn!’
‘Good!’ Jarl grinned. ‘I have a lot of things I want to know.’
Smiling, Astrid got up, realising to her horror that she was walking a little more lightly on her feet. They almost felt as if they wanted to dance.
Why are you doing that? Stop that! The little voice hissed. Astrid tried to shake the smile off her face but she couldn’t, as hundreds of invisible strings pulled at her facial muscles. Each attempt at erasing the smile just made the strings pull back harder, made her smile larger. She remembered Knud asking where her favourite place was.
Today...today it was here, she thought.
Yes, Bayswater was beautiful beyond belief. But today she had felt like the void inside her that she tried so often to hide had been filled a little. Jarl had told her so much about Bjargtre, Lǫgberg and the dwarves, answering every question she had asked him. She had listened, fascinated, as he told her about the culture of her father and her own heritage, visualising as best as she could the great stone halls carved into the mountain, the hundreds of people bustling through the tunnels, the smell of stone. It had been a good day.
* * *
‘Jarl?’
Waking, he looked up at her, realising to his horror that the sun had already risen.
‘Astrid! Why didn’t you wake me for the watch?’
‘I’m a half elf,’ she replied, quite shocked at how easy it had been for her to say those words in front of him. ‘I can go for days without sleep.’
‘You should have woken me,’ he muttered, getting up. ‘I’ll take the first watch tonight.’
‘Very well,’ Astrid replied, not caring to argue.
Waking Knud, Astrid helped him to his feet. He rubbed his eyes and stared in awe at the sunrise, the sky a brilliant mixture of fiery orange and pink. A few dark purple clouds hovered on the horizon, their edges glowing as they attempted to block the sun.
Shivering, Knud pulled his cloak around him, rubbing his hands together. ‘When will we get to this village?’
‘Tonight if we walk quickly. You see that ridge?’ Astrid asked, pointing into the distance. Knud shook his head.
‘Our eyes aren’t as good as yours,’ Jarl said, smiling.
‘It’s not that far!’
‘I just see the plain, and the mountains,’ Knud said. ‘It can’t be that close!’
‘It is!’ Astrid assured him. ‘If we run we can make it by sunset.’
‘Ugh...running,’ Knud muttered. ‘I can’t run that fast.’
Hearing a low hum behind them, Astrid turned around, her ears twitching nervously. ‘Can you hear that?’
‘Hear what?�
� Jarl said.
‘Get on my back!’ Astrid said quickly, turning to Knud.
‘What?’
‘Do what she says!’ Jarl ordered, seeing the look on Astrid’s face. He took Knud’s bag from him and slung it over his shoulder along with his own. Knud climbed onto Astrid’s back and they ran as fast as they could, away from the high pitched yelps and snarling that they suddenly heard behind them.
Looking back, Knud felt his heart jump into his throat. A pack of Dip wolves were slowly catching up on them, their long thin bodies leaping over the grass, their red and silver eyes getting closer and closer.
‘Astrid!’ Knud yelled, frightened.
‘Keep running!’ Astrid yelled at Jarl, whose heavy boots kept catching on the tufts of thick strong grass and began to slow him down.
‘Astrid! The wolf! Use the wolf!’ Knud begged.
No! No you can’t! The quiet voice inside her head ordered. Think about how he’ll react!
The Dip were getting close and when Knud, turning around on her back, saw their sharp needle-like teeth glinting in the sunlight, he screamed in terror.
It doesn’t matter how he reacts, the stoic voice she knew so well replied in her head. It matters that they live. There was never any hope for you anyway. All you can do is save them.
With a jolt, Astrid skidded to a stop and Knud was thrown from her back onto the ground. Jarl rushed up to him and, when he’d tumbled to a stop, hauled him up from the ground. He stood in front of him protectively and stared at Astrid. The Dip circled them, snarling, wary, their animal instinct sensing that they should be afraid of the green and grey eyed woman.
‘Astrid!’ Knud screamed, terrified. The Dip bayed around them, slowly approaching.
‘No more questions Knud!’ Astrid said turning to him, looking like she was about to cry for a moment. Then her mouth twisted into a snarl and she dropped her bag onto the ground.
Without warning, three of the Dip suddenly leapt towards Jarl and Knud. Jarl cut through one of them with his sword and grabbed the second by its neck with his bare hand to hold it back. Knud fell back, holding out Astrid’s knife in front of him, and the Dip impaled itself on it as it leapt towards him. Jarl tossed the Dip away, its neck half crushed in his grip, and it fell on the ground, whimpering and snarling in pain, its eyes glowing red.
But then he noticed some of the Dip were stepping back and he heard a low, terrifying growl behind him. Before he could turn around, several of the Dip closed in on him. Two of them bit into his left arm, one of them managing to pierce his leather vambrace, and a burning pain shot up his arm as the teeth punctured his skin.
With a terrifying howl Astrid threw herself at the Dip, her enormous claws ripping across the face of the one attacking Jarl. She grabbed a second Dip with her teeth, sinking them into the back of its neck as it leapt to attack Knud, and tossed it so high into the air that it fell to the ground over thirty feet away, breaking its neck on impact.
Reacting instinctively, Jarl moved to attack the wolf and Knud threw himself onto Jarl’s arm.
‘No! Don’t! It’s Astrid!’ he yelled.
Hearing Knud yell out the words, Astrid turned to look at them for a moment.
Staring at the wolf, Jarl noticed its eyes - a bright green and grey and so expressive, so familiar. The wolf bowed its head and turned back to the Dip who was snarling, its hackles raised.
‘Get away!’ Astrid’s voice growled from the wolf, and she reared up onto her hind legs with her long, vicious, blood-stained claws fully extended.
The five remaining Dip bayed loudly. One of them limped, with a deep claw mark at the top of its foreleg. At first it looked as if they might retreat, taking a few steps back, and Astrid dropped down onto all fours and prowled in front of Jarl and Knud protectively, her teeth bared.
But they were starving, their ribs protruding, desperation driving them on. In an instant they dived at Astrid, their mouths open, revealing hundreds of razor-sharp teeth dripping with silver venom.
As Astrid reared up, her claws caught three of them, disemboweling them. She felt someone step beside her and Jarl’s sword caught the remaining two. He kicked one of them away as it tried to bite at Astrid’s leg, his thick steel boots breaking its skull.
Astrid looked up at Jarl, panting and terrified, with her claws covered in blood. She slowly stood up and the wolf-skin slid from her back to the ground. She stared at it, rubbing her hand nervously on her sleeve.
This is it. The only question he’ll ask now is ‘how fast can you leave’.
‘Knud knew,’ Jarl said gently, the complete lack of anger or shock in his voice making her heart jump into her throat. She nodded.
‘You distracted the fireflies?’
Astrid nodded again.
‘Thank you.’
‘What?’ Astrid asked, sure she had heard wrong, feeling a lump rise up in her throat. She tried to force it back down but her emotions wouldn’t let her.
‘He said thank you.’ Knud smiled and walked up to her with an impish grin on his face. ‘He’s not angry.’
Opening her mouth, she tried to say something but the word caught in her throat. She gasped as if she was being strangled, the lump making it painful to even breathe. Her eyes watered and she quickly turned away, knowing she was going to cry and that there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop herself. Her shoulders shook.
Stepping forward, Jarl reached for her shoulder and slowly turned her to face him. Astrid moved her face away but allowed him to stand in front of her.
‘We should go,’ Astrid mumbled, a barely concealed sob breaking through her words. She was relieved at Jarl’s reaction and felt dizzy from the rush of euphoria that followed. ‘Did any of them manage to bite you? Knud? Are you alright?’
‘I’m fine,’ Knud warbled back, his voice shaky. He stared at the blood on his dagger but managed a weak smile. ‘I killed one of them!’
Feeling another shot of pain, Jarl looked down at the vambrace protecting his arm. He untied the straps and lifted the double tunic underneath. There was a deep, cauterised puncture in his skin.
Astrid quickly reached for his arm. ‘Sit down,’ she said gently.
‘I can stand just fine.’
‘You won’t be able to in a few minutes,’ she replied, and Jarl did as she’d said. Knud’s eyes widened as she pulled out a small dagger.
‘Don’t worry. It won’t hurt,’ Astrid said, smiling reassuringly at Knud. ‘The venom will have numbed his arm.’
Pressing the tip of the knife into Jarl’s skin, she cut around the puncture, lifting up the cauterised skin to make it bleed. Jarl was unable to feel a thing, just like she had said. Pressing her fingers down around the puncture, Astrid pushed out as much of the blood from underneath as she could. A silvery-black liquid oozed out with it and Knud’s stomach lurched, his skin turning grey.
To his dismay, Jarl felt his head starting to spin.
‘You’re probably going to be sick at any moment,’ Astrid warned him and Knud scuttled away quickly. Jarl turned away from them, bent over double and promptly threw up with Astrid still pressing down on his arm and forcing the venom back up to the surface.
‘Can you feel anything in your arm yet?’ she asked, as Jarl emptied his stomach again.
‘No, I can’t,’ he finally managed to say. Knud reached into his bag and pulled out his flask of water, passing it to him.
Lifting his arm up, Astrid pressed her mouth over the puncture and sucked as hard as she could, pulling out the remaining venom. She spat it onto the ground then took a drink from her own flask to rinse her mouth.
‘Ok, now I can feel something,’ Jarl muttered, resisting the urge to scratch at his arm.
‘You’re going to find it hard to walk,’ Astrid warned. She helped him to his feet and looked at his face. His skin was colourless, but he picked up his bag resolutely.
‘We should get to your human friends’ village by nightfall,’ he said, his arm shaking as he pull
ed the vambrace back over his hand. He slowly walked forward, trying to hide how dizzy he was feeling, his stomach churning.
Astrid scanned the plain, worried that there might be more Dip hiding in the grass, hoping that if there were they would have the sense to stay there.
‘You’re not going to be sick again?’ Knud asked, walking at a distance from Jarl.
‘I hope not,’ Jarl muttered.
‘He will,’ Astrid replied. ‘Come on, we need to go.’ She took his arm and draped it over her shoulder. Jarl protested but Astrid refused to let him go. ‘Don’t be stupid, or else you’ll be crawling without my help.’
Ruins
‘I can see the village!’ Astrid said, relieved. Jarl muttered something indistinguishable. His skin was an off grey colour and he was barely managing to walk by himself, pure stubbornness being the only thing stopping him from letting Astrid and Knud help him. ‘Wait here!’
Rolling his eyes, Jarl slumped down onto the ground, doing his best to keep hold of the little that remained in his stomach. His throat felt as if he had been throwing up glass shards and sand. He watched Astrid as she marched towards the village. The sun had started to set and the temperature had dropped quickly the minute the light had started to fade.
Jarl gripped his sword tightly, despite his hand shaking, the setting sun and the sound of Dip yelps in the distance worrying him.
Astrid lowered her wolf-hood to expose her face, not wanting to alarm any of the guards in the towers. She raised her hands slightly, her eyes scanning the tall stone walls.
‘My name is Lilly Agviðr!’ she called out. ‘I’m a friend of Hellen and Peter Barrow.’
There was silence; she could hear nothing but the wind.
Walking up to the gate, her hands still raised, Astrid noticed the scorch marks and slashes that covered it. She leant forwards and pushed it open, the wood creaking and the large rusty hinges shuddering as she did so.
The village was deserted; destroyed. Every house had its roof burnt away and most of the walls had fallen in. Astrid stared at the remains of a large pyre in the centre of the village and walked towards it, her heart in her mouth as she began to slowly make out shapes in the ashes. The charred remains of bones. Human bones.
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