Page 22 of Alien Viking's Plunder

Bragr was already worried, but her words made him feel even worse than the idea of crashing to the ground.

“If so, then I apologize,” was all he could say. “You have a warrior in you and deserve better. But we’re not dead yet. Hang on to me.”

Normally, he knew, falling through the thin layer of air around Gardr would make anything burn. He had himself seen many rocks from space make bright streaks across the night sky. And he was sure they would both make much shorter streaks.

But they were clinging to theKraken, a Hjalmarheim longship that could travel the River. And close to it, anything could happen. The fact that they could still breathe and speak was a good sign, he thought. He would hope that they would be saved by the dragon’s head in the bow, the strongest and most magical part of the ship apart from the mast.

They fell fast, and the roar of the air became almost too much to bear. He made sure to pull Josie firmly into him, while he clung to the carved dragon’s head with his other arm.

They were falling straight down, with the ship’s bow first.

He could just see the other parts of the wreckage, tumbling wildly while his warriors were hanging on to the pieces for dear life. The three other ships were tiny specks in the distance, helpless witnesses to their chief’s ship breaking up this close to home.

The ground was coming up to meet them very fast, and Bragr was pretty sure the island they would crash into was Hjalmarheim. That was good. Less good was that all he could see was snowy mountains and small lakes, some covered in white ice, some partly thawed with open water in the middle and ice along the banks. It looked like they would land in thevilmark, where thedfergir,vettir, trollsand other terrible creatures lived.

He checked that Brisingr was still there, resting safely in its scabbard. Then he tightened his grip on Josie and closed his eyes while all Helheim was breaking loose around them.

- - -

He woke up shivering, surrounded by ice cold stuff. Above him the sky was blue and clear.

Clearing snow and ice out of his mouth, he slowly sat up, his pants creaking from frost.

ItwasHelheim, then, the icy realm of the dead. Not the expected afterlife for a warrior chief and earl. Had he not died in battle, and had the valkyries not found him worthy to spend eternity in Valhalla?

It took him a while to remember what had happened. Indeed it had not been a battle that had killed him, but the ship coming apart over Hjalmarheim. He did feel that perishing while on a raidshouldcount as a warrior’s death. It would certainly have been violent enough. Perhaps the valkyries just hadn’t found him yet.

A thin groan behind him tore him out of his dark reverie.

The alien woman!

He got up on stiff, frozen legs, noticing the ache from his foot.

Ah yes. It had been hit by the falling sails as he had pounced to get the female out of the way. What was her name?

Josie. An alien name, just about impossible to pronounce.

She was splayed out on the snow right behind him. Ten paces further along, the entire bow of the Kraken was half buried in the snow and ice. Only the proud dragon’s head was sticking up, as straight and fierce as ever.

Bragr kneeled down beside Josie and put his hand along one round cheek. It was warm to the touch. They could not have been here for long, he realized, or they would both have frozen to death. This wasn’t Helheim after all — it was cold, but too bright and too real. And there was no chance a longship as old and powerful as the Kraken would follow him to that pitiful afterlife.

The female’s eyes flew open, and she exclaimed something.

“Yes, you’re still alive,” Bragr told her, guessing at what she had said. “That may be good news or bad. I can’t be sure yet. This is the vilmark, and we’re far from home. Our deaths may have been simply postponed.”

He straightened up and felt for Brisingr. It was still there, and that made him feel better. It had cleaved the skulls of several dfergir and vettir in its day.

Josie got up, slowly testing her knees and legs before she trusted them.

“The wilderness,” she finally said, looking around. “It’s cold.”

Bragr grunted, taking stock of the situation. They were on a frozen lake, the ice covered by a thick layer of snow. The marks of their landing stretched all across the lake and then upwards on the side of a mountain. Way up there he could spot the deep gouge of their first impact. That had saved their lives — they had fallen onto a steep slope and then slid and rolled down the hillside, being slowed down until they had rolled out onto the flat lake. The marks were clear to see.

It was impossible to imagine a luckier way to land. Certainly the magic in theKraken’sdragon’s head had saved their lives.

Around the lake was a sparse forest of pines and small birches, the terrain rising up into tall peaks that glittered with snow.

Looking up at the sun Straum, he could easily determine which way they should go. They had to go west to reach the coast where his people lived. To the east there were only mountains and wilderness before the land abruptly dropped down into the ocean.

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