Page 76 of Alien Viking's Plunder

Bragr groaned inwardly. They had been making good progress, pushing the alien skrymtir back towards the jarlagard and seeing the possibility of winning. Then it was as if the undead monsters had gotten new power, and they had started fighting with greater energy. Bragr’s forces had been pushed back to the ocean on one side of the jarlagard and to the farmland on the other. Now they were on the verge of losing the whole battle, and the skrymtir would be able to attack the villages and farms of Hjalmarheim. Only by withdrawing could they avoid being overrun while still keeping the enemies from doing too much damage.

“This is Gornt’s doing,” Shaman Heidran said, breathing hard. “He has replenished his strength and now controls the skrymtir better than ever. His witchcraft is in all of them.”

“How is that possible?” Bragr seethed. “What magic does he have? The jarlagard is not a sacred place. It’s just a house.”

“I think we must consider the possibility that Gornt is no longer here, but at one of our holy sites. His longship is nowhere to be seen. We assumed it was inside one of the barns, but now I wonder.”

“The oracle?” Bragr asked, thrusting Brisingr into a skrymt and backing off to leave the undead enemy space to fall.

“Possibly,” Heidran panted. “The magic there would certainly be strong enough to give him this level of power. Ah, someone wants to talk to you, I think, Chief.”

Bragr pulled back from the front line for a moment and looked around. “Ivarr! Over here.”

The warrior made his way over, knee deep in alien remains and stained with red blood from the dead warriors. “Chief! I’m sorry to disturb you. It’s probably not important, but we feel that you should be told.”

Bragr took the opportunity to wipe his sword clean of alien tissue. “What is it, herjer?”

“The alien shieldmaiden, Josie, was seen flying a shortship in the mountains. She was headed for the Ice Caves.”

Bragr froze. “The Ice Caves?”

“Yes, Chief. Nothing else is known. Except that the shortship looked like ours. The one you and the alien used.”

Ice settled in the pit of Bragr’s stomach. “When was this, herjer Ivarr?”

“I was only told just now, Chief. She was seen before noon, but not long before.”

“Could she have been headed somewhere else?”

“There’s nothing in that direction but the Ice Caves, Chief. With your permission, I’ll return to my squad. We keep being pushed back, but we’re not giving up.”

“Very well, Ivarr,” Bragr said automatically, his mind churning with new worry and images of Josie in the deadly Ice Caves.

“The Ice Cavesarea sacred site!” Heidran pointed out over the noise from the battle. “It is the closest one. And if Gornt was there to replenish his unholy power, noon would be the best time, when the power from Straum is at its strongest. That was also when these skrymtir started pushing us back.”

Bragr looked to the north-east, towards the Ice Caves. “If he’s there, how long might he stay?”

“Alas I don’t know much about dark witchcraft,” the shaman said. “But surely it would take time to energize this many skrymtir.”

“If he went there to do his unholy witchery, do you think he might be there still?”

Heidran looked up at the sky. “I really wouldn’t know, Chief. But Straum is still up. I hasten to add that Gornt being in the Ice Caves is just a wild guess. All we know is that Josie might be there.”

An unpleasant thought entered Bragr’s mind. “Why would Josie be going to the Ice Caves if not because of Gornt? She would have no reason to seek them out, or even know where they are.”

Heidran shrugged. “Gornt is a witcher, and Josie is an alien, Chief. Zhor only knows what goes on in their minds. Itwouldbe useful for him to have a female if he intends to go to the oracle cave, the most sacred of our holy sites. He can’t look into the crystal himself. Only a woman could.”

Bragr thought hard. “You don’t think Josie and Gornt are in kahoots?”

“It might be worth finding out,” the shaman said, raising his eyebrows. “I would suggest that Josie going to the Ice Caves is an indication that Gornt may be there and could be luring her to him. If so, we might not have much time.”

Bragr made a decision. “Prince Craxon!”

The prince worked his way over. “Earl Bragr?”

“We will not have more warriors die here today, Your Highness. Please order a retreat and prepare as many fire arrows as we have. Use them as weapons, not for signals. These things are only skrymtir; they’re not living. Destroying them from a distance means no dishonor.” He knew this was not entirely true, but this was getting desperate. “Aim for their eyes! And keep the skrymtir away from the farms and villages for the rest of today. I will leave you in charge while I try to find Gornt to destroy him and thus all his undead at the same time.”

The seasoned warrior prince frowned. “Arrows, Earl Bragr? In battle?”

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