Page 30 of Alien Viking's Passion

“I’m sure Eira cut them all to pieces,” Aretha said with certainty. “She’s incredible, Craxon.”

“There were heaps of them around when we discovered her,” he told her. “But the enemies had also gotten some fearfully good hits on the almost unarmored shieldmaiden. As we might expect, they had plainly attacked her from the back. She was not prepared to fight a cowardly enemy, herself never having suffered from a faint heart.”

“You saw her?” Aretha asked, eyes wide. “Was she all right?”

“Blood bloomed on her skin when last I saw her,” Craxon said carefully, “and her voice was strained. A mighty victory she won, and she did give an account of it to her earl and chief. But Bragr stayed with her, his face grim. I fear that means he deemed that the Valkyries were on the way to take his trusty huskven to Valhalla. If so, we should not allow her pyre to burn without us to pay our respects. Let us change the shortship to simply a ship.”

Aretha stepped out of the shortship and stared across the water. “I hope she’s all right. She saved me and cut an opening in the skrymtir so that I could escape.”

Craxon itched to put his arm across her narrow shoulders in support, but with an effort he refrained. “A mighty shieldmaiden she is, and while she was unarmored, those are harder to kill than most would expect. We shall hope that when we return, she will greet us with a hearty cheer, lightheartedly mocking our abuse at the hands of the trolls. Stay here while I get something for us to eat. Surely it will prove easier to find berries and nuts in the light of day. Although,” he peered up at the sun, “I would notobject if the light of day were to dim again.”

He found the bushes and trees where he’d picked berries the previous night. They were still heavy with fruit, while also dripping with dew. He filled four more leaves and took them back to Aretha, who was studying the shortship.

“You come from across the emptiness, having traveled far. Do you know the secrets of building a ship?” he asked as he handed her the heaviest leaf.

“Thank you. No, I’ve never done it. I’ve just looked at Bragr’s men when they built yours. But this shortship is different. I wonder if we can make it float by putting planksthereandthere.” She pointed to the sides of the shortship, where there were deep cutouts to allow people to get in and out of it. “They only need to keep the water out.”

“We in Ragnhildros use ocean-going ships more than most,” he told her. “For ours is an island principality. When I was a boy I helped build many vessels, despite not being a shipwright myself. And I think that making this ship waterproof would not be very hard. The boat is half built before we even lift our tools. Building a raft might take longer.”

“It only needs a few things changed to make it like a ship,” Aretha pointed out. “Shall we try?”

There was an eagerness and a determination in her that he found irresistible. Her face came alive, and her eyes shone. He had an urge to go over, take her into his arms, and kiss her deeply.

“If we retreat from the attempt, we shall never know if success would be ours,” he said and pulled his sword out. “What say you, Krakhogg? Hewing wood is not your favorite work, but there is no enemy to slay here on this rocky island. All three of us areeager to escape this prison. What was that?” He held the sword up to his ear as if it was talking to him. “You will only work if Aretha keeps us company and admires our sharpness? Well, I can ask, but she is an alien lady, a close friend of the future queen of this very realm. Perhaps she is too high and mighty to witness our labor.” He sent Aretha a glance. “But perhaps not. Look, even now she’s almost smiling at our silly larks.”

“I’ll watch you, if you want,” Aretha chuckled. “But tell me if there’s something I can do apart from just keeping you company.”

Craxon held the sword up to his ear again. “The famous blade Krakhogg says that the company of certain alien females has a value that is worth many times the labor of a mighty warrior. And I must say I agree with him.” He knew he was playing with fire, being this informal with her. But he was out of sight of his own people and chaperones, and it made him feel free. Playing with a small fire didn’thaveto cause a house to burn down.

“If Krakhogg says it, then I must agree too,” Aretha chirped and leaned her feminine hip on the shortship.

Craxon took out a sharpening stone and carefully whetted Kraghogg’s blade, not wanting to take off much steel. “He also says that you might think of a name for our ship. All ships must have a name, and often a woman has a better head for those things than such simple warriors as Krakhogg and I.”

“I will see what I can do.”

Energized by Aretha’s eyes on him, Craxon took aim at a tree, swung his sword, and cut into it.

The sun rose high in the sky before he placed Krakhogg back in its scabbard. He had made a stack of rough planks that would fillthe open parts of the shortship.

“Now to fasten them to our ship,” he said, wiping sweat from his brow. “We have no nails, and Krakhogg refuses to have his blade turned into pitiful little spikes, as he calls them.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Aretha said, squatting down at the water’s edge to drink from her cupped hands. “We have to tie the planks to the shortship somehow. How about the vines that we used for the hut?”

“Those vines are strong, though any shipwright would rather swing his finest ax at a stone than use vines or ropes to hold the planks of his ship. But then, our ship only has to cross a placid lake, not take a squad of berserkr to raids in foreign lands. Let us search for suitable vines.”

They walked into the forest, finding what they were looking for right away. They gathered many lengths of fresh, green vines, as well as older ones that had taken on a gray color and were stiffer.

Returning to the shortship, they went about fastening the planks to its side. Aretha’s little iglsnutr friend kept sniffing around them.

“You said it’s lucky to see one of these,” she said, squatting down to feed it nuts. “Does that mean they are rare?”

“They are not common to see in Ragnhildros,” Craxon replied. “As for Hjalmarheim, it is my guess that they are even rarer. While I have spent much time in Bragr’s lands, this is the first time I’ve seen an iglsnutr here. And I’ve never heard of one that seeks out the company of people, the way this little friend appears to.”

“I saw one before, by the jarlagard,” Aretha said, smiling as she watched the little creature munch on a nut. “And it looked a lot like this. It’s got a broken spike in the same place. You don’t suppose it could be the same one?”

He tightened a vine as much as he dared without snapping it. “It’s a long way for a small creature to journey. I would say the water might prove too formidable a barrier. But perhaps, despite his lack of fins, he can swim like a fish.”

Aretha stood up and grabbed a fresh vine. “He doesn’t look as if he’s made to live in water.”

---