Page 37 of Alien Viking's Passion

“I’ll get more berries for you,” Craxon yawned. “No need for you to explore.”

“It’s fine, I want to. I’ll be quick.” She finished fastening her brooches and went out, making her way to the bush she’d seen. The berries were the size of oranges, but they were a deep purple. They looked like they were bursting with juice, and on a couple of them the outer skin had cracked, revealing the pale blue insides.

She twisted one off the bush and smelled it. “This is familiar,” she muttered before she bit into it and tasted the fruit juice, smacking her lips. “Promising.”

She took a bite, chewed it, and then picked a dozen of the fruits. Almost tripping over Sonic, she bent down and offered him one. “You like these?”

The not-porcupine sniffed the fruit and then ignored it.

“No? All right. They’re a little bit acidic, I guess. And you’re a connoisseur of sweetness. But it’s all I have right now.”

Sonic lost interest and trotted towards the beach whereKvadhad gone straight to the bottom. On an impulse, Aretha followed him. When the trees started to thin out and she saw the big boulder she’d been standing on, she froze and stared. Then she hid behind a tree trunk.

On the other shore, where Craxon and she had come from, there were three tall stacks of gray rocks. They hadn’t been there before, when they launchedKvad.

“Trolls,” she whispered. “We better stay out of sight, Sonic.”

The not-porcupine looked up at her, then made its way back through the woods.

Aretha followed, wanting to get back to tell Craxon that the trolls were waiting for them on the opposite shore. She wasn’t sure what to feel about it. They scared her, of course. But now she was with a Viking warrior, and they were both prepared.

All of a sudden, Sonic was gone. Aretha spun around, but he was nowhere to be seen. The undergrowth shouldn’t be tall enough to obscure him, but maybe he was lying down or something.

Craxon was outside the hut. His pants were back on and he was carefully sharpening his sword. The red light from the setting Straum was making sparks run up and down the blade.

The scene was almost too perfect to be real. The light from the pulsar was creating a pool of warm light in the otherwise darkening woods. The bright shaft of light struck Craxon from the side and made him look incredible, with his horns and frost-like marks.

No, she thought.Even if I had my headset and could record this, nobody would believe it’s real. It’s just too good.

“The trolls are waiting for us,” she said, slowing down to not seem too concerned.

“On the other side?” he asked calmly.

“Three tall stacks of rocks. They’ll see us the moment we show ourselves on the beach.”

“Rock trolls are slow,” he said and kept working. “Good, perhaps we shall get our revenge.” He touched the back of his head and gave her a boyish smile.

“Maybe the best revenge would be to escape them,” Aretha tried.

12

- Craxon -

He smiled again. Aretha was clearly worried he would seek combat with rock trolls just to restore his pride after they had knocked him unconscious. But he wasn’t a novice warrior with new Marks on him, eager to prove himself. “Maybe. Trolls are hard to fight, rock trolls harder than most. They can even handle sunlight.”

“Can’t turn to stone when they’re stone already,” Aretha observed. “How well do they see in the dark?”

“I know little about trolls,” he admitted. “We don’t have many of them in Ragnhildros. But rock trolls are not common anywhere on Gardr. It’s a warrior’s saying that when you don’t know the enemy’s ability, assume that he is strong. But don’t be too discouraged to attack. It’s better to err on the side of hope.”

“So we will be fighting them?” Her eyes were big and worried.

He replaced Krakhogg in its scabbard, reached down, and took her beautiful face between his hands. “Don’t worry, Aretha. I’mnot one to fight for the sake of fighting or for some kind of silly revenge. Our destination is the jarlagard of Hjalmarheim.” Bending down, he placed a kiss on her soft lips.

She placed a small hand on his hip. “You speak like a prince. I wish…” She went silent, biting her lower lip.

“You wish what?” he prompted.

“I wish that I didn’t have to go back to Earth.

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