The website of Allene R. Lowrey
Some of the ambushers carried torches with them: the light in the square was now enough that Einarr could see just how badly Finn had been beaten. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and the other was crusted with dried blood from a head wound. A rope bound Finn’s wrists too tightly, and he…
Einarr spent the first morning after they sailed restless, worrying simultaneously that he had done too much and too little. But, as the grey skies over the grey lands slipped back over the horizon, he turned his attention to more pressing matters. Namely, arriving home in time for his own wedding. Based on the charts,…
More than a little unnerved, Einarr and his companions stepped up their pace. Not one of them wanted to be anywhere other than the deck of the Heidrun when the sun set that evening. The only thing that stopped any of them from thinking of sailing that very night was the memory of the fishing…
“Nothing?” Eydri repeated, aghast. “Nothing,” Einarr answered. “That gem isn’t magical, and these people aren’t cursed. Now, Hrug, I don’t think the purification circle will need to be very complex. A simple fire rune started the process.” Hrug nodded. Even with the issues they had with magic here on the island, they should be able…
Einarr could hear the sound of the draugr wriggling, trying to work Sinmora loose, over the crackle of flames that burned slowly, like wet logs. It smelled an awful lot like wet, rotting wood in here, too, now that his focus was slightly removed from the abomination that wanted nothing so much as to devour…
The creature laughed again, this time with what sounded like real mirth. “A Cursebreaker? In my line? Oh ho, that’s rich.” The sound of feet scraping against the stone signaled that he’d turned again, even though Einarr couldn’t see his eyes. “Very well then, Cursebreaker. Face me. It’s the only way to get the sword.”…
Dawn came far too quickly for Einarr’s liking. He almost wished he hadn’t bothered to sleep. And yet, he and Hrug had come up against a blank wall. There simply didn’t seem to be anything else to learn from the ruby. So far as either of them could tell, the only magic about it was…
The skeletal draugr milled about outside their door, in numbers like they had seen during their panicked flight the night before – only this time, their interest had been caught by the people in the room. “Do you they want the gem?” “Almost certainly.” Eydri’s voice echoed Troa’s just a heartbeat behind. “They were just…
Eydri’s eyes grew wide and she raised her hands to cover her mouth. “Oh, my.” That got Finn’s attention. He came to look over their shoulders. “What is it?” “Oh, no. Oh, my,” she said again. Finn looked at her for a long moment before she answered. “Unless I’m very much mistaken… Hrug, that rune…
“There never was any old man.” Arkja’s pronouncement fell on the deck of the Gestrisni like a brick of lead. A million questions flooded Einarr’s brain at once, such that he could not ask any of them – merely sat, staring, at the pronouncer. Irding recovered first. “So this is twice this season we’ve run…
