The website of Allene R. Lowrey
The first thing that caught Einarr’s attention about the cave was the scattering of skulls not five paces in. Someone had thought to take shelter here, long ago, and been eaten by kalalintu. At least, he assumed as much: it was possible they had died of starvation before the kalalintu nested above, but the other…
The screams of terror from off in the distance brought Einarr out of his half-doze immediately. Almost before he knew it he was back on his feet, pulling on his chain shirt and reaching for his sword. He was not the only one. From all over the ship he saw bodies moving about. Stigander lit…
The quick man had at the end not been quick enough, and the enemy leader wasted a precious moment in shock. The first man still stared in horror at the blade protruding from his chest when Arring lunged past him and the blade of his axe took off the enemy leader’s arm at the elbow….
The chatter of kalalintu from above rattled Einarr’s nerves. They were starting to feint at diving, trying to keep their prey from escaping, nudging them ever closer to the ledge. Not good. “Henir!” The blond man snapped his head around and Einarr tossed his bow back to him. The archer wasted no time nocking another…
“What’s this?” Erik paused to look back at Einarr. “Stop and listen a minute. Hear that?” After a moment, a growl came from low in Erik’s throat. “Better us than the repair crew.” Einarr nodded and pushed forward. Father and Bardr, at least, needed to know, and the rest probably should as well. Jorir, at…
From where Einarr stood he saw nothing but mist and ocean and the bones of ships. “What happened?” Sivid’s head popped over the railing from above. “Those freeboaters following us seem to have missed a turn.” “They’re freeboaters?” “Pretty sure. Cap’ and Bardr are ‘discussing’ sending aid.” “What’s there to discuss? Of course we should…
“Port side, push off! Starboard, brace and pole forward!” The grinding sound continued and the Vidofnir began to slow. The sail fluttered disconsolately as the tailwind faded away. “Put your backs into it!” Stigander added his weight to one of the starboard oars before the order was fully out of his mouth. Einarr stowed his…
Over the course of a week the seas plied by the whalers of Attilsund and, now, the Vidofnir grew colder, until it felt more like they were out early in the spring rather than the middle of summer. That they had not yet seen floating ice did not reassure Einarr about the lack of icebergs…
Bardr must have purchased miles’ worth of extra rope for this expedition, and as much fresh water as they could store. Even still, it was a short journey from Attilsund, and spirits were high as they loaded the Vidofnir with supplies for a six-week trek to investigate the ship barrow. To Einarr’s mind, most of…
Mid-morning the day after Einarr and Tyr reunited with Erik, no kalalintu had yet shown themselves on the island. This, they agreed, probably related to the albatross heads Erik had staked around his camp, which in the darkness neither Einarr nor Tyr had noticed.
