Across the Kolgan Sea by Benjamin R. Babst

Author:Benjamin R. Babst [Babst, Benjamin R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781622104499
Publisher: Blue Swan Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Fire in the Water

There was still perhaps an hour’s amount of time that I lay in bed awake after my decision. Questions about what I would do to find this servant of Aegir, where I would look for him, and how I would even recognize him when I saw him circled about in my mind. But then was not the time to think about such things. Rather, tomorrow when I set out would be much better.

Thus, I allowed the shroud of slumber to come over me. I awoke to being surrounded by frost and to the sight of a golden sunrise. All the hard feelings of yesterday were gone as the sun made the clouds over my head orange. In their place was conviction of what I was planning to do. I had to set out after that servant of Aegir and eliminate him. Never mind how or where, he would undoubtedly be in the direction of Elderbear and that was enough for now.

I hopped out of the ship-bed, admiring how close the boat had progressed. Just a few months ago, it had been nothing but the deck and some of the mast. Now, as the trees it was grown from rose higher by the powers of magic, much of the bottom was also done. All that was left to do was to wait a day or two until that was done, chop it down, and set sail. A surge of gray wafted over my heart as I thought about that. I had no more than two days before the ship was ready to leave, but I wasn’t ready to leave. Aegir was still out there, and he wanted me to surrender. Finding and killing his servant surely wouldn’t stop that and abiding by my agreement with Freyr was far from different. For that moment, I felt it was wrong to be fighting against the Agrians. It wouldn’t spare me his wrath, only intensify it.

I turned away from the ship. No, that wouldn’t matter at all. Aegir would never let me leave these shores. He only promised any mercy to me if I agreed to give up. I exhaled as I thought that over. I was already in Aegir’s clutches, being crushed by it ever slowly, I might as well take up a spear and poke him with it.

The sun began to rise more and red streaked the sky. I scoffed. “Go on and make your threats, old giant. They won’t stop me from fighting against you.” Another thought entered my mind then. Should I tell Kaihar about what I was doing?

That troubled me as I thought over just what he’d say at the suggestion. Just like every other time I’d gone out and acted on what I wanted to do, he would rebuke me, tell me how foolish this way was. Asking for his advice, or any of the alfar for that matter, would only end in me not being able to finally start acting on what Freyr told me to do.

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