Skadi and the Geats (Prose Edda Book 3) by Williams Steven Grier

Author:Williams, Steven Grier
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Milford House Press
Published: 2024-05-17T00:00:00+00:00

14

Do not Burn Pine so Deep in Midgard

Hege’s hands were raw, having saved herself from being buried alive, and her body ached all over. But despite every ounce of her body telling her to rest, she proceeded to climb over the ledge leading down to the people she was attempting to guide to freedom.

The guards had them surrounded and were forcing the more able-bodied to dig a massive hole. Hege knew exactly what they were digging—a grave. Surely, they knew too.

She found her footing while holding onto a root and dropped a few feet onto a clear path. She ducked behind a brush to keep from being spotted, before poking her head up briefly to see the people below. No one was looking her way, and the grave was getting bigger.

What can I do? she thought.

Hege looked left and did not see anything that caught her eye, other than the ravens used to communicate with Lejre and the other campsites. The birds were relatively still despite all that was happening around them. Hege looked right where she saw barrels of oil used to light torches. Beyond that she observed the tree line.

Hege moved cautiously but quickly down the path towards the base of the hill. She was well-covered by the brush along the side, and she could hear the conversations between the guards and the folks digging.

“Keep going,” one guard said.

“You brought this upon yourself,” said another.

Hege pulled the brush apart that hid her so she could get a closer look at what was happening. The people she had been guiding were busy digging. They all looked broken and defeated.

“Will that be enough?” said a guard.

“I think we are deep enough,” said another.

This made Hege perk up. Was she out of time?

“Just a little deeper,” said a third guard. “There are a lot of them.”

“It would be a shame if they came back as draugr.”

A collective laugh broke out amongst the guards.

Hege watched until the guards nearest her all faced away from her, then she moved from her hiding place. As fast as she could she moved to the cottage between the guards forcing those to dig and the barrels of oil she spied from her perch on the path. When her back was to the cottage, she heard whimpering on the other side. Hege turned around and stood on the tip of her toes to peer through the window. She saw the children of those digging.

She tapped on the window gently.

“It’s going to be ok,” she whispered.

Some of the children looked her way and wiped their tears.

“Hang on just a bit longer.”

Hege moved to the edge of the cottage and peeked around the corner. There was no one between her and the containers of oil. She looked around one last time and then ran to the barrels. Hege knocked one on its side, uncorked it, and pushed the barrel so it rolled away from the others into the tree line that surrounded the encampment. She ran after it as

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.