Taking Her Vikings by Skye MacKinnon

Author:Skye MacKinnon [MacKinnon, Skye]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Peryton Press

ᚴᛅᛒᛁᛏᚢᛚᛁ 14

We’re on a boat with nothing but tall waves all around us. The boat rocks from side to side and foam sprinkles my face, but I don’t feel scared. There’s someone else in the boat behind me, I feel his comforting presence, but I don’t want to turn around to look at him. He’s a friend, someone I know very well. He steers the boat with an expert touch, avoiding the biggest waves that could easily crush our little boat. I feel safe with him, even though I can’t see his face.

“The storm will pass,” he says confidently. “The sea will guide us where we need to be.”

I nod, taking his words as the truth.

“I’m glad you decided to come out with me today. It gets lonely sometimes.”

I nod again. I don’t remember getting on this boat with him, but I don’t feel like I need to have that memory. It doesn’t matter. The past doesn’t matter, nor does the future. The present is what’s important.

There’s a massive wave coming towards us, taller than several houses stacked upon each other.

“It’s going to drown us!” I shout when the boat continues to steer towards us.

“No,” the man behind me says calmly. “Don’t be scared. Nothing bad will happen.”

I trust him, but I can’t help but clench my fists as the wave approaches. It’s getting ever bigger, foam glistening on its curved top.

When it hits us, our boat glides into the water, taking us down into the depths of the sea. I can breathe underwater and I don’t question it. The boat continues its journey as if we were still on the surface of the ocean. Deeper and deeper we go, the light of the sun dimming until we’re in a gloomy underwater world.

Glowing fish swim all around us, illuminating the darkness.

The sea floor becomes a road for our boat, guiding us as the man behind us steers us to an unknown destination.

Suddenly, a dark shadow appears on our right, a shape so massive that it could be a hill if it weren’t moving.

“Jǫrmungandr,” the man whispers. In awe-stricken silence, we approach the body of the serpent that’s stretched out across the bottom of the sea. There is no end to it; a mountain of scales and rippling muscle.

SEPARATED BY TIME, UNITED IN DREAM.

The voice of the serpent echoes in my mind and I bow my head in reverence. This is the World Serpent, the child of the God Loki, the being that surrounds Midgard, grasping its own tail within its jaws. The day it unfurls, Ragnarök will begin.

The boat approaches the serpent’s head, and with relief I see that it’s still biting its tail in its giant jaws. The end of the world hasn’t begun yet.

SO MANY TIMES YOU HAVE BEEN HERE, YET NO TIMES AT ALL.

None of what Jǫrmungandr says makes sense, but I listen nonetheless, knowing that this being is wise and nearly omniscient. Even if I don’t understand its words now, they might reveal their true meaning in the future.

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