The Bear's Blade by Tim Hodkinson

Author:Tim Hodkinson [Hodkinson, Tim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788549981
Publisher: Head of Zeus

Twenty-Nine

The voyage to Hedeby was longer and more uncomfortable than the one to Jorvik. The days rolled into a week as the ship pitched and rolled over the endless churning waves. The sky was dark and when it was not raining a bitter wind kept the sail taut and bit on any exposed flesh.

Einar found himself pondering how sea travel was an odd combination of boredom and the underlying terror of certain death that might lurk beneath every cold wave which battered the prow.

They sighted the coast of Denmark and began the journey around the peninsula of the Jutes. Ulrich was concerned about Danish vikings as they sailed but in the end they saw no one. As it turned out the height of excitement was when big waves sloshed over the prow, threatening to swamp the ship.

‘Get those buckets and start bailing,’ Ulrich bellowed at his crew. ‘Or we’ll all end up in Aegir’s Hall beneath the waves.’

Everyone worked to clear the water off the deck, throwing bucketfuls of briny water back over the side until the deck was clear. When it was all over they stood for a moment catching their breaths.

‘Did you see Ulrich?’ Einar said in a quiet voice to Affreca. The Wolf Coats, aware of the danger, had worked with steady but concentrated effort but the little Wolf Coat leader had been frantic at bailing the water off the ship. ‘He’s so desperate not to die in any way except with a sword in his hand.’

‘Well, he believes Ragnarök is coming,’ Affreca said. ‘There isn’t much time left to claim a seat on Odin’s mead bench.’

‘Do you think Ragnarök is coming?’ Einar said.

‘How else do you explain the weather?’ Affreca said with a shrug.

‘I don’t know,’ Einar said.

They went back to their shipboard life. This consisted of sailing duties, keeping the ship afloat and on track, hauling ropes to tighten or angle the sail, making minor repairs or upkeep jobs, or, when the wind dropped, rowing. Skar also insisted on making them all row for two periods a day to improve their overall fitness. He also had them doing other exercises like carrying each other up and down the deck, squatting up and down with a crewmate on their back or running up and down the ship in an endless loop around the mast, all to keep them fit and ready for fighting. Einar welcomed the exertions, finding himself getting stronger by the day and he began to feel he had at last recovered his strength from the weak state his poisoned wound had left him in.

He went through some nervous times as well. In between all the fitness work Skar also kept the crew busy with drills and practice in war craft. As he worked on formation tactics with the others Einar was on edge, expecting a blow to knock the wooden practice sword from his injured hand and the truth would be known. His luck held however. The wooden swords were much lighter than a real one and Skar did not want anyone to get injured while on the voyage.

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