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Chapters (76)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise forMATTHEW HARFFY
  3. BY MATTHEW HARFFY
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright
  6. Dedication
  7. Maps
  8. Epigraph
  9. Contents
  10. Place Names
  11. One
  12. Two
  13. Three
  14. Four
  15. Five
  16. Six
  17. Seven
  18. Eight
  19. Nine
  20. Ten
  21. Eleven
  22. Twelve
  23. Thirteen
  24. Fourteen
  25. Fifteen
  26. Sixteen
  27. Seventeen
  28. Eighteen
  29. Nineteen
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Twenty-Three
  34. Twenty-Four
  35. Twenty-Five
  36. Twenty-Six
  37. Twenty-Seven
  38. Twenty-Eight
  39. Twenty-Nine
  40. Thirty
  41. Thirty-One
  42. Thirty-Two
  43. Thirty-Three
  44. Thirty-Four
  45. Thirty-Five
  46. Thirty-Six
  47. Thirty-Seven
  48. Thirty-Eight
  49. Thirty-Nine
  50. Forty
  51. Forty-One
  52. Forty-Two
  53. Forty-Three
  54. Forty-Four
  55. Forty-Five
  56. Forty-Six
  57. Forty-Seven
  58. Forty-Eight
  59. Forty-Nine
  60. Fifty
  61. Fifty-One
  62. Fifty-Two
  63. Fifty-Three
  64. Fifty-Four
  65. Fifty-Five
  66. Fifty-Six
  67. Fifty-Seven
  68. Fifty-Eight
  69. Fifty-Nine
  70. Sixty
  71. Sixty-One
  72. Sixty-Two
  73. Author’s Note
  74. Acknowledgements
  75. About the Author
  76. An Invitation from the Publisher

But for that moment, as Eadmaer, Gersine, Bealdwulf, Beorn, Sygbald and Os hauled on the oars, leaning back as one to heave us into the river’s current, I pushed aside my misgivings of Leofstan’s intentions. I allowed myself to smile and enjoy the feeling I knew would be all too fleeting. The Almighty alone knew what would befall us in the days ahead, and had I known then what was to transpire, I might have told Ingvar to turn around, but in that instant I was content. I was surrounded by men I trusted, men who had fought beside me in battle. I sometimes still missed the brethren of the minster, but these warriors were my family now. My brethren of the sword.

And surely God, in His omniscient wisdom, had pushed us towards this destiny, like streams flowing together to create a river. Runolf sought his daughter and vengeance. Leofstan was in search of The Treasure of Life. I too felt the call of the powerful tome, but more than that, like Eadmaer, I was desperate to find Aelfwyn, if she yet lived. Drosten was perhaps looking for a way to expiate the darkness from his past, or maybe he was resigned to having to flee from it forever. Gwawrddur hunted for his next adversary, and the other men of Northumbria hoped that success would bring them battle-fame and wealth. For surely if we could rid this land of Ljósberari, trade between our kingdoms would open up and King Æthelred would not forget those who had made such a thing possible.

Despite everything that had led us to this point, as the oars bit into the fast-flowing waters of the Lågen, I could not shake the feeling that rather than departing Sand, we had somehow arrived, and this moment had been my destination all along. The culmination of the last months brought us to the mouth of this broad river, a river that led silently and inexorably towards our wyrd.

And towards death in a night of flames.

Thirty-Eight

My strange sense of wellbeing was shattered soon after we had left Sand and the fjord behind. The rowing was hardest just after the Lågen’s mouth, where the river was compressed between rocky walls. The water surged and roiled in powerful waves that formed over hidden rocks.

“Pull, you maggots!” shouted Ingvar. “Pull!”

The men at the oars heaved, and sweat streamed from their faces, mingling with the cold spray that shot up from the prow where it sliced into the standing waves. There was a moment of panic, where we gripped Gullbringa’s sides and I was certain that the boat would be capsized, tumbling us into the churning river.