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Back A Night of Flames
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

Runolf tugged at my robe and we set off once more. We could not afford to wait in the shadows. Our only chance was to reach the hall before the settlement awoke. Fleetingly, I wondered how we would escape, if we were able to complete our quest for vengeance, but I pushed my concerns away. Fear was my enemy now and would only serve to cloud my judgement.

We moved on, the singing still clear in the cool air of the night. No other sound came to us as we reached the houses closest to the hall.

Without warning, a door opened beside us and a figure almost stumbled directly into Runolf. In the dim light I saw bleary eyes and tousled hair. Shocked by the hulking shape of Runolf, the man hesitated, then opened his mouth to sound the alarm. Runolf dropped his axe and in the same movement wrapped his brawny left arm around the man’s neck, clamping his broad hand over his mouth before he could utter a sound. Runolf was a head taller than the man and much stronger. As the figure flailed and scratched against Runolf’s thick forearms, the axeman dragged him away from the doorway. They struggled together in the darkness for a few heartbeats, Runolf applying counter pressure to the man’s head with his right hand. There was a sickening crack, as the man’s neck snapped and he went limp.

“Vermund?” a woman’s voice, blurred and fuzzy with sleep, called quietly through the open doorway from the darkness within.

Runolf, still holding the dead man, looked at me and nodded towards the hut. I thought of Aelfwyn’s words and did not move. How many of those in this settlement were guilty of the same crimes as Ljósberari, and how many had been taken by force, just as Revna and Aelfwyn? I had not come here to fight womenfolk and innocent children.

“Vermund?” came the call again, this time clearer, more urgent.

Runolf let go of the man with his right hand and pointed furiously at the open door. His meaning was clear, but still I did not move. A heartbeat later, Runolf dropped the body and vanished inside the hut.

There was a muffled cry, a thud, then silence. My heart hammered against my ribs and I was breathless again as I stood there in the dark. Distant and thin sounding now, I could just discern the strains of the lullaby we had heard. Surely someone must have heard the scuffle or the woman calling out. But there was no further sound.

Runolf stepped from the hut, his movements stiff. He stooped for his axe.

“Drag his body into the hut so that it won’t be discovered,” he hissed, his tone clipped and angry.