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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

My eyes stung from the smoke. The flames at the rear of the hall singed my hair and stubbly beard. I started to cough as the smoke filled my lungs. The angry crowd hacked at the doors with renewed rage, their new leader screaming them into a frenzy.

“Now what?” Runolf asked. “I thought you said you would rather fight than burn.”

“And you said anything was possible,” I replied. “Follow me.” I pulled him away from the door and we stumbled further into the burning building.

Fifty-Nine

We ran past boards and benches until we reached the southern wall. Flames had engulfed the eastern portion of the building and the smoke was thick and choking, swirling above us in the rafters. Leofstan’s body was already invisible from where we stood, smoke and flames obscuring our view of the old monk’s corpse. I shoved away thoughts of my dead mentor. There was no time for sadness now, only action. And that part of my mind that has made me so deadly in battle over the years came to the fore. I could see just what we needed to do and I would allow nothing to distract me from my goal.

It was already getting difficult to see, and the acrid hot air stung my throat, eyes and lungs. But after a few moments of groping and feeling along the wall, I found what I was looking for. One of the small windows I had noticed earlier yawned dark before us. I stabbed the thin membrane that covered it, and cool air blew inward, sucked from outside by the ravenous flames. Both Runolf and I pushed our faces close and gulped down breaths of the fresh air. I had thought the window larger when we had passed by outside the hall, but it was there nonetheless, and it might yet prove to be our salvation.

At the doors, in the hazed distance of a few paces away, the crowd’s axes were biting into the beam. It would be only heartbeats before they realised they could reach in and unbar the door.

“I’ll never fit through there,” said Runolf. It was true. I was much slimmer and less heavily muscled, and it was doubtful if I would be able to wriggle through. Runolf would not be able to fit more than his head and one shoulder in without becoming wedged.

“Use your axe,” I hissed, glancing at the door. There might still be just enough time for us to slip into the night. If Runolf hurried. But he hesitated. “Come on!” I urged him. “What are you waiting for?”

“So many of them are children,” he replied. “I cannot…”

“What?” I snapped. “Would you rather die than fight children who would see you burn?”

“I do not make war on women or children,” he said, his tone hollow and full of anguish.