Falcon Warrior (The Swordswoman Book 3) Read online

  'Now we are all friends together,' Melcorka said. 'Tell us about the Ice king, Almick.'

  Almick chewed on a chunk of seal blubber. 'I don't know much about him. He appeared when my grandfather's grandfather was a boy and bothered nobody until a few years ago when he began to send out his great creatures. They attack our kayaks at sea and attack our hunting parties on land so we have been forced further and further south.'

  'What is he like?' Bradan asked.

  'Nobody has ever seen him,' Almick admitted.

  'You said he sends his creatures. What are these creatures?' Melcorka touched the hilt of Defender, feeling the thrill of contact.

  'He sends bears on land and walrus at sea.' Almick said. 'Yet they are much fiercer than I have ever seen them.' He hesitated for a second. 'It is said that he also controls the amoraks.'

  'The what?' Melcorka asked. 'I do not know the term.'

  Almick looked around fearfully. He lowered his voice. 'They are creatures from the deep ice,' he said. 'Terrible things like wolves but ten times fiercer. They have not been seen in living memory.'

  Melcorka touched the hilt of Defender. 'I will watch for them,' she said. 'As for bears, well, we have bears in Alba,' Melcorka said. 'We hunt them for sport.'

  'These bears hunt us for sport,' Almick said.

  'By Odin! I'd like to see the bear that could hunt a Norseman!' Erik shouted, then glanced at Almick's wife and looked away again.

  'When you gather your men together,' Melcorka ignored Erik's outburst, 'we can march north. Do you know where this Ice king lives?'

  Almick shook his head. 'We only know he is in the north beyond the river of ice.'

  'What is the river of ice?' Bradan asked.

  'Ice moving in a river,' Almick's explanation did not help in the slightest.

  'We'll see it when we see it,' Melcorka said. 'Let's head north, and hope to entice this Ice king away from his throne.'

  Erik produced a twisted smile. 'We are Norsemen,' he said without conviction. 'We will melt him.'

  Prising the men from their new female friends, they marched at noon that day, with Melcorka, Erik and Almick in front and the combined army of Skraelings and Norsemen at their back. After the first suspicions, there was no disagreement and both groups merged happily, chattering in their respective languages, pointing out various points of interest and grouping closer together as the terrain grew wilder and the snow deeper and more extensive.

  'They should call him the snow king rather than the Ice king,' Bradan looked ahead. They had only been walking for a full day and were already trudging through deep snow, with great white mountains ahead and occasional flurries of snow blasting into their faces.

  Melcorka flicked snow off the hood of her cloak. 'I wonder if he even exists,' she said. 'There are no people here, no buildings. There is nothing for a man to rule over except wilderness.'

  'There are giants,' one of the younger Norsemen pointed to the right. 'There are giants there!'

  'Now that's different,' Bradan hefted his staff. 'I've never seen a real giant before. Where are they boy?'

  'Over there!' The Norseman gesticulated wildly into a blizzard of snow. 'I saw them moving in there.'

  Chapter Four

  Melcorka saw the shadows first, stretching dark and sinister along the snow. Each was as long as a Norse dragon-ship and as wide as a Hebridean broch.

  'I've heard of giants,' she said, 'but I never expected to meet one.'

  'We are travelling to have new experiences and see all the different cultures of the world,' Bradan said. 'I suppose that giants must be a culture, just like everybody else.'

  'You sound very calm about meeting giants.'

  Bradan shrugged. 'What is there to worry about? We have met Picts, Islesmen, Norsemen, People of Peace, the Shining one, the Morrigan and now the Skraelings. Giants are just one more culture.'

  'They are a very large culture,' Melcorka nodded to the shadows that loomed from the blizzard toward them. 'I hope they are friendly.'

  'So do I,' Bradan tapped his staff on the ice. 'They have no reason to attack us; we are no threat to them.' His grin was slightly sardonic. 'If they are anything like as large as they appear, then we are definitely no threat to them.'

  'In our experience, creatures don't need a reason to attack,' Melcorka said. 'We'll soon see.'

  The shadows increased, growing longer and darker until the younger Norsemen either spoke louder to prove they were not afraid, or edged behind their companions and proved that they were. The low deep roar echoed across the ice, louder than any human voice so even the bravest of the Norse, scions of a people who had spread terror across half Europe, stopped dead and reached for their weapons.

  'Odin save us!' A tall man named Leif said. 'They have loud voices.' He hefted his axe and grinned nervously, hoping for support.

  The Skraelings knelt on the ground, fitting arrows to their bows. Some looked at the Norse while others stared into the clearing blizzard.

  'This could be interesting,' Melcorka stepped forward, with Bradan one step behind her and slightly to her left. 'Let's talk to these giants.'

  'We may be best waiting to see what they are like,' Erik had a hand on the hilt of his sword.

  'Wait if you like,' Melcorka called out. She strode ahead, feeling the power of Defender surge through her. 'I'm sure the giants will be a lot friendlier by the time they reach you.'

  'I think you're looking forward to this,' Bradan said.

  'I look forward to anything that unsettles the Norsemen,' Melcorka told him.

  'Even when you think they are cute?'

  Melcorka looked at him. 'That has nothing to do with it,' she said.

  The shadows lengthened; that deep roar sounded again and then the giants appeared. At first, there were six of them, and then seven, eight and with others following close behind. Massive and shaggy, they gleamed white against a background of snow.

  'They're not giants,' Bradan said. 'They're some sort of bear. Ice bears!'

  The bears were much larger than any Melcorka had seen before, at least half as large again as the tallest man, they alternated from running on all fours to standing on their hind legs as they approached these intruders in their territory.

  'Can we talk to these giants?' Bradan placed his staff in front of him as if to prevent these monsters from tearing him to pieces.

  'I've known bears to fight in self-defence,' Melcorka said. 'They never attack people without a reason.'

  'These bears don't appear to know that,' Bradan said.

  They attacked from all sides, roaring as they came closer, with their massive clawed paws hooking at the humans and their jaws lined with teeth as large as a man's thumb. One of the young Norsemen turned to run and slipped on the ice. Two of the bears immediately dropped to all fours and buried their heads in his body. The man's screams rose shrilly and died away slowly.

  'Stupid boy,' Bradan said. 'Animals are always attracted by weakness.'

  'They're coming at us now.' Melcorka slid Defender from her scabbard. 'I don't like killing animals.'

  'I like them killing us even less,' Bradan said.

  The first bear dropped from two legs to four as it ran directly at Melcorka, and then rose to its hind legs as it closed. Pushing Bradan behind her, Melcorka lifted Defender high and swept it to the right. The great blade sang as it hissed through the air, killing the bear stone dead. The blade stuck in the muscular flesh so she had to tug it out.

  'They are tough animals,' she said.

  A flight of arrows passed Melcorka; each one landed on the body of the next bear. It stopped for only a second, bit at the arrows and continued.

  'Its' fur is too thick for the arrows to penetrate,' Bradan stepped beside Melcorka and lowered his staff. The stout length of wood looked a puny defence compared to the bears. 'I've never seen bears so aggressive.'

  'Something has stirred them up,' Melcorka said.

  The Norsemen were formed into a ragged clump, all fac
ing outward with their weapons ready.

  'I've never known Norsemen so hesitant before either,' Melcorka said. 'Egil and his boys would have charged into the bears to prove themselves better than anybody else.'

  Bradan nodded. 'They are cute, though.'

  Melcorka grunted. That throw-away comment had hurt more than she realised. 'Only one of them,' she said. 'The old grey-beards are not.'

  'Here they come again,' Bradan warned. The bears dropped to all fours and advanced in a white-furred phalanx. The Skraelings fired their arrows again, with the same result as on the previous occasion. Erik glanced at Melcorka as if seeking her permission, and then he stepped forward, swinging his sword.

  'Come on then bears,' he shouted out. 'Come and face Erik Farseeker.' He moved sideways until he was alongside Melcorka.

  'Get back, Bradan!' Melcorka snapped. 'You're not a fighting man!' She pushed him behind her.

  The bears rose simultaneously until they all stood on their hind legs and they opened their mouths and roared, with the sound echoing over the stark landscape. They seemed to rise from every dip in the landscape, shaggy, large, with pink tongues lolling from gaping mouths and predatory eyes fixed on the ragged band of humans that stood in front of them.

  'There are hundreds of them,' tall Leif sounded nervous.

  'Plenty for all of us,' Melcorka agreed. She tightened her grip on Defender and shuffled forward in a half crouch, waiting. She knew that as long as she held Defender she could cope with whatever attacked her, but she also had to ensure that Bradan was safe. She glanced behind her. 'Keep back, Bradan. This will get bloody.'

  Bradan leaned on his staff, watching the bears advance. 'It always does,' he said.

  'Now they'll charge,' Erik sounded nervous; he looked at Melcorka and copied her stance.

  'Listen,' Melcorka said.

  Something sounded in the distance, long and low, the tone underneath the rough roaring of the bears. It sounded again, sonorous, echoing over the wild terrain.

  'That's a horn,' Erik and Bradan said simultaneously.

  'That means there are people out there,' Melcorka said.

  The bears stopped, turned around and loped away, slowly, jostling one another as they vanished into the distance. The snow started to fall again, lightly coating the deep prints of the bears.

  'So whoever blew that horn controlled the bears,' Melcorka sheathed Defender. 'It may be the Ice king or somebody else. I wonder who he is and what else he controls.' She looked forward into the glaring white waste and the hypnotically whirling snow. 'And why he is luring us out here.'

  'Luring us?' Erik asked. 'What do you mean?'

  'We are being drawn to meet somebody.' Bradan tapped his staff on the ice. 'Or perhaps something.'

  Chapter Five

  'I've never seen anything like that before,' Melcorka said. 'What is it?'

  'It's like a river,' Bradan said. 'Except that it's made of ice. It's a river of ice. Truly we have seen wonders since we left Alba.'

  The allied force halted at the side of the river.

  'We call it a glacier,' Erik said. 'It is the ice flowing toward the sea.'

  Bradan surveyed the glacier; he could see it moving infinitely slowly, with chunks of ice grinding and shifting on top. 'It will not be easy to cross.'

  'The Ice king is on the other side, so they say' Almick said. 'My people have never been over there.'

  'So you don't really know if the Ice king is there, or even if he exists at all,' Bradan said. 'All we know is that somebody blew the horn that controlled the bears and somebody is putting pressure on your herders and hunters.'

  Almick nodded. 'We have never been across there,' he said.

  'If you do not go, you will never know,' Melcorka put a foot against the glacier. She could sense a very slight trembling. 'It does not seem too dangerous.'

  The Norse and Skraelings clustered at the side of the glacier, peering across at the north side where the ground rose in a series of steep ridges toward the blue-white range of mountains that had been their destination since they started out.

  'Who will be first to cross?' Almick was more nervous than Melcorka had ever seen him. His Skraelings pulled back at once.

  'I will be first!' Bjorn, a young, swaggering Norseman looked around to ensure that everybody appreciated his bravery.

  'Perhaps I should go…' Melcorka began until Bradan took hold of her arm.

  'No. Let the Norse go first; this is their war.'

  Straight- backed, Bjorn took one step onto the glacier. 'It's all right,' he shouted. 'I will lead the way and you can all follow me!'

  He walked on, occasionally jumping over unseen obstacles and stopped in the centre of the glacier. He looked back at them, waved, turned, stepped onto a large rock and disappeared.

  'Where is he?' Erik asked. 'Bjorn! Where are you?'

  'Give him a minute,' Bradan said. 'He may have slipped, or found something.'

  A minute passed. And another. Bjorn did not appear.

  'He's vanished,' Bradan said.

  'I'll find him.' Erik stepped onto the ice.

  'Your men need you,' Bradan took hold of his arm. 'If you disappear like Bjorn did, who will lead?'

  'I'll go.' Thorfinn was blond and tall, with a neat beard and bright blue eyes. He stepped onto the glacier without hesitation and strode forward in the wake of Bjorn.

  'Can you see Bjorn?' Erik shouted after a few moments.

  'He's not here,' Thorfinn said. 'There is no sign of him at all. It was here that he vanished. He climbed onto this hump of rock here.' He clambered onto the rock.

  'Where in Odin's name can he be?' Erik shouted.

  'There is a …' Thorfinn said no more. He slid into the ice without another word.

  The Skraelings began to murmur, facing each other and talking in high pitched tones. One or two stepped further back from the glacier.

  'They're getting scared,' Melcorka said.

  'So am I,' Bradan admitted.

  'Unless somebody finds out what's happening, the Skraelings will go no further,' Melcorka said.

  'You are not that somebody,' Bradan stepped in front of her. 'This is not our war, Mel!'

  Melcorka warmed to him all over again. 'I have to be that somebody. Erik is too young and inexperienced and I doubt that any of the Norse is a true warrior. They are farmers, explorers, settlers: brave men yes, but not men like the Norse we fought in Scotland.' She touched his arm. 'I did not come along to stand and watch.'

  'Mel…' Bradan reached out a second too late as Melcorka stepped onto the glacier.

  She had expected it to be slippery, but a thousand years of movement had added a thick carpet of small stones to the surface so she walked as easily as on a made-up track.

  'Take care…'

  She heard Bradan's voice. The ice was firm beneath her feet, undulating slightly and rising to a ridge on which stood a single isolated rock that must have been carried on the ice for scores, perhaps hundreds of years.

  'That must be the rock that Thorfinn and Bjorn stood on,' Melcorka told herself. 'I won't make that mistake.' Instead, she walked to the far side. 'There's nothing here,' she shouted and then stopped.

  Beyond the prominent rock was a chasm extending downward as far as she could see. The sides were of glistening ice, so smooth there was not a single irregularity.

  'There is something strange here,' Melcorka said. 'This does not seem natural.'

  'Is Thorfinn there?' Eric shouted.

  'I can't see him,' Melcorka stared downward, trying to see into the depths. A shaft of sunlight magnified the natural shine of the ice and reflected it from side to side until the depths of the chasm was a silver blaze.

  'So where do you lead? And where are the missing men?' Melcorka asked herself. She had two choices; she could explore this new phenomenon, or press on across the glacier and continue the journey to the Ice king.

  Walk on. The Norsemen were warriors who had taken their chances.

  The remain
der of the glacier stretched ahead. Melcorka skirted the chasm and walked to the far bank. There were no obstacles in her path, nothing but rough ice imbedded with pebbles. She turned around to wave the others on. 'Come on over; just watch for the chasm and avoid that rock!'

  She was speaking to nobody. All the Norse and the Skraelings and even Bradan had gone. In their place, she could see nothing except a white glare so dazzling that it hurt her eyes. Then it faded and she saw the castle.

  'Where did that come from?' Melcorka asked herself.

  It was like nothing she had ever seen before. Towers soared skyward behind high walls, with castellated battlements and a gatehouse guarded by an intricately worked portcullis. That was all astonishing enough in this barren land, but what was more surprising was that it was built entirely of ice.

  'I wonder who lives there,' Melcorka said quietly. 'I will guess that it is the Ice king.' She raised her voice. 'Bradan! Erik! Almick! Can anybody hear me?'

  Only the echo of her own voice came in mocking reply. She tried again.

  'Hello! You in the ice castle! Can you hear me?'

  There was still no reply.

  She was alone on this bitter white waste with Bradan and the allied army vanished and the ice castle seemingly deserted. 'Hello!' She repeated, 'Is anybody inside?'

  Again there was no reply. Watery sunlight reflected achingly from the tall towers.

  'I'm coming in,' Melcorka walked to the gateway, crossing an ice-drawbridge over another deep chasm. The portcullis was down; each bar was of ice as thick as Melcorka's forearm, crossing each other in an intricate pattern that forbade any intruder from entering. Above the door was a symbol carved into the ice, white on silver-white and as sharp as if it had been made that same day. Melcorka looked at it, knowing it was familiar but unable to say where she had seen it before.

  'I'm coming in!' Melcorka shouted. 'Either open the portcullis or I'll break my way through.'

  There was no reply. The portcullis remained down. There were no birds, no insects, no animals and no wind; there was nothing to relieve the unbroken silence of that castle in the middle of the Greenland ice.

  Drawing Defender, Melcorka slashed right and left, slicing through the ice to make a hole in the portcullis. The ice broke with a musical tinkle, falling to the ground in a million slivers that rattled and slithered and finally rested still. Silence returned. Melcorka peered through the hole into a vast outer courtyard, beyond which tall towers of shining ice stretched to a sky that was altering colour from grey to blue.