Niddhog’s Escape (an excerpt)

Quickly, quietly, I padded out of the house, barefoot. I hopped out of the doorway and hurried through the mist and out to the barn. My toes sunk into the moist grass as I tried my best not to slip on the morning dew. I reached the barn, avoiding the livestock as to not wake them. I found the ladder leading to the roof and climbed it in record time. I shimmied my way to the peak of the roof and when my eyes caught the first glimpse of the sea, I saw it; the Viking ship.

It was sailing straight towards our small island, wind stretching the red sails, causing them to whip. I held my breath. They were coming fast, even in the early morning storm. I watched in horror as the neck of the ship bounced on the waves. The wooden serpent rose with great power and dipped back down, causing the waves to shudder under its weight. Even from the far off distance that the ship was at, I could see the flames of torches flicking on the deck.

Then, as if the mighty gods themselves knew of the chaos that was about to take place and feared for our safety, the wind came to a sudden halt. A complete stand still. The only movement in the surrounding area was my breath, coming out in small puffs of chilled air. The ship, even with the crashing waves, wouldn’t be able to move without wind. I let out a soft sigh of relief.

I watched the ship for a few minutes, praying the wind wouldn’t return. When everything seemed well and safe, I shifted to begin sliding down the barn. I stopped, half my weight on my elbow, the rest on my knees. The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up as a chill ran down my back. The air was still quiet. Suddenly, the Viking ship started to move. I looked around in a startled panic. No trees were moving and neither were the waves. The ship ventured on as if it had its own source of wind. The sails of the ship stretched out with tension even further than when the wind was moving them. The Vikings, the rulers of the grand oceans, moved even faster towards my home.

“Finn!” My name was half shouted, half whispered. I whipped my head around to find my mother standing in the doorway of the house. She was large, taking up the frame of the door, blocking my sister from coming out into the chilly air. Get in here, she mouthed while clenching her fists.

Fearing my mother more than the Vikings, I slid down the roof and dropped onto the soft dirt with a thud. I hustled off towards the house, crouching low. I knew the Viking ship was too far to see me, but maybe they had a scope. I couldn’t be too safe.

“The ship, mother, the one the island has been fearing.” I spoke low enough for my sister not to hear and pointed east towards the sea. “It draws closer even without wind.”

Blond, bushy eyebrows climbed up mother’s forehead. Her blue eyes bore into my identical ones. “Impossible,” she murmured.

“But,” I started.

“Nonsense, you child.” Mother reached out with her large fingers and gripped my ear. Even at the age of 14, my mom still treated me like I didn’t take care of my family, which I did. I farmed, I traded, and I hunted. I supplied for the family and this woman still acted like I played in the mud. Mother pulled on my ear, causing pain to flare up. “It’s too early for these games, Finn. You woke both me and Katla.” She pushed back my sister, making her stumble into the orange cat that slept in the house during the winter and spring months.

The feline hissed and ran away while my mom pulled me into the house, slamming the poorly fitted wood door. “The Vikings, mom, they’re coming. We need to warn the rest of the island.” Mother pushed me towards the small room my sister and I slept in.

“Stop speaking your lies, boy. Just for this, you will have no breakfast. Now,” she huffed. “Both of you, off to bed.” Katla quickly turned on her heel, rushing for her bed. I walked backwards slowly, still facing mom.

“You have to listen, they’re coming mother!”

“Bed!” She threw out her thick arm, pointing in the direction Katla went. The ragged clothes that covered her arm swung loosely with the action. “If you want to eat at all before the next sunrise you’ll hustle now.”

I turned and made my way to the cow skin I slept on. My sister was curled on her bedding and was wrapped in various rags. I plopped down and waited until I heard our mom snoring near the fire in the main room. The loud echo of mother’s breathing canceled out my light footsteps across the freezing stone floor. I crouched by Katla and shook her shoulder. She stirred and peered over the make shift blankets.

Like she has for her whole life, she stared up at me with dark brown eyes and said nothing. Katla has never said a word and probably never will. I don’t know why I woke her. I didn’t want my sister to be in trouble, to be in danger, or to be worried, but I needed all the help I could get. I needed to warn the rest of the village of the coming Vikings.

“Katla,” I barely whispered loud enough for her to hear me. “I need your help.” At first I felt I needed to explain what I was talking about, but she knew. My sister had this eerie sixth sense of always knowing what was going on around her without having someone explain anything to her. It was one of the few things the gods had blessed her with considering they forgot her voice.

Katla blinked slowly once, answering my plea for help. I swooped down and lifted her up by her shoulders. Many people wouldn’t guess it, but Katla was my twin. My hair was so blond it was almost white, while my sister had hair so black it was hard to find her in the dark. She had eyes that were identical to our fathers, a dark brown that would change to black when one of them grew angry. My mother and I shared pale blue eyes that caught attention from anyone who looked into them.

I had to duck my chin in order to look at her when she stood so close to me. I may be a male and may work all hours of the day, but the height difference between me and my twin was astonishing. Watching her tie her hair up with a leather strap reminded me to do the same. After pulling back my blond locks I found some fur and more leather straps in the corner of the room. I tossed the smaller tuffs and straps to Katla and we made makeshift shoes for ourselves.

Katla started pulling the rags off her bed and began wrapping herself in them. I knew it was cold outside and her small frame didn’t do her much justice in the body heat department.

Hurry¸ I mouthed, but she was already in front of the doorway before I finished the word. Katla threw up her hood and tip toed out of the room. I followed close behind, stepping over the cat when we passed the fire. Our mother was still snoring, drowning out the meowing the cat started to do when my sister pulled the door open. I kicked the cat out the doorway and quickly jammed the door into its frame.

Before hurrying to the barn, I took a look at my twin. She was holding the cat while glaring at me. “Sindri will be fine,” I grumbled. I watched as Katla stashed the cat away in the fold of her rags and then quickly followed me.

I didn’t have to climb the barn this time. The Vikings were close enough to be seen from where I stood. Carvings on the wood of the ship were crisp with detail even in the dark. The ship wasn’t coming straight for the island, but rather circling it, looking for the port. The farm we lived on was opposite of the port and was perched near the edge of a cliff. The Vikings wouldn’t have a way to invade us from here unless they planned on climbing up the slope.

I felt Katla pull on my sleeve. I looked down at her wide doll eyes and cursed under my breath. “You’re right, we need to hurry.” We made our way inside the barn, me heading to the back and my sister heading straight of the horses. “Hold on, we need something,” I said when I felt Katla’s eyes boring into my back.

Shifting around the hay, I began stomping on the wooden boards. A horse made a huff behind me and I knew my twin made it do it. “I’m hurrying, dammit,” I growled as my foot broke a floor board. “Found it,” I breathed. I reached down and gave the wood a hard pull, snapping off the rest of it. The horse started making louder noises. My creepy, mute sister tended to communicate through animals. This was the blessing she received from the gods. It was also a trait she was given from our father. He, being deaf, resulted in the same blessing. He liked to call the communication “mind melding,” meaning he could connect with animals and talk and listen through them.

Of the many talents my sister was blessed with, why couldn’t it be finding gold or something?

Grabbing what I needed, I kicked the broken board back into place along with some hay and stomped off to my sister. She was preparing my horse, obviously anxious for our task. “Here.” I dropped a dagger into Katla’s tiny hands. She looked up at me from under her long eye lashes, questioning the need for the weapon. “You never know, sister. We need to be safe.” She gave me the ‘yeah-right-a-dagger-is-going-to-stop-the-Vikings’ look. I held up the sheathed sword that was in my other hand. Katla gasped. It was the last item that belonged to our father that mother didn’t sell for gold or alcohol. I hid it from her and because of that, Katla always assumed it was sold. “I hid it with other weapons.” I pointed toward two sets of bows and arrows that were hanging on the wall. “I pulled those out the other day when the Vikings were spotted.”

A man that came into port about a week ago warned the island of a fast approaching Viking ship, but no one had seen it since. I wasn’t taking any chances and began to prepare for the worst. I hid food and dug up weapons, placing them across our property. Every night I snuck out of the house multiple times and checked the sea for any signs of the ship. Tonight was the night that all my hard work paid off.