Page 37 of Dragonbound

‘I don’t want to see this,’ he muttered. But still, he didn’t move. He couldn’t drag his eyes away from the steading or from the noise of crashing coming from within. Were they going to steal the hearth? Take the table? Steal his mother’s chair? He wanted to weep.

‘Come on, Erann.’ Sereh pulled on him, her grip tight, a frisson of something reaching him, even though a cloak, tunic and her gloves separated them. Too willingly, he shuffled down the overhang and retrieved his discarded backpack. With silent tears streaming down his face, he turned his back resolutely on everything that had gone before, and looked questioningly at Sereh. He didn’t want to risk talking in case the sound travelled back to the men. She shrugged her shoulders, unsure which way to go. He nodded in understanding and began walking back towards Vatna Jokull.

They continued in companionable silence. The sun warm on his back, and his bulky shadow leading him onwards. In the far distance the sun reflected off Vatna Jokull in an array of every shade of blue imaginable. The glacier was timeless as it spilled through any gap in the steep mountains surrounding it. Their footsteps directed them towards one of the easier passes onto the glacier. He felt as though Vatna Jokull had always been his constant companion. But was it really as immutable? Or would it also one day drain away before his eyes under the heat from the sun?

The breeze picked up as he walked. He felt his hair rise and then fall. He had that awful sensation of being watched again. No, followed.

He turned back sharply, expecting to see one of Rankil’s men in pursuit, and cried out in surprise.

A huge, winged creature, with enormous green eyes, hovered high in the sky behind them, golden hide glistening in the sunlight.

He stared straight at it. Then he blinked and shook his head. When he looked at the spot where it had been, it was gone. There was only a drift of darkening smoke.

‘It was nothing.’ He released his breath. ‘Just the smoke from the steading. They must have got it to light.’

Hallucinations were a sign of snow blindness. He had no time for a debilitating illness. He needed to reach the Library.

He sensed Sereh’s concerned glance. Erann kept his face blank, hoping to make her think she’d imagined his cry. He hurried to catch her, and they continued to walk towards Vatna Jokull.

It was only when they turned to face the already sinking pale-yellow sun that Sereh finally spoke. ‘Are you well, Erann? You’ve been through a lot.’

Erann considered his answer thoughtfully for a few moments before replying. He forced his tone to be light.

‘Honestly, I thought I’d feel broken. When we were up there watching them, I felt stunned, devastated. But now… Now I feel relieved. Rankil’s done the worst he could.’ Erann spoke slowly, the words a revelation to him. ‘Even so, I’m determined to make Rankil pay for his crimes against my family. You said you’d help me, and I feel sure we’re not alone. Rankil doesn’t deserve the title of jarl. We need to tell the truth of what he’s done. Then, maybe, he’ll be removed. I know someone else will have to become jarl. It can’t be me. Not after. Well, not after what’s happened to my father, but anyone has to be better than bloody Rankil.’

Sereh gave a slight smile in the rays of the dying sun.

‘Just as long as you have a plan. It’s one thing to be out from under Rankil’s control, but quite another to build myself a life when I’m all alone.’

Erann looked at her with surprise. ‘You must have friends?’

‘Well, yes.’ And her voice was filled with sorrow. ‘But the people I was hoping would help me have perished during the Long Night.’ The pain in her voice caught as she finished the sentence.

‘Where were these people based?’

‘South of Vatna Jokull.’

Erann felt his heart sink. It would be too much of a coincidence, but then, their meeting on Vatna Jokull was also a coincidence. ‘Were they the Sweinssons?’

Sereh nodded sadly, then asked in a choked voice, ‘Did you know them?’

‘Not exactly. I came across a farm. Everyone had perished.’

Sereh stopped walking and rounded on him, eyes narrowed. ‘It was you who left them half burned?’

But Erann was shaking his head.

‘Yes, and also no. I don’t know what happened to them. When I arrived, I went inside and found… them. They’d left a script, with their names. I stayed the night in their annex and meant to fire it the next day, but wolves came. It was scary.’

‘So you left them, for me to find? Like that?’ Her face was fiery, red spots of anger on her cheeks. He shook his head.

‘No, no. I tried to burn the place. It was weird, Sereh. I can’t explain it. Something else set it alight. I don’t know how. I don’t. In the morning, I woke to find it like that. I did my best but, well, I wasn’t in my right mind. I’m sorry you had to see that.’

For a moment, Sereh looked ready to explode, but suddenly, the fire went from her. When she spoke, her words sounded hollow.

‘Estrith and I grew up together. We were both only children. During the Long Night our families often stayed with one another. Then, during the Long Day, we’d work on our own steadings. I’m surprised you don’t remember her, but…’ She paused. ‘Thinking about it, my father was the Quarter Scribe, and so he attended every Quarter Council. Estrith’s parents didn’t very often. That’s the only reason I survived. I was with Estrith when my parents were killed by Rankil.’

He was silent as they walked onto Vatna Jokull, consumed with sorrow for Sereh, and suddenly all his thoughts vanished.