Page 27
Story: Warlords, Witches & Wolves
Little more than a year had passed since he’d been forced to make his way alone. Well, not alone.
With Absolon, the farmer turned ferocious berserker. Hair whiter than Åke’s, muscles bigger, taller, broader, heart more open, more willing, more generous. Absolon—soldier, protector, lover—survived the failed strategy and deserted rather than stay where Ragnar was not. They’d endured the first winter living like common thieves hiding in the forest until Ragnar had settled on his path to restoration.
He gathered men to him, other former military who had become disillusioned one way or another, a handful of peasants who wanted a life of adventure. Absolon had stayed through it all and would have stayed until the very end if not for the others’ growing distrust and the shame they felt it brought their leader that he should be so enamored with another man. It didn’t fit the legend.
He’d had to tie Absolon to a wall to get him to stay behind. Then he had been free of him. Nothing else could have kept Absolon from his side—nor Ragnar from his—but a legend did not fall in love until after he’d won, otherwise love made him vulnerable. Love made him weak. And if he were weak, he wasn’t strong enough to reach his goal. Then who would know of him? Love was what you got as the reward when all travails were finished; Svipdagr knew that. All heroes knew that.
He knew that.
Ragnar finished his song and the men let out a heavy breath. More than one held back a tear, but his heart was cold, even when they praised him. Their cups were soon back to their mouths, and their throats wet with drink, leaving him to sink into his melancholy.
Where was Absolon now? That question opened an ache in his chest that couldn’t be filled with the men’s prattling. Ragnar drained his cup, drowned his thoughts, and went in search of Åke.
Poor substitute that he was, Ragnar could nevertheless take his frustrations out on rough, ready Åke. He could take Ragnar’s contempt against a tree as he fucked him from behind, so he didn’t have to see love in Åke’s eyes.
Åke who was not Absolon.
Ragnar picked his way across the forest floor towards the horses. Åke had not joined the others in toasting their fallen comrade. The boy wasn’t averse to joining in, but the eyes he’d given Ragnar when he’d returned held the promise of one thing. He would stay among the horses, tending to them until Ragnar came and tended to him.
His horse, Seger, whiffled at him and tossed his head. Ragnar stroked his neck, calmed him, and waited, but Åke did not appear. He walked around the horses, searching for sign of the boy.
“Åke?” He didn’t call loudly. Maybe he was back at the fire and had missed him, but surely he would have seen Ragnar leave and followed.
A fox screamed in the moonless night and the sound raised the hairs on the back of his neck. He would not take it as an ill omen. He peered into the darkness made blacker by the firelight at his back and shivered. What he wouldn’t give to be back inside four stout walls.
He returned to the fire and his men, counting faces as he went. The three men he stood closest to lifted their heads from their chatter.
“What ails you, Ragnar?”
He ignored Nias and concentrated on counting the men.
Twenty-eight.
Åke wasn’t there. Ragnar picked up a torch, plunged it into the fire to catch alight, and returned to the horses. Åke wouldn’t have left and if he had, someone would have seen him go. He counted the horses and as far as he could make out none were missing, but he admitted he didn’t know exactly how many he had. An oversight on his part. He’d grown reliant on Åke’s stewardship, a failing that he would have to rectify once the man returned.
He searched for some clue as to Åke’s whereabouts. Perhaps he’d gone for a piss behind a tree and would be back any moment, but as he circled the horses, the torchlight sweeping aside shadows that rushed back in once he passed, the light caught the glint of steel.
He crouched and the torch revealed Åke’s dagger. He widened his search in concentric circles from the spot and found, ground halfway into the dirt, the silver medallion Ragnar had given him in a moment of sentimentality. These things Åke would never abandon. Dropped? He measured the distance. Had he run off into the forest? Why?
Fingernails scratched down his spine, and he hurried back to the campfire and the men. Their conversation died to a mumble.
“Are you well, Ragnar?” Nias said.
“Where’s Åke?”
Three men snickered.
“Perhaps if Ragnar the Red wasn’t so distracted by the pretty young Åke, Jöns would still be alive.”
Ragnar struck Nias across his pock-marked face then grabbed him roughly by the shirt front. “I’ll take no insults from you.” He threw him away. “Åke’s missing. All of you fan out and look for him.”
“Easy, Ragnar,” Malik said. “He’ll come back. We all know Åke wouldn’t leave you.”
This time no one laughed at his expense, but he glowered them into putting down their cups. They drove torches into the fire and staggered off to search, sticking in groups of three or four, their footsteps slow and their heads pitching forward from their necks.
He cursed them silently.Grown men afraid of the dark.
But their fear contained some truth. Åke would not leave without reason. He checked the loot, but all was as it should be. He returned to the dropped dagger and the medallion and marched into the forest the way they led.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27 (Reading here)
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213
- Page 214
- Page 215
- Page 216
- Page 217
- Page 218
- Page 219
- Page 220
- Page 221
- Page 222
- Page 223
- Page 224
- Page 225
- Page 226
- Page 227
- Page 228
- Page 229
- Page 230
- Page 231
- Page 232
- Page 233
- Page 234
- Page 235
- Page 236
- Page 237
- Page 238
- Page 239
- Page 240
- Page 241
- Page 242
- Page 243
- Page 244
- Page 245
- Page 246
- Page 247
- Page 248
- Page 249
- Page 250
- Page 251
- Page 252
- Page 253
- Page 254
- Page 255
- Page 256
- Page 257
- Page 258
- Page 259
- Page 260
- Page 261
- Page 262
- Page 263
- Page 264
- Page 265
- Page 266
- Page 267
- Page 268
- Page 269
- Page 270
- Page 271
- Page 272
- Page 273
- Page 274
- Page 275
- Page 276
- Page 277
- Page 278
- Page 279
- Page 280
- Page 281
- Page 282
- Page 283
- Page 284
- Page 285
- Page 286
- Page 287
- Page 288
- Page 289
- Page 290
- Page 291
- Page 292
- Page 293
- Page 294
- Page 295
- Page 296
- Page 297
- Page 298
- Page 299
- Page 300
- Page 301
- Page 302
- Page 303
- Page 304
- Page 305
- Page 306
- Page 307
- Page 308
- Page 309
- Page 310
- Page 311
- Page 312
- Page 313
- Page 314
- Page 315
- Page 316
- Page 317
- Page 318
- Page 319
- Page 320
- Page 321
- Page 322
- Page 323
- Page 324
- Page 325
- Page 326
- Page 327
- Page 328
- Page 329
- Page 330
- Page 331
- Page 332
- Page 333
- Page 334
- Page 335
- Page 336
- Page 337
- Page 338
- Page 339
- Page 340
- Page 341
- Page 342
- Page 343
- Page 344
- Page 345
- Page 346
- Page 347
- Page 348
- Page 349
- Page 350
- Page 351
- Page 352
- Page 353
- Page 354
- Page 355
- Page 356
- Page 357
- Page 358
- Page 359
- Page 360
- Page 361
- Page 362
- Page 363
- Page 364
- Page 365
- Page 366
- Page 367
- Page 368
- Page 369
- Page 370
- Page 371
- Page 372
- Page 373
- Page 374
- Page 375
- Page 376
- Page 377
- Page 378
- Page 379
- Page 380
- Page 381
- Page 382
- Page 383
- Page 384
- Page 385
- Page 386
- Page 387
- Page 388
- Page 389
- Page 390
- Page 391
- Page 392
- Page 393
- Page 394
- Page 395
- Page 396
- Page 397
- Page 398
- Page 399
- Page 400
- Page 401
- Page 402
- Page 403
- Page 404
- Page 405
- Page 406
- Page 407
- Page 408
- Page 409
- Page 410
- Page 411
- Page 412
- Page 413
- Page 414
- Page 415
- Page 416
- Page 417
- Page 418
- Page 419
- Page 420
- Page 421
- Page 422
- Page 423
- Page 424
- Page 425
- Page 426
- Page 427
- Page 428
- Page 429
- Page 430
- Page 431
- Page 432
- Page 433
- Page 434
- Page 435
- Page 436
- Page 437
- Page 438
- Page 439
- Page 440
- Page 441
- Page 442
- Page 443
- Page 444