When dawn broke, they consigned the bodies to the waves. It was a gloomy ceremony, the gathered sailors still and bleak-eyed, Damian and Begga once more intoning their words of ritual and parting. The deck refused to dry, and Skadi wondered if some curse from the salt hag lingered still.
â€...
2022-06-19 17:05:11 +0000 UTC View PostThe Draugr Coast came into ever greater relief as Ulfarr guided their ship closer to the shore, until the smudges broke apart into separate peaks. Their lower halves were serried with thick pine forests, bristling near black and impenetrable, while the upper parts gleamed jagged and white, rising...
2022-06-19 17:04:34 +0000 UTC View PostThe ship grew steadily larger. Lethargy befell the ship’s crew, and everybody stood at the gunwale, watching, waiting.
“If it comes to a fight,” said Biolfr quietly by Skadi’s side. “Will you give us weapons?”
“No,” said Skadi. “If it comes to a fight, I don’t trus...
2022-06-19 17:04:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe four SkrĂmslaeyjan sailors huddled at the prow, soaked and dispirited. Skadi took up Natthrafn and approached. They flinched when they met her gaze and looked away.
What had they seen that night? How had she appeared to them?
No matter. She’d use it to her advantage.
“W...
2022-06-19 17:03:31 +0000 UTC View PostDamian’s gasps resembled those of a dying man, sharp and spasmodic. His hands shook, he swayed, and when the golden light faded he burst backward, scooting across the deck until he fetched up against the gunwale.
Skadi knelt by Aurnir’s side and gently touched the skin around the wound....
2022-06-19 17:02:57 +0000 UTC View PostSkadi fell upon the four men like a bolt from the roiling heavens. She felt lithe and limber, infused with power, raw and burning with hatred.
The four sailors cried in alarm, tried to draw back so they could swing their bearded axes. Skadi didn’t give them the luxury.
The battle wa...
2022-06-19 17:02:18 +0000 UTC View PostThe SkrĂmslaeyjan longship slid away from the dock into the deep waters of the fjord. The traitors manning the oars hailed from Sanda. Huddled in the belly of the boat, Skadi watched them pull expertly at the oars. Last year these had been honorable men, part of the Kingdom of the North.
N...
2022-06-19 17:01:47 +0000 UTC View Post“It tears my heart to see you all so cruelly treated,” said Jarl Leifr, his voice rich with sorrow. He stood before the prisoners, resplendent in a black, fox fur coat, his broad belt gleaming with jewels, a mantle of black wolf fur about his rounded shoulders. “I remember all too well the ...
2022-06-19 17:01:16 +0000 UTC View PostPatroclus favored big, dramatic swings of his blade. Stepping onto the trestletable was an invitation for him to hew at her legs - and he took it. Gliding forward smoothly, he slashed at her knees, looking to sever her limbs as he’d done to Iofast.
Skadi leaped into the air, her body aliv...
2022-06-19 17:00:34 +0000 UTC View PostHer friends and family were sitting in a line against the longhall’s rear wall, backs pressed to the familiar tapestries. Riki lay with his head in their mother’s lap, still unconscious. A half dozen Archean soldiers stood guard, everything about them from the sounds of their voices and loud ...
2022-06-19 16:59:56 +0000 UTC View PostSkadi dropped upon the captain without a sound. Her seax flashed silver as she stabbed it where his neck met his shoulder, two fisted, her falling weight behind the strike to drive the point all the way down into his black, beating heart.
But the captain jerked aside at the last moment, his...
2022-06-19 16:59:22 +0000 UTC View PostThe air was brutalized by screams and shouts, the bright clangor of weapon meeting weapon and the first hints of burning thatch.
Skadi half-crouched, her two-inch blade held before her, the waxed boards slick beneath her wet, bare feet.
“Are you a water sprite, come to offer me gift...
2022-06-19 16:58:39 +0000 UTC View Post“Gæð a wyrd swa hio scel.”
Fate goes ever as fate must.
~ Beowulf
“Heppnin er hugrakkur.”
Fortune favors the bold.
~ Common aphorism
Skadi scaled the raw boulders and strode up the occasional goat path toward Wi...
2022-06-19 16:57:54 +0000 UTC View PostHello!
I've not used Patreon much over the years, but deeply appreciate everyone who's chosen to support me here regardless. As such, I wanted to give you a head's up as to how the entire universe is going to change next Monday (June 6th).
I'm beginning an experiment called Skadi's Sa...
2022-05-30 17:03:00 +0000 UTC View Post