eating knife, knocked Orm’s blade aside by striking the flat of it with his left arm, and buried his in the chiefs throat.
Blood spurted over him. Orm fell. Valgard took the sword. Others were coming. They blocked his escape. Valgard hewed down the nearest. His howling rang between the rafters.
The hall boiled with men. Some sought to get into a safe corner, but others to capture the crazy one. Valgard’s blade sang. Three more yeomen toppled. Then several bore a plank from the trestle table before them. With this, by their weight they pushed Valgard well away from the stack of weapons. Folk armed themselves.
But in that crowded space, it did not go fast. Valgard slashed at those between him and the door who bore nothing. They fell aside, several wounded, and he won through. A warrior who had gotten an iron-rimmed shield as well as a sword stood in the foreroom. Valgard smote. His steel hit the shield rim and broke across.
“Too weak is your blade, Orm,” he cried. As the man rushed at him, he reached back and wrenched the axe from Ketil’s head. In his haste, the other man was careless. Valgard’s first blow battered the shield aside. His second took the man’s right arm off at the shoulder. Valgard went out the door.
Spears hissed after him. He fled into the woods. The blood of his father dripped from him for a while, until it froze and gave no further help to the hounds set on to his trail. Even when he had lost them, he kept running lest he too freeze. Shuddering and sobbing, he fled westward.
VIII
The witch sat waiting, alone in darkness. Presently something slipped through a rat-hole. Looking down to the shadowed floor, she saw her familiar.
Thin and weary, he did not speak ere he had crawled up to her breast and drunk deep. Then he lay on her lap and watched her with hard little glittering eyes.
“Well,” she asked, “how went the journey?”
“Long and cold,” he said. “In bat shape, blown on the wind, I fared to Elfheugh. Often as I crept about Imric’s halls I came near death. They are beastly quick, the elves, and they knew I was no ordinary rat. But nonetheless I contrived to spy on their councils.”
“And is their plan as I thought?”
“Aye. Skafloc will fare to Trollheim for a raid in force on Illrede’s garth, hoping to slay the king or at least upset his readying for war-now that he has openly called an end to the truce. Imric will remain in Elfheugh to prepare defences.”
“Good. The old elf-earl is too crafty, but Skafloc alone can scarce avoid the trap. When does he leave?”
“Nine days hence. He will take some fifty ships.”
“Elves sail swiftly, so he should be at Trollheim the same night. With the wind I will teach him how to raise, Valgard can reach thither in three days, and I’d best allow him another three to busk himself. So if he is to greet Illrede only a short time before Skafloc, I must keep him here-hm, he will need time to get to his own men-well, controlling him will be no great task, since he is now an outlaw fleeing hither in despair.”
“You treat Valgard roughly.”
“I have naught against him, he not being of Orm’s seed, but he is my tool in a stiff and perilous game. It will not be near as easy to ruin Skafloc as it was to kill Orm and the two brothers, or will be to get at the sisters. My magic and my force alike he would laugh at.” The witch grinned in the half-light. “Aye, but Valgard is a tool I shall use to make a weapon that will pierce Skafloc’s heart. As for Valgard himself, I give him a chance to rise high among the trolls, the more so if they conquer the elves. It is my hope to make Skafloc’s downfall doubly bitter by causing the wreck of Alfheim through him.”
And the witch sat back and waited, an art that many years had taught her.
Near dawn, when a grey and hopeless light crept over the snows and the ice-leaved trees, Valgard knocked on the woman’s door. She opened it at once and he fell into her arms. Nigh dead
Blood spurted over him. Orm fell. Valgard took the sword. Others were coming. They blocked his escape. Valgard hewed down the nearest. His howling rang between the rafters.
The hall boiled with men. Some sought to get into a safe corner, but others to capture the crazy one. Valgard’s blade sang. Three more yeomen toppled. Then several bore a plank from the trestle table before them. With this, by their weight they pushed Valgard well away from the stack of weapons. Folk armed themselves.
But in that crowded space, it did not go fast. Valgard slashed at those between him and the door who bore nothing. They fell aside, several wounded, and he won through. A warrior who had gotten an iron-rimmed shield as well as a sword stood in the foreroom. Valgard smote. His steel hit the shield rim and broke across.
“Too weak is your blade, Orm,” he cried. As the man rushed at him, he reached back and wrenched the axe from Ketil’s head. In his haste, the other man was careless. Valgard’s first blow battered the shield aside. His second took the man’s right arm off at the shoulder. Valgard went out the door.
Spears hissed after him. He fled into the woods. The blood of his father dripped from him for a while, until it froze and gave no further help to the hounds set on to his trail. Even when he had lost them, he kept running lest he too freeze. Shuddering and sobbing, he fled westward.
VIII
The witch sat waiting, alone in darkness. Presently something slipped through a rat-hole. Looking down to the shadowed floor, she saw her familiar.
Thin and weary, he did not speak ere he had crawled up to her breast and drunk deep. Then he lay on her lap and watched her with hard little glittering eyes.
“Well,” she asked, “how went the journey?”
“Long and cold,” he said. “In bat shape, blown on the wind, I fared to Elfheugh. Often as I crept about Imric’s halls I came near death. They are beastly quick, the elves, and they knew I was no ordinary rat. But nonetheless I contrived to spy on their councils.”
“And is their plan as I thought?”
“Aye. Skafloc will fare to Trollheim for a raid in force on Illrede’s garth, hoping to slay the king or at least upset his readying for war-now that he has openly called an end to the truce. Imric will remain in Elfheugh to prepare defences.”
“Good. The old elf-earl is too crafty, but Skafloc alone can scarce avoid the trap. When does he leave?”
“Nine days hence. He will take some fifty ships.”
“Elves sail swiftly, so he should be at Trollheim the same night. With the wind I will teach him how to raise, Valgard can reach thither in three days, and I’d best allow him another three to busk himself. So if he is to greet Illrede only a short time before Skafloc, I must keep him here-hm, he will need time to get to his own men-well, controlling him will be no great task, since he is now an outlaw fleeing hither in despair.”
“You treat Valgard roughly.”
“I have naught against him, he not being of Orm’s seed, but he is my tool in a stiff and perilous game. It will not be near as easy to ruin Skafloc as it was to kill Orm and the two brothers, or will be to get at the sisters. My magic and my force alike he would laugh at.” The witch grinned in the half-light. “Aye, but Valgard is a tool I shall use to make a weapon that will pierce Skafloc’s heart. As for Valgard himself, I give him a chance to rise high among the trolls, the more so if they conquer the elves. It is my hope to make Skafloc’s downfall doubly bitter by causing the wreck of Alfheim through him.”
And the witch sat back and waited, an art that many years had taught her.
Near dawn, when a grey and hopeless light crept over the snows and the ice-leaved trees, Valgard knocked on the woman’s door. She opened it at once and he fell into her arms. Nigh dead
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