Atlantis: Bermuda Triangle

Chapter 24

Ragnarok had never been this far north. The main Viking community on Iceland was on the southwest coast where the warmer water made the weather at least livable. The coast that they had traveled around for the past day and a half was rocky, with numerous glaciers flowing into the ocean.

It was a bleak land, devoid of human contact. Early the previous evening they had spotted a smudge of smoke- at first Ragnarok had hoped it was a settlement, but as they got closer to land, they could see the smoke was coming out of the top of a mountain. As darkness fell, the smoke was lit from within by a red glow, something the crew took as an ominous sign. They pressed on, nonetheless, skirting the rocky shore.

“There!” Hrolf was standing next to him, near the tiller. He was pointing shoreward.

Ragnarok eyes followed the old man’s finger. Steam was rushing up into the air in the craggy rocks on shore in a loud hissing they could hear a mile off shore. It went on for a minute then subsided.

“This is not a good land,” Hrolf said. “Odin is angry.”

As Ragnarok was concerned, the god could express his anger all he wanted on Iceland. It was the ocean ahead that worried the Viking leader.

“We must leave the shore behind now,” Bjarni said. The helmsman inclined his head slightly to the right. “The place we seek is that way.”

“How far?” Ragnarok asked.

“Not far- if the witch’s map is correct. Just over the horizon.”

“Are you certain we are in the right place?” Tam Nok had come down the boat to join them.

“I’ve gotten us this far,” Bjarni said. “I think I can get us a little further without getting lost.” He pushed the tiller over and the dragon turned from shore to the open sea. The geyser erupted once more, spewing steam into the air as if warning them not to go further.

Ragnarok crossed his arms over his chest, feeling the ship take the waves at a different angle. The shore slowly faded away, the sound of the geyser lasting even after it was out of sight.

But soon there was only the wind in the sail and the sea against the boat. The sun was going down in the west, with another two hours of daylight left by Ragnarok’s experienced eye.

“Will we make it before nightfall?” Ragnarok asked.

“We’ve made it,” was Bjarni’s simple answer. “Look.”

A dark wall was ahead, growing closer. It even thicker than the fog they’d been in off the coast of Norway where they met Tam Nok. Ragnarok did not like the look of it at all. The wind was not moving the cloud. It sat like a festering scab on the surface of the ocean, hiding some terrible wound in the water itself.

“The Shadow is in there,” Tam Nok said. “I have seen this before.”

“What do you want to do, captain?” Bjarni asked. “It will be dark soon.”

Ragnarok was startled by the formality of the question and he recognized the double-meaning behind his helmsman’s statement.

“We’re here,” Ragnarok said. “We will go in and see what is there.”

As the dark wall got closer, Ragnarok issued orders preparing his men for battle. Shields were hung, bows notched and swords drawn. Ragnarok moved to the front of the ship, Hrolf and Tam Nok at his side.

He felt the hair on the back of his neck rise as the dragon head entered the fog. As he crossed from light to dark, the air itself changed, becoming colder, thicker with a sick taste to it. Ragnarok looked over the side. Even the water appeared different, darker, more malevolent. It did not smell of salt, but danker, like an animal that had been killed and left too long in the open.

The ship slipped into the darkness, visibility dropping to less than twenty feet. Even sounds were different, the water against the hull now duller. The wind was gone completely and Ragnarok let the ship coast for a minute before ordering half the crew to the oars, the other half to stand fast with their weapons.

“To the left,” Tam Nok pointed.

Ragnarok could see nothing but he had the order relayed to Bjarni at the rear of the ship instead of yelling it out. He had a feeling there was something out there listening, waiting and he had no desire to provoke it.

“Look,” Bjarni nodded to the right. A small boat made of seal skins stretched over a frame listed in the water. The skins were torn in places and it was barely afloat.

“The Irish monk must have found what he was looking for,” Ragnarok said.

“I hope we don’t find whatever found him,” Bjarni muttered.

“How far?” Ragnarok asked.

“I don’t know,” Tam Nok was staring into the fog as if she could see through it. “But not far.”

Suddenly she turned to the right. “Faster,” she hissed.

Ragnarok chopped his hand and the rowers picked up the pace.

“They’re coming,” Tam Nok had Lailoken’s staff in her hand, the spear tip pointing to starboard.

“The Valkyries?” Ragnarok squeezed the wood handle of his ax.

“Yes. And more.”

There was a startled yell from amidships. Ragnarok turned. A long red tentacle had reached out of the sea and was wrapped around one of the rowers. The man was lifted out of the boat before anyone could react and disappeared under the black waters.

“Kraken!” Hrolf hissed.

The other rowers nearby abandoned their oars and grabbed their weapons, staring fearfully over the side of the ship. Seconds later a half dozen tentacles came out of the water, waving about blindly while a trio of screams came echoing over the water, one right after the other.

The arms came forward, onto the boat, searching for victims. Warriors hacked at them with sword and ax. Ragnarok was about to join the battle when he spotted a Valkyrie floating through the fog, coming toward the bow.

“I will deal with this,” Tam Nok had the staff ready. “You get rid of the beast.”

Ragnarok reluctantly ran to the middle of the ship, Hrolf at his side. With one swing of bone-cutter he severed an arm that had wrapped around one of his men. Two more dashed forward at him. Ragnarok recoiled as he realized there were six inch wide mouths on the tip of each arm, snapping open and shut, revealing rows razor sharp teeth. One of the arms hit a man next to him and bored into his body, eliciting an agonized scream.

Mouth still in the man’s innards, the arm lifted him into the air and tossed him overboard. Ragnarok ducked under the other arm and looked into the water. The body of the Kraken was just under the surface, forty feet long, ten wide, two large saucers eyes over two feet wide staring up at him. A large mouth below the eyes had the body of the man just thrown overboard half ingested.

A tentacle slapped Ragnarok in his back, then slid along to bring the mouth to beat. He spun, ax leading and cut a long, deep slice along the length of the tentacle. There were screams all around now and the curses and cries of men in mortal combat. Out of the corner of his eye, Ragnarok saw another man plucked from the ship. More arms were coming out of the water, as if the Kraken had an inexhaustible supply.

Ragnarok struck once more with his ax, severing the arm he had just cut, then he made his way to the mast. He grabbed a length of rope and began tying it around his waist.

In the bow, Tam Nok thrust at Skogul, as the Valkyrie descended on the ship. The Valkyrie knocked aside the haft of the sphere with an armored hand and with the other reached for the amulet on Tam Nok’s chest. Tam Nok rolled forward under the grasping arm, spinning the haft of the staff in her hand. The spear head impacted sideways on Skogul’s back and sliced through the armor.

The Valkyries’ scream caused everyone on the boat, even those in the midst of battle with the Kraken to pause for a fraction of a second, before going back to fighting. Tam Nok got to her feet. Instead of blood, black steam was hissing out of the cut in Skogul’s armor.

Tam Nok swung again, as she had been taught by the master, and the tip of the blade cut along Skogul’s chest, slicing cloak, armor and the chain that held the amulet in one smooth stroke.

Tam Nok stepped back, staff raised as Hlokk and Goll came down out of the fog, but the two Valkyries grabbed Skogul in their claws and lifted her out of the boat disappearing into the fog. Tam Nok knelt and picked up the heavy amulet, cradling it in her hand as she read the runes the covered the outer circle.

A tentacle wrapped around Ragnarok’s leg, knocking him down to the wood floor of the longship. He struggled to complete the knot on the rope around his waist as the tentacle tightened its grip. He looked up to see the tip of the tentacle raise up just like a snake preparing to strike. A flash of steel and the severed tip dropped to the floor, Hrolf the Slayer striking again with his sword and the tentacle where it led overboard. He cut through with two mighty blows, freeing Ragnarok.

The Viking leader got to his feat, rope tight around his waist. He caught Hrolf’s eye. “Keep the ship moving!”

Ragnarok dodged another tentacle, then jumped up onto the side of the ship, ax raised high. He leaped into the air with a battle cry, swinging the ax down as he descended.

Ragnarok hit water and the edge of his ax hit the Kraken dead between the eyes with a massive blow, parting skin and bow, burying completely inside the monster’s head.

The Kraken dove, taking Ragnarok with it as he refused to release his ax. He felt the pressure in his ears as they went down, then suddenly he was jerked to a halt as the rope reached its length. The handle was almost ripped out of his hands, but he gripped it with all his strength. Tentacles battered him on the head and shoulders as the Kraken tried to find its tormentor in the dark water now filling with a thick green ooze from the creature’s wound.

Ragnarok felt pain as teeth gnawed into left side. He swung his feet under him, against the body of the kraken, then pulled with all his might. The ax popped free. Ragnarok took one more blind swing, caught up in the battle rage, ignoring the wound on his side, the lack of oxygen. The edge of bone-slicer caught the kraken in the left eye, popping it like an overripe egg.

With all the power of its many tentacles the kraken dove once more, disappearing into the depths.

Ragnarok kicked, still holding his ax, the weight almost enough by itself to defeat his efforts to surface. He broke into the dank fog, the rope pulling him along through the water. He could hear the splash of oars and Hrolf yelling. Ragnarok shook his head like a large shaggy dog, getting hair and water out of his eyes. He was being towed thirty feet behind the longship and the reason no one was paying attention to his predicament was the large black circle that had appeared in front of the longship. The dragon’s head disappeared into the black. There were cries of fear, but Hrolf kept yelling the commands to row and harsh training held the crew in place, doing their duty.

Foot by foot, the longship disappeared into the black hole, dragging Ragnarok with him, until there was only the rope coming out of the black hole. Ragnarok said a brief prayer as he got closer to the darkness, then he was in.

He felt a moment of disorientation, as if his body was being stretched, then a snap, and he was in bright sunlight, warm water. Ragnarok pulled himself on the rope toward the longship, climbing on board. None of the crew noticed their captain’s arrival as they were all staring at their surroundings.

The ship was in a moat, over a half-mile width of water, that completely surrounded a massive temple. All around was a wall containing the moat. Beyond was the ocean, but his attention was drawn back to the temple. A stepped pyramid, it rose over five hundred feet up, larger than anything man-made Ragnarok had ever seen in his travels. A broad set of stairs went up the sides facing them to the very top. The stones used were black, and smooth, reflecting sunlight in dark ripples.

There was no one about- no priests, no worshipers, not a human being other than the cluster of souls on board the Viking longship. Just the mighty temple, glistening in the sunlight.