The Realms Thereunder

6

Preparations for the departure were almost finished. The group would be Swi?gar, Ecgbryt, Daniel, and Freya. For a time it looked as if Godmund would come with them-he would certainly have been appreciated-but it was decided that his skills would be needed defending Ni?ergeard if there was another assault.

So while supplies were being gathered, Ecgbryt took it upon himself to teach Daniel the principles of armed combat. Freya watched, and after a while decided to take part as well-she figured it would be easier to stay out of the way of someone else’s weapon if she knew how they’d use it. The lessons involved far more talking and explanation than Daniel thought necessary, followed by an almost mindless repetition of motion-sword thrusts and jabs by him, and parries and blocks by Freya. This was done, Ecgbryt said, in order that the most basic strokes and motions of their weapons became as natural to their bodies as breathing.

They became tired very quickly. Daniel was sweating heavily and Freya’s arms felt as if they were going to fall off. She found it hard to catch her breath. They went back to their rooms for a short rest and a wash in the shallow bowls on their tables. Daniel lay down on the bed and let himself drift off. When he woke up he knocked on Freya’s door, but there was no answer. He wandered outside.

As he approached the stone bench-their stone bench-that gave the best, secluded view of the wall repairs, he found Freya already there. He smiled as soon as he saw her. She had her wooden practice spear resting next to her and was wearing a dress-one of the old-style gowns that had been provided for her. It was elaborately embroidered but of a simple design. The cloth and pattern were similar to his own shirt, but hers was a deep brick-red colour.

“I like it,” he said.

Smoothing some of the folds of her skirt, she gave a self-conscious smile. “Thanks. My school clothes were getting really tatty. And with those traveling cloaks they made for us, I thought- why not?”

“It looks good-the dark red works on you. It’s nice.”

“Thanks.”

Daniel nodded and took a seat next to her, his eyes on the reparations to the wall. The workers were starting to fill the gap with new cut stone and had moved large iron pulleys and winches onto the battlements to lift the heavy blocks.

“I really don’t want to go on this . . . mission,” Freya said.

“How did I guess?”

“We’ll probably get killed if we go.”

“We’ll probably get killed if we stay.”

“It’s ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t.’ That’s what my dad says sometimes.”

Daniel smiled and picked up a few pebbles from the ground. “I think I’d rather die doing something than die doing nothing,” he said, throwing one of his pebbles at a larger rock. “Especially something heroic. Something that no one else can do except for us. Something that will destroy something evil.”

Freya sighed and picked up a handful of pebbles as well. She started throwing them at the same rock. “I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t think this is a happy story. The world is so much more complicated than that cheesy ‘because they were children they were able to overcome the evil-but-stupid wizard’ nonsense they feed to you in kids’ movies. That stuff never really happens. It’s just something grown-ups come up with to make children feel better-to make them think that they aren’t small and insignificant.”

Daniel threw another couple stones. “Maybe. Although we have come this far. We survived an yfelgop attack. We even survived Ealdstan,” he said with a grin. “Here,” he said brightly, “look what I got.” He lifted a bundle he’d been carrying that was wrapped in an oilcloth. Unwrapping it, he showed her the sword he’d picked out, pulling it partway out of the scabbard. The words that the blacksmith engraved were easy to pick out on the polished surface, but Freya couldn’t read them.

“See this?” Daniel showed one side to her, which read HAELE?SCIEPPENDE IC EOM. “It means ‘Hero-Maker, I am.’ That’s the name of my sword, Hero-Maker. And on this side,” he said, flipping the blade over, “it says ‘Ic agenes a Daniel Tully’, or ‘I belong to Daniel Tully.’ ”

“Now if I stab anyone,” he said, smiling, “at least they’ll know my name.”

Freya couldn’t help laughing.

“Whatever happens,” Daniel said, sliding his sword into its sheath, “I’ll protect you. You know that, right?”

Freya turned to him, her eyes lively and a sardonic grin on her face. “Why would I need protecting from you? I was the one who saved you when that thing had you on the floor.”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“He was going to eat your face,” she teased.

“Gross! He was not.”

Freya stood on the bench and grabbed her spear, brandishing it at him. “I completely saved you. You only want me to come along because I’m a better warrior than Swi?gar and Ecgbryt put together!”

Daniel started to duel with her using his sheathed sword. “Hey, you said their names right! You’ve been practicing, haven’t you?”

“Maybe,” Freya grunted, attacking him with the blunt end of the spear. “Admit it, you want me to come so that I can save your life again.” He held on to her spear and she spun around and grabbed his arm, twisting it playfully around his back. “Admit it!”

“Ah! Okay, okay! You’re right! Leggo!”

Freya released him and fell back, laughing. She seemed to come to herself again and her laughter stilled. “What is going to happen to us?”

“I don’t know,” Daniel said, a smile still on his face. “So let’s find out.”