Chapter 29 #2
Perhaps tomorrow he wouldn’t check on the Other at all. After all, he seemed safe, if agitated. Skaldi thought that with some time apart from him, he’d be able to break the link between them.
He hurried to the feeding grounds from the ledge of his home, but no sooner had he arrived than agitation swamped him.
It took him a few moments to realise the agitation wasn’t his own.
What had happened now? With a quick stream of thought to ensure the hatchling was well, he sprung from his icy ledge, and took to the sky, his huge wings driving him onwards, as light and shadows appeared and blinked out below him, out of the light shield and into the wider landscape.
He returned to the dwelling in time to watch the man disappear back into the long, ground-hugging building his kind preferred.
(A steading – the word suddenly appeared to him.) And he was with the wolf and the woman who’d helped him on the glacier.
He could sense the wolf’s interest in him, the animal standing, nose high in the air, as though it could smell him from his vantage point.
Finding them together piqued his interest. Why were they all here?
He hadn’t thought they were friends when they’d met before, although he was aware the man’s thoughts, when not angry or determined, were filled with images of the young woman.
Then he saw a small group of men climbing up a steep hill, in the direction of the steading, and comprehension of their intentions quickly took root.
They must have travelled all night to reach this place.
Where had they slept? Perhaps in a cave as well.
Perhaps in another steading he’d not noticed on his travels.
What he knew with more certainty was that he’d been correct to return so quickly.
The images from these men were far from friendly towards his Other.
He didn’t know why, but they meant him harm. Terrible harm. He couldn’t allow it.
The man and woman burst from the steading long before the men arrived, but Skaldi stayed.
He was curious about their intentions. He watched with mounting curiosity that gave way to horror as they built a small campfire outside and started passing out brands.
They meant to burn the building down, he was sure of it.
Skaldi swung his head in search of his Other and the woman with him, as well as the wolf.
They’d been aware of the rabble of men approaching, and that’s why they’d fled.
Surely his Other hadn’t abandoned his steading.
Closing his eyes, Skaldi focused his mind on the man and was met by a wall of remorse and sadness and a mind-numbing inevitability. Skaldi felt a deep sorrow within him.
The feeling of agonised regret was too much to bear.
He must act. He flew lower and positioned himself above the men’s heads at the far end of the squat building.
The first man stepped forward with his brand lit, and Skaldi gently blew cool air, reminded of how he’d saved his Other at the wolf steading.
The brand immediately extinguished in the gust of cold air.
The man looked at it in confusion and tried to relight it. When the next man stepped forward with his flaming stick, Skaldi blew a whisper of cold air once more.
Again and again, the men came forward, and again and again Skaldi put out their flame.
The men looked confused and increasingly angry, blaming each other for failing to set the steading ablaze.
Finally, fearing the men would never stop their failing attempts, Skaldi shifted his aim and sent a gust towards the men’s small campfire.
It guttered in the chill stream and died.
Now the men looked wary. Skaldi could see suspicion forming in their minds.
The men glanced at each other, and he sensed they were waiting.
Without more arguing, they dropped their extinguished brands and slowly backed away, before breaking into a run when they felt confident enough to turn their backs on the steading they’d come to burn down.
As they descended the hill in front of the steading, Skaldi released a huff of laughter. He didn’t think he’d ever enjoyed himself so much.
He hoped that the men would steer clear of the steading, but suspected it was only a matter of time before another group – less suspicious, more intent on wreaking havoc – would come, and that he couldn’t protect the steading again. But for now it was safe.
Flapping his wings, he rose into the air again. He spied the Others and the wolf nearly at the basin of the opposite valley. He decided to wing past them so he could see how the Other felt right now.
The day was so still that by the time he reached them, he was finding it hard to maintain altitude.
He banked on his mighty golden left wing to hover above his Other.
As he did, he felt rather than heard a shimmer in the air.
Looking down at the Others in surprise, he was amazed to see his Other looking straight at him.
But surely not. The Others outside the wall couldn’t see his kind.
He knew that, and yet, the Other’s expression showed that could be a lie.