The Forgotten Land (38 page)

Steve
studied the piece of silver moulded into the shape of a hammer. He put the
leather necklace around his neck. “Thank you brother,” he said, holding out his
hand. Thormdall grasped it in an iron grip.

“And
next time we shall go by sea,” said Thormdall, slapping Steve on the shoulder.

“May
the gods be with you,” Thormdall said as he shook each of the soldiers’ hands.
“Make haste now or all is lost.”

“You
must defeat the Kadark,” said Ahmad, coming alongside Thormdall.

“Alas
I have failed. Twice I have fought him, twice he has bettered me,” said the
Berserker.

“Let
me have the crystal if you please?” Ahmad asked Steve.

“Don’t
lose it, mate,” Steve said, reluctantly dropping the crystal into Ahmad’s palm.

“Give
me your sword,” said Ahmad to the Berserker. He took the weapon in his hand. “I
thought the last we would see of him was the sea battle,” said Ahmad. “I did
not think to see him here, which is why I did not do this earlier.”

Ahmad
passed the crystal along the length of Thormdall’s sword muttering
incomprehensible words. When he had finished, the little Arab passed the weapon
back. It was glimmering a dull blue now. Thormdall stared at the glowing blade
in disbelief.

“That
will make him bleed,” said Ahmad.

“Thank
you,” nodded Thormdall. “I shall put it to the test,” he said.

“Travel
safely,” Thormdall said, thumping Steve on the back.

As
Ahmad led Heleena and the Australian soldiers towards the back of the cave and
ever closer to their lives and families, the Varangian guardsmen began hitting
swords upon their shields, or smashing axe heads onto the rock floor in salute.

“Farewell
to you my warrior brothers,” roared Olaf, “we shall never forget you!”

The
Australians shouted their own farewells but the words were drowned out by the
deafening drumming, shouting and cheering.

Ahmad
led them quickly down into the darkness. The Australians held each others’
shoulders, whilst Ahmad pulled Steve by his arm as if the small Byzantium
priest had some kind of night vision. The path seemed remotely familiar to
Steve, but as the ground almost gave way beneath him, he could not be sure.

“Keep
moving,” growled Ahmad as Heleena hesitated, trying to regain her footing, “we
do not have much time.”

The
descent into the bowels of the earth continued. Steve stopped himself shouting as
his feet gave way beneath him, and forced himself not to laugh as he heard Will
behind him almost lose his footing in the same way.

*
* * * *

“They
come again!” roared Olaf. “Do they not learn!”

“Let
them come,” said Thormdall . “Let them learn that we are not as soft as their
enemies! That we welcome a fight.”

Thormdall
was shouting now. “We do not fear battle! And we do not fear death!” He roared
these last six words.

*
* * * *

“Hurry
now.”

Ahmad
ushered the Australians into the dark open cavern where this whole adventure
had begun. “Sit down and do not move,” he instructed.

There
was silence as the soldiers sat down. Heleena snuggled into Will. She was
frightened. Heleena could kill almost any enemy, man or beast, but of magic she
knew nothing. Before they had time to fathom what was happening a dull light
threw dark shadows upon the walls. Ahmad was passing the bright blue glowing
crystal along the length of a long piece of thin wire the width of a strand of
hair, which he was drawing out of a pouch by his side.

“When
we travelled back in time, we ended up in Denmark. Won’t the same thing happen
this time?” asked Steve. “Won’t we be sent into present day Denmark?”

“It
is why I make this magic. Without it the portal will send the people within its
vicinity back in time to any one of a number of portals. It is only through
luck that you were sent to the land of the Danes, you might have easily ended
up somewhere much worse.” He placed the wire on the ground before putting a
large rock on top of the glowing wire to hold it in place before drawing more
of the wire out of his pouch and running the glowing crystal upon the metal.

“I
also need to make this magic so that only you are sent back into the future and
that I remain here. If Allah permits and the Varangians are successful, I may
leave here with my life this day.”

*
* * * *

The
Badawark advance darkened the horizon. There was perhaps more than twice the
number of the previous attack.

“Stand
tall,” bellowed Olaf. “Hold your shields tight and your swords tighter. Let us
show them how the warriors of the gods fight.” “And I shall show them how a
warrior of Christ fights,” shouted a feeble voice from near the front row.

“You
are almost as good a warrior as the Varangians!” shouted Thrane.

“Almost?”
retorted Henry, “I shall show both the Badawarks and the Varangians how a
warrior of Christ fights!”

This
was met with good humoured laughter.

*
* * * *

Ahmad
made a five-pointed star shape on the ground with the glowing wire, with a
small circle at the centre. He carefully stepped out of the star and gestured
the soldiers forward.

“Come,
move into the circle. Step over the wire and do not disturb any part of the
shape or the magic will be lost,” Ahmad said.

Heleena
moved forward silently, making sure they negotiated the wire with care. Once
they were all in the centre of the circle, they crouched and watched Ahmad move
around them with the glowing crystal in his hand. He chanted as he walked.
Steve flinched as a distant roar hit him from above; it was the sound of
shouting, cursing screaming and steel on steel. He realised that battle had
been rejoined between the Badawarks and the Varangians at the cave mouth.

*
* * * *

Thormdall
skewered his sword through a man’s face, ripped the blade clear then back
slashed the blade across the neck of a foe to the right. Pushing the dying man
from him, Thormdall stabbed his sword into the next attacker, feeling it plunge
into the warrior’s chest and towards the Badawark’s spine. Kicking the warrior
from his blade he hacked it down upon another man’s skull. Levering the weapon
out of the bone, Thormdall turned to face his next opponent, his eyes
glistening with violence and death. The Badawark stopped. He died as his head
left his body.

*
* * * *

Ahmad
continued his chant as he walked around the group and then pushed the crystal
into its recess in the cave wall. It was just where Steve remembered it. Within
seconds the crystal was glowing and writing in the cave above the crystal was
emanating a deep red.

Just
as Steve looked at the Byzantine priest and was about to ask him a question
there was a deafening boom. The sound reverberated around the open space and
Ahmad Ibn Fadlan was suddenly nothing more than a fading shadow flickering on
the wall of the cave.

*
* * * *

Snarling,
Thrane hammered his shield into the face of an enemy. As the man recovered,
Thrane stabbed his sword into his throat before kicking him back into his
comrades.

“Come,
meet death!” Thrane shouted, meeting the next attack with his shield. The
Badawark drove him back several steps, but he recovered his balance and stabbed
his sword beyond the safety of his shield. He felt the metal bite into the
man’s leg. He stabbed his sword again and felt it slide into the stomach of his
enemy. Stepping forward he bashed his shield into the falling Badawark and
slammed his sword into his mouth, puncturing the back of his throat. Kicking
the warrior away he crouched as the next Badawark ran to meet him.

*
* * * *

All
was black and Steve felt as if he was falling violently. His stomach was in his
mouth, and he was no longer aware of the other soldiers near him.

He
could hear scribbling in the blackness much like a quill on parchment. Then a
voice spoke, “Never before has such terror appeared in Britain from a pagan
race.”

The
voice faded, to be replaced by a lighter yet somehow more powerful voice, which
proclaimed, “My will was to live worthily as long as I lived, and after my life
to leave them a memory of my good works.”

*
* * * *

Thormdall
took a blade in the thigh which cut deep, forcing him nearly to his knees, but
he dealt a massive blow to his attacker which tore through the man’s chest. As
Thormdall staggered to his feet he caught a glimpse of the Kadark. Another
blade skewered his side. With a snarl Thormdall grabbed hold of the blade and
ripped it from his enemy’s hand, stabbing his own sword into the man’s neck.
The Berserker threw the enemy’s blade to the ground with contempt. He head
butted the next Badawark, slammed his sword into the man’s midriff, clasped his
hand around the man’s neck and threw the dying enemy from him. Hacking,
skewering, stabbing and slashing his way into the enemy, Thormdall burst clear
of the Badawark attack so that once again he was standing before the Kadark.

“We
meet again,” snarled Thormdall. The Kadark did not reply.

Thormdall
fell to his knees again, as the pain pulsed through his mind.

*
* * * *

“A
date which shall live in infamy,” the American accent boomed into the darkness.

Steve
still felt as if he was falling, but he could hear a loud drone that sounded
like hundreds of aircraft at high altitude. “Take cover!” a muffled voice
shouted. An explosion rocked the core of his being. It was followed closely by
more bombs which landed around him in devastating explosions. Silence followed
and his ears rang. He felt himself falling again.

“Ask
not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
The American voice boomed and Steve knew exactly who it was speaking. As the
crowd roared, silence followed and he began to fall once more.

Then
a strong English women’s voice broke the silence. “They have retreated, our
troops have reached the outskirts of Port Stanley. A large number of
Argentinean soldiers have laid down their arms. White flags are flying over
Port Stanley.”

Steve
felt sick again, but his descent stopped suddenly. Another voice, this time
Australian, spoke. “Forces have commenced combat and combat support
operations.” It was John Howard.

“Johnny!”
said Scott. He too sounded the worse for wear.

*
* * * *

“Fool,
did you think you could best me?” the voice echoed in Thormdall’s mind.

Anger
exploded in Thormdall and he forced himself to his feet. He clasped his sword
tightly and staggered towards the dark robed enemy.

“Did
you think I could not?” he growled and struck out with the blue glowing sword.
The weapon did not plunge into thin air as it had before. Instead it bit deep,
sinking through skin, cutting sinew, grating from bone and lacerating organs.

The
Kadark groaned and fell to his knees. Thormdall kicked him to the ground,
ripped the weapon free and plunged the glowing sword into the Kadark’s chest.
The weapon shattered ribs and sank deep into the sand beyond.

“Who
is the fool now?” hissed Thormdall, hacking his weapon through the Kadark’s
neck.

For
an instant, Thormdall thought he could see a dark grey face, staring up at him
with cat-like pupils, the maw lined with razor sharp teeth.

Cutting
the head free, Thormdall watched as the black robe settled to the earth. The Kadark’s
body disappeared as if it had never existed, leaving nothing behind but an
empty robe on the sand.

A
hand grabbed Thormdall from behind and the Berserker turned. He slapped the
hand away and hammered his sword into the Badawark. He blocked an attack from
the left, slammed his retrieved weapon through the man’s neck and turned to his
next attack.

Thormdall’s
next blow was blocked by his opponent, who stepped forward and rammed the
weapon deep into the Berserker’s abdomen. Gritting his teeth against the pain,
Thormdall took hold of the Badawark and dragged him backwards. They fell to the
ground.

Unsheathing
the only dagger he had left, Thormdall dragged the blade across the man’s
throat, closing his eyes as hot blood exploded over his face and poured into
his mouth. Coughing and choking back the warm blood, Thormdall pushed the dying
man aside and rose into a crouch. The next Badawark hesitated when he saw the
crouching, blood covered, snarling Berserker. It was all Thormdall needed. The
Berserker threw himself forward, burying the dagger deep into the Badawark’s
midriff. He sliced the weapon up until it grated against ribs.

*
* * * *

Steve
came to a screaming halt, and his senses returned to him as he pulled himself to
his feet. He swore he saw a blue light fade in the far corner of the cave but
could not be sure.

“You
guys right?” he asked lethargically.