The Call (27 page)

He looked up at her, with glowing hate and desperation in his face. Then she killed him.

The body fell on the ground in an awkward position.

“A shame to bring down bright hopes,” Katja muttered breathlessly. She backed up to a boulder and dropped down on in a sitting position and sighed.

“I won,” she said to the world and looked towards Baldur's City.

She had served her purpose. She had obeyed the Call and triumphed over her enemies. She was no longer a half-mad, half-outcast, whom no-one knew what to do with. She was a Redcloak. She allowed herself to just close her eyes for a few breaths and enjoy it.

I won.

She didn't sense the demon pack Savaren had summoned so she didn't bother running back down. It wasn't long before she heard footsteps on the stairs and Serdra came walking up. Her mentor's clothes were rather torn, she had quite a lot of blood on her and the stiff ponytail had been undone. It was strange to see the woman tired, and almost as strange to see her smile warmly.

“The first flight is a success, little raptor.”

Katja smiled back.

“You sure took your time.”

--------------------

Vajan looked over his shoulder. The peak was still faintly visible in the distance. He stumbled and looked away. The north west side of the mountain was steep and dangerous. It was perfect for going about without running into anyone, but not for climbing down in the darkness absent-mindedly.

“I wish I could have seen his face,” he said cheerily.

None of his men replied, but then they hadn't been around for his conversation with the girl in Baldur's City.

He turned to Tom.

“We do have the right swag, don't we?”

“Yes,” the man said and patted the bookcase hanging from his shoulder. “I made very sure.”

“Good good. Nice to know this wasn't a wasted trip. Now let's hurry home. I can't wait to see what comes next.”

Chapter
19.

Katja leaned forward on the ship's bulwark and watched as Baldur's Coast vanished from sight. The stone pillar which marked the borders of the Coast and Amerstan had slid by a while ago and was now growing distant.

Everything was growing distant. She had gotten new clothes free of holes and blood and new shoes free of tear. She owned nothing from her childhood home except for her father's knife and the pebble-necklace.

Katja took the necklace from her shirt's collar and held it in her palm.

I did it, Dove
, she thought.
I've gone out into the world.

The feeling was quite bittersweet. Maria wouldn't have been able to follow her on this journey even if she were alive. But it would still have been nice to let the dream come true with an old friend. What would that have been like?

“Well,” she whispered and put the necklace back under the shirt.

There was no point in wondering how things
could
have gone. Matters in Baldur's Coast were over with. At least for now.

A month had passed since the battle in the Nest and the Brotherhood had kept quiet. They were probably waiting for the waves to die down, reorganizing their command structure after losing so many members and plotting their next move. Now they needed to be carefully spied on to determine what the results would be, and that was a task for locals who wouldn't draw attention.

So when news reached them that Amerstan had seized the western coast of Kossus and that the war was either over or on standby Maron had arranged transportation to Amerstan. There he and his people would shelter them, and the two of them could tend to their duties and continue Katja's training.

Katja closed her eyes and breathed in the sea air, but quickly opened them again. She wanted to see the pillar disappear.

Savaren's mercenaries had tried assaulting the city despite the spell being interrupted. They had probably been given instructions to attack at a particular time and assumed everything had gone as planned. It had cost them dearly. A few had been taken alive, but the Shades in the city reported that every single one of them had been delirious the following morning. Soon after they started to die one by one, without ever saying a word about who had sent them.

The Brotherhood clearly knew how to clear their tracks. The Silent War continued.

It took her a little while to realize Serdra was standing next to her. Katja looked at her. The woman must have seen how she'd watched the coastline.

“Are you in a bittersweet mood?”

Katja examined her and then turned her attention back to the pillar, which was now a tiny grey dot.

“Yes. Excited and sad and... and... Oh, I can't wait for the future but it hurts to let go of the past.” She waved her hand south. “Everything and everyone I know is back there.”

“Perhaps you will be back in a year. Or forty years.”

“Maybe so,” Katja muttered absent-mindedly. It was such a strange thought. She would see taller trees, old people who had been young and grown-ups who hadn't existed. Towns that would have grown, shrunk or been abandoned. Perhaps she would even stop by her home village. Would anyone still alive by that point mention how much she resembled a strange girl who vanished to the winds after slaying a demon with a felling axe?

The border pillar vanished utterly. There was nothing to see but the green and brown hills of Amerstan.

Goodbye
, Katja thought, and briefly wondered what she was addressing.

Silence reigned for a while. There was nothing to hear but the splashing of waves, creak of the boat and wind in the sails.

“Maron just stirred,” Serdra then said. “He wants to discuss our stay in Amerstan better.”

“I will be down soon,” Katja said.

“There is no rush,” Serdra said and turned around.

Katja reacted immediately and swung her fist and Serdra's kidney with all her strength.

Serdra turned and blocked the attack, trapped the arm and punched her between the eyes. Katja smacked onto the deck and lost her breath.

When she could focus her eyes again Serdra stood over her with arms crossed. Katja rubbed her newest bruise where she lay and smirked.

“I will take you some day, old hag,” she said.

Serdra smiled and walked down into the hold.

###

Thank you for reading my first English-language book! There’s more around the corner. If you liked it I would very much appreciate a review.

Thanks again.

-Eli Freysson

About the author:

Born in 1982 in north Iceland, Eli published his first novel in Iceland in 2011, and has followed with one a year ever since with no plans of stopping. His hobbies include weight lifting, archery, swimming and wasting time playing video games.

Author Page:
elifreysson.com

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