"Yup, I see it. Should be coming through on headcams now."
Sam gasps. "Seriously?"
Steve scoffs. "Don't sound so shocked. You sent us here."
"Well, yes," Ellie says. "You're at our best guess for the location for the actions described in the Edda of the Wakened Warriors. Pocket of sufferers of Roudette's disease five miles of here, which we know you're looking for because of that Viking hand you dragged back to Abel, Five. Known Viking settlements to the south and north, and the geographical features mentioned in the extra verses match up. There aren't many 500 foot long causeways on this section of the coast. But we had no idea of that story was true, or related to any real world events."
"Well, now we know. Sea's so calm, you can see all the way down to the bottom."
"And the village is down there?" Sam asks. "The village they talk about in the Edda, Kirkthwaite?"
"Well, there isn't a 'Welcome to Kirkthwaite, please drive carefully through our underwater Norse village' sign, but yeah. It's kind of beautiful."
"Kind of," I reply, looking down at the village with arms crossed. Seaweed waves with the current, making it almost look like green smoke is coming out of the chimneys. If this were any other day, I'd be more optimistic about this, but it's my birthday and I want to get this done as soon as possible. "So what now? Ministry sent Bob the Builder over here to help us out. We're not going to dive down there and check this out right now, are we?"
"What's the matter, Five? Wouldn't you like a nice, refreshing ice bath?" Steve asks with a grin. "Also, never call me 'Bob the Builder' again."
"I'll call you whatever I want," I say with a bit more bite in my voice than I mean to.
"No, none of that," Ellie says. "The name calling or the diving into the ocean in November. You'll be heading inland. We just had to get you to where the whole thing begins, to Kirkthwaite. Then we can use the narrative to retrace the path those Viking warriors took," Ellie explains. "The route that ended in the Cave of Miracles, where they found a cure for their wakened warriors. I don't need to tell you how important this could be."
"If it's true," Steve says.
"Yes, if. That's exactly what we're hoping to find out."
"I'm always up for a wild goose chase. Enjoy the exercise." He sweeps a glance around. "So where to now?"
"Well, the Edda says, 'And on that day, the battle raged full force, and King Thortsten did look about his outmatched forces and know despair, saying-'"
"'Go, my warriors, my bravest-'" Sam interrupts, using a deep voice, and Ellie sighs in annoyance.
"Seriously? We're seriously going to do voices?" She asks in exasperation.
"Well, of course we're doing the voices! It's not fun without the voices. Right, Builder?"
Steve looks at me, as if questioning what would be a good reply. I send him a narrowed eyed glare, lips pressing into a thin line as I await to hear his answer as well.
"Oh, uh, if you say so, love."
I tsk. That's a good enough answer, I guess.
"Oh, come on. I mean, I think it's way more fun to use the voices." He clears his throat. "'King Thorsten said, 'Go, my warriors, my bravest. Help is needed that only the wizard Loki may provide. Run to her with all haste, my champions! Run!''"
I grimace when I hear faint shouts and swords clashing. Story times usually don't go so well for me. The last thing I want is to suddenly be a Viking King fighting against a raging army of other skilled Vikings. But this really isn't something I can control.
Thankfully, the sound stays faint as we run, whispering in the back of my mind, but not getting any louder. Good. I want today to be a semi-decent day. It's my birthday and I'd rather not get a nose bleed and then pass out from seeing the past.
So we keep going, the cool breeze pulling loose strands of hair into my face. I really shouldn't have tried to do a braid today. Anything more complicated than a ponytail or a simple bun usually ends up in disaster. I can already feel my hair coming loose, and it's going to annoy the hell out of me for the entire mission, even more so if it falls down completely.
We run around, only pausing to get around some of the less smooth parts of this path. I gulp when a pebble falls from the solid rock wall and hits my shoe. I mean, I guess it's better to be down here than up there. But the sounds of swords and shields have died out almost completely, which doesn't make me feel too great. I'm not saying I want the sounds to get stronger and for me to fall into a vision, because I don't, but I'd like to come out with something here, and I fear the sounds may be like playing 'hot or cold'.
I hope it's not.
"'Glad were they to find themselves upon the cliff path,'" Ellie reads.
"You are on a cliff path, right, guys?" Sam asks, and Steve looks upward.
"We're on a path beneath the cliff."
"Ellie, are they going the right way?"
"Strangely, Sam, what I have here is an ancient Nordic manuscript, not a satnav," She remarks with sass. "They've done everything the manuscript said the warriors did. That's the best we can manage. 'Glad were they to find themselves upon the cliff path, and Fimm said unto his comrades, 'Bold-''"
"Oh, man, I love Fimm! Fimm is so cool. Fimm is my man."
Ellie lets out an exasperated sigh while I giggle quietly. "'Fimm said unto his comrades-'"
"But you're going to do the voice, right? You have to do the voice."
"Sam! Ugh, fine." She clears her throat and then speaks in a deeper voice. "'Bold companions, see what you lies ahead?'"
Sam laughs but is quick to join in. "'I see two warriors of surpassing size, each an axe in hand, and each axe dripping blood as red as berries.'"
"'But our axes are shapers, our blood hotter. We fear them not.'" She clears her throat. "'Axes clashed, swords rang like bells, and so did they defeat the enemy at the fingers.'"
Steve nudges my arm with his elbow. "Look, Five. Do you see that? Those four standing stone up ahead. Got to be fingers right?"
I hum, but don't say anything, mostly because they just look like stones sticking straight up, which is what they are. But maybe Vikings kept their finger straightened out when they weren't holding onto weapons.
"They must be," Sam says. "Means you're still on track."
"'But the sound of further battle rose with the sun, and they knew that only the vanguard had they faced, and the greater danger lay ahead,'" Ellie reads.
"Rising with the sun..." He lets out a small sigh. "That-that's got to mean east. Head east, guys."
"'And Fimm said, 'Make haste, oh my companions, for our families lie behind us, our enemies ahead, and only the wizard Loki might save them now. Make haste!''"
"Ya know, every time you say Loki-like, I know this Loki is a girl, but I can't help but think of Tom Hiddlestone, because he played Loki the god of mischief in the Marvel movies and all," I say with a small laugh. "But I don't really get the whole wizard thing, simply because magic isn't real."
"You're one to talk," Sam murmurs, and I scowl. I lose the face as soon as Steve sends me a raised brow. I shake my head to tell him not to ask, and thankfully he doesn't.
"Magic isn't a thing, Sam. Miracles are. The closest thing to magic would be black magic, or voodoo or whatever. That's not really something I want to get into, thanks."
"Well, what we call science today might be what they were referring to as magic back then," Ellie says. "Medical knowledge wasn't common, and a lot of those who knew how to make medicine and used science as a way to look at things were called witches or wizards."
"I hope so, because if they did, somehow, someway, use some sort of-of dark magic to cure the zombie apocalypse..." I shake my head, "then we're doomed."
Steve looks at me with an amused smile. "Well, I see that you are not the optimistic one in the group. But at least you try to think critically, even if this could be a wild goose chase based on a story."
"Yeah, well I'd rather it not be a wild goose chase," I say as the cliff path ends, leading us towards inland.
"I don't think any of us want that," Sam says. "It is a possibility though."
"I know. It's... we've worked too hard though for this to just be nothing, ya know? This can't just be stories. It-it just can't. I mean, we've already found Viking zombies, so that means something... right?"
I have to believe we have hope. I need hope. We need hope.
"I know we want to think they're more than stories, but even if they are just that, then it's still pretty good entertainment. I was never any good at school, but if we'd had lessons like this, I'd have paid more attention," Steve says.
"Yeah, although those shamblers coming out of that cornfield up ahead might have got them quite a low mark in their Ofsted report. You know, for student safety," Sam says, before pausing. "Hey, so, Builder-you and Lobatse. I've heard some uh, interesting things."
Steve rolls his eyes. "Jealous, love?"
He scoffs. "What? No. I just really like gossip."
"Yeah, well, sorry to say there's nothing worth gossiping about. I keep trying, she keeps saying no. She thinks I'm uh, a little disreputable."
"Don't know where she got that idea," I say sarcastically. He gives me a sly grin.
"Neither do I."
"You've got explosives with you right now, haven't you?" Sam asks.
"Always."
We both come to a stop, eyeing the path that splits three ways.
"Which way, Sam?"
"'And Fimm said, 'This way, my comrades, for the hound-''"
"Ellie," Sam huffs, and she sighs before speaking in a deeper voice.
"'This way, my comrades, for the hounds bay for our blood, and the stench upon this place might hide our trail.'"
"Ah. Well that's bloody useless," Sam huffs. "How are we supposed to find a thousand year old smell?"
"I don't know, but could you figure it out before those shamblers get too close?" I ask, looking at the cornfield we just passed.
"'And the old man frowned down as the warriors strode through the filth.'"
"Yeah, I don't think that same old man is still around either," Sam says, and I roll my eyes, biting back a smile.
"Hang on," Ellie breathes out. "The muck, the smell. They're talking about a midden heap."
"And that's helpful because...?"
"A midden. It's decades of human manure, basically. You often get extremely verdant growth over an ancient midden. It's one of the ways archaeologists are able to locate them."
"Gross," I say, my face scrunched up. Sam murmurs in agreement.
Steve nudges me again with his arm, pointing down the left hand path. There's a large patch of emerald green grass, which is impressive, considering the time of year this is. The flowers are dying, but I can tell by how far they're hanging over that they used to be a good foot tall during their health in the summer and spring.
"There's a headland above it, the rock formation. Doesn't that look like an old man's face?"
I laugh. "Oh, my God. It does."
"That's it, guys!" Sam exclaims. "That's the way to go. But uh, please do hurry. Those shamblers that are following you are a bit too close for my liking."
•
"Bloody hell!" Sam exclaims. "Those are just like the trees at Treetop Base. The place where Veronica was growing those blue flowers."
"Makes sense," Ellie says. "Listen to this. 'At last to the wizard Loki's house they came, breath gasping, blood flowing, enemies advancing. But the enemies came no further, for they saw the sky blue flowers that grew only around the wizard's hall, and they feared her power."
Steve sweeps his gaze around the area. "Well, there's no blue flowers here, but this has got to be the place."
"Yeah, it is," Sam says. "The long-distance cams are giving me an aerial view, and I can see an outline in the grass, sort of healthy grass beside grass that's dying. That must be where the hall was. Isn't archeology like, amazing?"
"It really is!" Ellie says. "'And the wizard Loki gave them comfort, saying 'Fear-''"
"Wait, wait, I love this bit," Steve says. "I learned it off by heart when I had a quick gander at the Edda." He clears his throat and then speaks with a high pitched voice. "'Fear not, warriors of Thorsten, for I will give you a weapon greater than any sword, sharper than any axe, more deadly than any bow. Abide here among my flowers for three days and three nights, and on the forth night, a dawn will come that is doom to thy enemies!'"
"Wow. That was-" Sam starts.
"Love a bit of am-dram, darling. You should have seen my Coriolanus. Not a dry eye in the-"
"Right, okay. So they stayed here for three days, and then..."
"Then it gets interesting," Ellie replies. "'And on the blood red dawn of that third day, the warriors awoke and joined with Fimm's companions, and onwards they went, east where shelter could be found among the gray rocks.' Scholars always thought it was Fimm and the others who were waking, but-well, the wakened warriors might have been something else entirely."
"Only one way to find out," Sam says. "East towards that gray cliff. And uh, try to shake off those shamblers coming in from your left. Run."
We do as told, picking up the pace. I can see the figures from the corner of my eye, through the trees. They're still a good distance away, but we have no idea what we might find following this path that the Edda is leading us on. We can't risk getting trapped. We have weapons, but we don't want to accidentally destroy something that could turn out to have value.
More of my hair slips from my braid, and I grit my teeth as I push it away from my face. I would stop and just put it in a ponytail, but we can't have those zombies getting any closer. Too much is at stake to risk being pursued and then trapped.
I could, of course, take my axe and kill them now, but wasting the time to do so could cost us. I just want to find what we're looking for, and go home.
Although, really, we don't know what we're looking for. I know that we'll know what we're looking for when we find it, or at least, that's what we hope, but I always wonder if we'll just be chasing infinite clues. We've been looking for eight months and we're just now making progress. How long will we look before we find enough pieces to complete the puzzle? How many more people will die before we can save humanity?
At least one.
Me.
I'll die from zom bite. Must mean the cure is still out of reach when that happens.
Sad to know I'll be dead when... if they find a cure.
"So we're thinking these wakened warriors were zoms, right?" Steve asks.
"If you'd asked me that question eight years ago, I'd have pegged you for some kind of Netrophil conspiracy theory loony," Ellie says with a chuckle. "But now, well, what do you think this sounds like? 'Gray were the warriors. Gray of face and gray of mind. Unsmiling, unstopping.'"
"Mhm. Yeah, could have been zoms. Or they could have had a really bad hangover. You know what those Scandinavians are like with the booze."
"Was that an attempt at a joke?" I ask, but Sam speaks before Steve can answer.
"No, but look, this is the really interesting part. This was one of the bits that was cut out. Fimm talks to the warriors. He says, 'Greetings to you, you friends who were once enemies, whose blood was on my blade not four days gone by.'"
"'But the tongues of the wakened warriors had been stilled by steel,'" Ellie reads.
"Yeah, I see what you're getting at," Steve murmurs with a nod. "Those wakened warriors, they were the same people they'd just fought. The wizard did something to them. She turned them into zoms?"
"It would really help if we could find their bodies," She sighs, prompting a laugh from Sam.
"Yeah, Veronica would give her eye teeth for that. If, you know, eyes had teeth. What the hell are eye teeth anyway?"
"Eye teeth are the upper canines," Steve says.
"Oh, right. How the hell do you know that?"
"When I was a kid, every time I asked a question, my dad would be like, 'Don't be daft. What do you need to know that for?' As soon as I was out on my own, I promised myself anything I wanted to know-didn't matter how stupid or useless it was-I'd find it out."
"Look up ahead," Ellie says, changing the subject. "See that cave entrance with the sort of jagged lip? 'The earth's mouth gaped open for them, teeth sharp.' That must be where they went!"
"Right you are. Into the bowels of the earth it is. Come on, Five. Race you."
He sprints off before I have time to reply, and I have to race after him as he laughs at how unprepared I was for the challenge. My hair comes out of its braid completely, and I let out a noise of annoyance when my hair gets into my eyes, slowing me down some. I push it away and tuck a few strands behind my ear before racing after Steve, who's bouncing over rocks and roots with no trouble at all. He smirks at me when I reach him at the cave entrance.
"Looks like I win."
"You have longer legs and you didn't have hair getting into your eyes, but okay," I shrug, taking a glance at the entrance. "Let's see what we can find in here."
And so we head inside, the cave dark and cold. It's quiet, and thankfully we were a good ways ahead of the shamblers following us so they won't be a problem. I just hope there isn't anything else in here that we'll have to worry about.
I pull out a flashlight from my bag, waving it around. It's like any normal cave. At least, I think it is. I don't exactly have a lot of cave exploring experience, but it doesn't look like a villain's lair and I see no gold or a dragon, so I'd say it's pretty standard cave wise.
Steve's the only one who chuckles when I say this, surprisingly.
"Sam? You okay? I would think you'd be the one to laugh at my not-so-funny joke," I say, a small laugh in my voice.
"What? Oh, uh, sorry," He murmurs. "I just-I just don't like the look of this. Like, at all."
"It's a cave, Sam," Steve scoffs. "It's fine."
"It's a dead end, is what it is."
"Well, Fimm and his friends went in there and at least one of them got out to write the Edda, so..."
The tunnel splits off, and Steve looks at me, and I shrug and point halfheartedly to the right. He makes a sweeping gesture towards the right tunnel entrance, bowing dramatically.
"After you, Five."
I scoff and roll my eyes, heading down the path, shining my flashlight around in hopes that I might find something special.
"Five, would you mind wiping off the lens of your headcam?" Sam asks. "It looks a little smudged."
"Sure," I say, reaching back to unclip the fasten that keeps the camera secure to my head. "Have I ever told you how glad I am now that we have these smaller headcams instead of the ones we used to have?"
"Only like a million times."
"Yeah. I hated those old headcams. Those things weighed like ten pounds."
"Eight pounds, actually."
I laugh, reaching into my backpack to grab a small piece of cloth to clean the lens. I stick my tongue out as I concentrate on cleaning the lens, and I hear Sam chuckle.
"Something funny, Sam?"
"That face you're making is pretty funny, to be honest."
"I try."
"No, you don't." I can hear the smile in his voice.
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
"It's not. It's a really good thing, actually."
"I like to think I have a lot of things like that."
He sighs. "That you do."
"Are you two done?" Ellie asks in annoyance.
"Done with what?" Sam questions.
Steve frowns then looks at me, an eyebrow raised as if to ask, 'Is he serious?'
I nod. "Unfortunately."
I put the headcam back on, sweeping around with my flashlight. "Better now?"
"Definitely."
"Good. Wouldn't want you to miss the excitement of truly seeing this uh... white deposit everywhere. What is it? Salt?"
"I think so-" Steve starts, but he's cut off by moans that echo through the cave, the sounds bouncing off the walls.
"Um, was that..." Ellie trails off.
"Yeah, it was," Steve replies, looking up. "Zombie potholers, by the look of it. Bastards are coming down from ledges on either side of us."
"You'd better get out of there," Sam says with a big of urgency.
"Nah, tunnel ahead looks clear, and I can't hear any groaning coming from up there. We're not giving up now. Come on, Five. Run!"
•
"Looks like we've given them the slip for now," Steve says, panting. "So what did our Viking mates have to say about this place, Ellie?"
"This is where it gets exciting."
"What? A massive great battle followed by a corpse reanimating wizard bringing back the dead wasn't exciting enough already?" Sam scoffs, and his sarcasm makes me giggle. "Tough crowd."
"Yeah, but listen to this. 'Down they plunged into the salt-rimmed earth.' You were right, Steve! 'Their enemies far behind, escape ahead, victory in their eyes.'"
"'Through the earth we'll bring you, and then to freedom. We'll bring these wakened warriors to our cause, and none may stand before us!'"
"That was Fimm talking."
"I know. I was doing the Fimm voice."
Ellie sighs again. "'Fimm ran his hand upon his axe's blade to try its edge, and as the blood welled, wakened warriors stirred, and when the blood dripped upon the ground, they smiled, white teeth in their gray mouths, and the roared and turned upon their companions with blood their only thought." She pauses when Sam imitates a zombie's growl. "Thank you, Sam."
"Just getting everyone in the mood."
"'A bite, a slash, and one bold warrior fell. The wakened one fell after, teeth biting, flesh ripping, gore spilling.'"
"'To me, my companions,'" Sam says, deepening his voice, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. "'We'll stand together, not fall alone.'"
"'Fimm ran astride his fallen comrade, pushing back the wakened warriors.'"
"'Arise, my friend, and come with us. We shall not leave one behind.'"
"'And as Fimm watched, his boon companion stirred. His boon companion rose. And then his boon companion bared his teeth, blood upon his breath, and turned upon his brothers.'"
"The Vikings that got bit turned into more of these wakened warriors?" Steve shakes his head. "Poor buggars, trapped in these caves with the-"
We both hear a snarl.
I inhale deeply. "Sam, please tell me that was just you trying to get us in the mood of the story."
"It wasn't me," He says shakily.
I hear another snarl. It's from above us. Steve and I both look up. There's dozens of tunnels up there, fifty feet up, and judging from the arising symphony of moans and growls, they're full of zombies.
"Shit."
"You've got to get out of there," Ellie says desperately.
"We can't," I say. "There were zombies behind us, remember? And there's no other tunnels we can take to curve back around. At least, I think there isn't. We have to go deeper in. Come on, Bob the Builder."
Steve and I start running down the tunnel, listening as the moans grow louder and louder. We have to get away from those upper caves.
"No, stop!" Sam shouts. "You'll be trapped! You need to try to go southwest and... tunnels... exit... Five, please... listen to..."
"Sam? Sam!" I say, but I'm met with static. I hear Ellie attempt to say something, but the audio cuts in and out a few more times before going out entirely.
"Lost them!" Steve says with a curse, his shoulders tensing when another chorus of moans bounce off the walls. "Must be an effect of the cave depth. We're on our own, Five."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that."
I tense, nearly tripping over my own feet.
Oh no.
"You do get yourself into some scapes. I wonder how you're going to get yourself out of this one."
I turn to my right, my heart nearly stopping in my chest when I see Moonchild starting at me, smiling. She raises a brow at me.
"I'll tell you what I think," She laughs.
"Run."
A/N: Hey, guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Also I graduate this Sunday! Yay! Don't forget to vote and comment. Thank you and have a blessed day!