The Islands of the Blessed

Jack tried not to listen. It was the usual Northman entertainment. The warriors cheered every time Sigmund did something appalling. Much ale was drunk. Someone got sick in the straw. Eventually, most of the men crawled into sleeping cupboards along the walls and passed out. But a few stayed awake to guard the gate. Adder-Tooth was carried by servants to his private bedroom.

The Bard, Skakki, Jack, and Thorgil remained seated. “We must leave tomorrow,” said Thorgil, who had been silent for a long time. She had dropped all pretense of being a delicate princess. Her gray eyes raked over the squalid hall and found nothing to her liking. “Gods! I’d forgotten what a drunken revel was like.”

“This was no revel,” said the Bard. “They were drinking to hide fear.”

Big Half and Little Half appeared, with the young skald fluttering behind them. “You should eat,” Little Half said. “I have cheese and bread in the pantry that hasn’t been mauled.”

“Is this how these men spend every night?” said the Bard, disgusted.

“I’m afraid so.”

“I can’t tell you how honored I am to meet the great Dragon Tongue,” gushed the skald.

“So you should be,” the old man said absentmindedly. “Thank you for your offer, Little Half. We would welcome food that hasn’t been slobbered on.” Soon everyone was enjoying a peaceful meal. If it hadn’t been for the drunken snores and the guards lurking by the gate, it would have been almost cheerful. The terrible cries in the wind had vanished.

“Much as I hate to bring up an unpleasant subject, I need to know what happened with that hogboon,” said the Bard when they had finished.

“What’s a hogboon, sir?” Jack asked.

“Do you remember my telling you about Jenny Greenteeth?”

“The ghost who haunts the Hall of Wraiths?”

“Yes. She’s a perfect example of what happens when you don’t fix wrongs,” said the Bard. “Long ago something terrible happened to Jenny and her spirit was unable to rest. The problem is, she can’t remember what it was. She comes after anyone who strays into her territory, moaning whooo… whooo… whooo like a demented owl. My guess is that she’s asking ‘Who killed me?’ Now, of course, no one can tell her. Jenny’s fairly harmless, apart from causing the odd heart attack. A hogboon is far worse.”

“This one came from an ancient barrow,” said Big Half.

“I saw it when it came for Bjorn.” Little Half shivered. “It was a tall presence wreathed in cobwebs. Its body was like the mold you find on bread. Soft-looking. It left gray footprints.”

“Let’s start at the beginning,” the Bard said. “Adder-Tooth forced the wise woman to go into a vision trance. Unfortunately, she chose a barrow containing a hogboon, and it awakened. It saw an opportunity to take over a living body, except that hogboons are not alive. The best they can manage is to use up the life force within a host, and when that was gone, the woman dissolved into dust. Am I correct?”

“Yes, sir,” said Little Half. “That’s what Adder-Tooth told me. He himself didn’t realize what had happened until the creature spoke. ‘That was a dainty meal you prepared for me,’ it said. ‘Ask of me any boon and it shall be granted.’ Well, of course Adder-Tooth only wanted one thing: the destruction of Bjorn. He immediately demanded that without asking whether payment would be involved.”

“There’s always a price for such favors,” said the Bard.

“When Bjorn was alive…” The dwarf swallowed and wiped his eyes. “When Bjorn was alive, this hall rang with laughter. Women and children still lived here, and on that night we were posing riddles.”

“I remember,” said Big Half.

“Bjorn had given us this puzzle,” said Little Half.

Its shaping power passes knowing.

It seeks the living one by one.

Eternal, yet without life, it moves

Everywhere in the wide world.

“The answer, of course, was Death. The riddle had no sooner been set when a gray presence drifted through the wall. The lamps grew dim and the smaller children began to cry.

“‘I seek Bjorn Skull-Splitter,’ it said in a ghastly voice. We were all terrified, but Bjorn bravely drew his sword. ‘I am the one you seek. Why are you here?’

“‘I am the answer to your riddle,’ replied the hogboon.

“Our leader grew pale. ‘Take the women and children from the hall,’ he ordered. ‘Now begone, foul creature, or I will be forced to kill you.’

“‘None may slay me,’ the hogboon whispered, and leaped at him. Bjorn sliced it in two with his sword, but the parts came together like smoke, and it laid its hand on Bjorn’s chest. Our poor leader groaned and dropped his weapon. In an instant his face had aged ten years.