Blood Moon| The Last Kingdom| Sihtric Kjartansson

TWENTY-THREE

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Day 1 on the road

"That's stupid."

"You're stupid," Finan grumbled.

"There is no chance of you simply knocking on the gates of Dunholm and asking Daga to step outside for a fist fight." Saga rolled her eyes, her horse, Sunchaser, leading the line along with Finan and Uhtred.

"It is worth a chance," Finan argued, "it would save us the hassle of having to gather men."

"We would die," Osferth mumbled, "and pretty quickly too."

"Your lack of faith in my abilities is hurtful," Finan huffed, urging his horse to ride faster to prove his point.

"This new town we are heading for," Olav started from my right, leaning forward to catch Sihtric's eye as he rode to my left. 

"Gyrwe," Sihtric filled in the name.

"Yes," Olav nodded, "what is the land like?"

Sihtric shrugged, "I can not say, I have not been there before. Uhtred has only directed us there because it is on the outskirts of Mercia. We will remain undetected this way."

"Undetected is good, but we still need to eat," Olav snorted before he motioned to me, "and a sacrifice a day keeps death away."

"I will be fine," I rolled my eyes, toying with the bridle in my hands, "we sacrificed before we left, and I do not intend to curse anyone any time soon."

"You will still weaken if you have visions," Olav countered, "so I will need a place to build a pit."

"If I weaken," I threw him a narrow smile, "I will eat and sleep like every other person. I can survive without any sacrifices for a few weeks, I will be fine."

"Gyrwe is bound to have woodlands around it," Sihtric mumbled thoughtfully, looking over my head at Olav, "we can search for a good place once we arrive."

"Did neither of you hear a word I said?" I snorted, looking between the two in disbelief.

"Sometimes," Olav grinned, "my ears stop working when nonsense is spoken."

Sihtric hummed in agreement, "Mine too. It must be a curse of some kind."

I rolled my eyes, urging Helios to walk ahead of them, "Curse, my ass."

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Day 2 on the road

"This town has too many people," Saga grumbled, pulling the hood of her cloak further down her face.

"Do not worry," Finan mumbled quietly, eyeing the Mercians of Ledecestre as we passed them on horseback. "They have no business with us as we do not have business with them."

"And what of Edward's spies?" Olav muttered as he raised his hand to the hammer of Thor at his neck, frightening the locals.

"Best not to mention them," Osferth sighed, forcing a smile onto his face, "or think of them."

"Your wolves are hungry, I think," Sihtric drew my attention to him, motioning to Derya and Arya, who led our party.

They sniffed the ground, catching fragments of Henrick's scent, but they would quickly become distracted by the smell of cooked meat and bread, their big heads turning and saliva dripping to the ground.