Yngvild and the Forest of Dreams

Through the trees

Noren wasn't getting any better and I had no idea what to do about it. Jafnadr couldn't help, and I doubted my mother would be able to either. So I did what I always do when I don't know what to do. I prayed. I prayed for inspiration and I prayed for a sign.

I left Noren and Jerre and the horses and went away from the camp into a clearing where I could see the sky. I sat cross legged on the floor and looked up into the almost cloudless blue sky.
'Malfin, my most favoured goddess, help me save Noren.' As I spoke out loud to the sky I spotted a dark dot circling above me. I watched it for a minute before continuing.
'Jorunn, Noren is one of your people, he is lost. Help me find him.' The dot seemed to grow bigger.
I watched it.
I stared and stared. It wasn't my imagination. It plummeted towards me, resolving into a large black and white bird.
It looked familiar. I'd seen birds like this before.
It came closer, gliding down in a spiral.

The bird landed in the middle of the clearing and stared at me. Even when I stood up it stayed staring, turning it's head to put first one eye and then the other on me.
'Jerre! Come see this.'
I recognised this sort of bird. I'd seen them before swooping down into the sea for fish.
It's head was part turned to the left, and it kept one eye on me. I felt it boring into me with curiosity.
'That's a magnificent bird, what's it doing here?' Jerre whispered into my ear.
'Just what I was thinking. How far are we from the sea?'
'The sea? Two or three days ride, maybe more.'
'It's a long way from home, I wonder why the gods sent it here?'
As I finished speaking the bird flapped its wings and appeared to grow.
Jerre and I involuntarily stepped backwards away from the bird.
It continued to grow, the wings and the body thinning while the legs and head thickened.
'I was looking for you Yngvild.'
I stared open mouthed at the dark skinned woman no standing where the bird had been.
'What? How?' I said.
'Relax, I'm a friend. I've come to help you get back home.'
'Are you from Malfin or Jorunn?'
'If either sent me it would be Jorunn, but the Board of Trade sent me first, I've been looking for you for almost four days.'
'Oh. Do you know anything about breaking geasa?'
'Most people think that it's impossible.' The woman smiled.
'But you don't?'
'Maybe we can talk about that later. We need to get moving fast. They're searching the forest for you.'
'How did you find us?'
'Finding people is a special talent if mine, and Noren lit up very brightly the night before last. It's taken me a while to get close enough.'
'Does that mean Rojden will be able to find us?'
'I don't think so, he's descended from Meniaxter, not Jorunn.'
'What's your name?'
'Inibrakemi Funeresdottir'
'Well met, Inibrakemi. This is Jerre, he's been helping Noren and I.'
Jerre straightened up and bowed from the waist as I mentioned his name. 'At your service, my lady.'
'Well met. Where's Noren?' Inibrakemi said.
'He's not well, resisting a geas. That's why I asked.' I said. 'Come see.' I lead Inibrakemi to where Noren lay under a blanket in a semblance of sleeping.
She knelt next to him and touched his forehead. After a moment she shook him gently by the shoulders. 'Noren. Noren, can you hear me?'
Noren lay unresponsive, even to her vigorous shaking.
'He's been like this for a couple of days. We can't wake him, but he'll eat and drink if we sit him up and spoon it into his mouth.' I said.
'We need to move him. There were lots of soldiers looking in the woods, and they're coming this way.'
The green dappling in the forest that had seemed a comfort that hid us had become a dark threat that concealed our enemies.
'Jerre, are the horses ready?'
'Almost there, Yngvild, I started while you went to pray.'
'Good. Let's tie Noren onto a saddle and move away from the soldiers.' Inibrakemi said. 'Once we're going we can talk about how to help Noren.'
I helped Jerre with the last couple of saddles, and collecting up the rope we'd used to help stop the horses straying.
Once we were ready Jerre and I carried Noren onto a horse and tied his feet to the stirrups. Then we tied him round the waist and the high backed saddle so that he couldn't fall out. In the distance horns sounded, I only heard them because they sounded several times.
'We need to go this way.' Inibrakemi indicated deeper into the forest. 'Probably best to go at a walk in single file. Stick to the leafy areas to minimise tracks.'
We went off, Inibrakemi leading on foot, with Jerre following leading the horse Noren was strapped to. The other horses were tied along the rope to follow one another.
I brought up the rear with my bow strung and an arrow knocked just in case...

We walked for a couple of hours before stopping in a grassy area near a stream to let the horses graze and have some lunch. We laid Noren down in the sunlight on the grass.
'Yngvild, we need to get more fodder for the horses.' Jerre held a large sack of oats. 'this is all we've got left.'
'How long will it last?'
'Two or three meals for the horses.'
'It might be best to cut your spare horses free.' Inibrakemi said. 'I have two colleagues with a train of pack horses coming from Beretha. We can meet him in a few days.'
'How far away is your colleague? Could we meet him by tomorrow afternoon?' Jerre said.
'No, they're on a different route, we'll meet them after we cross the river. There's a market at the fork of the Cobre.'
'These are cavalry horses, if I cut them free they'll likely just follow us.' Jerre said.
'Maybe that could work for us. Would you be willing to give them to another group and direct them away from us?' Inibrakemi smiled and touched Jerre's arm. 'You are dressed as they are, it could work.'
'I'm just a trooper, they won't listen to me.'
'They don't need to, you could be passing on a message and some spare mounts for the prisoners.'
'What if they want me to join them?'
'Tell them that your HQ asked you to report back when you'd delivered the horses.'
'That might work.'

We set to unloading the horses we'd give away of food, water and anything we'd find useful. Only three were kept. Inibrakemi said she'd fly some of the way when we were able to mount up.
It didn't take long. Inibrakemi scouted the area and tied back a couple of young trees and a bush at the edge of the clearing. I lead whiteface through, ducking her head as she passed into the canopy. Behind the bushes the ground was brown, mostly leaf litter and twigs. It was darker in here too, the higher branches had heavy leaf cover, although the lower branches were sparser. Visibility wasn't long, while it was easy to walk between the trees their irregular spacing and closeness meant that nothing could be seen more than a hundred yards away. Even that would be glimpsed in vertical stripes through the gaps.
I tied whiteface to a branch and put her nosebag on. It would keep her there long enough for me to return. Jerre met me halfway with the other horse, which had borne Noren. Inibrakemi was finishing a stretcher from a couple of saplings, a blanket and some rope when I got back into the clearing. Noren laid on the grass next to her.
'Yngvild, can you help me roll Noren onto the stretcher?'
'What do you want me to do?'
'If we roll him onto his side we can put the stretcher under him before rolling him back. Can you get his leg and waist?' Inibrakemi pointed as she spoke.
I knelt on the other side of Noren from the stretcher and Inibrakemi knelt next to me.