Despite all that, he had never had someone who claimed to come from the Gods on his boat. The Disir who called herself Tam Nok- a strange name indeed- was seated on the same bench, on the other side of the longship, five feet away.
“Where are you from?” Ragnarok asked.
Tam Nok pointed in the direction of the rising sun. “A long way, a very long way in that direction.”
“Rome?” Ragnarok had met a man in Denmark once who claimed to be from that land of legend. Where it was supposed to be warm almost all the year and the sun was always high at noon. An ancient kingdom which had once conquered all of Gaul and Germany and most of England. The man had had several gold coins that he claimed were Roman and Ragnarok had never seen the like before.
“Beyond Rome. Beyond Persia. Beyond India.”
Ragnarok could only stare at the woman. Other than the white hair she looked much too young to be speaking of traversing lands he knew of only in legend. She reached into her cloak and pulled out a long tube of a wood he had never seen.
“Bamboo,” Tam Nok said, catching his questioning look.
“Bamboo?” Ragnarok repeated.
She tapped the wood. “This is bamboo. It grows where I came from. Tall. As tall as your tallest trees. It is hollow but very strong.”
Ragnarok glanced across the woman at Hrolf, who shrugged. They had heard many tall tales, some true, some made up by braggarts- except she had the wood in her hand and he saw no reason why she would lie about such a thing.
She removed a plug in the end and carefully pulled out a piece of parchment out of the wood. She unrolled it on the bench between her and Ragnarok.
“What is this?” Ragnarok was staring at the lines drawn on the paper.
“A map.”
“Of?” Ragnarok was trying to locate some place he knew but the scale was strange.
“The world. Most of the world.” She tapped the map with a long, thin finger. “We are here.”
Ragnarok focused on that point, then expanded his view. He recognized the coast of Norway, the inlets, but if that small part was Norway, this map covered so much more. He felt excitement such as he had never known before, different than a battle rage, a yearning to know what lands and seas those lines represented.
“This is Denmark!” Ragnarok pointed. “And England where the Saxons are. I have been there on raids. Iceland. I have been there also and beyond- here to the land called Greenland by Eric the Red. I traveled there two summers ago.”
The map ended on the left with Greenland. Ragnarok had heard of lands beyond but he had never seen a map that detailed. What amazed him were the lands that extended across the map to the right.
Tam Nok nodded. Her finger slid way across the map to the east. “I am from here.”
Ragnarok was astounded. Her finger had gone across Norway, past Kiev, across the lands of the steppe horsemen, fierce fighters of whom Ragnarok had heard amazing stories, and many times further than that to a land that abutted a sea he had never heard of.
“My kingdom is called Khmer. My city, Angkor Thom. I am a priestess of the temple of Angkor Wat.”
“I have never heard of these places,” Ragnarok whispered. “You told me you were a Disir, a maiden of the Gods of Asgaard.”
“The Gods-” Tam Nok swept her hand around her head taking in the world- “have different names in different places, but they are the same Gods. You would call me a Disir; in my own land I am a priestess.
“I have traveled for over a year to get here and I have much further to go.” Her finger slid back across the map to where it ended in the west. “I must travel beyond the edge of this map.”
“To where?” Ragnarok asked.
“I do not know exactly where yet.”
“Why are the Valkyries after you?” Ragnarok asked.
Tam Nok didn’t even raise her head, her voice coming from inside the folds of her hood. “They want to stop me.”
“Why?”
“I have knowledge they want no one to have. Knowledge that can help man defeat them and the Dark Ones of the Shadow who send them.”
The sound of the water against the hull helped erase the last of the battle-rage and Ragnarok turned, putting his back against the hull, his feet stretched out. He was trying to work all this new information into his mind.
Askell shifted around and continued his work, having cleaned out the wound, he now was preparing to close the gash. Numerous scars criss-crossed Ragnarok’s body and he was used to the pain of wounds.
“How did you know my name?” Ragnarok asked.
Tam Nok’s head came up and she pushed back the hood. Those dark eyes peered at Ragnarok. “Like the knowledge the Valkyries wish to destroy, I know many things without having to be told.” She looked about. “Where were you going before you met me?”
Ragnarok laughed, even as Askell pierced his shoulder with a bone needle. “You just said you knew many things without being told.”
“I am tired,” Tam Nok said. “I do not have the energy for word games.”
The smile left Ragnarok’s face. “I do not like running, woman.”
“It was not a battle you could have won,” Tam Nok said.
“That is not the important thing,” Ragnarok said. “It is more important to fight bravely.”
“I will tell you what is important,” Tam Nok said.
“Be still!” Askell hissed as Ragnarok’s boots slammed into the bottom of the boat. The rage had returned, but he bit back his hasty retort. He forced himself to remain still as Askell finished the last stitch.
Askell used his teeth to cut the animal gut string he had used to sew up Ragnarok’s shoulder. He put the needle back in his bag and went back to his place. The other men close by all tried to appear as if they were not listening, but Ragnarok knew they were. There was no such thing as privacy on a longship. He pulled the tunic up over his shoulder and tried the arm. Some blood seeped through the stitches, and there was pain, but he could use it that was all that was important. The burn on his chest was an ache he had already gotten used to.
Then he returned his attention to the woman, keeping his voice low. “You do not scare me, priestess. This is my ship. One of my crew was killed back there by your demons. He did not receive a proper burial but at least he died with his sword in his hand, a good death. Another of my crew was taken away. They were both good men. Brave warriors. You say you are a Disir, but that is only your word. You will have to do much more to convince me that you are what you say you are.”
“Where are-” Tam Nok paused and rephrased her question and changed her tone. “Captain of this fine ship, where were you headed?”
“The Faroes, and from there Iceland,” Ragnarok said. He pointed on the map to the two locations.
She also referred to the map. “I must get to this place.”
“England,” Ragnarok said. “That is south of here and dangerous. We have spilled much Saxon blood over the years. They fear us, but if they catch one ship alone, they will be on us like dogs. And it has been well plundered. There is no longer much treasure close to the shore that can be easily taken. It is not in the direction we-”
“I will pay for the transit.”
Ragnarok could sense the interest from those of his crew who could hear. “How?”
Tam Nok reached inside her cloak and pulled out a small leather bag. She slid it across the bench toward Ragnarok. He picked it up and loosened the tie, peering inside. Not quite sure what he was seeing, he spilled the contents out on his palm. Stones and ingots glittered in his palm. Gold and jewels. He had seen such before, during raids on the English and French coasts, but he had never had such a large share.