Contents
Chapter Fifteen: Orka
Overview
Back home, Orka, Thorkel and Breca grapple with Virk’s death, vengeance and honour. Orka and Thorkel decide to leave their steading for safety. At dawn Orka goes to seek Froa’s guidance but finds the Ash Tree felled and Froa hacked and burned. Evidence of many attackers and distant screams signal a new threat.
Summary
At their steading, Orka cooks as Breca, Thorkel and the tennúr Vesli gather. Breca vents hatred for Guðvarr and Jarl Sigrún after Virk’s killing. Thorkel counsels that hate corrupts, stressing choices, honour and restraint. Breca declares he wants to learn sword craft; Thorkel argues tools are only as good as their wielder.
Later, Orka comforts Breca about Mord and Lif, speaks of fear and courage, and frees a moth from a spider’s web at Breca’s urging, revealing his compassion. Thorkel has made Breca a small sword pendant. In bed, Orka voices dread over Sigrún’s new thrall and urges leaving; Thorkel agrees that their family is home, not the place.
Before dawn, Orka feeds Spert with spit-and-blood to stave off his hunger and orders him to watch the steading. She slips out with a spear, heading for the Ash Tree to seek Froa’s guidance on where to go.
Reaching the meadow, Orka finds devastation: the Ash Tree is felled and burned; Froa lies nearby, a wooden figure frozen in a scream, hacked and scorched. Surveying the churned earth, torn roots and dark, congealed blood, Orka concludes many attackers fought here and took their dead.
The destruction deepens her fear and suggests a link to recent murders and abductions. As Orka listens, faint westward screaming carries on the wind, signaling imminent danger and drawing her toward the next crisis.
Who Appears
- OrkaProtagonist; debates honour and fear, decides to flee, seeks Froa, discovers the Ash Tree destroyed and Froa slain.
- ThorkelOrka’s husband; teaches Breca about choices and honour, agrees they should leave their home.
- BrecaOrka’s son; angry over Virk’s death, wants sword craft, shows compassion by saving a moth.
- VesliTennúr vaesen; follows Breca, voracious appetite, present during the family’s evening and night.
- SpertVaesen in the stream; fed with spit and blood, tasked to guard the steading while Orka leaves.
- FroaSpirit of the Ash Tree; found hacked and burned beside her felled tree, her death signaling a grave new threat.