Iron Cross

Blood Runes-5-1

Four years had passed since the arrival of the Norsemen to the village. Their lives were fully integrated into the fabric of the community and to some extent they had already replaced the men killed in the brutal attack of the Xiu. Bjarni and Mactzil had had first a son whom they called Iktan and then a girl they named Xareni. The sailor had started replacing Quellochi in some of his activities, particularly those requiring long journeys, allowing him to know the region and its main leaders. Periodically he went out with his compatriots to navigate the drakkar that was kept in good shape and that was supplied with a new sail woven with local yarn; most of the ropes had to be gradually replaced by others made of native fiber.

Since he had no longer illusions to count with all his compatriots in case he wished to embark on a long sea voyage, Bjarni began training several selected natives in the art of navigation. At the same time Knut trained the entire male population of the village in military disciplines. While the fact of not having iron weapons for all was a great disadvantage in the case of close range fighting, they tried to compensate it with war tactics and archery practices for which the natives had a natural ease.

On one occasion Bjarni went to Knut´s house to arrange an overland trip. As he did not see his friend in the garden where Knut used to work Bjarni was about to leave the place when he heard groans in the hut occupied by the giant. As in Maya houses the door was the only opening he decided to enter. In the bedroom penumbra he peered at his friend kneeling on someone in the midst of an obvious s****l act. Annoyed with himself for having invaded the Knut´s privacy Bjarni retreated from the house trying to go unnoticed but he heard his friend calling him from behind. He turned and waited for the man to dress and reached the dining room. He felt certain strangeness because he knew that Knut had driven from his home the last of his wives, with whom he had two children. As the big man approached him Bjarni could see that from the bedroom came a naked young man who moved with manners that struck him as feminine. In a fit of rage Bjarni was ready to rebuke his friend thinking that he had sodomized the boy, but when the latter came to Knut´s side and this gently stroked his head. The boy scarcely reached half of the Norwegian chest and looked frail at his side.

Knut wanted to sketch an explanation but no sound came out of his mouth. Bjarni stopped him with a wave of his hand, as he said.

“No matter what your private habits are I will always consider you my friend.”

He returned to his hut, located outside the village with his head down. Just by seeing him Mactzil immediately realized that something was wrong.

“Weren´t you going to visit Knut?”

Bjarni replied evasively but the woman, who knew his reactions insisted.

“Knut. Something happens to him?”

“No, is not that.”

Mactzil's face suddenly lit up.

“I know. You found him with Itzaé!”

“Who is Itzaé?”

“His new wife.”

“No, he was unfortunately not with a woman.”

“Fool. Itzaé is a boy, but serves Knut as a wife.”

“Then you knew?”

“The whole village knows. Here you cannot hide anything.”

Bjarni was amazed because four years after his arrival he still ignored some very basics of the village that he had adopted as his second homeland.

A couple of days later Bjarni found Tore. The young man had significantly gained weight and was working in the garden outside his hut while two children were running around him and a pregnant woman was weaving a basket with a few twigs. Bjarni and the boy exchanged a few words, but the former realized he was absorbed with his homework and his family.

Gradually the seaman was mentally doing an inventory of the activities of his compatriots, and the conclusion was taking shape in his mind that what had been a compact and hardened crew that had faced many dangers together was transformed into a group of peasants each with his own story and interests. When he reflected on his own situation, he realized that it was not much different, beyond the tendency to introspection that had given rise to all the analysis. Finally the conclusion was that only the other drakkar helmsman, a Dane named Holger, was not firmly rooted in the village community. With him Bjarni could surely count for a project that he was maturing inside.

The nautical travels with the drakkar had become more frequent. Bjarni had consolidated a crew including himself, Holger and five villagers who lived in the surroundings, whom the two Vikings were training for sea travel at increasingly greater distances from the coast, in addition to travel long distances along it. He had not revealed to them any of his purposes until a day Holger faced him directly.

“Bjarni, I think with all these navigational practices you have a purpose in mind. Am I wrong? If you do, I have the right to know.”

The chief thought for a moment about his answer, and then judging the petition justified started talking.

“So it is. I intend to return to Greenland and then to Norway, and for that enterprise I count with you all.”

“But, what is waiting for you in Norway? Here you have your family and a position in the village.”

“ I plan to return back here indeed, once I have fulfilled my purpose. I will return with a fleet, sailors and power.”

“What makes you think you'll get all that in your country when in your previous life you never did?”

Bjarni had no choice but to tell his friend that he was aware of the existence of a great wealth in gold, but did not give details about the place or the circumstances in which he had acquired that knowledge. Once finished his presentation was Holger´s turn to evaluate what he had heard.

“Well, I know you and I know you're not lying to me, but you have not told the whole truth. I have nothing to keep me here. You can count on me.”

When he felt that the crew already had enough experience in handling the drakkar Bjarni took them to a navigation in which they entered at sea for a whole morning and then headed south until they found the coast once again. Then they landed on a deserted beach and stayed there for a whole day exploring it without finding traces of human life. They returned to the ship and spent two more days travelling southbound, until a storm surprised them offshore. Although it took them a big effort to navigate the craft the crewmen could keep the course and endure the storm. Then Bjarni judged that the training of the novice seamen was successfully concluded and decided to return to the village. In total eight days had passed and Mactzi was alarmed as well as the families of the remaining sailors.

The sailors spent six further months in preparation, until one day Bjarni decided to talk to his wife, with their children present.

“Mactzil. I decided to temporarily return to my country, sailing north to areas. The crewmen have decided to accompany me, and we will set sail in a week.”

“Then you go away, never to return?” Asked the saddened woman.

“Quite the opposite. I will come back with a fleet of my countrymen to help your people to win their freedom from your Xiu oppressors and reign throughout the country.”

“But the journey is long and fraught with danger.”

“I trust my crew and am sure the ship is prepared to face it.”

“ When will you return, my husband?”

“In two years. That's what I take the journey back to Norway, to make the travel arrangements and return.”

“I always knew that as the sea brought you, the sea would take you away from me.”

Bjarni strongly embraced his wife and then to their children, who did not fully understand what was happening. A lump formed in his throat and prevented him from speaking further.

Two days later he decided to explain his plans to Quecholli. The old man listened attentively and asked questions about the trip and his family. Bjarni confided that the purpose of that was to return with a fleet of warriors as those who had accompanied him on his coming, but much more numerous.

“They will chase away the Xiu invaders and throw them into the ocean. You will stay as head of this whole area, and be able to fight for the kingdom of Uxmal.”

“ My claims are more modest. It would suffice to ensure the freedom of my people and provide security against looting and killings.”

The conversation lasted a long time yet, until Bjarni told his father in law .

“But there is one thing I must ask. The warriors of my people will come if I promise that there will be a reward in gold for their Jarls and for them. I need to take samples of the precious objects you have in the pyramid of Kukulkan.”

“Then your people will come to plunder our heritage.”

“I will not deceive you. That danger exists. But to prevent it you and some men of your trust must carry a share of the treasure somewhere else, and that will be what we will show the Norwegians when they arrive. It will cost a small part of your legacy but you´ll obtain security for your people in return. It's the price you will have to pay.”

Quellochi meditated for a while and finally agreed to the proposal. The next day the two men went on a road trip of which they gave no explanations, and arrived at the pyramid Bjarni already knew. From the bowels of the feathered serpent they removed the parts that should excite the lust of the Scandinavian princes.

CHAPTER 4

THOR'S HAMMER

The storm appeared suddenly. The inexperienced crew despaired at first but soon the natives followed the example and guidance of Bjarni and Holger that brought some tranquility to face the first really serious drawback of the voyage. The cold weather was an additional problem, but the villagers turned into navigators had received outerwear from the Norwegians who had stayed in Yucatán and would not need it there. The storm lasted two days, period during which the sailors were at the mercy of the elements and could not govern the ship; therefore they lost the reference of the course they were to follow and got lost in the vast ocean. As a lat resource they had to straighten the bow in a rough direction, navigate guided by the path of the sun and the stars and hope that at some point some land would appear that could serve them as a guide. In that long wait they consumed all the food and especially the water they were carrying. The men were huddled on the longship deck, shivering and desperate to see the sunrise of the next day.

During one night during Holger´s shift the man fell asleep at the helm and was awakened by a scream and a splash in the water. Alarmed peered over the side but could see nothing in the new moon dark night. He went to wake the other crew members and great was his despair when he found that one of the Maya crewmen was missing. As he questioned the remaining sailors Bjarni determined that the missing man, maddened by loneliness at sea had been talking to his countrymen to jump overboard during the previous evening and had been barely dissuaded from doing so. No doubt he had awakened in the night and had carried out his fatal purpose. His loss meant a very strong moral blow to the four other villagers, and an important decline in the quantity of arms available for navigation.

Two days later, when Bjarni was at the helm, he watched the bodies of the crew scattered on the banks of rowers and his heart shrunk. Although they had never expressed a complaint, he knew he was responsible for bringing these men to an adventure that had become tragic. The most immediate threat was dehydration; all crew members had their throats parched with thirst and could barely move on deck.

Bjarni turned his watery eyes fore and distinguished at first a hazy outline emerging from the morning mist. He squinted until he finally was convinced that what he saw was not the result of his fevered imagination but real. A dark outline could not be anything but a shoreline with elevations in the hinterland. He tried to call his companions but his voice did not answer, he left the rudder and painfully dragged to the place where Holger was sleeping and shook up his leg to make it wake up.