CHAPTER 9
The warningThe way back was not easy.
Neil loaded the horses and roped them loosely together, the two riderless ones following his own. He had the sword, the axe and the shield carefully wrapped and hidden on the middle horse.
Without a rider Baldur’s horse was more nervous than he was before and Neil had a great deal of trouble keeping them going the way he wanted them to as they picked their way over the stony ground, every now and then startled by wisps of steam and faint earth rumbles. The boiling mud frightened them. The geysers frightened them even more and Neil found himself travelling slower than he had expected as he constantly had to stop and talk gently to the frightened beasts. The one good thing about their fear was that he was so busy comforting them and trying t
