Chapter 22
January.
Ulfr gave his men the tasks they were to perform in his absence. The air was cold and pungent. Even his horse felt it, and snorted more than usual. He loaded the bag in which he had stored two containers of mead and set out to the natives’ camp.
The tracks were clear of the thick vegetation that had been entirely covered with a soft white mantle of snow. A thin crust of transparent ice covered the stream he was skirting, suffocating the gurgle of the water that flowed under it. The trees were completely bare and there was just a glimpse of the very light gray sky, with the branches, black and bare, standing out against it.
It would snow again, so he had to take advantage of the clemency of the sky and try to get there as soon as possible. The silence was almost tota
