Mercedes Lackey - Anthology Read Online Free

a share in your land?" asked Hogni, the elder of the two.
                 "I
would, or the value of it once it is producing once more."
                 "And
you have not been outlawed?" asked Torstein.
                 "They
do not know what has become of me," Bui gave a mirthless laugh. "I do
not offer you safety, but the chance to do deeds that will be remembered. It is
up to you. I ask only this. If you do not join me, then say nothing of my
presence on the fell. I think you owe me that much for pulling you out of the
sea."
                 Torstein
looked at his brother, and then grinned back at him. "It is clear that Ran
does not want us. Maybe we can earn a place in Odin's warband with you!"
                 That
seemed likely enough, thought Bui, but he took it as yet another sign from the
god.
                 With
two additional pairs of hands and the scavengings from the boat, they were able
to take three more seals and a quantity of fish to carry back to Bui's hideaway
at the edge of the fell. Once more, the ravens followed. Hogni and Torstein
marveled at the birds, and took to calling their rescuer Hrafn-Bui.
                 "You
are laughing at me, but I will claim in earnest the name you give in
jest," answered Bui. "The ravens are our allies—you will see."
                 As
the days diminished, the weather worsened, but the warm current that flows past Iceland 's shores kept the temperatures on the south
coast relatively mild, and the hot springs warmed the fugitives when they did begin to
suffer from the chill. They were always hungry, but they never starved, and for
this, they thanked Bui's ravens.
                 As
once the birds had followed him, now Bui and his companions followed the ravens
to food. In those days, folk used to leave their herds to winter in the woods,
for there were no predators large enough to trouble a grown animal, and
sometimes the exiles would find a cow or pony that had wandered off in search
of the dry grasses that grew on the fell. They preyed on wintering waterbirds
and, between the frequent gales, on seals. And leading or following, the ravens
hunted with them, just as they did with the polar bears.
                 During
the long hours of darkness the three young men huddled in the light of the
seal-fat lamp and told tales,
                 "I'll
help you for a time on the farm," said Hogni, "but the sea is all I
ever dreamed of."
                 "My
father loved the sea more than he loved my mother and me," answered Bui, "and
it killed him."
                 Torstein
sighed. "You can die anywhere. Our father took a scratch that went bad.
His arm swelled up, and he burned with fever until he died. What glory was
there in that?"
                 In
his voice was a note that Bui recognized.
                 Both
of them, he thought then, had been abandoned by the fathers who should have
protected them.
                 "Is
that what you want? Glory?" he asked.
                 "Of course. Don't you?"
                 Bui
shook his head. "All I want is my home. . . ."
                 "Do
you really think that the three of us can drive your uncle out?" Torstein
asked then.
                 "I
have dreamed that Odin and the ravens will show me the way."
                 Torstein
exchanged glances with his brother, but neither replied.
                 Either
they will keep faith with me, or they will not, thought Bui. He pulled on the
rough cape he had cobbled together from sealskin and went outside.
                 The
nights were beginning to grow shorter at last, and though clouds billowed on
the horizon, the sleet and snow had ceased. A soft half-light lay over the fell
and glittered on the branches of birch and willow where the buds were beginning
to swell. Bui let out his breath in a