Book 9 - The Mist in the Darkness - Chapter 12: Old Habits

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Take note of the Point of View change

The Mist in the Darkness

Chapter 12

Old Habits

Vixxen's Point of View

         Suddenly, we all hear screaming from down near the docks.  Not waiting for Ondott’s answer to search the camp, I dash towards the screams.  I knew right away they were coming from Annabeth.  When I came to where I thought I heard the screams, another scream occurred and helped me pin point where it came from.  As I was about to rush into the building, a very fowl smell went through my nose.

         “What is that smell?” I had to take a step back, running into those following me.

         The smell felt like enough to knock me off my feet.  The smell is coming from the fog that is in the building.  I put my elbow over my nose to shield the smell, but it is still very strong.  Looking in the building, I hear someone crying.  Going to my right, there lies Annabeth bent over Jarl, sprawled out on the floor.  I immediately reach down to pick up Annabeth as Sigvald bent down to pick up Jarl.  Immediately exiting the area where the smell is at, I notice the blood on Annabeth’s hand and make the next connection which Sigvald just noticed.

         Before Sigvald could ask, Ondott answered, “Use the building right there.  I’ll get some bandages.”

         Annabeth is very incoherent while she is consoled by Svana.  Ondott returns within minutes to help Sigvald patch up Jarl, laying on a table.  Another five minutes go by before any of us can catch our breath.

         Sigvald sighs, “He is going to be alright.  It is only flesh wound, catching Jarl’s right side.  However, it is deep and will need time to heal.”

         Svana is about to request but Ondott holds his hand up, “You don’t even have to say it.  You all can stay here for the night.”

         Sigvald wonders, “Even after what we tried to do here tonight?”

         “If Vixxen is here and had reason enough to question this operation,” Ondott replies.  “Then that is good enough reason for me.  No questions asked.  Especially, when it seems that what you were doing here has spoiled an attack on my camp anyway.  For that, I am grateful.  We can figure this all out at a later time.  What’s more important, is taking care of your two friends here.”

         Ondott announced that he needs to take care of some business and wishes us a goodnight.  As Ondott goes out the door, I mouth the words, “Thank you,” as he passes me by.  He lays his hand on my shoulder for a moment before leaving.

         Sigvald is tending to his son to make sure he is comfortable.  Svana took Annabeth’s bracer off to clean both it, the dagger, and Annabeth’s hand.  Annabeth is in no shape to question right now, she does what she should:  Sit by Jarl’s side.  Seeing that Sigvald and Svana are staying with them, I exit to return to the building we found them in.

         Upon exiting, the rest of our crew with us was sitting on their dragons in the compound wondering what is going on.  Assuring them that everything is fine now and Ondott invited us to stay the night, I tell them about Jarl and Annabeth.  Asvord, Elsa, and Dagmar all go into the building to check on them.  I quiet the dragons down before returning to the building.

         At this point, the smell was almost gone along with the fog nearly dissipated completely.  However, the smell still has a strong presence and almost makes me want to sneeze as it sits in my nose.

         I look in the room where we found them.  On first glance, I can start seeing what went down here.  A fight.  There are a couple of knifes in the wall, the chair for the desk is obliterated, and the items on the desk are messed up.

         I comment to myself, “There must have been a third individual here because neither Jarl nor Annabeth would just outright attack each other with this kind of force.”

         Examining one of the knifes, it seems to be a regular, looking knife.  Although, the knife is rather light and made out of Gronckle Iron.  From its feel, it is perfect for a throwing knife.  I pocket it to keep for later.

         Looking down from where I got the knife, I observe the desk.  Right away, I see the testing tubes and recognize the experiments.

         “Why would someone here be doing experiments on plants?” I whisper to myself.

         Reason I recognize what is before me is because I did similar experiments on the special herb when I was traveling with Einar Verodfellar.  The experiments themselves are anything impressive.  Simple chemical experiments to test the reactions with the plant leaves, stems, and roots to find the properties of the plants as well as their strength and weaknesses from said chemicals.

         There is a notebook on the table.  Picking it up, I open it up.  Seeing its contents, I am shocked to see…

         “Greek?” I nearly say out loud but then think to myself.  “Why on earth would Ondott have a notebook written completely in Greek?”

         Even though we have been invited to stay, one of Ondott’s rules when I was under his employment is to always assume someone is listening in.  Not that he did not trust his own crew, in his line of work, someone might be able to pay better.  Therefore, creating opportunities to betrayals which is not good for business.  Back then, it was hard to find vikings you could trust with any kind of information, let alone your life.  Now, twenty years later, not much has changed.

         I do not know how to read Greek, but I do know what it looks like.  Ondott is one who does know how to read it because when we first met, he had been coming from the Southern Seas to look for new business opportunities.  Someone else is Einar.  He had found one notebook that had a lot of Greek text in it, some Viking Runic notes in it.  But it has been a while since that time, a time I have tried to erase from my memory.  Yet, more times than not lately, those experiences have served Jarl and the crew well.  As much as I am telling Jarl not to run from his past, am I trying to do the same?

         I put the notebook down and look around the rest of the room.  There is not too much left to look at.  Just things, tools, and items one would find in a workshop.  Once I am outside, in the fresh air, I notice I am quite lightheaded.

         “There must be some connection with the smell and the fog,” I tell myself.

         Going back into the building, I go to the table, pick up one of the tubes and try to fill it with some of the lingering fog still in the room.  I cork the tube and wrap it with a cloth.  Exiting again, this time I go to Rag and put the tube in my dragon’s saddlebag.  Once that is done, I make my way back to the others still in the building with Jarl and Annabeth.

         Annabeth has collected her emotions and had started to recall what had happened, when I came back.

         “When I did not find the girls, I had spotted something in the other room.  I went to investigate.  I found some stuff on a desk, but then, “Annabeth hesitates as she tries to muster through the emotions.  “Then Skygge was behind me.  We exchanged a few remarks before starting a fight.  Skygge must not like even fights because he commented on the stalemate.  But then I smelled the same odor I smelled when he first attacked me a couple of days ago.  My strength left me as I tried to get away.  I collapsed, unable to move, only able to watch and hear.  Thinking back, I am questioning if Skygge was there at all.  His voice felt like it was inside my head and echoing off the walls of the room.  Then Skygge started mocking me and playing innocent.  Then out of the fog, Skygge was in front of me.  Thinking it was him, I lash out yet it was Jarl.  Was I in fact fighting Jarl the all along but didn’t know it?”

         Annabeth stares at her shaking hands; Svana grabs them to steady them, “It’s wasn’t your fault.  Skygge must have done something to you.  Some type of mental attack to have you imagine Skygge being here.”

         I inform about some of my findings, “There was indeed a fight.  But I am almost certain Skygge was here.  Jarl would have seen Annabeth in the state she was in and subdued her in a matter of moments; not try to win the fight.  Because Jarl would have knocked Annabeth out during the fight for her own protection.”

         Managing to chuckle in the midst of some more tears, Annabeth jests, “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

         Seeing that there is still a lot on peoples’ mind right now, I hold off on talking about what I found in the building.  A few minutes later, Ondott and some of his men return with blankets and enough cots for all of us.  When Annabeth turned one down in exchange for staying by jarl’s side, one of Ondott’s men huffed as Ondott said to leave in case she needed to lie down.  I take it Ondott must have used his own men’s cots for us to sleep on.  Ondott is going out of his way to make us comfortable.  Then again, he usually does to any newcomers he meets.

         Asvord and Elsa go out to take care of the dragons as best they can.  Ondott even brought a load of salmon for the dragons to eat.  None of us were hungry for the offer of leftovers he had.  The food looked fine, it is with all that happened and eating an early supper anyway, we were not hungry.  We all turn in for the night and try to get some sleep.

         Some time during the night I wake up.  I have grown to be a light sleeper, not by choice but out of necessity for my previous lifestyle.  There have been a few times it has saved my life.  Even in a place where I know to be safe, old habits hidehard.

         Speaking of old habits, as soon as I wake up, I start listening to my surroundings.  I hear a very unnerving sound…

         Elsa snoring.

         Another old habit, I must go check the perimeter.

         I walk to the door and look out.  The dragons are fast asleep and the ship in the dock has left.  Turns out the ship has changed hands twice in the last two days.  Ondott bought it from someone who bought it from Sapphire and Navaro.  Ondott bought it from someone saying they bought it from two young women traders.  We put the clues together saying them to be Sapp and Nav.  That is all Ondott knew.  Yet of all the people to by a ship from, he bought the ship from Nikora Stormheart.  She must have traveled by here on her way north to Berk.  He was straightforward with all this information during our confrontation at the eastern path into his camp.

         It might just be me, but something is not right.  I need to figure out what that is.

         Going out to get some fresh air, I roam through the camp.  Though this is Ondott’s camp, I still have an uneasy feeling.  Hardly any of Ondott’s men are here.  Maybe they went into the city, because only the guards at the gates remain.  Making my way over to the eastern part of the camp, as I rounded a corner, I see Ondott walk in a building, probably the biggest in the camp.  My instinct is to duck behind the building I came around to make sure I was not seen.  But why would I do that when Ondott invited us in?

         I come up to the building, open the door and there are a few rooms, two on the left and two on the right.  Then there is a door right in front of me about ten yards.  The door opens in and Ondott is nowhere to be found.  Only a large desk, almost like a captain’s desk from a sea fairing vessel is about ten feet in front of me.  The room is about the size of a typical captain’s quarters.

         When I take one step past the door, a knife appears at my throat.

         “How many times do I have to tell you,” Ondott steps in front of me.  “Always check behind the door first.”

         “How many times do I still get you,” I tell him.  “When you don’t look down first.”

         The moment he stepped out; I slid my knife out of my right sleeve to be prepared for him.  One of the perks to wearing long sleeves.  We stare at each other waiting to see who will go first.  Neither one does, so we… put our knives away and hug.

         Ondott replies, “It’s good to see you, Vixxen.  What has it been?  Like five years?  Ten?”

         “Besides our first meeting a few days ago,” I remind.  “Yes, it has been at least ten years.  Maybe more, time flies.”

         “Yes, it does.  That first meeting, I would not count.  That was business.  Now we truly can catch up.  Sit down.”

         He points to a chair which I take, turn around, and sit down and use the back to lean my elbows on.

         Ondott, still standing asks, “Would you like a drink?”

         “Still have that apple juice?” I request.

         “I think you may know me better than anyone else,” Ondott laughs.  “I always love the crisp taste of apple juice on a cold night.  Others may think of some other types of drinks, but not me.”

         I comment, “You have always been a simple man yet many facets.”

         He raises his mug to second my statement as he hands me my mug.  He sits down in his chair behind his desk and puts his legs up on it, crossing them in a relaxing position.

         Moving on to another subject, he starts, “If the rumors are true from what I have heard, you were one of the heroes to end The Dragon War.  Going up against the likes of Einar Verodfellar…  If any of what you told me for years about the man, he was probably the toughest viking to ever be opposite from in a war.  I knew you had worked with that man before meeting me, but from what I heard, you were his right hand.  His most trusted ally.  What changed?”

         Very adamantly, I answer, “Jarl Mollerson, or did.  Guess he’s an Everson now, but everyone knows him as a Mollerson.  Anyway…,” I take a deep breath and sigh, thinking back.  “My whole life I was trained and preparing for a role everyone said I was born to take on.”

         “A Sentinel General,” Ondott interjects.  “Even when you proved to everyone and passed every test you were ready, they still turned you down.”

         “They saw something in me that I did not see in myself,” I recall.  “My whole world felt like it was crumbling around me.  At the time The Dragon War had begun yet not receiving the rank of Sentinel General among the sister and brotherhood of the Protectors, I revolted.  Though I tried to win back their approval and prove I was worthy to be a Protector by trying to give Einar what he wanted.  In hindsight, he was just using me for his own gains.  When that wasn’t enough, I thought I could solve The Mystery of Shadow Mountain and use its power to save my land.  While I thought my destiny was to be a Sentinel General, destiny had other plans.”

         “One Jarl Mollerson,” Ondott notes.

         “Yes,” I confirm.  “I have never met a more determined viking in all of my years.  Regardless of the odds stacked against him, he remained steadfast in his efforts to do the right thing.  In all of our adventures together as rivals, I truly admired him and grew to respect his strength and resolve.  Even after all that I tried to do to him:  Attack his family and friends.  Tell him his longtime friend in a dragon was actually one I tried to train an even long time before he did.  In the wake of having to fight against his own soon to be wife, hypnotizing her to try and kill him, he still did all he could to save me from myself.”

         “By the looks of things, I think he did just that,” Ondott observes.  “You and I, we’ve been friends for a long time.  Probably one of my most trusted allies.  But there was always something holding you back.  Seeing you the other day and now tonight, there is an aura around you, a confidence.”

         “You saying I didn’t have confidence before?” I joke.

         “A sense of humor?” he chuckles.  “You really have changed.  I know I taught you how to be a viking of business and you never strayed from it.  But a sense of humor was never in your skill set.  You were everything but funny, always down to business no matter the situation.”

         I smile and shrug, “Another thing to blame…  I mean…  Thank Jarl for.  When push came to shove and I opened my eyes for the first time, I saw the choice I should have seen all those years ago.  Protect my family instead of protecting myself.  I was always out to prove something to everyone else that they could be proud of me.  I should have seen if I had chosen to stay with my family no matter what happened, I would have had everything I ever wanted.”

         “I see that includes a family of your own,” Ondott points to my ring.

         “Yes,” I look down and twirl it around on my finger a couple of times.  “Remember Klarp?”

         “Klarp?  Sure, I remember him.  He was loyal to you no matter what.”

         “I almost lost him,” I admit.  “Both in my heart and actually losing him.”  I briefly tell him how one of Einar’s final straws was using him to get at me to bring Jarl and his crew into a trap.  “Play the triple cross game.  I double crossed Einar to get Jarl’s help in defending Izar but then the plan was to double cross Jarl to turn the tides in the war.  The scary part was that was the plan all along.  Einar wanted me to reach out and make contact with Jarl, neither me nor Einar could have seen me ‘falling’ for Jarl’s tactics.  But the thing Einar could have seen plotted and planned for was the truth.  Einar thought Jarl would see me as a solution to the problem as I once did with Einar, to end The Dragon War.

         “But when Jarl simply set the truth in front of me.  I only had one choice:  Protect my family.  No matter how far I thought I had fallen, Jarl still believed in me even as a rival.  Jarl had nothing to gain in attempting to trust me, he even later admitted it was a terrible idea and could have been a trap, which it was.  Seeing that he had everything to lose but was still willing to take a leap of faith, that was something I was never willing to do for myself.  Take a leap of faith that my destiny would always be protecting my family, whatever form that would entail.  Sorry to be rambling, but I could probably go on and on about what Jarl did for me.”

         “That’s quite alright,” Ondott waves off.  “I’m just glad you finally saw the light.  You were always a great business partner, but not being free from yourself, you were also a liability.  Yet, with your skills, no matter the situation, no matter the odds, you would always come out on top.”

         “Lately, I have been finding myself listening to my own advice,” I add.  “For all the good Jarl has done, he is starting to let his past catch up with him.  I am trying to remind him to live in the here and now, but then I find myself trying to forget my past life as a mercenary, pirate, and every other title that others would give me.”

         Ondott looks at me, “You were never anything more than Thorgunna Vixxen, feared businesswoman and friend.  You just now found a better way to do business.”

         I finish off my drink.  Reaching forward to set the mug on the tray, I notice something on his desk.  A notebook.  -The- notebook I saw in the other building.  Ondott noticed I noticed, so he took notice and gave me notice of why he has it.  That sentence I thought I heard Jarl speak it.  Again, maybe what Jarl has truly is contagious.

         “I’m sure you had already inspected the scene after taking care of Jarl and Annabeth,” Ondott put his legs down and picked up the book, thumbing through the pages.  “You probably did not know I could read Greek, but I can.  Before I came to the Barbaric Archipelago, I traveled the Southern Seas, meeting various people for various business propositions.  I learned multiple languages as well as running multiple foes, allies, and rivals.  The danger and drama was getting too much for business, I wanted to set out into new waters and have an adventure for a change.  Soon, I found myself in the Nordic waters of the north and never left.  Don’t get me wrong, there’s still plenty of danger and drama up here.  But having a good bit of water between each island allows for preparation and planning to rein supreme.”

         Curious to know, I ask him what is in the notebook.

         “Oh, it has many variant formulas for medicines and what not,” Ondott downplays.  “Herbs and spices seem to be the most prominent.  I was looking through it and was wondering if there was anything in there that would make a good business.”

         “Did you find any?”

         “I found one that might bring me a mound of gold the likes I have not seen in a while.  It has already had promising results.  Working on mass producing it.  You could come back and work for me.  Could always use someone of your skills.”

         I chuckle and stand up, “Unless you have in your insurance plans for a maternity leave, I best keep to my own interests in the realm of business opportunities.”

         “Starting a family, settling down,” Ondott offers his hand.  I shake it as I reply, “Yes.  I finally have everything I ever wanted.  Now, I just need to protect it while it grows.”

         “If there is anything that you can do,” Ondott points at me.  “It is protecting.  The stories and rumors that came from the north about The Dragon War only confirmed what I already knew about you.  We need to catch up on who has the best stories from our past endeavors.  I’m sure there are some neither of us know about the other.”

         “We will do that sometime,” I respond.  “See you in the morning before we leave.”

         Bidding him goodnight, I return to the building where my cot lies.

         As Elsa is snoring up a storm, I think to myself, “Yet another old habit is not trusting anything that is on the surface of a ‘business opportunity.’  Now I know Ondott is hiding something.  He downplayed the contents of the book and I knew I had investigated the room after the incident.  Whenever there is a massive business opportunity for him, he becomes a little sure of himself and overly confident.  I’ve seen it before.  Ondott is up to something.”