Chapter 11 – The ferryman

I followed the advice of the swan maiden and went upstream. I found the ferryman at the other side of the river together with four menials.
I called him “Ferryman, come and take me cross the river!”
He replied: “Get along with you!”
“Is everyone in Noricum as friendly as you are?”
“I have order from the King of Noreia not to let any vagabonds pass our border!”
“Vagabonds? I am really looking forward to see if all Noricii are as cordial as you are.”
“You will not find out! You will never come into our realm!”
“That is a pitty! Then your king will never receive a warning about the hodes coming from the north.”
“The hordes? What do you know?”
“A lot! Even more than I’d like to! After all, they tried to invade my homecountry. However, we Scordii are watchfull; and we are not so bigheaded that we do not listen to a warning.”
I turned around.
“Stop! Wait a moment! You’re a Scordi? Why didn’t you say that at first? You have news about the Northmen?”
“I do, more than you may guess! And I will take them home again!”
“No, wait! I come and come for you.”
He jumped on the ferry and grabbed the helm. He was a giant; when he pushed the helm, the ferry made a leap. I placed my self near a bush so that the boughs covered most of me. When he almost reached the bank, I stepped out.
“Honir, thank you for your kindness!”
He looked at me. Something in my clothes made him realize that I was not the one I pretended to be.
“You damned liar. You’re not a Scordi. You are a cursed Barbarian yourself!”
“A liar? Didn’t I promise to give you news from the Barbarians? Here it is!”
I took my axe and jumped on the ferry. Honir was faster than giants usually are. Before I had a solid stand, he lifted the helm and punched my left side. I felt like hit by Thor’s hammer. I was sure that all bones on my left side were broken. I became unbalanced. I went on my knees and my axe fell into the water. I waited for his next strike, unable to do anything against it. Fortunatelly my guarding spirits helped me. In the few minites Honir got distracted the ferry had been drifted and was now in a small chute. It turned and rocked. Honir had to control it again; this gave me the opportunity to get on my feet again. As soon as the giant noticed me, he tried to beat me again. I bowed and he missed me. The momentum drove him forward, at my side. I gave him a kick and he fell into the water. When he went up again I had already taken the other helm and pushed him under the water again. For some neverending seconds we wrestled. Finally, his strength exhausted; he was dead.

I was at the end of my tether, too. I was sitting on the ferry with my aching side and my shivering muscels. His men at the other bank were shouting and waving, but I did not care. The stream carried me away from them.

After a while, I began to be active again. I paddled the ferry to the bank were I expected my people to come. After mooring, I sifted through the ferry. I found the belongings of the ferryman in one corner. Besides some worthless clothes, there was a sword. This sword attracted my attention. It was an armourer’s masterpiece. It had rich ornamentation and the blade was better than anyone I had ever seen before. I buckled it up and wondered how a ferryman could have such a noble weapon.