Chapter 36
The girls stood together in the center of the ship while the Viking ghosts rowed. Crystal assumed that a phantom sail would work on a phantom boat, but there was no wind today, so it didn’t matter one way or the other. Actually, she was thankful there was no wind because no wind meant no big waves and she wasn’t sure if the other girls would get seasick.
“How long before we fight the Kraken?” Pumpkin asked the floating collection of bone pieces that she assumed was the Viking captain. When the captain didn’t acknowledge she was even there, she waved her hand in front of where his face would be. “We must be invisible to them.”
“Darn,” said Crystal. “I’m getting stressed out. I’d really like to know how long we’ve got.”
When Crystal spoke, the captain turned and said something to her in Swedish. She had no idea what he said, and none of the other girls could hear him, but it showed that he knew she was there.
Crystal reached over and grabbed Freckles hand. “Wow!” said Freckles. “I can see their bodies now. They’re like a glowing purple outline.”
“Good,” said Crystal. “Now, ask him how long before the Kraken.”
Freckles did what Crystal asked and got a reply from the captain. “He must be using an old form of the language. I didn’t understand everything he said, but the message came through loud and clear. He doesn’t know, and we should stop bothering him with stupid questions.”
After an hour of the Vikings rowing the longboat, the girls realized they could be out on the water for a while. They agreed they would take half-hour shifts watching from the bow of the ship, allowing the other girls time to sit and relax before the next round of fighting.
Two hours later Shorty called from the bow, “There is something out there. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s churning up the water.”
The girls all ran forward. “Maybe it’s a school of fish,” said Bubbles.
Crystal shook her head. “No, that’s not a school of fish. I think we all need to get ready to fight.”
“I’m not sure what I should do,” said Pumpkin. “Freyja told me to get up high and shoot down. I don’t see anything to climb up on.”
“Climb the mast, silly,” said Crystal, pointing back to the center of the longboat.
“What mast?” the other girls said.
Crystal took Pumpkin’s hand and pointed again. Pumpkin smiled. “Oh, that mast.”
The girls started their preparations. Bubbles put her shield on her arm and picked up her hand axe, making sure the big two-handed axe was in easy reach. Crystal secured the Rune Sword around her waist and grabbed her hand axes. Shorty positioned herself in the center of the longboat, next to the phantom mast. Freckles held her short sword in front of her, realizing now that she didn’t have the right equipment or training to battle against the Kraken.
“Hey Crystal,” called Pumpkin after she had kicked off her shoes so she could climb better. “I seem to have lost the mast again.”
Crystal came over and lightly touched Pumpkin’s back. Pumpkin grabbed one of the small pegs sticking out of the mast and pulled herself up, but the moment Crystal moved her hand away Pumpkin fell to the deck.
“Well, I guess I’m going up too,” grumbled Crystal.
Pumpkin emphatically shook her head. “No, that’s not a good idea. I don’t want to fall to the deck every time we get bumped apart.”
Freckles came over and touched Crystal’s hair. When that didn’t let her see the mast she said, “I’m sorry Crystal, but do you mind if we take a drop or two of your blood?”
Crystal hated cuts and scrapes and needles and anything else that could cause her to bleed, but that was the old Crystal. The new Crystal took out the Rune Sword and pricked the end of her thumb with its glowing purple point.
Pumpkin reached over and rubbed a drop of Crystal’s blood on the back of her hand, smiled, then kissed Freckles on the forehead. Shorty and Bubbles watched in awe as Pumpkin climbed twenty feet up the invisible mast.
Freckles rubbed a drop of Crystal’s blood on the back of her own hand, then called to the captain to prepare for combat. The Viking ghosts dropped their oars and took up their weapons.
The longboat was ready for a battle. The Shield Maidens were silent, each girl preparing herself mentally to fight the Kraken. Only, the first attack did not come from the Kraken.