The Swordswoman Collection

Chapter 7

With interwoven bracken shielding the dull glow of a peat fire flame, the crew of Wave Skimmer settled for the night. Melcorka pushed Defender to the side of her cut-heather bed and pondered over the day"s events. She had killed men and had seen men and women slaughtered. She had felt the power of Defender and experienced her weakness the second the sword left her hand. She felt responsible for the death of Oengus.

Wave Skimmer"It was no fault of yours." Bearnas lay beside her. She rolled closer and spoke quietly. "You are confused. You don"t know who you are or how you feel."

Melcorka nodded. "One minute I was a warrior with no fear, and the next I was only me, a girl from Dachaigh who had never seen the mainland yet, alone fought the Northmen."

"You are both," Bearnas said, "and you are neither. Your life experience is on the island. That life made you fit and healthy, able to face all the weather that the wind and sea can carry, able to climb sheer rock-faces for birds" eggs and swim against even the strongest wave or tide. By hunting, you have developed sharper eyesight and more acute hearing than most warriors. In body, you are as fit as you need to be."

"I did not realise that," Melcorka said.

"Realise it now. You have lived all of your life outdoors, and in all weathers. You have never had a single day"s sickness, and it is unlikely that you ever will." Bearnas patted her arm. "You are the perfect raw material for a warrior. All you lack is the skill and the desire."

Melcorka looked away. "When I held Defender, I had enough skill for ten warriors."

Bearnas shook her head. "No, Melcorka. When you held Defender, she had enough skill for ten warriors. That sword retains the skills of the champions for whom her maker designed her and who have wielded her. As you grow in knowledge, Defender will pass her skills to you until eventually, you will become an expert warrior, but you have to learn."

she"How do I learn?"

"The three P"s." Bearnas smiled as she spoke. "Practise, practise and practise."

"And I will teach you," Baetan said, from the opposite side of their campfire. "God knows that if you attack the Norse warriors as rashly as you attacked these pirates, you will need all the skill you can get, however accomplished your sword may be."

Melcorka touched the hilt of Defender, enjoying the thrill that even that slight contact gave her. "I want to learn." She did not admit how scared she had been when she had not held the sword. "I also want to know where we are and where you are taking us."

Bearnas pushed her hand away from Defender. "Don"t drain the power, Melcorka. Save it for when you need it. So you want a lesson in geography, do you?"

"Yes, Mother."

"You call me Bearnas now."

"Yes, Moth… Bearnas."

"Very well, come here." With the fire providing sufficient light to see by, Bearnas picked up a stick and drew a rough map on a patch of exposed earth. "You see here the rough shape of Alba. It is like a double Vee laid sideways on top of itself with both sharp ends pointing to the east and a lot of ragged islands on the west."

Melcorka nodded. "Yes, Bearnas."

"Very well then." Bearnas jabbed her stick at the map, indicating the North-West coast. "We landed here and have travelled about fifteen miles inland. So we are about here now," she jabbed downward again. "and we have to get to the king, who we believe is at Dun Edin, here …" her stick moved across and south to a spot on the east coast of the map, "about two hundred and fifty miles away." She looked up. "And to get there, we have to cross Drum Albain – the spine of Alba, which is the name for the steepest and barest of the mountains in this land."

Melcorka nodded. "We passed mountains today," she said. "I"ve never seen one before."

"I know you haven"t," Bearnas agreed. "Now, listen and learn. The land of Alba has been fought over for centuries. It had to fend off the iron legions of Rome, then the Saxons and Angles from Germany and then the Norse, and all the time we squabbled amongst ourselves."

"I have not seen any war," Melcorka said.

Bearnas ignored that remark. "We were split into two halves, with the Gaels in the west and the Picts in the east. We had to unite into one country to face the enemies, and now we are all Albans, except for…" She pointed to one area in the north east. "That is Fidach. That is the last stronghold of the Picts. They only swear allegiance to their king and are in all things independent, and undoubtedly the fiercest warriors of all. They are scared of nobody, not the Albans, not the Norse, not gods or devils, man nor beast. Luckily, we are not going that way."

Melcorka nodded. "I will not go near Fidach," she promised.

"Good. Now tomorrow, we head into the hills. There will be no Norse there, but there will be plenty of other dangers. Get some sleep. You will undoubtedly need it."