The following morning, Ragnar woke the men even before dusk had broken through the trees.
He chose only twenty men.The rest remained behind to guard the longship, the prisoners, and what little supplies they had managed to gather.
The wildling man was brought forward with his wrists bound by a length of rope.
He looked no less frightened than he had the previous night.
Perhaps even more so.
Maybe he had hoped the tales he had weaved for them would be enough to stop them.
if so, his hopes were terribly off
This vikings would face any kind of enemy and fight to death if need be rather than begin another journey back with nothing to show for their troubles
Other than Thorson and Bjorn, the rest of the men Ragnar had chosen were all older warriors who had spent most of their lives raiding foreign shores and considered good climbers
The reason for this lay ahead of them
The mountain the wildling had refferd to as frostfang encircled half the forest cutting from east to west before stretching down south
Even with the darkness, Thorson could still see the glitter of the ice caps that clung to its jagged edges.
The man had said that he knew an easier route to the feeder but that they would still have to hike half way across the mountain to access it.
Thorson only hoped that it wouldnt be frozen like the rest of the mountain
His heart was already hammering in his chest with the anticipation of action ahead of them.
Their night attack on the wildling camp had been so sudden that he had no chance of action before everything was over.
Today however, Thorson hoped that he would be tasked with scouting role just like the previous days
When the journey began however ,Ragnar instead selected two older scouts and sent one ahead of the group
At first Thorson felt Ragnar was acting out of lack of trust in their scouting skills but he understood his reasons
It had to be about this Qhorin Halfhand.
Whether the stories were true or not, Ragnar was no longer willing to gamble with inexperienced boys like him and Bjorn
Their wildling guide walked at the front between two armed Vikings.
Every now and then the man would stop and point through the trees.
“This way.” he would say and the scout would then go ahead and the rest of them would only follow once the scout brought word back
By the time light was beginning to leak into the woods, they were still within the frozen forest, only that it was growing denser and colder the nearer they got
Several times Ragnar would lift his fist and The column would halt instantly.
A scout would disappear ahead and Minutes later he returned shook his head, and the march continued.
At one point, Ragnar signaled the men to Halt and crouching down, his hands came up holding a black shafted arrow.
The men exchanged glances and a wordless message passed across.
the group closed in together with everyone ready to form shield walls above them in an instant
Every man now understood they were walking through another man’s land.
Men used to hunting their fellow men
It took almost half a day before they finally reached the foot of the Frostfangs.
Only then did Thorson truly understand why the wildling had scoffed when they first spoke of dragging a ship to this Milkwater river
Even from the base, The mountains did not simply rise.it seemed to exploded from the earth with it Jagged cliffs climbing and poking toward the clouds.
Looking at it, even finding a path for twenty men would almost be impossible let alone men who had to support a longship…
Ragnar stood studying the mountains for a long while.
“So…”
he muttered almost to himself.
“This is where our river hides.”
The wildling man nodded.
“It rises in them mountains but there ain’t no path…
Makes it hard for the halfhand and his men that way”
Rollo gazed at the cliffs ahead
“It makes it hard for everyone”
The wildling once again shook his head with clear hope having mistaken Rollos words for resignation
” See I spoke true…
Perhaps you will find a different path”
Ragnar smiled now stepping ahead and grabbing the rope that held the wilding
” why, we already have a path”
The wildling’s face grew even paler as he realise the vikings weren’t turning back
“move” the closest man to him belowed and the man immediately jumped on the closest rocks and the climb began
One thing became clear quite quick, the man had not exergerated when he said there was no path, for the best part of the climb, they were forced to cut steps into the ice using axes.
In some places, The snow reached their knees making it impossible to distinguish a solid surface with just a swelling of snow
Twice men slipped.One nearly disappeared over the edge before three others caught hold of him.
Every hundred paces demanded another stop for the men to gather their breath.
By the time the sun hiding behind thick clouds reached it highest point, most of the men were panting and sweating despite the cold that had grown twice as harsh
No one spoke anymore.There was no breath left for conversation.
Eventually one of the scouts hurried back.
“I hear it…
The sound of water”
Every head lifted.
The tiredness that had dulled every man disappeared almost instantly.
Ragnar handed over the leash and went after the scout
The rest followed hacking at the rocks like their life’s counted on it.
For in a way it did
Minutes later they too heard it.
The faint sound of rushing water grew louder and louder until They rounded a cluster of boulders and There it was.
A stream of pristine water burst from between two cliffs before disappearing beneath a blanket of ice only to reappear farther downhill.
A hazzy Steam rose faintly where the current refused to freeze.
They had found the feeder.
For a while no one spoke as all of them breathed out a sigh.
Then men rushed down the rocks and plugged their water skins into the clear waters
Thorson cursed the moment his fingers made contact with the water…
It seemed to suck every warmth from his very blood
Still, he watched as Ragnar knelt beside it and scoop a handful of water and drank.
For a heartbeat he shut his eyes and his brows creased likely from experiencing the freezing water
When he stood his eyes followed the flow of the river for as long as his eyes could go
“how far down before it rejoin this Milkwater”
The wildling who Ragnar was addressing appeared confused on how exactly to tell the distance
His eyes however lit up in relief when he stared and pointed at something below them
“over there, there…
Is shadow tower that is…
Slightly before you reach the bridge of skulls is when the feeder kisses the milk water”
Every pair of eyes was no longer on the stream.
They were looking down towards the direction the man pointed.
So high they had climbed, yet even from this distance, the wall was still visible, the fortress they had seen the first time atop trees was now visible though as a small extent of the edge of the frostfang
The smile slowly faded from Ragnar’s face.
His gaze followed the narrow valley downward.Steep cliffs besieged the stream on both sides and in many places the banks were no wider than the breadth of two men and That wasn’t their only problem
Huge rocks blocked the path every few hundred yards and fallen trees leaned over the water effectively ruling out the thought of a smooth passage
Ragnar slowly rose His feet his expression becoming unreadable.
Stepping closer to his brother, Rollo finally voiced what everyone else had already begun thinking.
“This is madness brother, we cannot pull a ship through this…that is assuming we even managed to drag it up here
Ragnar didn’t answer right away, jumping down, he proceeded to walk farther along the bank.
Then farther still.
Then He climbed onto a large rock and looked downstream.
His face hardened.
Every turn revealed another obstacle, Another cliff another danger that could easily destroy the ship
Finally he climbed back down and walked back towards the men
“It’s looks hard” he said scanning the men “but it can be done.”
No one challenged him but from all their looks it was clear not many agreed
Rollo looked around once more.
“It will take days”
“Perhaps.” Ragnar answered casually
“what if the crows find us before then?” Rollo insisted
Ragnar did not answer immediately.
His eyes traveled south down to where the shadow tower rose
His hand slowly fell to the hilt of his axe.
“Then they find out brother” he said patting his Rollo’s shoulder “The gods have never made greatness easy.”