For the best part of the night, Thorson and Ragnar lay unmoving, snow piling up on top of them.
Even if there had been anyone watching, they would have seen nothing.
In every way and appearance, the two looked like part of the snow-covered mountain around them.
Ragnar, however, was the only one still awake.
He had long noticed that the boy had succumbed to fatigue and drifted into sleep, but he had not bothered waking him.
He allowed him to rest.
After all, there was little one man could not do alone at the moment.
Besides, Bjorn and Thorson were both boys on their first raid.
He could hardly expect them to keep pace with seasoned Vikings like himself.
Now, however, they needed to move.
Ragnar slowly reached out and gently nudged the boy with his hand while holding him down, hoping he would not spring up thinking an enemy had found them.
“We have to move,” Ragnar whispered.
Thorson stirred as the memory of where they were suddenly came flooding back.
“Ragnar…
I am sorry.”
“There is no need,” Ragnar replied, already beginning to crawl.
“Whatever you do, do not raise your head.
Just follow my lead.”
Thorson remained low and looked ahead.
He could not remember how long he had been asleep, but shame weighed heavily on him.
He had shown weakness, and now Ragnar would probably think him an even less reliable scout.
His eyes drifted toward the Wall where two torches had burned before he had fallen asleep.
Now only one remained.
He immediately understood why Ragnar had awakened him.
The lone guard was walking from one end of the battlements toward the other.
The two of them waited until the man had gone far enough before Ragnar suddenly slid down through the snow onto a lower ledge beneath where they had been lying.
Thorson followed and almost slipped sideways, only managing to catch himself at the last moment.
It seemed not everyone could move across these frozen mountains as easily as Ragnar.
He would have to remember that.
There was an ocean of difference between them.
Ragnar waited until the boy had reached him.
“I think this is when they change the watch,” he whispered.
Thorson looked toward the lone torch, then at Ragnar.
“How do you know?”
Ragnar did not answer immediately.
Instead, he continued studying the battlements.
Then he pointed toward the Wall.
“Look at the flame.
The way the man keeps turning from one direction to the other tells me he is growing impatient.
His replacement should already have arrived.”
He turned toward the boy.
“If I am right, then this is when we need to reach the Bridge of Skulls on the night we launch the ship.”
He paused and stared further down where the Milkwater was roaring, blocking all the noise other than its own.
“The rangers will be distracted.
It may be our only chance of passing unnoticed.
Come.”
Thorson hesitated.
They were already close enough.
Any farther and they would be within sight of the men on the battlements.
And if Ragnar was right, and fresh men were indeed arriving to replace the watch, then new and fresh eyes would soon be scanning the valley.
They could easily be seen.
“I told you I wanted to get closer to the Wall.
Close enough to see it properly,” Ragnar added, having seen his hesitation.
Thorson felt his heart pounding against his ribs.
Not from fear.
From the chance of such an achievement.
If they got close enough, even the guards upon the Wall would be within range of their bows.
For a brief moment, he wondered whether this was what Ragnar intended.
But he quickly dismissed the thought.
Ragnar was smarter than that.
There were only two of them.
Trying to kill the enemy when it served no purpose would be madness.
They waited until the guard turned away once more.
Then Ragnar leapt across the rocks and slid farther down the slope.
Thorson hurried after him.
Then Ragnar suddenly stopped.
Thorson crashed into him, but Ragnar barely moved.
“Stay still,” Ragnar growled while staying planted like a rock.
Looking past his shoulder, Thorson immediately saw why.
The flames had stopped midway through the guard’s patrol.
Instead of continuing, the torch hovered near the edge of the battlements.
He had heard something.
The problem was that they were already standing in the open.
If the crow looked in their direction, even from that distance, good eyes might be enough to recognize the shapes of two men.
Then the alarm would be raised.
Judging by how far they had already come, and with the rest of their companions now back in camp, their chances of escaping before the crows reached them did not look good.
Only then did Thorson realize he had been holding his breath.
The moment seemed to last forever.
Eventually, the guard appeared satisfied.
Even when he looked toward their position, he saw nothing worth investigating.
Perhaps it was fatigue.
Or perhaps his mind simply refused to see what should not have been there.
At last the man stepped away from the edge and resumed his patrol.
Thorson heard Ragnar quietly let out the breath he had been holding.
He slowly lowered himself to the ground.
“We stay here.”
He lay down once more beneath the snow just as they had done before.
After a little while, three more flames appeared upon the battlements.
It seemed the missing ranger had returned with the relief.
The men seemed to exchange a few words, then two of the torches disappeared back into the fortress.
Only two remained.
“And now we have fresh eyes,” Ragnar said, and they both went quiet as they observed the new pair of guards.
Ragnar suddenly broke the silence.
“They seem…
strange.”
“Why?…” Thorson asked.
“I don’t see anything unusual.”
Ragnar kept his eyes on the Wall.
“Men who spend their nights on watch usually settle into a routine after a while.
They are two men…
In weather like this, one would normally warm himself by the fire while the other kept watch.
Then they would change places…
It is what I would do.
There is no sense in both men freezing.”
Now Thorson understood.
Ragnar was right.
Even the previous guard must have had some fire within the battlements.
There was no reason for both men to remain in such bitter cold when they were guarding their own fortress.
Yet these two continued pacing together for quite some time.
Perhaps it was simply their custom.
Yet Ragnar continued watching them with growing interest.
Sure enough, after a while they finally settled into the routine Ragnar had described.
One torch disappeared back while the other continued pacing the Wall alone.
“There,” Ragnar whispered.
“That is what I was looking for.
Judging by how they behaved when they first came out, I would say they are on alert because of something.”
“Which is not good news for us, is it?” Thorson asked.
“No.”
Ragnar nodded.
“Armed and alert men standing on high ground are never good news to any raider.”
He remained silent for a moment.
“Can you see it?”
“See what?”
“To your left.
Move only your eyes.
Down beneath the foot of the Wall.”
Thorson searched the darkness.
“I see nothing.”
“That is because it looks like the snow itself.”
“Look harder.”
Thorson strained his eyes against the darkness and the pale ground below the Wall.
At first he saw nothing.
Then…
a movement caught his eye.
“An animal.”
“Not quite,” Ragnar said.
“It is a bird.
An owl, to be exact.”
After watching a little longer, Thorson nodded.
Indeed it was.
How Ragnar had managed to notice it at such a distance amazed him.
The creature blended almost perfectly with the snow beneath the Wall.
“Are you looking at it?” Ragnar asked.
“Yes.”
“Then look beyond it.”
“Beyond it?…
Beyond it is the Wall.”
“Not that far.
Beyond its physical body.
Look into its mind.”
Only then did Thorson understand what Ragnar was asking.
“It does not work like that,” he whispered.
“I told you I cannot control it.”
“Yes you did.”
Ragnar smiled faintly.
“But everything is learned.”
“In any case…
There is no harm in trying.”
Thorson had no answer.
He knew it would not work because that was not how it had ever happened.
The first time had come without warning.
He had watched the raven take flight after feeding it.
Then, without knowing how, he had suddenly been looking through its eyes.
He had done nothing to make it happen.
Still…
He decided to try.
There was no harm in it.
He fixed his gaze upon the bird.
The longer he stared, the less aware he became of everything else.
His vision slowly began to blur from staring at one spot for so long.
Nothing unusual.
Just his eyes losing focus.
Then…
The bird’s feathers seemed to melt into the snow.
It was almost as though the creature had vanished.
Until suddenly…
It turned and its piercing ember eyes locked onto his.
Thorson’s head snapped backward.
Ragnar lunged forward and caught the boy as violent convulsions seized his body.
Then, just as suddenly…
The struggle ceased.
Light faded from Thorson’s eyes, and they became white as the snow surrounding them.