: Lee Kite
: The saga of Agnew the Miffed and the Rake of Hel
: novum publishing
: 9783991469803
: 1
: CHF 12.50
:
: Erzählende Literatur
: English
: 336
: Wasserzeichen
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB
Agnew and his motley band of Viking warriors are stranded on their ship, sinking fast in a terrible storm. In answer to Agnew's desperate prayer, Hel, Queen of the Underworld, offers to rescue Agnew and his men but on the condition that they retrieve Hel's rake, a powerful death-wielding weapon, which also happens to be a convenient and highly functional item of gardening equipment. Agnew and the crew must hunt down the formidable Guthrun Doombringer, who has stolen the rake from Hel and thus incurred her wrath. However, the other Norse gods and goddesses soon begin to meddle in affairs, and Agnew and his band must survive these nefarious plots if they are to retrieve the rake and live to see another day. Their fate, it seems, is in the hands of the gods.

2

When you joined us, Agnew was taking charge of his storm-ravaged ship with every intention of sailing it to safety. Now, the usual convention at this time would be to flash forward to a calm sea under an azure sky with our battered but happy vessel being rowed smoothly to the sound of raucous song, but alas this is the Dark Ages, so no such luck.

As we look down through a tumultuous sky, we see an angry sea doing everything in its power to swamp a Viking ship as it bravely battles the elements. The ship is clearly not having the best of it, and if this were set in the future you just know there would be a Scottish engineer screaming, ‘She cannae take it, cap’n!’ right about now.

On board, Agnew knew his actions were fruitless. He could feel the ship becoming ever heavier beneath his feet, feel it struggling to respond to his attempts at steering and all the time he felt his own hope being washed away with every cold, salty wave which broke over his head. All in all he was not having a good day.

The men, seeing him standing there seemingly unflustered, were either bailing or rowing gamely, but the hours of strain had taken their toll. Burning shoulders and blistered hands meant their efforts were becoming nothing more than a token effort. Another monstrous wave broke against the side of the ship threatening to capsize it, yet once again it righted, though now Agnew could feel it wallowing even more horribly than before.

One more like that, thought Agnew,and we are done for. And so, for the first time in a long time, Agnew implored the gods for help. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in the gods, he did, he had been raised a good heathen, but he generally thought it best for man and gods to leave each other alone. The less they poked their noses into his affairs the better, but now, it seemed, they were his only hope. He couldn’t help thinking that coming back to them, contrite and desperate, they were going to have the last laugh, but with a mixture of trepidation and not a little scepticism, Agnew pleaded for the lives of his crew to any god listening, and should any god see fit to save them they would have Agnew as their most gracious servant. In times to come Agnew would wonder if i