Chapter 345: Stranded on the Burning Island

Halig walked up next to Erik, still gripping the heavy axe.

"Erik..." Halig whispered, making sure Torstein wasn’t close enough to hear. "You are full of fucking horseshit. That was not a shockwave echo from the mines. This island is angry. We shouldn’t be here."

Erik looked up at the volcano again. The deep rumbles were getting louder. Erik didn’t know if the volcano was going to blow up right now, or in three days.

He had zero control over the situation. But he was emotionally and totally invested in getting his men home.

Dying in a massive pile of volcanic mud was definitely not on his to-do list for the week.

"Listen, Halig." Erik chuckled, trying to ignore the heat from the rain of ash. "That is why we are going to secure that city, get that sulfur loaded, and then get the hell off this island faster than a greased weasel running from a forest fire."

"greased weasel~" Halig repeated, a smile finally breaking through his face. "I like that plan."

They began to walk up the snowy beach, following the prisioners.

Though Erik was proud of his victory, the sight of his dead men made his stomach churn with a deep sense of failure.

They were supposed to be in control thanks to Ragnar’s advanced weapons... but they were just men, freezing and breaking like everyone else.

Erik stopped and knelt next to the frozen body of the young warrior who had held onto his sword blade with frozen fingers. The boy’s eyes were still open, staring at the stormy sky.

"I am sorry, kid." Erik whispered, reaching down and closing the boy’s frozen eyelids. "You didn’t deserve to die in the ice. I will get your share of the silver to your mother, I promise."

They reached the top of the snowy slope and marched down the narrow rocky path between the tall pine trees.

The trees were still heavy with snow, but the gray ash was now covering the pristine white powder. The forest was eerily silent, the volcanic rumbles muffled by the heavy trees.

Halfdan’s rebel warriors were marching in silence, their heads bowed.

One of the rebel leaders, a tall man with a braided red beard and a scar across his nose, looked over at Erik as they marched.

He looked at the musketeers with their gray uniforms and iron tubes, then he looked at the burning, empty ships sinking into the dark ocean.

The rebel leader stopped marching, forcing the guards to push him. He looked directly at Erik, his face full of confusion.

"You did it, King Erik." the red-bearded rebel said, his voice rough. "You used your dark fire magic to blow up the ocean."

The prisioner asked Erik again, "But King Erik... if you blew up all your own ships just to sink the Danes... how will any of us return to our homes?"

Halig and Torstein both stopped walking, they had been so focused on the victory, the explosion, and the volcano, that they hadn’t stopped to process the most basic logistical reality of their situation.

1,400 Iron Kingdom soldiers. 5,000 prisioners. Thousands of women and children in the city. And not a single wooden boat was left on the entire island...

Erik looked at the red-bearded man. And then, he threw his head back and laughed. "You think I blew up my only ride home just for a flashy trick without having a backup plan? Have a little faith!"

Halig blinked, lowering his mace slightly. "You... you have a backup plan? Because right now, I am looking at a burning ocean and an angry mountain, and I don’t see any extra boats hiding in the snow."

"Of course I have a plan!" Erik grinned. He held up one finger. "First of all, look at the ocean. Yes, I vaporized our 10 transport ships and blew a massive hole in the Danish fleet. But the Danes brought over 200 longships. The shockwave destroyed the front lines, but the ships anchored in the back are probably just damaged. The explosion snapped their masts and cracked their hulls, but they are not at the bottom of the sea yet."

"We have an entire forest of tall pine trees right here..." Erik pointed around them. "We have thousands of strong men. When the fire on the water dies down, we simply drag the Danish ships that aren’t completely broken onto the beach. We cut down some trees, patch the holes, and boom! We have enough ships to sail home!"

"Okay..." Torstein nodded slowly, the color finally returning to his cheeks. "Salvaging the enemy ships is a solid strategy. But what if the damage is too severe? What if the hulls are completely split?"

"Then we move to the second plan..." Erik smiled, holding up a second finger. "We brought 40 ravens with us. They are sitting safely in their warm cages back at our first camp. I just need to write a tiny note saying, ’Hey Ragnar, I secured the sulfur, but I blew up my boats to kill 10,000 Danes. Send a ride.’ We attach it to a bird, and it flies straight back to England in a few days!"

Halig let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Thank the gods for those loud, annoying birds."

"And even if the ravens freeze in the sky..." Erik continued, holding up a third finger to the crowd of listening prisoners. "Ragnar is a deeply paranoid man. We are his elite vanguard. If his muskets just vanish into the ice and he doesn’t hear from us for a few weeks, he won’t just sit there... One way or another, the Iron Kingdom is coming back to this beach."

Though the soldiers and the prisoners felt a wave of relief wash over them, Torstein was still doing the hard math in his head.

"My King..." Torstein said quietly, stepping closer so the prisoners wouldn’t hear his concern. "Repairing a fleet of ships with crude tools will take a long time. Sending a raven takes days, and waiting for Ragnar to gather a rescue fleet and sail across the North Sea will take even longer. We are not leaving tomorrow."

"Yeah..." Erik muttered, kicking a rock into the snow. "...that will take some time. We might be stuck here for a few weeks. Maybe a month if the winter storms hit the sea."

"A month?" Halig groaned loudly, throwing his hands into the air. "I am going to turn into a solid block of ice, Erik! You promised me a quick holiday!"

"Stop whining." Erik laughed, shoving Halig forward to get the march moving again. "We just conquered a city, didn’t we?"

"We will just sleep in my uncle’s bed until Ragnar picks us up. Now keep moving!"

Afterward, the massive line of people continued their march through the pine forest...