resting day in Tain. Bjorn's flotilla leaves the dock and sails along the coast to the Orkney Islands, where they unexpectedly meet a familiar one-eyed man.
"You, you?"
"Helgi,"
Bjorn slaps his thigh. "Yes, you're Vig's son-in-law. I've heard him mention you before."
They chat for a while. Helgi, hearing that Bjorn is interested in exploring the uncharted islands west of Iceland, suddenly becomes interested and offers to join the expedition.
With Helgi's permission, leads nine crew members aboard Bjorn's ship, the Explorer.
Before sailing, he gave instructions to the remaining sailors: "Go back to Skye, take Britta and Leif to Glasgow, and then go overland to Tyne. Vig will take care of them."
After leaving Orkney, Bjorn's fleet headed north to the Shetland Islands. According to the recent peace agreement, these lands belonged to the Duke of Tyne.
The flotilla moored at the main island, and Bjorn found only a symbolic black flag, and no other soldiers or officials from Tyne.
"Vig went to great lengths to take this place. Perhaps he has discovered some rare mineral deposit?"
Bjorn continued to pry for information until he sailed the next day. He was tormented by doubts, and decided to ask Vig for clarification when they met.
Late in the evening, four days later, after dinner, Bjorn and Helgi were playing chess in the captain's cabin. Life at sea was tiring, and besides chess and conversation, the crew had no other activities.
After losing three games in a row, Bjorn, completely discouraged, stretched himself and went up on deck to check the night watch.
A regular pickaxe had a crew of twenty:
a captain, a helmsman, sailors (to adjust the sails, load and unload cargo, and rowers if necessary), a cook and a carpenter.
Including Helgi's crew, the Explorer had thirty people. Bjorn had arranged for five shifts of six men to rotate the night watches, to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.
Bjorn walked around the deck and woke three dozing men. According to protocol, they would be deprived of their daily ration of ale and would also have to clear the deck the following day.
"Master, there's no need for that, is there? We're in the waters west of the Shetland Islands, off the beaten track. It's unlikely that we'll encounter pirates
" .
"The rules can't be changed," Bjorn said grimly. "Even if there aren't any pirates, we might encounter something else, like an iceberg floating on the surface. Better to be careful!"
He cursed, then yawned and headed for the cabin. Suddenly, the sailors pointed to the port side, their faces frozen. "Boss, you're right! There's a sea monster!"
Bjorn turned around abruptly and saw a huge, elongated shadow hovering beneath the surface, not at all like a whale.
The shadow quickly approached the Explorer. Before the crew could react, the sea suddenly exploded with spray. Three tentacles covered in suckers pierced the surface, writhing in the air like a giant python, spraying salt water in all directions.
Everyone was horrified when they encountered this strange creature, unlike anything they had ever seen before. Only Bjorn reacted, grabbing a four-meter oar and swinging it hard.
"Wahalla!"
He struck the nearest tentacle, its surface incredibly slippery, glittering in the moonlight with an indescribable sticky shine.
The next moment, the sea monster exploded in rage, and three more tentacles emerged from the water, trying to hit the floating Explorer.
After one collision, the oars accidentally fell into the sea. Bjorn looked for a suitable weapon, but seeing that the sailors were still stunned, he hurried them: "
Why are you still standing? The gods do not allow cowards into Valhalla!"
No one answered, and they froze in place, leaving Bjorn to fight this unearthly, ferocious sea monster alone.
Boom!
Several more collisions tore holes in the Explorer's sails. Bjorn jumped to his knees on the deck, watching the approaching sucker-covered tentacles. Instinctively, he pulled the iron axe from his belt, intending to deliver the final blow before he died. Suddenly, a crossbow bolt whistled past Bjorn's ear and pierced a thick, slimy tentacle. The tentacle thrashed in increasing pain, then, struck by a second bolt, retreated to the surface as if nothing had happened. "Are you okay?" Helgi approached, crossbow in hand, to check Bjorn's wounds. "Not bad, not bad. Thank you for saving me from the Kraken," Helgi said doubtfully, lowering the crossbow. "Well, it doesn't look like a sea monster, just a large sea creature." Bjorn's eyes widened. "Have you seen one?"Helgi replied, "No, but I heard Vig mention it. He said that there was a giant squid in the North Sea called the 'colossal squid', between three and ten times the length of an adult." Alas, we had encountered the largest colossal squid in history. I don't know whether that was just bad luck or good fortune. He paused, then continued, " Vig also mentioned that giant squid were the main food source for sperm whales. Well, I suspect he mistook the Investigator for a threatening whale, thinking he was going to eat it, and that's why he fought back so fiercely." When Björn learned that these speculations had come from Vig, he was taken aback. "Well, if these are the words of the 'Chosen One', I'll have to believe it." After the night's experience, the voyage was relatively calm. The Explorer and five Viking longships arrived in Iceland. Upon landing, the crew of the Explorer eagerly shared their impressions, boasting of the dozens of tentacles of the sea monster Kraken that emerged from the sea, eclipsing the moonlight. Frightened by these strange rumors, the families who came to greet them decided that continuing the journey west was a bad idea. Their persuasion forced the crew of the Explorer to retreat, which enraged Björn. After three days of coercion and persuasion, he reassembled the expedition team of forty men, with forty days' worth of provisions and light beer on board. "Set out, the eyes of the gods are watching us!"Björn gave the order to put to sea, the crew turned the capstan to raise the anchor, and set the ship on an unknown voyage. In the last few years spent in Iceland, in addition to Björn himself, three fishing boats claimed to have seen traces of the nameless island, each in its own place. It seemed that this deserted island was large, and if you sailed west, even slightly off course, you could not be afraid of missing it. At noon, Björn went on deck, got out a bunch of different things to determine the direction, then marked it on the sea chart and explained it to Helgi, who was sitting next to him:
"We are moving in the right direction. We estimate that it will take another 8-10 days to reach the shore. Finding the island will not be difficult. The main thing is to find a fjord protected from the wind."