A gust of wind parted the reeds. Fury caught a glimpse of a marsh man and recognised him as a particularly nasty individual. He let the coracle drift. The man would have to draw his bow before he could get in a shot and he'd be dead before he could do that. A crossbow was fired by pulling a trigger and it delivered an armour-piercing bolt. At twenty paces Fury could hit a marsh hen. At ten he could skewer a wren. The distance shrank to five before the man left cover.
'Fury, my young friend.' He drew his bow. 'Look what I've ...'
He was still sneering when the bolt from Fury's crossbow struck him in the chest. Fury watched the man sink to his knees. His only concern was that he'd been too close. If the bolt had passed right through the body, it would be lost. He was relieved when the man collapsed onto his face and he saw the iron tip protruding from his back. He prised the bolt free with his hunting knife, rearmed the crossbow and hurried to where Alison was waiting with Miralda and the other coracle.
'Did you get him?'
'Aye.' Fury tapped the crossbow.
'Is the way clear?'
'It is now ...'
He lashed the coracles together and clambered in beside Miralda. The old woman was wrapped in warm furs and carried Balduur's head in a sealskin bag. Alison sat in the other coracle with a paddle. Fury checked that everything was secure and pushed off from the bank.
***
Dark clouds swirled overhead. Three days had passed since they left the marshes. Miralda had grown weak and the weather had changed for the worse. They were camped on a desolate shore. Waves crashed onto jagged rocks and storm petrels flew overhead. There were far better places to spend the night but none as safe. Sheer cliffs protected them on one side and a raging sea on the other. No one could reach them there.
A strong current had carried them down the estuary and they faced the full force of waves sweeping in from the sea. Fury had followed their progress as they made their way along the coast. Some of the tribes were at war with his mother's people. When they passed their territory he was on his guard.
They were in such a situation now. An island had appeared on the horizon. Miralda said it was their destination and they should go ashore and make the crossing the next day. The safest place was a rocky headland where the seals sought refuge.
There were several hundred of the lumbering creatures on the rocks. They were males waiting for the females to arrive. The older occupied the best spots and the younger were scattered around on narrow ledges and isolated boulders. Fury felt an affinity with the young seals.