The island was bigger than what Frida and the Northmen had expected.
Egan had shown them how the mountains that surrounded the far-reaching stretched out fields of green moss led to other kinds of landscapes, landscapes that Frida had never thought in her life existed.
The flaming redhead had showed them what was on the other side of the mountain his house was carved out from, and Frida had not believed her eyes when she had seen all the white ice rocks that seemed to pierce through invisible water, and never had she tasted water so clean and fresh than the water they had drunk from this cool spring.
They had seen great fjords, waterfalls and many mountains.
The earth seemed so vibrant here, so mysterious and surprising, and she could not help but to ask herself whether it was Baldr himself that had carved out this place in the beginning of time.
It was a place more beautiful than anywhere else she had been during her life.
However, it was a very rough place as well. There were not really beasts of prey here, it seemed, but you still had to be cautious with every moving step of your foot, as one single wrongly placed footstep could cause great injuries.
Egan had told them that he broke a bone in his leg once when he was traveling to a spring to fetch clean water for his dying father, as they were moving over a rocky and difficult path, and Frida stared fearfully at the sharp rocks that were the ground beneath her feet.
A cold chill ran over her skin, and she slowed down a bit while letting her eyes hover over the sky above. The sun was still shining bleakly behind the big whiteness, and another chill ran over her skin when a very cold wind suddenly hit her face.
It came from the Northern mountains, licking their snowy tops before rolling down into the valley they were crossing, causing them all to shiver. It felt more like winter than summer.
Egan had promised to show them one last thing before they were to return to prepare their longboat for leaving, a special sort of spring that could only be found in this island. At least, that was what Egan told them.
And on their way there, he told them many things of life here in the isle of Thule, his achievements, his struggles for survival. And while Frida had translated his words to the best of her possibility for the Vikings, she found herself wondering to herself why this man, even after the death of his father and friends, had chosen to stay.
As she took Floki's outstretched hand and quickly climbed a steep rock formation, her eyes turned to the red-haired man's face. His shining green eyes held lots of hope in them, pride even, as he let them further along the harsh path.
She cleared her throat with a burned taste on her tongue. "Can I ask you something, Egan?"
His greens turned to her and rested over her face for a short moment before he turned his eyes back to the landscape in front of them. He nodded.
Heavy breaths sounded loudly between the small group of people as they moved further ahead.
"Have you ever thought about… leaving?"
She could feel Floki's burning stare on her face, but she avoided looking at him, keeping her eyes on the ground below. He was walking silently beside her.
While Egan simply kept his gaze in front of him, she heard him sighing out in a small puff of air. She noticed his shoulders falling a bit.
"I came here in the promise of being closer to the gods. Even though I have lost… people, I still feel a very close connection to this place. It is my home."
His voice was light and throaty, and it made her feel strangely lonely. She felt her brows furrowing.
"And you?" Egan's voice prevailed once more in front of her. "Why did you leave your land?"
Frida's eyes shot to Egan, and she could see a small curl in the corner of his lips. She opened her mouth to say something, but she could not remember any words. Not in Gaelic, English or Norse.
She heard Egan chuckling. "I figured," he continued, "Since you speak my language and they do not, you must come from somewhere different. Am I right?"
Frida could feel a smile breaking out over her lips, and she giggled breathily as she climbed another steep rock.
"Perhaps," she smiled teasingly, "But my home is theirs too."
Egan chuckled once more, his eyes still stuck on the hill in front of them, and silence soon fell over the small group of men. They all continued over the hill without speaking words for quite a while, until Egan suddenly came to a stop, just as they reached the top of the hill.
He nodded in a Southern direction. "Down there," he breathed lightly, as if the journey had not worn him out one bit, "are the warm springs."
When the rest of the group were finally able to look down the hill, they all came to an abrupt stop.
The entire landscape seemed to change on the other side of the hill, as if a whole new world grew from its top, dissolving all the greens into a brown and gray world of sand, and over the wavy ground of this new landscape were several holes from where heavy white clouds of steam rose and whirled with the wind.
Frida gulped down as she took another step further. She could easily feel the heat that rose from the earthy valley.
"What by Odin's beard are those clouds?" Faxe's voice soon sounded as soon as they started to climb down the hill towards the otherworldly landscape.
Frida could see the curiosity and eagerness shining from his eyes, and it made her smile.
"Warm springs, I think," she tried out nervously, but could not help but to gaze at the strange clouds too continuously, intriguingly.
The whirling of the wind made the white clouds roll over the wavy landscapes like it was a sky on its own, on the ground, and as soon as they had made their way down the hill and closed themselves to one of the holes, she finally understood what a warm spring was.
The holes in the ground were really small lakes, filled with what seemed like thick water that beamed with such a heat, it sent steam puffing into the air constantly, as if the holes, the earth, were breathing with smoke.
Beneath the white clouds you could just manage to get a glimpse of the water, a gray substance flowing vibrantly around in the hole.
Were they to drink this?
But before Frida could manage to ask, as she turned her eyes to Egan, she widened her eyes when she saw him loosening his shoes. She curled her brows and sent strange eyes to Floki.
Floki snorted with his head tilted at Egan.
When Egan pulled off his shoes, he finally realized that all of the others' eyes were on him, questioningly.
"What?" he chuckled, "Come, we will bathe, no?"
Frida felt her cheeks blushing when the redhead pulled off his shirt, and she quickly turned her face to the Northmen beside her. She noticed Faxe already untying his shoes too.
"He, uh. We are to bathe in these springs," she breathed carefully, and she quickly felt Floki's burn on her face.
While Torulf, Herjulf and Egan readily jumped into the gray water, Floki and Frida hesitated by its edges. His eyes were still burning her, and she soon felt uncomfortably warm standing in the steamy cloud.
"Come on," Torulf smiled from the spring. "It feels amazing!"
But Frida bit her lip, and took a step backwards. Floki soon stepped a bit closer to her so she could just feel the calloused skin of his hands over her soft one.
"We can also just wait, if…" Floki started out in a nervous breath, but Frida soon waved her hand at him, smiling at his courtesy.
"Floki, please, no, you jump right in. I'll just wait…" Frida and Floki's eyes locked for just a short moment, before he turned his eyes to the group of men in the water. She noticed his eyes especially lingering on Egan.
He lifted his hands and turned his finger in a circle at the men. "Look away," he seethed through his teeth, his dark eyes burning at Egan. "You too."
Frida felt her cheeks burning even more when she understood what Floki was doing. He quickly untied his outer fur, and stretched it out to hinder the group of men in the spring to see her, before closing his eyes shut. She felt embarrassed for a quick moment, but she soon dared to uncover herself.
If the words that Egan had spoken were true, she would never see a warm spring like this again.
That was, if she never was to return here.
Floki followed her very respectfully to the edge of the spring, and Frida carefully climbed down into the hole, the hot water soon caressing her skin like silk, covering her entire body but to her head.
She felt a slight pressure over her entire body.
Floki made a quick whistling sound, notioning to the other men that they did not have to look away anymore. The water was so thick, it was impossible to see through it, and Floki soon glided in to join the others in the gray liquids, and a long calm silence grew over the small group.
As cold as the wind had made her bones, as warm was she now, hovering soothingly in the vibrant hot water, and she could not help but to stretch her legs out as she sat there on a warm rock under the water's surface and was startled when her foot touched something on the other side.
She sighed out in surprise, and noticed Egan making a startled jump too in his seat there in the spring, and she felt another wave of embarrassment washing over her when she realized her foot had stroked over Egan's leg.
Her hand flew to cover her mouth. "I'm sorry!" she rushed, feeling her cheeks burn with heat.
Egan's eyes shot over to Floki, and he raised his hands into the air, in a sort of surrendering motion.
Frida sighed out when Floki made a snarling sound at the redhead, and she knew that it was time for her to leave the water.
