At first, the seas had been calm. It had been a beautiful morning, empty of the tell-tale red that signifies an encroaching storm, but one had blown up nontheless. Egil had tried his best to keep the ship steady and headed for land, but it was not to be. He lost his other two crewmen, and he was all alone on his tiny ship in the tempest-tossed sea.
His first regret is that he leaves his wife, Astrid, alone in the world with their child. She had just confirmed her pregnant state the previous week, and without him, she would have no one. Her family had died in the fire that destroyed their farm house last year, and his was far across Norway, for he had come a long way to establish his life here.
However, this regret and pity does not last long. Astrid minds the animals that survived the fire well enough with the help of the village boys, and she has a warm cabin, which she herself had helped to build after the house was destroyed. She will get along well enough. The townspeople like her, and she is capable for providing for herself well enough, as well as her child.
These thoughts expressed, he still clings to the mast, but he does not know why immediately. Then, he sees the outlines of the shore. He rejoices, momentarilly, in the beautiful greens of the plants and the wonders of nature, even the storm that will cause him is downfall. Then, however, he sees what jerked his attention to the shore.
A woman, fully armored, rides a gray horse across the sky, her white mantel fluttering along behind her. "Let go," she instructs, taking pity in Egil's plight. "Release yourself and be at peace, Fisherman."
"I will be at peace, if you can give me hope to see my wife again," Egil admits, still clinging to the mast.
The woman sighs. "Let the currents drag you down. Do not fight the waters. You will see your woman again, but only if you neither welcome nor fight the currents. Do you understand."
Egil nods. "I do. I thank you for this peace."
"And I thank you for the peace the Norns say I will find." A flash of lightning and a clap of thunder caress the stormy skies, and the woman is gone. Egil, filled with a placated soul, releases the mast. The rocking boat hurls him into the water, and he relaxes, sinking into its subliminally cold depths.
He sinks lower and lower, and then, something marvelous happens: he does not die.
The sea is below him, far below him. He stretches out his body horizontally and his fall is slowed, if only just a little. The water becomes closer with every moment, and suddenly, he stretches out vertically, allowing his feet to hit the waters first. He loses all feeling in them, and then he loses all thought. The water claims him again.
The sun is warm on Egil's face as he wakes up. Had the tide deposited him on the sand? No. The tidal marks are too far down the sand for that. He is too weak to stand, but he can roll to his stomach. He coughs, and water flies from his mouth. He was lucky. Whatever saved him, be it water or being, was kind. This place, wherever he is, is unlike his home. It is warm, and there is green grasses and lovely flowers dotting a nearby hill.
Egil decides to lie in the grass. There he will probably be safe from the tides. He crawls his way to the grassy foot of the hill, and then he lies on his back once more and sleeps, exhausted.
Egil awakens the next day, or perhaps at a similar time some days from when he fell asleep, to a very loud bird. Suddenly, the bird is cut off half-way through its song. He sits bolt-upright to see a tail disappearing into the water.
'I'm seeing things,' he thinks, knowing for almost certain that the only world with sea-living serpents in it is Midgard, and that is certainly not here. He rolls over to see a large pile of drift wood, some dead birds, and a knife. Large prints on the shore lead away from the grass.
Daring to rise, Egil tests out his legs. His right foot hurts to have pressure on it, and he falls shortly after standing. "What sort of forsaken thing have I done to offend my gods?" he asks himself. "Far from home, from family, from cold." He strips off his shirt, suddenly realizing how warm he is.
He crawls to the pile of wood and passes it by. It is the food that he wants. He begins to deplume the birds, setting the feathers in a pile. Once one is fairly well bald, he takes the knife (which, upon further inspection, is simply a very sharp rock), and guts the bird. Sighing, he cleans and stuffs the organs in the stomach and sets that into the sun. He then begins to build a fire with a sturdy twig and a large piece of driftwood. The fire catches, and begins to roar. Egil throws the bird's body onto it and then crawls away from the extra heat.
"Where am I?" he wonders, and watches passing clouds.
The sun is setting, and two birds have been eaten by Egil already. He picks his teeth with one of the smaller bones, placing a rock over the feathers. He knows they could be useful later on if he is to stay her often. He does not know how often his mysterious host will bring him food, and he wants to be independant, however that can happen with feathers.
*You're still up?* a young male voice says through his head. Egil is bewildered that his ears did not hear what his mind did. *Do not be frightened. I will not harm you.*
Egil turns around to see a large, blue, draconic creature sitting behind him. Another bird is in his mouth, and he is blinking at Egil curiously. Egil screams, certain he has traveled from Midgard to Hel, the afterworld. He backs up as well as he can without harming himself or touching the fire. Soon, he can scream no more.
*I won't hurt you,* the dragon says, and he downs the bird in a single chomp. *Sleep. We'll need to fix your foot come the morning.* The large blue dragon curls up to sleep, staring into the fire.
"Who are you?" Awe and fear mix in Egil's voice as he eyes the dragon.
*My name,* the dragon replies lathargicly, *is Sapphire's Dust. You may call me Dust, I suppose.*
Egil nods and curls up to sleep across the fire from Dust. The night is calm and quiet. He figures, as he drifts to sleep, that this is because all the birds were eaten by this large beast that is protecting him.
Background by Ender Design