Ross Lawhead by The Realms Thereunder Read Free Book Online

wordcenne æt Niðergeard
Giefe a ælch wha boga niðeweard
Gifu sprecan freolice
If beo he soþlice freondlice
    â€œDo you think it’s Latin?” Daniel asked. “It’s really old looking.”
    â€œNo, my sister’s studying that. This looks nothing like Latin. Those two letters—the p looking thing, and the d with the line through it—I’ve never seen them before.”
    They gazed at the words, trying to puzzle them out, and as they did Daniel was aware of a soft sound that he hadn’t heard before—a gentle rhythmic sigh, the sound of breathing. “Do you hear that?” he whispered.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œShh.” Gathering his courage, Daniel stepped through the arch and found himself in a perfectly square room with a very high ceiling made of rough natural rock. In the centre of the room stood a stone dais holding half a dozen of the silver lamps.
    And what the lamps threw their light upon made Daniel’s jaw drop. In the centre of the room lay two low, stone slabs and lying on top of each was a knight in full battle gear—not carvings this time, but genuine, authentic, larger-than-life men encased head to foot in armour.
    They were dressed exactly as the knights from the archway in the church behind the altar. In their left hands they held round shields made from some sort of animal hide stretched over wood; in their right they gripped weapons—one held a spear, the other an axe. Each knight was dressed in a chain-mail shirt with long sleeves that fell low to cover the upper legs just above the knees; each shirt was cinched at the waist by a stout leather belt from which hung a short but wide sword. Their lower legs were wrapped in rough cloth and skins, joining dark, coarse-woven breeches at the top of their shins. Pointed helmets, polished to a shine, crested their heads and long beards flowed down almost past their belt buckles.
    â€œWow!” Daniel exclaimed.
    Freya gazed around the chamber with wide eyes. “What is this place?” she asked. She walked closer, between two of the figures.
    â€œI don’t know,” Daniel said. “It looks like some sort of display.”
    Freya stared hard at one of the knights. “Their faces look really real—really lifelike. I can see the pores. Are—are they dead?”
    â€œNo chance,” Daniel said, looking down at the knight in front of him. “Nah, they’re just models. Got to be.”
    â€œThey’re really good, though. Look really authentic.”
    â€œMaybe they’re for a movie, like Lord of the Rings . They made models like this for that. I saw the special features.”
    Bending closer, Daniel gazed at the one with the reddishbrown beard and the axe, looking closely at his nose and mouth.
    He thought he saw the whiskers tremble around the nose. Stooping closer, Daniel reached out a hand and touched the sword at the knight’s side. It was cold, like it was made of actual metal.
    â€œCome on,” said Freya, taking a step towards the archway.
    â€œWe’ve had a look around, so let’s go back now.”
    Daniel was still hunched over the knight.
    â€œDaniel, come on.” She moved towards him and put a hand on his shoulder to try to pull him around. “Let’s go.”
    â€œAlright,” Daniel said reluctantly. He knew that they were pushing it now. This was definitely flying in the face of “keeping your head down.” He turned to leave.
    â€œLook, what’s that?” he said. Hanging on the wall was something he hadn’t noticed when they came in—a curved horn with an ornate silver mouthpiece.
    Freya rolled her eyes. “Daniel, come on . . .”
    â€œHold on, I just want to give it a toot.”
    â€œNo, leave it.”
    â€œFreya, you have no sense of adventure.” Daniel went to the wall and pulled the horn off of the hook it was hanging on. He pressed his lips together, put