Volume 3

Volume 3 is the 3rd volume in the series.

Chapters

 * Chapter 17: England, 1008
 * Chapter 18: England, 1013
 * Chapter 19: The Battle of London Bridge
 * Chapter 20: Ragnarok
 * Chapter 21: Valhalla
 * Gaiden: Ylva at Work

Cover Characters

 * Askeladd
 * Thorkell

Plot Overview
In East Anglia, 1008 A.D., a wounded Thorfinn is found and taken care of by an English mother and her daughter. The English mother covers for Thorfinn when a soldier comes by looking for a Viking boy who infiltrated the village. Thorfinn tells the English mother and her daughter to run away before setting fire to a shack, a signal to Askeladd and his men. The English mother sees Thorfinn kill several soldiers and looks at him crying. Thorfinn, visibly upset, steels himself and adopts an apathetic look before joining Askeladd and his men in attacking the village. In London, 1013 A.D., Askeladd and his men join King Sweyn and his forces in an attack on London Bridge, defended by the former Jomsviking Thorkell, who Floki is unable to buy off. Thorfinn agrees to kill Thorkell when Askeladd promises him a duel, but he is wounded and barely gets away. King Sweyn takes away his main force to Wessex, leaving the siege of London to four hundred men under the command of his son, Prince Canute, and his attendant, Ragnar. In November 1013 A.D., Askeladd's men have temporarily split off from the main force to attack nearby villages. They are found by a lone rider, part of Ragnar's force, who seeks to regroup with the main force to take back Prince Canute, who was taken hostage when Thorkell and five hundred men left London and decimated the bulk of their force. Askeladd beheads the rider and tells his hundred men they alone will take back Prince Canute and reap the rewards of rescuing the heir to the Danish throne. Ragnar's remaining men find Thorkell and his group in the forest. Thorkell easily complies to their demands of releasing his hostages (Prince Canute, Ragnar, and their friar Willibald), but looking for a battle, provokes the men into attacking him anyway. While they fight, Askeladd and his men set fire to the forest.

Plot Summary
In East Anglia (Eastern England), 1008 A.D., Thorfinn is struck by an arrow while doing a job for Askeladd. His unconscious body is found in the river by an English mother and her daughter the next day, who take him in, care for his wound and feed him. A soldier comes by looking for a wounded Viking boy who infiltrated the village, but the English mother claims Thorfinn is her son. Later, Thorfinn tells the English mother and her daughter to run (in English) before running to the shore and setting a shack on fire, a signal to Askeladd's men. The English mother sees Thorfinn kill several soldiers and looks at him uncomprehendingly, crying. Thorfinn tells the woman and the villagers to run again, but it is too late. Askeladd's band disembarks and starts to raid the village. Thorfinn, visibly upset, steels himself and joins the fray with an apathetic look on his face.

In London, 1013 A.D., King Sweyn's armies try to take the logistically advantageous trading town of London. Askeladd anticipates King Sweyn will be victorious and his band joins the Danes' side. Floki, working with King Sweyn, tries to buy off Thorkell, a former Jomsviking who has joined the English side in defending London, but Thorkell declines, finding it more fun to fight for a side that doesn't easily win all the time. Askeladd tells Thorfinn to kill Thorkell and Thorfinn agrees once Askeladd promises him a duel. Thorfinn dodges Thorkell's attacks and nearly stabs him in the face, but Thorkell grabs hold of Thorfinn's hand and begins to toss him around. Askeladd observes Thorfinn's defeat from his nearby ship and orders a retreat, leaving Thorfinn for dead. After calling Thorfinn a warrior and asking for his name, Thorkell recognizes Thors's name, but cannot question Thorfinn further as he jumps off the bridge and swims away. He lets him go and promises they can finish next time. At the nearby camp, King Sweyn tells Floki to instruct his main force to go west. He leaves four thousand men under the charge of his son, Prince Canute, to continue the siege of London with his attendant, Ragnar. The wounded Thorfinn reaches the marching main force. Askeladd says they are off to Wessex and will leave Thorfinn behind if he cannot keep up. Thorfinn pops his dislocated shoulder back in and marches forward.

It is November 1013 A.D., in a farming village near Bath. Thorfinn dreams he is a happy child, living with his family in a warm place that is not Iceland. In his dream, Thors tells him to give up on his revenge, before being riddled with arrows. Thorfinn wakes up to some of Askeladd's men about to rape a screaming woman at the other end of the barn. He refuses to join them and leaves. In the village, Askeladd's crew are antsy, as their pull that year wasn't good and they are still raiding small villages while the rest of the main force has long gone north. Bjorn notes that there may not be a next year, war is coming to an end. Thorfinn finds a quiet spot on a nearby hill, but Askeladd is already sitting there. Askeladd tells Thorfinn of the Roman ruins around them and says that the sun is rising on the twilight of man. They spot a lone rider and bring him to the village when he tells them he is from Ragnar's band. The rider tells them that Thorkell and his five hundred men left London and killed all but four hundred of Prince Canute's force of four thousand, kidnapping the prince. He seeks the main force so that they can regroup and rescue the prince. Askeladd agrees to join, and to everyone's surprise, suddenly beheads the man. He fires up his crew, telling them they alone will rescue the prince and be the sole recipients of any reward there is for rescuing the heir to the Danish throne.

Thorkell and his men, who have taken Prince Canute, Ragnar and their priest, Willibald, hostage, march through the forest. The men are idly discussing religion when Thorkell stops the march and throws a spear, killing a man further down the forest. Another man steps out and claims to be one of Ragnar's, there with four thousand men. They demand that the Prince and Ragnar be released at once. Surprisingly, Thorkell releases them right away. With the hostages out of the way, he easily goads the men into fighting despite Ragnar's vehement protests. Nearby, Askeladd's men observe the fight and are instructed to carry out barrels and set up according to plan. Thorkell stops fighting when he smells charcoal in the air. He and his men turn and notice smoke.