Erik the Viking Page #15

Suddenly Loki produces his stiletto and leaps onto Keitel, stabbing at him.

LOKI:

I should have got rid of you long ago!

KEITEL:

Like you got rid of Snorri!

Erik tries to separate them.

AUD:

No! No! We are in the spell of the Horn! Hatred will destroy us.

ERIK:

That's right!

For a split second Erik is distracted. He looks across at Aud and for a moment he sees Freya standing there.

FREYA:

Once you are in the spell of the Horn, hatred will destroy you...

Then it is Aud once more. But in that split second Loki has stabbed Erik.

ERIK:

Arrgh!

Erik staggers back clutching his arm. Keitel gives a roar of rage, and picks Loki up bodily and hurls him out of the boat into the maelstrom. The other Vikings look on aghast. Keitel turns on them

KEITEL:

He killed Snorri! He caused the land of Hy-Brasil to sink! SHE knew!

AUD:

I didn't know!

KEITEL:

Now she wants to send us over the Edge of the World!

AUD:

How else d'you think we're going to get to Asgaard?

The Vikings look at each other amidst the roaring waters and the thick spray. Erik holds his bleeding arm and looks at Aud. Should he trust her or not? Suddenly he turns on the others.

ERIK:

(shouting above the din)

Do YOU know the way to Asgaard, Keitel Blacksmith?

Keitel shakes his head.

ERIK:

Do YOU know the way to Asgaard, Sven?

Sven shakes his head.

ERIK:

There is one road before us, and that leads over the Edge of the World.

Harald sits up as he returns to consciousness.

HARALD:

There IS no Edge of the World.

Sven's dad bonks him again. Erik takes the rope and begins paying it out. With grim faces the Vikings turn and face towards the roaring of the waters, as Erik edge the ship further into the mist. The noise is deafening. It would be almost impossible to hear any voice above it. The faces of the Vikings betray their fear as they find themselves emerging from out of the mist at the Edge of the World. They gape as they find themselves confronted by a Waterfall of Seas - stretching on either side of them - as far as the eye can see - water falling and plunging over the lip of the world. And in front of them - the blue sky continues on down and down until it shades into blackness strewn with stars beneath their feet... Sven, Sven's dad and Keitel edge to the prow and gasp.

AUD:

No! Don't look over the Edge!

Erik lets out a little more rope, until the ship is protruding over the edge. Sven, his dad and Keitel peer over the side, and stare down into the abyss. They gasp. From above we see the prow of GOLDEN DRAGON and the backs of the Vikings' heads in plain view against a backdrop of stars below them.

ERIK:

Let me see!

Aud holds him back.

AUD:

No. Don't look... The abyss will suck away your strength.

ERIK:

I MUST look! Keitel! Hold this!

Erik turns to see Sven and Keitel trembling... They hold onto the sides of the ship but their legs can barely support them.

SVEN:

There is nothing we can do...

SVEN'S DAD

Helpless...

Keitel start to laugh.

KEITEL:

Ha ha... I believed Loki... I believed I had a duty to blacksmiths! Ha ha ha!

Keitel laughs a little hysterically. Aud turns urgently to Erik.

AUD:

YOU still want to go to Asgaard?

ERIK:

Of course.

AUD:

Do you believe I love you?

ERIK:

I... but I...

AUD:

You don't have to love me. Just: do you believe I love YOU?

ERIK:

Yes - I believe you do.

AUD:

Then let go!

Erik hesitates, then he decides to believe in Aud. He throws the rope away. At once the ship shoots off over the Edge of the World into space... Everything seems to slow down, as the longship drops down and down... the ship twists slowly as it drops.... round and round. The Vikings gaze about them in wonder, as they find their ship if falling in silence amongst the stars. Harald comes to once again.

HARALD:

I'm still seeing stars.

Keitel looks round at him.

KEITEL:

We're ALL seeing stars.

HARALD:

No! I was hit on the head.

The longship falls and falls through the star-strewn space until it softly lands in a white wilderness. On the deck the Vikings are huddles up, covered with rime-frost. It seems as if they have been lying there half-frozen for some time. Perhaps the entire adventure has all been a dream, and they have been stuck in the Arctic pack-ice the whole time. The hallucinations of men near to death. Aud tries to wake Erik.

AUD:

Don't sleep... wake... Look!

Erik opens his eyes and, for an instant, he sees Helga. He blinks and realizes it is Aud who is calling him back to consciousness. Suddenly coloured lights begin to play to his face.

ERIK:

Bi-Frost... The Rainbow Bridge.

Above them the Aurora Borealis stretches up, magnificent and awesome in the sky. Erik makes his way through the other Vikings.

ERIK:

Wake up!

The others slowly begin to rouse themselves from their icy slumber and sit up, awed by the sight.

KEITEL:

(whispering)

Are we dead?

VIKINGS:

The Rainbow Bridge.

They all peer up at the ever-changing colours of the Aurora Borealis, hanging in the sky above them like organ-pipes. But something is happening. The lights begin to fade to reveal a magical city on a mountain. The Vikings realize that this is journey's end.... they have reached Asgaard... the City of the Gods. The Vikings all catch their breaths and gaze in awe.

ERIK:

Asgaard!

HARALD MISSIONARY

Where?

SVEN'S DAD

Up there, you fathead.

HARALD MISSIONARY

Up WHERE?

Harald look round quizzically at the others. It is clear that he can see nothing.

ERIK:

Look! It's real.

Harald looks around at the others.

HARALD:

Hallucinations are real.

It's no use; Harald can see nothing. The Vikings, transfixed by the sight of their fabled home of the Gods, rise to their feet. Aud whispers to Erik.

AUD:

The second note.

ERIK:

The second not to wake the Gods...

Erik kneels in front of the Horn.

AUD:

Gently...

Erik blows... a soft gentle note... He takes his mouth away, and smiles at Aud. Once again the Horn stars to vibrate and the note gets louder... the ship starts to vibrate... louder and louder... The whole landscape starts to vibrate... louder and louder grows the not until even the stars in the sky are vibrating and then a magical thing starts to happen... The note fades as one by one the shimmering stars start to fall out of the night sky... they fall like silver snow... until the ship... the Vikings... Asgaard... the whole landscape is covered in sparkling dust... then in the ensuing silence the first light begins to glow in the Halls of Asgaard... then another... and another... Erik stares as is bewitched and slowly begins to climb out of GOLDEN DRAGON.... but Aud tries to pull him back.

AUD:

Erik! You've done what you came to do!

ERIK:

Not quite...

Aud looks at him.

AUD:

Blow the third note! The note to take us home!

ERIK:

There is something I must ask the Gods...

AUD:

No living man has ever set foot in the Halls of Asgaard... The Gods will never let you return.

Erik looks at her... for a moment... But he knows he has no choice.

SVEN:

I came to find my grandfather.

ERIK:

I have to go...

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