To Valhalla

By Tristan F Stanley

Seeking comfort and ease in many ways is found by reading, where our mind sees the story it uncovers. Reading a novel is one of the various ways to divert our attention toward something cool and tranquil, bringing our imagination to life. To Valhalla is smoothly written, easily rendered, and reader-friendly. The sto

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tristan Stanley
• Release date: May 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781087879499

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 by Tristan Stanley

Dedicated to

My family and friends

Table of Contents

Chapter One… Page 5

Chapter Two… Page 12

Chapter Three… Page 21

Chapter Four… Page 42

Chapter Five… Page 72

Chapter Six… Page 90

Chapter Seven… Page 114

Chapter Eight… Page 122

Chapter Nine… Page 130

Chapter Ten… Page 138

Chapter Eleven… Page 147

Chapter Twelve… Page 158

Chapter Thirteen… Page 170

Chapter Fourteen… Page 180

Chapter Fifteen… Page 189

Chapter Sixteen… Page 204

Chapter Seventeen… Page 212

Chapter Eighteen… Page 220

Chapter Nineteen… Page 227

Chapter Twenty… Page 236

Chapter Twenty One… Page 241

Chapter Twenty Two… Page 248

Chapter Twenty Three… Page 254

Chapter Twenty Four… Page 261

Chapter Twenty Five… Page 267

Chapter Twenty Six… Page 273

Chapter One

Far off from the land, the Dawn Breaker makes its way through waters that, for the first time in days, are calm. Captain James Atkins’ ship is of moderate size, but its reputation rivals that of other vessels. Its beauty is laid not in ornate decorations, but the simplicity of minimal paint on meticulously maintained wood. Her nature is speed, but a relatively new set of sails supplies aid when necessary. Nice weather has persisted since the Dawn Breaker and her crew had come out of a storm of all sorts.

James, what do you make of the cargo? We lost most of it trying to beat the weather why bother making haste to the merchants of the province says a member on deck. When we reach the shore check the whole boat, see if any tasks need doing. Aye captain.

Still, a few days off from their destination, some repairs are needed despite the crew’s haste. Soon after observing the horizon swallow what was left of the sun, the captain enters his quarters. Stars fill the sky and darkness sets in. Most crew members fall asleep and others remain on deck. As it is too cold to enjoy a good conversation otherwise, some blankets and lanterns are needed. The crew members who have been together the longest blabber on for a good half an hour or so. As for the others, they are extra help usually hired only when absolutely needed… It's not like the Dawn Breaker runs on a wealth of any sort. Neither scoundrels nor navy men, this bunch is made up of honest sailors.

The next morning is truly a beautiful sight to see. As the sun rises further, the captain still has not come out of his cabin, leaving some of the mates closest to him perplexed. Usually, he’s the one who breaks them into each day. They remain true to the course, not thinking twice about altering or pausing it. After all, it’s been a long and arduous journey.

At about noon, the captain returns to the ship’s deck. No one says a word as they are preoccupied with forging ahead in order to make it ashore in a day and a half or so. There isn’t a single one of them not looking forward to a good meal, pint of ale, and sturdy bed that doesn’t move because it’s on the ground instead of a vessel that’s been at sea for one, breaking on two months.

As he meticulously studies a map, James notices a few veteran members who have made this trip a few times with him wondering why he would be looking at a map when they are almost reaching ashore in due time. Those same mates now look around and James notices them realize that there is something different than usual about the water. Sometimes the fermentation of the water changes, but not this far from shore. Realizing something isn’t right, two mates look in each other’s eyes then at their captain once more. Paying no heed to the attention the captain returns to his cabin; shutting the door behind the first mate after he enters and lays the map upon an already over-encumbered wooden table.

Instruments set aside to accommodate the maps, they check their calculations for the second time since being unbeknownst from the storm which they came. Even with their combined years of sailing experience, they could not for the life of them figure out how a storm that only lasted for half a night and into what seemed to be early before the next morning before being free of it could have so severely altered their course.

How can we be this far from our course James? I’ve been trying to think of an answer but I simply cannot!

We are not under the sea, are we? The captain grabs the first mate’s wrist to calm him and says honestly. We’re alive.

Any sailor worth their salt of any stature has only one reasonable choice: to continue sailing towards the direction of the good old compass. Be that as it may, where the Dawn Breaker has wound up is still a vastly different place than intended or expected.

Captain! Looking up from the map, James wondered what it could possibly be… Land ho! there’s land!

Exiting the cabin, James takes his first glimpse at whatever it is that lays ahead…an island like he has never seen before! Being later in the evening with a horizon of orange and a backdrop of nothingness. All that he and the crew can see is a giant island, in the middle of nowhere. Beautiful as the sunset may be and clear as the weather had been all day, it starts to rain the closer they approach. Not knowing what to make of the circumstances, the captain orders the crew to sail a little further out from the island and lay behind the fog and mist before so that they can observe before even thinking of setting afoot.

As they float, the captain takes into account the dwindling provisions, crew’s condition, and size of the island and comes to the conclusion that after a night of waiting they have no other option but to set foot upon the gigantic landmass in the morning. During his careful deliberation, James and the crew noticed that there are no accounts of such an island in the area they believed themselves to be in. Begging the question: how can it be that every known cartographer has simply missed what seems to be an entire continent. Even more troubling, how can it be possible that they have sailed off into the wide-open yonder?

There is no telling.

Staying as positive as possible, they sailed the Dawn Breaker as close to shore as was reasonable before dropping one of two rowboats that the ship possessed into the water and sending it ashore. They then drop and send the second rowboat, sending a total of twelve members to the island and leaving four aboard. What had been a hopeful crew only yesterday, is now setting foot on a mysterious island instead of their anticipated dock.

Having loaded their rifles and prepared the necessary equipment for foraging, they are driven by hope for a few good hunts and the possibility of some peace. However, they cannot shake wondering what this place is and why everything… even the very particles in the air that surround them… feels off somehow in this unbeknownst land.

When the grunts and groans of sailors heaving one rowboat after the other onto the shore fade, it becomes quiet. Only the waves that aided their arrival are audible. In the current circumstances, the only relief the crew finds is in thankfully, finally being ashore after a long journey that had climaxed in a powerful storm... They are not completely relieved, however, as this is a place so extraordinarily different from any place, they have ever seen the likes of. Not to mention, the eerie feeling as if they are setting foot into an entirely different world altogether.

We will hunt together. the captain commands the twelve men seeking to comfort each other for once. Normally, there is not much comfort when surrounded by only men, but things being as they were the crew was wondering if they will ever see a woman again... As comfort is often found in certainty, it is the stronger and more experienced adventurers that make the group feel somewhat more at ease.

So, captain, where do you reckon we are? Despite the fraught question, the air remains calm for a second or more. Being that there was no island on the map I don’t know Captain, our final destination is but a day’s sail from where we seem to be. Why not keep sailing? Oh, is it? Feel free to mutiny and continue sailing if you wish. Coming from James, a sincere and reliable man who has traveled their original route many times, the sentiment confirms to the rest of the men that something is not right for sure. Even in all the tales, nothing like what the crew is experiencing has ever happened in such a well-known patch of maps and to sailors who use such precise calculations as the crew of the Dawn Breaker. Well, looks like we’re stuck here then… is that it?!? one of the crew retorts, unappreciative of what to him seems like callousness on James’ part. We will be if you keep that attitude up. stated the first mate calmly. As the men make their way closer to the edge of the forest which lay just beyond a patch of darkish rocks that encompassed the soft, lighter colored sand, the captain glances back and observes his mates. He may be leading confidently, but James also knew not what lay in store for those under his command.

Although the forest seemed natural, there was a weirdness to it that the men could not put their fingers on. Having trekked for hours, they still have not encountered a single animal, change in incline, or break in the trees... Water was passed along during a break that lasted no more than fifteen minutes. The strongest of the group were the ones pushing to continue. Their travels last for no more than another hour or two, judging, by the way, the sun’s rays showed through the trees, before they saw a bewildering sight,

An oar.

A long oar.

In a forest clearing?

It is as if they have stumbled into a dream.

An untold distance into this forest and away from the shore, the crew of the Dawn Breaker finds a graveyard of nautical vessels.

They stare at the sight.

Speechless.

Chapter Two

Strange play is at work here… The captain breaks the silence, It’s best we be heading back now, don’t you think James? The even cadence of the captain’s words doesn’t betray to what degree he might be shaken by their discovery. Yes, I think so. James concurs.

However, the rest of the men are frozen in place contemplating the age of the ships and how they could possibly become stranded in a forest of all places. The vessels range in age and make, but all seem to be from the long-gone days of history. Shouldn’t stay too long now… The men’s inaction prompts their captain to insist. Without a word, they start heading back from whence they came. The way back seems even longer than their original trek, but they finally make it back to shore. Some are fearful of the island and its mysteries, but others take a more curious mindset towards the unexplainable encounter. Still perplexed and rather tired from the exertion, the crew lags behind James and their First Mate.

Kenti a strapping black man whose muscles had been honed during his days as a slave and had lent themselves to his escape addresses the First Mate and captain who have stopped dead in their tracks and are now whispering amongst themselves. Come on, Kenti interjects in his thick African accent, We all deserve to know anything you’re discussing. We’re in this predicament together so we might as well work together. No secrets. I still don’t understand why we don’t just try and keep sailing towards our destination for another day another pipes up, emboldened by Kenti’s insistence. The Dawn Breaker…she’s gone he informs them and points to where their ship had been anchored.

The crewmates hastily make their way to where the entirety of the cove is in full view. Sure enough, as if the Dawn Breaker had been carried away by a mere whisp of wind there are only lapping waves where their vessel should be. The disappeared ship was not just its captain’s pride and joy, but also the crew’s livelihoods and security. On top of the ship graveyard they had encountered, the crew was even more dumbfounded by the disappearance of their only means of return to civilization. Kenti’s insightfulness is indeed spot on… they all have an equal stake in both surviving and investigating this mystery.

As a scream breaks out and a crewmate thrusts their hat into the sand, another suggests that the four crew members left on the ship might have sailed around the island for one reason or another. However, not a single crewmate responds to that notion. Desperately trying to clutch to some sense of reality, another crew member drops to their knees, takes a handful of sand, and sifts it between his fingers.

We camp here tonight. Kenti’s decisiveness breaks through the hysteria. The captain allows him to take that bit of command, knowing that it is only through teamwork that the crew members of the Dawn Breaker will return to their respective homes. Aboard the ship or stranded as they are, he takes responsibility for all who he has employed.

James, analytical as he is, remains silent. Neither man in charge can shake the thought that their situation might have been considerably improved by simply sailing past the island that has now swallowed up their hopes of arriving in a safe port. Logically, however, James knows that this crisis is the fault of neither the ship’s leadership nor the crew. No number of meticulous calculations or naval experience could have prevented the crew from becoming stranded. Not to mention the matter of how an island of these proportions could exist without ever being recorded on a map. 

With these unexplainable forces in play, there is no guarantee that continuing to sail for another day or so would have changed their circumstances. Taking all of that into account, James could simply not imagine a different outcome. With all the facts considered, James, Kenti, and their captain are all able to reach the same conclusion: All that matters now is survival in the hopes of escape.

Snapping into an atmosphere of resourcefulness, those that have their wits about them go off in search of firewood. Two men still distraught and captive to disbelief continue to inspect the cove and wander further off to see if their ship had simply drifted off a bit. As night settles in, they all regroup. By the light of the campfire, the crew takes inventory of the instruments they had decided to bring ashore. Focusing on their own worries, no one even mentions the four crewmates who had disappeared and were presumably still aboard the Dawn Breaker. A few of us should keep watch, no telling what’s on this island.

Those not on watch find the most comfortable patch of ground they can and go to sleep; empty stomachs and all. The peacefulness of sleep brings relief from the cruel reality that they had expected to only be on this god-forsaken island for less than a day before returning to their bunks aboard ship.

For their less than constructive attitudes while the others had made camp, the two crew members who chose to walk around the cove, Samuel and Edward, had been put on watch for the entire evening. Still shaken by the day’s events, Samuel’s normal convivial attitude is overshadowed by his astonishment. Usually a smart fellow, and proud of it, Samuel was unnerved by the uncertainty of it all. Edward was more of a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy and doesn’t really stand out from the other crew members. If anything, that makes him a typically reliable addition to the team. Except, that is, for today’s breakdown. For the most part, the pair keep a silent watch, speaking nothing of the day’s events. Those crew members who are asleep are spared the distress of facing reality, but the two who remained stalwartly on their watch reflected on the circumstances into the early morning.

As dawn approached, Edward rifled through his bag and produced a meager helping of coffee grounds. Once brewed, the two savored what they knew would be their last sips of coffee for what they knew would be an indefinite amount of time. As the others began to stir and shake out their cramped limbs, the whole crew began to take a full inventory of the resources at their disposal. What bread had been brought ashore is broken into pieces and distributed equally. The limited sustenance was satisfying for the time being, but every mind was speculating on where their next meal might come from.

Each man’s fate is sealed in but a blink of an eye, their second day as castaways, if not captives of the island, lays ahead of them. Those who have joined the Dawn Breaker simply for money knew when joining that there may be consequences to their choice of lifestyle, but there are those amongst them who are self-titled adventurers. Remembering this brings many to their senses, and the duties of survival begin in earnest. Those most disposed to strategy and logistics like James, Samuel, Edward, and Kenti, gather to form some semblance of a plan. While they hem and haw, a small group braves the woods to scrounge up resources and hunt.

As the sun marks midday, a shot rings out. The hunters congregate around their catch. They had hoped for a beast to butcher, but instead have downed an astonishingly colored bird, the likes of which none of them have ever seen before. Feathers of crimson, amethyst, and chartreuse cover most of the enormous five or even six-foot-tall bird. Its legs make up a considerable portion of its body, the carcass is not enough to feed all twelve stranded soldiers alone. While some break off in search of a clean water source, others turn to the sea for what fish they can spear and shellfish they can find to fill their bellies. As they venture deeper inland from where the highly prismatic bird was downed, they find a creak that the desperate men deem clean enough to drink from.  

Two thoughts overshadow these accomplishments. The first goes without saying, but the second has even Kenti, staunch and resilient as he is, spooked beyond measure. Not a single crew member intends to remain on the island for a prolonged time, let alone ever call this place home. During the previous day’s ventures, each and every man in this motley assortment felt a gradual shift. Towards what, no one can quite say but there is an unspoken agreement that it is sure to be something sinister. The work continues and the day comes to an end with every man of the Dawn Breaker refusing to dwell in their distress for the sake of productivity. The work of hunting and scavenging is hard on their bodies, but no harder than handling a rig. Many remain hopeful that their ship will simply crest the waves crashing towards the beach, yet the second day leaves their hopes unfulfilled. After all, only foolishness or madness would lead the four aboard to depart willingly and no other realistic explanation was evident. 

Following the logic that the Dawn Breaker must simply be circling the island, the agreed-upon strategy was to traverse the coast. While the notion of splitting into two groups that would travel in opposite directions was floated, it didn’t hold any water. They may try to present themselves as fearless adventurers, but at their core, they were still just men, and this island was still inherently eerie. Thus, with a conclusive decision reached, the crew members readied themselves for travel and settled into the sandy accommodations that were literally and metaphorically miles off from where they expected to rest their heads this night.

As soon as it is light enough to see, the torches are extinguished to conserve them and what food does remain is distributed as equally as possible. Even with the meager offerings leftover from the bird, seafood, and other assorted rations, the group’s morale is lifted enough to begin their ventures.

Neither clear nor cloudy, the day blessedly lacks rain. Despite two nights of sleeping without bedrolls, the men are not noticeably weakened and are in relatively good shape. The same cannot be said of their search which has still not procured a ship nor their missing comrades. While they prefer to stay within sight of the ocean, there are some patches of coast that are simply too treacherous or cumbersome to pass through. For that reason, the crew finds themselves momentarily inland from time to time. Having encountered neither attack nor a conundrum on par with the forest-bound ship graveyard, even Edward and Samuel are feeling emboldened. We should return to what I guess is our base camp now James Standing there, the wind whipping around them, it is understood that this will be their last active attempt to find the Dawn Breaker. Resolve diminished, the group trudges back to the beach where they had been safe to rest for the past two nights.

It is as if their internal clocks are now attuned to the island’s timing. As they settle in for the third night, the sun dips below the horizon, bestowing upon the disheartened crew a dance of rubies amongst the sapphire waves. Soon after, stars fill the night sky. Chattier crewmen try to lift the spirits of the group by narrating the tales of the constellations. If there was any beauty to be found in their situation it was in that of these natural phenomena combined with the camaraderie of their fellow castaways. One by one, the men fall into the comforting assurance of sleep and take their turns keeping watch over the others. Waking and thus facing their now solidified reality, however, is imminent.

Captain, what is it you’re fixing to do? As they extinguish the fire, one man speaks the minds of all. I’m going inland to see what lies ahead. Turning to answer, they all get the sense that their captain’s visage has hardened as compared to when they had first arrived. Even in such a short time, every crew-mate had undergone a transformation, but none so much as the captain and First Mate who are driven by the responsibilities of leadership. Any of you are more than welcome to remain and wait, but I personally don’t see any other option. I have to admit… A peculiar smile cracks over his face and he gives a brief shrug, I’m growing fondly curious of what this place might behold. A sputtering noise breaks the awkward silence from a crew-mate so overcome by their captain’s laissez-faire attitude. Each of them is well aware that inland is where the unearthly and unexplainable ship graveyard lies. I don’t mind continuing inland. A more adventurous voice interjects from the crowd. Aye. Count me in. says another. After a few decide to join the captain, James also affirms his participation. Those who had been sailing with their captain for years had been the first to concede to braving whatever they may find inland. The few new and temporary recruits, however, remain silent. Kenti, you coming with? The captain inquires. It was clear to him that the greener and more indecisive crewmates took their cues from Kenti’s commanding nature and his opinion had been conspicuously absent. Yes, captain. With Kenti’s acquiescence, the few that had remained silent also consent to venture inland. We’ll be off now. The captain announced while some were still deliberating, Follow us if you wish, but know that I won’t stand for anyone slowing us down or complicating the journey in any way. Onwards then! James proclaims. A true explorer at heart, the First Mate seems almost jovial as he looks around at his eleven consorts. Having valiantly, if not barely, survived the turmoil of both slavery and sailing, Kenti also breaks into a grin and nods in agreement. Gathering their courage from the captain’s forthrightness, James’ savvy, and Kenti’s resolve and knowing there was no reason to stay behind, the few who had not voiced their decision trudged behind the others. Together the brave and the timid disappear into the forest, acutely aware that it could be their final resting place.

Chapter Three

As it had before, it takes until about midday for the crew of