Then, suddenly, with a gust of wind from its wings, the black beast and its rider were hovering in mid-air next to where he was standing on the wooden ramp. "Trader Johann!" the youth called out to him. "All right, that's taken care of! Come on up! I'll let Dad know that you're here!"
And with that, the beast flew onwards and upwards. Johann noted numbly that the beast's tail was half-black and half-red, with a white skull apparently painted onto the fin.
His senior sailor, Beorn, came up behind him and spoke quietly. "Sir, look!"
"I'm looking," he retorted. "What do you see?"
"I see impossible things," the old salt said. "I see a fortune on the wing. I see a beast that was the stuff of nightmares being ridden like a horse by the son of the chief. I see demons broken to the saddle and stirrup." His tone quieted, "I see the future patrician of a great trading house, whose crest will be dragons and coin."
And with that, the beast flew onwards and upwards. Johann noted numbly that the beast's tail was half-black and half-red, with a white skull apparently painted onto the fin.
His senior sailor, Beorn, came up behind him and spoke quietly. "Sir, look!"
"I'm looking," he retorted. "What do you see?"
"I see impossible things," the old salt said. "I see a fortune on the wing. I see a beast that was the stuff of nightmares being ridden like a horse by the son of the chief. I see demons broken to the saddle and stirrup." His tone quieted, "I see the future patrician of a great trading house, whose crest will be dragons and coin."
—A Thing of Vikings, Chapter 1, "On Approach"
