Infinite 01 - Infinite Sacrifice

see wisps of fog outside the open window. I get up and look toward the skies to see the exact rainbow of my dream. I start running across the farm with the thought that somehow Erna will be waiting there for me to bring her back to Thora; righting everything as it once was. I attempt to jump over the fence but catch my foot and land on my face in the mud. Hopping to my feet, I sprint off, trying to get to the end before it disappears. I follow the path, but when I reach a clearing, I can’t see the rainbow anymore, nor Erna in the center. I search around me, see only the trees, and hear faint whispers. The only thing I do see is a red-and-white mushroom growing out of a downed tree trunk in the center of the clearing.
    I’ve heard of mushrooms the warriors eat that make them fight like berserkers, and there are certain mushrooms no one can eat and live to tell about. The one with the red-and-white dots are the latter. I take my shirt off, pick the mushroom with it, and run to Ragnar’s farm up the road. I duck between the fence rails, head right to the dugouts, and search the open windows quietly. I know there are no other thralls on the property, so all I have to worry about are the dogs. There, inside the second outbuilding, lies Una, curled up, her hands tucked under her head, and wrapped in my blanket. I check for dogs within and then open the door slowly. I walk hunched over inside the tiny space and tap her on the shoulder. Una leaps from the bed and flies back across the room like I’ve never seen her do before. She pulls her blanket up to her chest until she sees it’s me.
    “Liam, what are you doing here?” She clambers to the window to search.
    “It’s still early. He isn’t awake yet.”
    She turns to stare at my bare chest and asks, “What happened to your shirt?”
    I open up the bundle, and she crawls over, curious to see what I brought.
    “A mushroom?” She seems equally confused and disappointed.
    My eyes light up. “A poison mushroom!”
    “For me ?” She looks like she is considering it.
    “No! For you to feed to him .”
    Her mouth shuts, she glances in his direction out the window, and then turns back to me. “Do you think he could tell if I cooked it?”
    “I was thinking you could cut it up into little pieces and make a stew. Be sure to pretend to eat it yourself, though.”
    She scoffs. “He never shares his food. I only get the food that is headed over to the pigs.”
    “So then try it. What is the worst that can happen? Be careful to chop it up real small so he can’t see the red.”
    Hearing the rooster crow and seeing her eyes widen, I shove the shirt in her hands. Running out, I leap over the fence, this time clearing it, and then sprint all the way back to the farm. Over the next few days, I wait for any sign that Una has done what we’d planned. I watch the roads for carts or pyres burning but see nothing. A week later, I see an unfamiliar man appear, bringing Una up the road to our farm. Rolf speaks with him while I watch from behind the dugout. My heart races as the man leaves Una there, wearing my old shirt, and takes a small bag with him. Rolf speaks to Una for a moment and as soon as he turns to go into the house, she runs straight to me and embraces me so hard I fall over.
    We both laugh and hurry into the dugout.
    Once inside she says out of breath, “I did just what you said! I cut the red mushroom into tiny pieces and made a thick chicken-and-barley soup. I put edible mushrooms in so that if he were to notice a piece, he would think it was some of those. He ate two bowls, belched, and ate another before going to bed. In the middle of the night, I heard a commotion and saw him staggering around outside. He went crashing into everything, mumbled the strangest things, cursed at the cows, and swatted at the air! He stumbled onto the road and took off toward town. His brother came a day later to say he found him dead on the side of the road.”
    “Why didn’t I see smoke, then?”
    “His brother took him to the next village where he was from, then came back for the things he inherited. He asked me who owned me before, and since he wanted to dispose of me fast, he sold me back to Rolf! At half the price, from what I could hear.”
    “I am so glad you’re back.” I give her another hug.
    She smiles and pulls out my blanket from her bag. “It’s yours again.”
    Sleeping next to Una makes everything better. Even though I had to explain what happened to