Rurik's Frozen Bones

Hundested, Denmark—819 A.D.
Rurik sits at the hearth in the old mead hall. With eyes on the fire, he’s trapped within himself, mumbling about the past. A flagon twitches between two shaky hands. Bring him another flagon of mead, and he might tell how he’d sailed upon the Windward Mare, a well-built ship commanded by a good captain. For one more quart, he’ll tell of the Mare’s fateful last voyage, of danger from the deep...the hungry beast from below...

This short story, 'Rurik’s Frozen Bones' first appeared in 2012's 'Fading Light, Anthology of the Monstrous,' edited by Tim Marquitz.