Later it would amuse her to learn that she had been mistaken by oceanographers for a small tremor along an unknown fault, but for now she concentrated on speed.

League after league of slime encrusted scales ripped free from the seabed in a flurry of sediment. For a moment she was caught beneath a rotted wooden keel, but a deft twist sent the ancient wreck tumbling away.

With a subsonic roar the Ormr set off, driving through the deep-sea currents in an undulating wave. It had been too long since she’d heard the siren call of the Gods. Aegir and Njord had long ago faded to silnce, leaving Ran alone to sing the quiet lullabies of death.