Chapter 13: Smell

Thors warns the raiders that they cannot hope to bring him down and orders them off. High on the cliff a bowman nocks an arrow, only for a companion to tell him to hold until their chief signals; grudgingly he lowers the bow, unsettled that Askeladd would delay in a way so unlike him. From the deck Leif marvels that one man dares stand against two ships, and when Mols aches to jump into the fray, Leif reminds him of the archers overhead and insists they leave matters to Thors, the only one who grasps the situation. Studying the enemy crew, Thors judges that these men will not be cowed and that their bowmen are staying their shots for now.

He reckons he could carve through the thirty or so aboard, but with the hulls pressed so close a mass charge would endanger Thorfinn and the rest, so he must keep the fighting away from close quarters. Pointing his blade at Askeladd, Thors names him the leader and, invoking Odin, demands single combat, leaving the crew baffled at how he picked out their chieftain. He sets the stakes: should Askeladd win he may do as he likes, but a loss means the whole band leaves at once, and turning the offer down would only earn a handful of slaves at triple the price. Asked how he knew, Thors credits the man's scent, which draws a hearty laugh and a yes. Askeladd leaps across to Thors's ship, admits the same instinct told him something about his opponent, and hails him as the Troll of Jom.

Realizing his name is known, Thors deduces that Floki set the ambush in motion, and Askeladd praises the quick reasoning. Thorfinn charges forward to defend his father, spitting insults and swearing to kill Askeladd, until Thors orders him back; amused, Askeladd asks whether the boy is his son. Thors instead asks if Askeladd has a wife and children, and hearing no, he simply advances and calls the fight open. Reading the confident approach, Askeladd slashes a rope so the sail and its heavy spar topple down before Thors, then ducks low beneath the falling rigging to catch him off guard. Smell is the thirteenth chapter of the series, adapted as part of Episode 4 and collected in Volume 2.