DIVINE [HVITSERK RAGNARSSON]

20: BREATHLESS

CHAPTER TWENTY — 'BREATHLESS'

"This is your fault, Ivar." Ubbe snarled as they sat beside the campfire. It was cracking loudly and small sparks were floating through the air in front of Ubbe's face.
"My fault?" Ivar scoffed and scrunched his face up.
"You demanded we not pay a ransom! You said the great Ivar had a plan that would get her back, and here we are empty handed still!" Ubbe threw his hands in the air.
"How was I supposed to know they would rush her away so fast—
Ubbe chuckled, "I thought you were smarter than that, Ivar."
"Why should we risk losing our men for one girl, just because our brother wants to fuck her?" Ivar sneered, bringing his head closer to his brother as if threatening him.
"I'm not doing this with you right now, Ivar." Ubbe sighed, standing up from his stool and sauntering towards his own tent.

The Son of Ragnar had only managed to remove his sword-belt and fighting leathers before the rushed breathing of another body appeared behind him in the tent's doorway.
"What is it?" He spun around to see one of the scouts Hvitserk had sent out earlier.
"We spotted movement from the English, by the marshland." The scout said desperately, pointing his arm towards the other side of the camp.
"The marshland? That's close by." Ubbe looked back at his sword and the scout nodded.
"Hvitserk sent us to come and get you."

————

It was dark now, not quite midnight but frogs were chirping in the dark and animals could be heard scuffling through the forest. Ubbe, Arvid and Erik rode alongside the scout through the deep forest. Ubbe had not asked Ivar to come with them.
"It gets very muddy here, but the horses can manage it. Hvitserk is over there." The scout pointed straight ahead.
Their horses moved silently forward, the soft mud actually helping to mask the sound of their hooves on the ground. Ubbe's horse lined up with Hvitserk's as he came to a stop and looked to his brother.
"They're over there." Hvitserk said, still looking straight ahead. "That's the big bastard that had Asta today."
"What are they doing in the water?" Ubbe asked. The English were on the other side of the forest, where the mud turned into boggy marshland from the sea, and a tide was beginning to come in quickly.
"I don't know, I can't see."

There was a large group of the Saxons, all fussing in the water with their backs to Hvitserk and his men. They hung back, not wanting to risk being seen in case whatever they were doing had something to do with Asta. And they all prayed that it did. After what felt like hours, they finally left. And they left something behind too, in the water. A person.
"Is that..." Erik breathed, jumping off of his horse and beginning to move forward slowly. Ubbe called after him to ensure there were no traps awaiting them. Erik moved further forward and narrowed his eyes. Thick, auburn hair lay atop the water in knotted masses, belonging to a body that was tied at the edge of the marsh, their chest downwards submerged in the brown water.
"It is..." he breathed to himself, "it's her! It's Asta!" He called out louder.

None of the men had ever dismounted their horses at such speed. Suddenly, Ubbe didn't care about traps as the men began wading through the bog.
"Asta! Asta!" Erik was calling as he got to her. Hvitserk wasn't far behind, studying her eyes as they flickered between open and closed and cursing at the cuts and bruises that covered her face. She was alive. Nothing else mattered.
"Why did they leave her here like this? Why not kill her?" Erik mumbled as he knelt down beside his sister.
"The tide." One of the scouts spoke up as he arrived behind them, earning confused looks from the other men. "I've heard it done before. The tide comes in slowly, making the water rise and drowning them slowly. She would've been too weak to escape, the water would've submerged her completely."
"They're evil." Arvid muttered under his breath at the information the scout had just given them.
"Asta? Can you hear me?" Hvitserk said as he frantically began to untie the restraints that kept Asta in the water. He was rushing too much, giving himself cuts from the rope and the brambles that lined the edge of the water. A small groan escaped Asta's lips as her hands became free; a groan of pain and suffering.
"Asta."
"I...I'm sorry." They were the only words she could manage, and her eyes barely opened fully as she muttered them from her cracked lips. Hvitserk couldn't even tell her not to apologise as he gently lowered Asta's hands from above her.

He took a look at her, stroking his hand over her hair. How could he have let this happen to her? That was all he could think to himself.
"Help me here." He said as he began struggling to lift her from the water. She groaned again and Hvitserk could only imagine the pain it would be causing her to move. Arvid came to Asta's other side and waded deeper into the water to help Hvitserk pull her out. It was freezing. Ice cold and bitter, the sort of temperature that would freeze her bones if she was left in the water for any longer.

The brothers sat her on top of Hvitserk's horse and he climbed on top of the mount, Asta's limp body leaning back onto him as he sat behind her. He put his arms around her - partly to grab the reins and partly to keep Asta upright on the horse. Her head was lulling and her eyes were flickering as she drifted in and out of consciousness.
"Hey, stay awake there." Hvitserk whispered to her as he turned his mount around and the party began in the direction of their camp.

Arvid was the first one off of his horse when they arrived back. He rushed to the side of Hvitserk's, ready to lift Asta from the horse. As soon as Hvitserk's hands removed themselves from around her waist, her body dropped to the side like dead weight.
"Woah," Arvid exclaimed as he caught her before she hit the floor completely. He lowered her to the ground as the realisation hit him. She wasn't breathing. "Asta." He murmured as he crouched next to her. Hvitserk was at her side in seconds, tapping her chest in the hope that something would wake her up.
"Asta? Asta!" He felt like he was shouting but the words were coming out as whispers. "She's not breathing!" He panicked as Ubbe came over.
"It's the water. She was weak already with those wounds but the temperature of that water was too much." Ubbe said, trying to push the terrible thoughts of death and pain to the back of his head.
"Asta, please." Hvitserk almost whimpered. He was shaking her now and his voice was breaking and cracking as he begged her to wake up.
"Hvits—
"Asta, baby." He could feel the tears welling at the back of his eyes. "Please."

It was then that she groaned; her chest suddenly rising and falling quickly with the lack of breath, as if Hvitserk's begging cries had worked. Arvid and Erik breathed a sigh of relief and Ubbe thanked the Gods.
"Get her inside the tent." Ubbe said, taking charge as the other three were in no position to do so. The brothers lifted their sister up, carrying her into the tent where some of the men had rushed to set up a bed for her as soon as they'd arrived back at the camp. Hvitserk followed right behind her, vowing to Odin not to leave her side until she was recovered.

Ubbe had doubt in his mind, however. Asta was barely hanging on. Even he could see from looking at her - her body skinnier and more frail than it had been before, the deep grey bruising on her wrists after hours of being bound at a time, the cuts and gashes that littered her skin. She was breathing for now, but how long could she survive this? They needed to beg the gods for her life.