Thrown Through Time

Chapter 7

It had been months since she'd first arrived in Svangard. She'd been training since nearly the first day and she had grown quite proficient with a sword. Ulriech still drove her to the brink of insanity and it was all she could do just to stand being in the same room as him for any length of time. When she couldn't stand the sound of his voice any longer, she usually excused herself and went for a walk.

This was one of those times and she stomped across the clearing, mumbling to herself. She wasn't paying much attention to what was going on around her until she looked around and noticed just how far she had wandered from town. With a huff, she turned to head back, but she suddenly felt like something was off. It felt like she was being watched and she wondered if Eirik or Ulriech had followed her when she'd left the hall.

Considering this, she knew that neither of them would conceal themselves in amongst the trees. They would have just come stomping up the trail, loudly scolding her for taking off again. No, whoever was watching her wasn't from Svangard.

She'd taken half a dozen steps back towards town when several strange men stepped out of the cover of the trees and began moving to surround her. She instinctively pulled her sword free of it's sheath and felt at her waist for her dagger.

It didn't take her long to identify which one was in charge and she stared him down. "What do you want?" she asked.

"Well," he licked his lips as he looked her up and down. "We were hoping to encounter the prince of Svangard, but perhaps we could come to a different arrangement,"

"What kind of arrangement?"

"Well, we'll just take you instead. And when the prince comes looking for you, as I'm sure he will, we'll make a trade."

"That doesn't really work for me," she said. Sure, she was currently mad as hell at him, but she wasn't just going to hand him over to these guys without a fight. "How about you fight me instead and if you can best me, then we'll go with your plan."

He laughed. "Best you? Wench, I could do that with one hand tied behind my back. And blindfolded!"

"Really? I'd like to see that,"

"I want the prince!" he snarled.

"If you're talking about Ulriech, I'd be happy to get him for you, but I'm warning you, one can only take so much of his incessant jabbering before he makes you lose your mind!"

He must have found her rather funny, for he laughed again. But as soon as he finished, he pulled his sword and so did his fellow travelers.

Everything went by so fast that Sophie couldn't have recounted what happened. She fought instinctively. She had never killed a man before, much less five, but it appeared that her training with Eirik had served her well. She looked down at the bodies of her attackers and realized that she was partly covered in their blood. She gasped, dropping both of her weapons and began trying to wipe the blood from her arms as if it were acid and was burning her skin.

Eirik stepped out into the clearing, having come after her and expecting to get an earful about how he never let her have any space, but when he saw the scene before him, he stopped and stared. He counted five bodies on the ground, blood everywhere and Sophie in the middle, hyperventilating and covered in blood.

"What happened?" he sprinted over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to look at him. It seemed to snap her out of the panic attack she was having. "Are you injured?"

Blood covered her sleeves. It was all over the front of her dress and had splattered over her face. He wasn't certain if it was just the men's blood or if she was injured somewhere.