Virago - Ivar The Boneless

Again

Harald took the lead, he would be the one to make the first move. 

Little Bear watched from where she hid as Hvitserk headed to the open concealed entrance. Her eyes narrowed as he disappeared from her vision, slipping through the wooden entrance and into the walls of Kattegat. Around her people fought, firing arrows, climbing the walls and entering the city before being thrown back to the ground. 

Grabbing a shield from a fallen conrad, she made her way towards where warriors were being helped up on top of the walls with a pole. Cutting the queue, she threw down the shield before using the pole and climbing the walls into the city of Kattegat. Climbing over the top of the wooden lip, she held her sword close to her as she swung at people who came her way. She looked around, she didn't know who she was looking for, she knew that she just needed to kill anyone who didn't have blue or white face markings which had been given to the people she stood with. There was men and women of all ages, some scary, some scared but with one thing in common, they all wielded a weapon and fought for something they believed in. Little Bear bit her bottom lip when she saw what situation she'd put herself into, it was like she'd done it before, like it was natural and that feeling scared her a little. 

She tried to scan the ground, her eyes looking for Hvitserk but there was no trace of him. Her eyes flicked back up to the scene in front of her. A man approached her, his face clear of the markings of her side, her eyes went wide eyes as a swing was taken at her, raising her sword she was quick to block the attack. Her body moved swiftly, muscle memory kicking in as she moved forward with her sword swinging at anyone who came at her. Her hair blew away from her face in the wind and in the way she moved allowing her to see clearly as she kept going.

Swiping at the man in front of her, her blade hitting his neck before he fell to the ground, blood coating her pale skin, dying red spots onto her light hair as her lips stayed in a line. The feeling inside her was different, it was one of blood thirst and it terrified her. 

Even though everything was loud, there was screams, there was clashing of metals and yelling, there was a loud voice over everyone else's. Turning her head, she looked for the source of the sound. She let out a small sigh, she then refocused her attention to her immediate surroundings. Little Bear knew what she needed to do, swiping at her face, she wiped at the markings hoping to disguise herself for a moment. Heading towards some nearby stairs, she headed down into the town, her eyes looking around at the place. People still came towards her, swords still swiped at her, all she could do was fight back. 

Finally, she entered a building, taking a deep breath she barricaded the door with a nearby table before leaning against it allowing herself to have a minute to catch her breath. Closing her eyes, she felt tears prick at her eyes as she leaned forward. Her body felt stiff, like it had been too long since she'd acted in such a manner. 

"Iona," a female voice spoke softly. 

Opening her eyes, Little Bear whipped her head round quickly, her eyes landing on the blonde woman, Freydis. Feeling her scar, Iona stared at the woman before her, her beauty was something special and it made Little Bear a little jealous. There was something, something about this woman that made Little Bear feel something, like they had met before, like their lives were somewhat entwined.  

Freydis leaned against a nearby table as Little Bear turned to face her properly. "I am sorry," she spoke quietly. "I would never want another to endure the same fate as myself, as my son." 

"What happened?" Iona asked as she sat on the table top behind her crossing her legs, placing her sword at her side but with her hand on the hilt. Even at this moment, she was casual in her approach, it felt normal, natural.

The blonde woman wiped her face, the lights were dim in the room and Little Bear couldn't see if there was tears but the actions from Freydis told her there was. "He took my son," she cried as she looked down at the ground. "Took him and left him to die in the forest, left him out in the cold, left him for the foxes." 

Her eyes widened as she heard these words, it should have scared her, it should have told her how dangerous and cold Ivar was, but that wasn't what she heard. Her mind flashed rapidly as memories of words came back to her, she remembered what she'd been told, that it was once Ivar's fate to be left to the cold, to die. She wondered what this child could have possibly done or what illness it had to deserve such a fate. 

Iona stared at the blonde, "Yet you stayed with him?"

"He is a monster," Freydis repeated her sentiment about the man she'd married. "This could have been you, it could have been your child that he murdered."

Opening her mouth to speak, Little Bear tried to remember something of Ivar. She could not think of him nor their time together whether it was as friends or something more. "I'm sorry you had to go through that," Iona spoke quietly as she tilted her head to the side watching the blonde woman before her. "I don't understand, why would he do that?"

"I do not want to play your games," Freydis snapped as she straightened herself standing tall again. "If you have come here to kill me, I will welcome it, to be with my son." Hearing her desperation should have been enough for Iona, the old Iona would have killed her without hearing her old, but she'd changed.

"Freydis!" A demanding male voice called out for the blonde. The voice, the voice sent shivers down her spine, it was a chilling but magical feeling. 

Her hand tightly gripped her sword as she watched at the other entrance, Freydis' eyes went wide before she turned to face where she'd come from before the owner of the voice appeared. 

Iona stared at the man, her eyes gravitating to the bright blue eyes, the same haunting eyes which spoke to her soul. "Ivar..." his name left her lips as she came face to face with him. She didn't need any confirmation to know it was him, she felt it in her stomach, in her heart. It was like a punch to the gut, everything that had been missing in her mind returned to her like being hit by lightning.