Deranged Obsession; by KaliAnn

5. Fantasy Fullfillment

By KaliAnn

The next day on Dagur's Atoll Nissa was staring unhappily at herself in the mirror. She and Hiccup were stripped of everything that made up their identity except for their crystal necklaces. She now wore a high collar black shirt with a gray, black, and white breastplate over it. She had a short gray with white apron like skirt and tight fitting black pants. Her boots were thick and gray barely hiding the bandages on her legs while the ones on her wrists were very visible. On her right arm was a galena forged armband to keep her in line. She also now sported a Valkyrie inspired helmet. In short she looked like a female Dagur. She wanted to shatter the mirror in front of her, but knew that if she did that her guards would run in to prevent her from harming herself.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in Hiccup," she called out knowing he was the only one on the island with manners to knock. Hiccup entered the room looking like a mini Dagur as well. "I can tell your not happy about the new looks or accommodations at all either. I thought for certain that Dagur would put you in his house. We should thank Odin we're right next door to each other." The stone homes were more like bigger version of their cell. There were three rooms with sparse furniture. There was no personality at all. No decorations on the wall, no personal items at all. It was a miserable drafty place.

"So what are you doing today? Dagur's forcing me to train with his men before I start my lessons on using their brains. What's he got you doing?"

"I've been instructed to work with the seiðkonur in the village to train them in my mystical arts. Its going to be rather difficult not to teach them at least one or two of my spells to them. It's going to be a long day."

The two of them were escorted outside through the village under the sneering gazes of their guards. No one would openly go against Dagur's commands, but some wondered if their chief had truly lost his mind by kidnapping the two scions, forcing them to become members of the tribe. Still the payoff for having such powerful and skilled members of the tribe would make them the deadliest tribe throughout the archipelago.

Nissa was led to the outskirts of the village near the far side of the compound. She saw a small group of women and young girls gathered by a fire. There was a protective circle drawn on the ground. An elderly lady with black and white hair in a gray tunic dress was leaning on a fir staff lecturing them. The woman's beady brown eye and sharp nose gazed from one child to the next making the kids squirm. She was holding rune stones casting them on the ground to foretell the future. Her harsh voice seemed to frighten the children as well as the adults. The guards grunted to announce their presences taking a step back when the woman croaked at them. "Yes? What is it?"

"Elder Inga we bring Dagur's betrothed to you. The chief has instructed you to let her sit through your lessons before teaching you and your students her mystic arts."

"I'm not your chief's betrothed!"

"Silence child, I don't know what magics you've used to corrupt our chief, but know they won't work on me. I see no reason to corrupt ourselves with the foreign worthless magic of this girl. Still, I won't ignore a command by the great Dagur. Tell me do you know what I'm doing?"

"Your casting runes for divination purposes. My people use a different method, but the results are the same och!"

"Enough, take a seat gentlemen on the bench over there. My lessons aren't for the ears of menfolk. You better not try anything girl or you'll be on the receiving end of my wraith," Elder Inga warned shoving Nissa to the ground next to the little girls. Nissa kept her cool reminding herself this was all part of the plan to find a way to escape.

"Now as I was saying magic is not a plaything. Magic is the energy all around us and the lucky few who can manipulate it carry a great power and responsibility. That is why we pass down the secrets of magic through the females for we are maturer then the men. We can use magic to foretell the future, curse our enemies and heal the sick. It's important to remember that magic always comes with a price. If you're careless with it you will injure yourselves greatly even wind up dead."