Vikings Book 1: The Dragon tamer [Rewriting]

Chapter XIII - The Hero

I awoke to the sound of banging metal from outside the room that I was held captive in, my vision swam into focus as I struggled to unbound my arms from the bed. All of my gear were gone, my clothes were replaced by sack-sewn clothing. I managed to sit up and scout the room with my eyes, a large room filled with heads of creatures as trophies. The furniture and walls of the room were made of lumber, typical for hunters.

I bruised my left arm trying to squeeze out of the binding, sacrificing it for me to get unbound. I peeled a small part of the sack cloth and wrapped my left wrist with it, I searched the room for my equipment but sadly it was not there.

The sound from the outside has stopped, I peered through the small gap between the door. A fire was settling in a forge, that explains the sound of clashing metal. It looked like whoever was smithing was now gone, I assumed he was the one responsible for my captivity. I opened the door and looked outside, no sign of life at all. A river was raging rapidly from the side of the house, and a forest was standing directly in front of the house.

I rummaged through the smith's workshop in search of my equipment, there were about fifteen sacks that had different equipment stored in them. I was running out of time, I grabbed three random bags and made a run for the forest. I did not know where I was, all I could remember was getting hit in the head after that hunt. I was now far from the lumber house, a forest clearing was beside the  path I was running. I made my way to it and trudged with a tired look, I was exhausted from running too long. I collapsed on the ground but managed to retain consciousness, I decided to rest for now.

I checked the bags I took off with, first one had a rope and some carpenter tools, I kept the rope and tossed away the rest of the bag. The second one had all my equipment in it, thank the gods. My bow, quiver of arrows, clothes, and the letter that Karthus gave.

How long have I been gone? Damn, I need to get back to the others quick. How will I get back?

"What do you mean you haven't seen anyone!?" Said a man, "This forest is completely isolated!"

"Exactly sire, this place is huge." Said a young male voice, "I'm sorry, I wish I could help you find whoever you are-"

"Argh! Get out of my way!"

I made my way to where the conversation was coming from and  peered over the bushes.

An old built man was raging forth the forest leaving the young lad behind, he wore a noble's clothes, had golden hair, and pale skin. His sword was unsheated from his belt.

I spied on him for a while and approached him when the old man disappeared further within the forest.

I ran to him, "Hey! Help!" I yelled at him, "Help me."

He drew his sword and I held my hands up in the air,

"Please help, I don't know where I am." I said, "I need to get back to my friends."

"Are you lost?" He said, "Where are you headed to?"

"Yes I am, my group was headed to the city of Herrion. Then we... no, I got ambushed while hunting in the forest of Tarrok."

His eyes widened as soon as I finished explaining myself.

"Is by any chance that your name is Hitch?" He asked,

"Yes! Yes!" I said "Wait, how do you know my name?"

"I-I can't believe this." He stuttered, "We've been looking for you! Emily sent me, I'm her brother, Eowan."

"Really? How long have I been gone?" I asked, "Are they okay?"

"You've been gone for four days, they sent me a raven to come and help search for you." Eowan said, "I travelled on horseback, and made it here as fast as I can."

"We need to get back to the others" I said, "Do you have your horse with you?"

"Sadly no, I had to leave it behind." Eowan said, "This place is high up. I had to hike this place."

"You! Stop!" The old man shouted from afar, "Stop you fool!"

"Run!" I grabbed Eowan by the arm and we made our way back to the lumber house, a boat was anchored to the riverbank, we unlatched it and got on the boat.

"How far are we from them?" I asked.

"About half a kilometre from the camp." Eowan replied, "That's north of here!"

Great, Xenoch don't let me down.

Once we finally got the boat running, we quickly made our way towards the end of the raging river, it was a waterfall.

"Uhm, Hitch?" Eowan said, "Are you sure about this?"

"Helheim yes!" I exclaimed.

Of course I wasn't but we had no other choice but to make this jump, I'm putting all my trust in you Xenoch.

The waterfall was coming closer and closer.

"We jump together okay?" I said to Eowan.

He gave me a nod, his face was pale from fright. I couldn't blame him, the situation we are right now is horrendous, it was brave of him to put his trust on a complete stranger and quite foolish as well.

We were about ten meters away from it. "Jump!"

We both jumped off the boat and I let out a loud whistle. We were free falling but I kept on whistling for Xenoch.

We were close from hitting the surface of the water, we were gonna die.

Fifty feet away

Thirty feet away

Ten feet away

A flash of white took over us and grabbed us.