Calanthe

Chapter V

Ranvir

Once they reached the village the warriors were greeted by the men of the village, all were armed. Their choice of weaponry gave away their true occupation. While a couple had swords most were armed with pitchforks and knifes while one stout man carried an axe. They were simple farmers or trade workers. This was going to be easy for the invaders. Ranvir called to the locals first in his own language "Give us your gold and valuables and we will leave you in peace!" The village folk apparently did not understand him so he called the same thing a second time but in another language as he was a little unsure of quite where they had landed the ship. This time he could tell they understood him from the way they shifted their weight and looked warily at each other. He spoke  to his own party "We have landed in England." They nodded back at him although he could tell this information was wasted on most of them.

A tall skinny man with a Balding brown hair stood forward  from the village ranks "We have no gold and nothing of value. Leave us."

Ranvir also took a step forward "Then you won't mind if we search your homes?" He replied cockily.

"Only if no harm comes to any person in this village."

"Of course" Ranvir replied his face becoming expressionless stone. He turned back to his men and sought out Frode. He quickly pulled the older man aside and spoke in a hushed voice, "Do we waste hours on this village when we have already lost the element of surprise?"

"I see your dilemma, they would have had enough time to hide all things precious. It is up to you, what is our purpose on this land so far from home?"

Ranvir thought for a long moment before responding. He turned himself towards his party of warriors and spoke with the might of a man who not only wanted to encourage his men but invoke fear into the hearts of his enemies.

"We have been driven out of our land! Been left with nothing but a ship and our supplies. It is an insult to a warrior's honour, Thor must be ashamed of us." He paused and looked at the growing anger and agitation on his men's faces, his sister; the only woman there apart from Onora, looked on more with fascination than any strong emotion. Ranvir frowned at her before continuing "We will purge the land of its riches! We will survive! We will go home and show Harald Fairhair that it is our land he has intruded with his army of imbeciles! There may be more of them than us but with this land we will get weapons greater than theirs, become richer than them and have our blood warmed with passion for what is rightfully ours!"

Although the villagers could not understand the words Ranvir spoke, the ferocity of them made them uncomfortably share glances with each other and shift uneasily where they were standing. Woman and children peered out from doorways of houses at the scene. A lone brown and white mottled dog ran across the empty dirt path that ran straight down the centre of the village, a small boy attempted to run out from one of the houses and chase it but was stopped by an arm that wrenched back on his shoulder, dragging him back inside. The tension of the moment was thick in the air as to what would happen next. The silence after Ranvir's speech was only broken by the crashing of waves and a chicken screeching from somewhere deeper or past the village.

Each of the foreign men held a weapon in their grasp, some of them were gripping them so tight that their fingers were white. For Even, this was his first confrontation with any sort of enemy and his face betrayed his uneasiness. Boys were trained since a young age to be warriors, but Even was never bloodthirsty, he would rather plant a tree than slit a throat. The other boys his age called him a coward and he had hoped stowing away would free him from a life of violence and shame. Apparently he would have to wait a little longer for a life of peace, so he did his best to hide the shaking of his hands by clenching his club tight.

With a flick of his sword Ranvir lead his men into the village where they swarmed into every building. Screams of surprise sounded from inside each structure as they were confronted with a large fearsome man. The sound of crashes and bangs as the invaders rummaged through their belongings broke sounded out into the summers day.

Even walked into the house that the small boy who had attempted to run across the path had come from. Inside he found the boy, an old woman and a girl similar to his age. With no one else from his ship with him he took a deep breath and put on a brave and fearsome front. Knowing that they wouldn't understand if he spoke to them, he gruffly gestured for them to stand in the corner of the main room in which they stood. With wide eyes they all did as he said and watched his every action. Tears were forming in the little boys eyes and the old woman, whom Even presumed was his grandmother, picked him up and hugged him tight before he started making a racket. Every pile was checked, ever jar opened, every basket looked in but Even couldn't find anything of value. They can't be this poor? Even thought to himself and glanced up into the exposed rafters. A glint reflected back at him making him stop in his tracks.

Grabbing a chair, the lanky boy stood on it and reached up into the rafters feeling around. His fingers closed around cool metal and he brought the object out and into his line of sight. It was a gold necklace, a large pendant embedded with a stone hung limply from the bottom of it. Even looked past it to see the eyes of the girl bug out. He, himself, was surprised that they owned something of such wealth. He was hoping to find something of value but didn't expect anything like this.

...

Onora had stayed back and guarded Zetta who had no battle skills of her own. The contrast between the two females was striking. While Onora was strong and burly bearing battle scars, Zetta stood tall and willowy, untouched by violence . Onora had bleached white hair while Zetta sported a natural blonde. Onara's dark eyes darted around suspiciously while Zetta's bright green ones were only curious. They both watched the village men in front of them who were visibly tensed at the sight of the men searching their village but did not move to fight them off. As long as both sides didn't inflict any harm the conflict would not result in any bloodshed.

...

The girl came at Even despite her grandmothers warning, she shouted insults at him although he could not understand their meaning. Her hazel eyes flashed furiously and she attempted to snatch the necklace from his hands. Although caught in surprise by the sudden out burst he easily pushed her away and clasped the whole necklace inside his fist so it was hidden from her grasp and view. This seemed to anger her more and she whipped her hand out and slapped him across the face which caused him to let out a loud grunt. Suddenly Ranvir appeared inside the hut and was pointing his sword at the neck of the girl. She froze in fear looking crossed eyed down at the dangerous weapon threatening her neck. The little boy let out a scream if fear, sensing the tension in the room.

"What do you want me to do to her Even?" Ranvir asked in a deadly tone.

Even was surprised and confused with what happened in a matter of moments.

"She hit you boy! How should she be punished?" Ranvir demanded.

Looking into her scared face made Even suddenly feel sick. "Let her go." He replied, not wanting to be responsible for any harm to her. Ranvir's face let a flicker of surprise run across his features before he lowered his sword and strode out of the room. Even kept the necklace hidden in his fist and turned to follow his leader.