Rescued by the Berserker

More than a man

Hazel

The wind knocked out of me, I couldn't shout. Hands braced on the warrior's back, I raised my head enough to see the Grey Men slithering after us. The warrior plunged into the forest, moving faster than was humanly possible.

He'd caught the blade in his hand. He'd destroyed the Corpse King's servants with inhuman strength and speed, and for a moment, I'd caught a glimpse of the beast-like form underneath his human one, the monster waiting to break free.

Whoever my captor was, he was more than a man.

I let my head hang down with a sob. I'd lived all my life at the abbey orphanage, a simple, sheltered existence, and now was caught in a world of magical creatures, evil kings, and raging warriors.

As my breath returned to me, I started to struggle. I still held the piece of the witch's staff—my left hand clutched it so hard I may never pry it free. I knocked the warrior's legs with it and his hand clapped my bottom.

"Stop that," the warrior grunted.

He plunged into a stream and waded forward. When he reached a deeper pool, he swung me down. I yelped, thrashing in the freezing water.

He caught me in his brutally strong arms, an arm around my waist and hand over my mouth.

"Be silent," he rasped into my ear. "We must wash the living corpse's scent from our bodies. This way, they cannot track us."

My teeth knocked together under his palm sealing my lips, but I relaxed.

"Good girl," he murmured. "It's going to be all right. I'll not let them take you."

My legs were almost numb before he swooped me up in his arms and waded out of the pool. The freezing water didn't seem to affect him.

Too cold and shocked to cry out, I clung to him, a source of heat if nothing else. I could struggle and scream, but no one besides the Grey Men would hear me. Whatever this warrior was, I was stuck with him until I could escape.

Desperate to get warm, I pressed my face to the warm flesh at the base of his throat, just above the collar of his jerkin. My body shook against his massive chest.

The warrior strode through the woods, carrying me as if I weighed no more than dandelion fluff.

"What were those things?" he murmured.

"I don't know," my teeth chattered as I answered. "They brought me into the cave to feed to their sire."

A growl rumbled under my ear, but it wasn't directed at me. He pulled me in closer.

"Did you see the mage that made them?"

"The Corpse King. Yes, I saw him." He had looked like a corpse, wrapped in grave clothes, lying on a stone slab with his armor nearby, ready for when he would rise again and lead a conquering army of his Grey Men. "He still sleeps. The servants brought us there as a sacrifice to set him free."

"Us? They captured more than one of you?" Abruptly, the warrior changed course, darting faster between the giant trees.

"Yes." I didn't know why I was telling him this, or why I felt so safe in his arms. I didn't even know his name. "There was another young woman with me, named Fleur. Please, you must help her."

The warrior cursed and broke into a run that had the landscape blurring around us.

I slipped an arm around his shoulders to hang on tighter. He wore a slight frown as he wove through the trees. If I met him in a village market, I would think he was a flesh and blood man, a hardened soldier, mercenary even, but one who followed a code of honor. Maybe I could trust him.

You can. His voice spoke right into my head. Another sign I was hallucinating. The warrior wasn't even looking at me, but ahead at the trail.

Gripping the staff, I did the same and shrieked as a giant wolf bounded into our path.

"Hush, lass, 'tis only Rolf." The warrior carrying me stopped dead in his tracks and spoke to the wolf. "But where are the others?"

"Knut," two warriors appeared, bursting from the trees. One brown haired with thick black brows, the other a redhead. "We got separated when a party of draugr attacked. Who is this woman?" They gaped at me.

"Never mind," Knut told them. "The thieves we sought—they lost their quarry. The spaewife Fleur is in the cave with the sleeping mage who made those Grey things."

"Grey Men," I corrected softly, and he heard me.

"Rally the pack to attack these draugr, these Grey Men," the blond ordered.

"What are you going to do?"

"Get this one to safety." His arms tightened around me.

With a nod, the wolf and brown haired warrior ran off, but the red-haired one paused. "Who is she?"

Knut's answering growl sent tingles up and down my spine.

"She is mine."

***

Visit www.leesavino.com to download a free Berserker book!