VIKINGS || GYDA

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐 *

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𝔸𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕕 𝔹𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝔽𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕓𝕖𝕪 𝕒𝕤 𝔼𝕚𝕣𝕒

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FEW DAYS ON...

Eira and myself sit along a stone wall on the outskirts of Hedeby as the sun descended down.

For the last few sunsets we had done this. Watching the same people of this town doing the same things—fetching water as well as food, walking with their children and of course the familiar stumblers of drunken men and women wandering the streets with jugs of ale in their palms.

Although the drunks are quite entertaining the feeling of paranoia in the back of my mind clouds my thoughts. Sigvard had been too docile with the news of mothers betrayal. I knew him well enough to know when a storm was coming. My only fear was Eira getting mixed up in it.

"You may not be saying anything, but you're being very loud."

I turn to Eira with raised brows.

"I didn't know you could read thoughts Eira."

"Only yours."

"I do not think my thoughts have ever been quiet here. I've never known peace in this place and if I did it was only the calm before the storm."

"What are you thinking?" She inquires.

Not even a second after her words we are both pulled from our spot off the stone walls.

Our backs collide hard to the grass below us. As soon as we find our feet, immediately we pull ourselves up and draw our swords.

I should have felt shocked but in a way this was what I was expecting from him. About seven of my step fathers men stand ready with their axes and swords.

They charge towards us.

One comes from my side with his sword swinging up high. I deliver a hard clash of my sword onto his own then thrash my iron deeply across his chest. My breath catches as the blood sprays upon me. I then push him off his feet towards the other direction.

Another comes running after him, slicing his sword. I duck and jump from his attempts then swipe my blade across his stomach. I'm quick to turn my eyes away from the content falling from his stomach.

I make my way to Eira who parries three of them off her at once, as the body of two more lay lifeless before her.

Coming from behind I kick ones legs from the back and he falls to his knees. I yank his head back by his braid, we meet eyes and then I drag the blade across his neck. blood spraying across my face. My mind was quiet at this point. I felt numb to the horror I was inflicting. All I knew in this moment was my training.

Throwing him to the ground, I yank another mans shoulder towards me, leaving eira to finish off the other—knowing she could do it.

His face is contorted into rage as he notices the bodies of the others. He slashes his axes in every direction of my body. I grunt as he slices across my arm, it was not deep but I could feel the blood seeping. Shaking off the sting I continue to match his swings as I fumble with my footing as his brute figure dominated me.

I stand still letting him come closer, letting him bring his bodyweight forward, I lean out of the way of his advance, watching his body stumble past my own. I'm left in a valued position as for a slight second his back is in front of me.

He swiftly turns towards me again, meeting eyes once more—but my sword is already locked above his throat. With one hand holding the blade, I use the other to ignite the force and push through his neck.

His gaze is still and locked onto my own as I keep pushing until my whole blade has disappeared into the other side of his body. I taste his blood in my mouth as it spits across me. His dying breath is pushed onto my cheek, the stumbles of his beard is roughed across my skin, as he releases his final exhale.

I'm quick to push him back, yanking my sword out of his body as he falls to the earth. I look back to Eira. Expectedly her opponents body lied lifelessly on the ground, with her covered in his blood.

As I lean over, hands on my knees to catch my breath the blur of everything that just happened spins inside my thoughts.

"Finally we are able to call ourselves real warriors."

I look to Eira with confusion. She stands covered in blood with her eyes triumphantly scanning the unmoving bodies.

"What makes us so real now? We have trained since we were girls."

While she accepts my words, her facial expression of excitement doesn't change.

"Yes but now, here in this place we have earned it. We have proved our strengths that we worked hard for here in front of the gods as we take our first lives."

Her blood thirsty gaze falls to the dead bodies below us. Everyone has ways of dealing with death—this was how Eira was going to do it. That is when I thought on my actions.

I killed. My first lives to take and I never second guessed taking them. It was a bitter feeling. Like I had lost my innocence. But it was overcome with the pride that followed. I was a warrior.

"Why would your step father do this?"
she had to break the stillness of silence by asking such a obvious question.

"It is what I feared. Lagertha going back to Ragnar has drawn the last straw for him. He couldn't harm her or Bjorn so I'm his next bet."

"What now?"

"We leave. I will not put you in anymore danger Eira. We can head towards Kattegat, meet mother on the road back."

With that being our last words, we return our swords to their holster and make our way back to the house.