ASCENSION: BOOK 3- APOCALYPSE.

Chapter 7: The Viking Queen.

The doors slid open with a screech. From inside of the lift a man and a woman armed with spears stepped out into the open. They positioned themselves on either side of the doorway as a third person emerged.
She was a few years older than me, dressed in metal and leather armour. Grey furs drapped down the left side of her shoulder as she stridded forward with her head held high. Her auburn hair lit up like fire as the sun caught it's glow, it was clear this mysterious woman was a person of great importance.
She looked at the eight of us as we continued to stand in defence, holding our weapons. I wasn't sure if she respected us or thought we were fools. Glancing over at the man who seemed to be one of her Generals, she nodded at him. In an instant he ordered those around us to take our weapons and force us to our knees.
Her General contiuned to shout but none of us understood, "HVEM ER DIN LEDER!"
When no one answered, he struck one of our warriors across the face.
The woman stood in silence for a moment before finally speaking, "They do not speak with a Nordic tongue. Maybe they understand only English? Which one of you is the leader here?" The woman questioned.
We all kept our silence.
She motioned for one of her warriors to put his sword to the throat of one of our own. When she was met with only more silence, her warrior slit the man's throat.
"AI NA FRAG YU OP!" Luna growled as she stood to her feet to confront their leader. The woman's warriors held her back.
"So you do have a voice. Maybe English would be better to avoid confusion or I may assume you want to kill me." She replied sarcastically.
"What do you want from us?" Luna spoke in anger.
The woman took from her pocket an old leather bound journal with a triangle embossed upon it. Opening one of the pages she pointed at crude sketch of our coastline and our  lands.
"We seek a city, inland from these waters, where there once stood a great tower," she spoke.
Luna frowned, "You're here to invade!"
"We're here to survive what's coming. You have no idea what is about to happen, the devastation that now descends upon this world."
As I listened to her warning I saw the sun light glint off a silver locket that hung around her neck. Upon it was etched a symbol we were all so familiar with, the sacred infinity sign of The Commanders. Both fear and intrigue filled my senses.

Her name was Queen Freya of Nordica, she was the leader of all that remained of the people from the lands of Scandinavia after Praimfaya had scorched the Earth.
Much like ourselves they had reverted back to the old ways, living in a clan based society under the rule of either a King or Queen. These fierce warriors looked as though not a single thing in this world could frighten them, but as Freya spoke of what was to come I could see fear flash in their eyes.
"Our legends talk of the world being consumed  by fire and water, of the death of the Gods. This legend is about to become a reality." she warned.
"You attacked us, killed my people why should we believe your words?" Luna questioned.
"These are desperate times. I've sailed what's left of my people though treacherous waters to find that which will save us. We didn't believe the stories we were hearing from as far as The Middle East. People getting sick from the air they were breathing, of toxic rain falling from the sky or of the wave of fire rolling on the horizon. When the black rain fell upon our lands, burning our flesh and killing our people we knew this was no myth. So you see, time is running out for all of us," Freya spoke.
From the corner of my eye I saw a group of her warriors appear, their weapons held against our elders and our children. I saw Luna's heart sink as Freya's eyes widened at this new opportunity presented to her.
"Take the children down to the boats," she ordered.
We looked on in horror as the few children that lived on the rig were led to the lift and taken away. Freya turned to face us, "Don't look so concerned, despite what you assume of me, I'm no child killer. Lead us to what we seek and when the time comes, when Ragnarök descends, there will be a place for you and the children of your clan in the sanctuary of The Second Dawn," she vowed.
Her words were foreboding and cryptic. She spoke of Polis and about the end of days. That the key to surviving this second Praimfaya they called Ragnarök, lay within the walls of our Capital. Maybe they would let a chosen few of us live, but if Queen Freya was indeed truthful about what was to come, this would mean an invasion on Polis and war for the rest of our people.

The Queen waited for Luna to answer and when she finally did it wasn't what she wanted to hear.
"I know of no such city that still stands," replied Luna, aware that Polis would be under siege as soon as The Queen and her army entered The Capital.
An eerie silence surrounded us, until Freya calmly spoke, "So be it."
She reached for the locket that hung around her neck and opened it. From inside she took out a small object and held it up to show us. I recognised it instantly. It was an identical copy of The Flame, the most sacred Grounder relic  that now resided the back of Lexa's neck.
Within seconds her General dragged one of our elders over to his Queen and pushed him to the ground. Freya took a hold of his head and activated The Flame, "Ascende superius!"
She pushed it against the man's neck and watched as it burrowed underneath his flesh.
He screamed in agony as it attempted to attach itself to his mind, but he was no Natblida. Blood ran from his eyes and ears as Freya's version of The Flame liquefied his brain and then suddenly silence as his dead body fell to the floor.
Freya pulled the A.I unit from his neck and deactivated It, "Quia nunc vale."
We were horrified by what we'd witnessed.
"Who's next?" She asked, unfazed by her actions.
I looked at Luna, willing to take the chance that this version of The Flame would also be compatible with the blood of The Natblidas. Freya was clearly using it as a weapon, if she attempted to use it on either me or Luna, we had the opportunity to take away her weapon.
Luna shook her head at me, understanding what I was preparing to do, but before I could make my move we heard the rest of the elders call out in unison, "OSO GONPLEI STE ODON!"
They grabbed the weapons from the warriors that were guarding them and attacked, causing a diversion.
"GYON AU! LOM OP, POLIS!" One of them shouted at Luna, telling her to escape to warn Polis of the coming threat.
In the confusion Luna swiftly grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. The rest of her warriors fought to the death to give us time to make the leap that could have killed us. It was a risk, but better to die trying.