Wolf Child - Lìfa-saga Book 1

X.

The first thing Lìfa felt was the sharp pain on her left side and the dizziness in her head. She existed in an uncertain darkness without light or sounds until slowly her senses came back to life again. First, a loud mess of noises hit her ear, then the sounds started to separate from each other. Loud voices speaking all around, shouting and laughing, with cheerful music flowing in the background.

She slowly opened her eyes, waiting for her blurry vision to come clear. When her pupils finally accommodated to the dim torchlight, she realised that she was lying on a hay bed in a small meadhall, full of people. The place itself was small, with a long table in the middle, and a fireplace in the far end. As she forced her eyes to focus more, she recognised the familiar forms of her companions feasting with the strange inhabitants of the place.

At first, she didn't understand how she got there, but as she tried to move, the pain struck in her body again, making her memories come back. Her fingers carefully trailed down to her side, searching for the source of her suffering. She found that her wound has been taken care of, and her torso was wrapped around in bloodsoaked clothes. Against the fact that she felt extremely tired and exhausted, she slowly forced herself to sit up inch by inch and leaned against the wall. This painful action sent white stars all over her vision, and she felt like the room was spinning around her. Standing up was not an option yet. Since no one noticed her awakening, she decided to stay hidden for a while and examine this strange gathering in the hall. This was no easy for her since she had to constantly fight her heavy eyelids shutting close.

She carried her gaze upon her friends sitting by the table with the forest warriors. Some of them, like Gunnar, Bjarne or Magni were chatting and drinking with their hosts. Others, like Thorvald, Ivar or Olaf were playing tafl. Carolus, longing for attention as always was performing some ballads and poems about the tragic end of their home. Egil sat at the far end of the long table with a man who seemed to be the leader or jarl of villagers.

The more she watched the scene in the hall, the more suspicious their strange hosts got. It caught Lìfa's eyes that only her mates were drinking. Their drinking horns were always full of the cheap and sour beer their hosts served, but the forest men did not drink at all. She couldn't understand how could her friends be this calm and cheerful around these men, not seeing that something was definitely going on. Especially after what happened to her. These men were dangerous, and they had to get back on the Fox as fast as they could.

As she was still eyeing the crowd, Sveinn dropped beside her with two horns in his hands. He handed one over to Lìfa, then swiped a few unruly blond locks away from his eyes. As he glanced over to his friend, relief and happiness were written all over his face. The shine in his blue eyes, and the warm smile his lips curved into told Lìfa how worried he was about her, and how good it was to see her alive, in one piece.

"Hey, how are you? You were pretty lucky that boar didn't kill you right on the spot! Maybe it was your god again." he shot a mischievous smile towards Lìfa and took a big gulp from his beer. "If these men didn't help you, you probably wouldn't be here now."

"What?" Lìfa choked on her beer in her surprise "There was no boar! They did this to me!" she said while still coughing which made her wound hurt again.

"You must have hit your head. In the forest, a wild boar dashed into you and if it wasn't for these guards, you would be dead by now. They saved and carried you back, and also gave us shelter for the night." Sveinn explained patiently, seeing the confusion and pain on the girl's face. Trying to calm her down, he pulled the girl into a gentle, but comforting hug, trying not to hurt her wound even more.

When Lìfa finally managed to recompose herself, she grabbed the boy's arm pulling him closer, and whispered to him:

"Sveinn, there was no boar. When Vidar handed me over to them, I was scared to death, so I tried to escape. I ran away from them, and they chased me down. One of their spears wounded me." when she looked in her friend's eyes, her gaze was full of panic, confusion, and fear. It just made Sveinn more concerned about Lìfa's state and did not help to convince him.