Eyes of Fire

Ragnar Falls

  Men on horses came through the gate and surrounded us. Garmr shifted on his paws at my side, and I fought the urge to look behind me where more horses were gathering.

  A man called from the wall in a foreign tongue, and Ragnar took a step forward to answer. The officer said something else, and Ragnar replied as the horses still circled.

  The officer raised his hand, and some soldier helped to put Ivar on a horse. Any of them that tried to come near me, however, got snapped and growled at by Garmr.

  Ragnar said something to make the men back off and did the low whistle that I did to call Garmr. The wolf did nothing, so I gave him a slight nudge with my leg, and he began to walk toward the older man, leading me as I held the rope still.

  Entering the walls, the people that had been in the street were all standing off to the side, staring and nervously shifting. Everything seemed fine at least, until a man came out and raised his voice.

  The man dressed in black cloth and chainmail then screamed before more men surrounded Ragnar and beat him to the ground while the man that had yelled was laughing. My grip on the rope tightened as my body screamed to fight and run out of there, but I would risk all of our lives in doing so.

  Ragnar was bloody before he was knocked out, and some soldier tried to grab my arm until Garmr tried to bite his leg. The soldier barely stepped back in time, and Ivar spoke up.

  "Don't touch her! She's only blind." But I doubted anyone actually understood what he said. However, no one else tried to grab at me or Garmr.

~

  A few days passed as I was locked in a room with Garmr, and a few guards were stationed at the door. I was growing impatient and was tiring of this facade I had to put on. I was restless and nearly reached for my absent sword when the door swung open before I was led out with the wolf in front of me as I held the rope.

  I was brought into a room where a long table was and saw Ivar seated on one side while his father was in a cage at one end of the table and an old man was at the head. The old man eyed Garmr with a raised brow, and a chair was brought up behind me before someone gently touched my arm to get me to sit. Garmr's head peeked over the table as he looked around, and there was a few seconds of quiet.

  "You all right, Hel?"

  "Fine." I replied. "Garmr is close to eating a guard. Or a few." Ivar chuckled a bit, and Ragnar looked at the old man and spoke in their tongue. The old man said something in return, and food was offered to Ivar and I. Ivar looked at his father, and the older man nodded.

  "It's safe to eat." Ivar told me, and I hesitated before halving my food with Garmr and digging into the meat and sweet fruit on the plate before me. Garmr seemed to enjoy it while scarfing it down in a matter of seconds. But as soon as the food was gone, the old man at the head of the table spoke, and Ivar and I were taken from the room.

  "Don't fuck with them." Ivar told his father, and the men on either side of Garmr and I were taking us in a different direction from before, following the soldiers that had Ivar. We were put into the same room this time, and once the door was closed, I let the wolf go, and he sniffed out the room.

  "Your father better know what he is doing." I stated.

  "There's no telling with him." Ivar raised his brows as I leaned against the stone wall. There was no light except for where the sun came in through the barred windows, and I sat down as the wolf marked a corner of the room.