The Nephilim & The Maiden

P r o l o g u e

Njal and Bodil were dear friends of Ragnar and Lagertha. They knew each other before Ragnar's fame. Njal was one of the first to swear on his arm ring to go with Ragnar as he sailed west for the first time.

Bodil, proved herself numerous times as a fearless shield-maiden alongside Lagertha. The more battles they won, the closer the two of them became, if it were even possible. The woman's fame started to spread alongside Lagertha's with every victory. Bodil's name was sure to be mentioned by the great poets as they sang the tales of Ragnar and Lagertha.

Burdened with responsibility of ruling, Bodil and Njal watched slowly as Ragnar changed over the coming seasons as a person. To Njal, Ragnar seemed to be more full of himself and frequently used his fame and social standing to further his own ambitions. After spending a long time away from Kattegat and his family dealing with an issue involving Yarl Borg and King Horik, all of Kattegat was surprised when a princess from Sweden, princess Aslaug, arrived by boat clutching her swollen belly. She claimed that inside her belly was the child of Ragnar- a son to carry on his legacy. This would be the crack that would break the marriage of Ragnar and the Shield-maiden Lagertha.

Over the years, Ragnar and Aslaug were blessed with many sons. The foreign princess bore him three Ubbe, Hvitserk, and Sigurd and news was quickly spreading that there was yet another child of Ragnar on the way.

Bodil and Njal, after many failed attempts, were finally expecting their first babe. Their hearts were overjoyed, even Ragnar seemed truly happy for his dear friends. Njal refused to let Bodil fight in her condition and insisted that she stay in Kattegat during the raiding season. He took on more work around their home to let his beloved wife relax and keep calm during her pregnancy. They always dreamed their child would become a fierce and famous warrior. They would imagine all of the great things their child would do, all of the new worlds they would go to. But the Gods would not let Bodil live to see such things. Bodil died shortly after giving birth to her child but not before naming her babe; Briet. Njal's world crumbled around him as he held his new baby in his arms, gulping in her first breaths of air while his wife breathed her last.

As Briet grew she was taught by her father how to be a shield-maiden. It was he and his late wife's dream that their child would be a great warrior and he intended to see that dream through. The eight year old loved using her axe and shield while training. For such a young one, the thought of getting that close to a foe to land the killing blow always caused butterflies in her stomach. She was a lot smaller than most girls her age which lead to a disadvantage with the sword. She found it to cumbersome to be swinging such a long piece of metal around while training compared to the smaller axe. She used her small size to her advantage, ducking under flying shields and getting into tight spaces to sink the blade of her axe into her enemy. Though her axe was dull and it never actually broke skin in the training circle.

Briet idolized Lagertha, wanting nothing more than to be as famous as her when she grew up. Njal made sure that his daughter grew with both Lagertha and Ragnar in her life as an influence. Both great vikings regularly visited with them when she was younger but as time went on, those visits became few and far between.

Aslaug's time was consumed by caring for her youngest son, Ivar. Ivar was almost a year older than Briet. Growing up, she played often with Sigurd. The two of them would fight together with their dull weapons and pretend to go on raids in the forests surrounding the town. Ubbe and Hvitserk would join the two in their games but as time went on the oldest sons went with King Ragnar on his raids of England and Paris.

When Aslaug would let Ivar be, he and Briet spent a lot of time together. She felt sorry for Ivar. Not because of his condition but because she saw the longing in his eyes to want to be included. All of the children in Kattegat ignored Ivar's attempts to be included in their games and when he annoyed them enough they would run off and play somewhere else, usually a place where Ivar could not drag himself. Briet would leave her friends and stay with Ivar, asking him what he wanted to do to try and lift his broken spirits. He tolerated the girl though he knew her efforts were only because of his condition and not because she liked him. She was often made fun of for her size, being much smaller than the other children her age. Ivar was always the one to defend her, even if it meant that he would take the brunt of the jokes.

She spent most springs, summers and the early parts of the fall with Ragnar's youngest sons, Sigurd and Ivar. Aslaug was slowly starting to lose her grip on reality, turning to the wine as her form of comfort. Because of her slow mental decline, Ivar was finally able to leave the overbearing clutches of his mother. The three of them would trek through the forest to the clearing of trees and would train from almost sun up to sun down.

Though the three of them spent time together, they were now growing apart. Ivar and Sigurd were constantly at each others throats, sometimes even coming to blows. Ivar seemed to drift even further from Briet than he was his brother.

Months had gone by and the first sign of sails on the horizon had the towns people in a frenzy, all rushing to the docks to greet the vikings returning from Francia. Wives eager to see their husbands, children excited to see their parents again and even more excited about the new tales of war and far off places.

The sun had long since set since the last man left the longboats. Briet sat at the edge of the dock, her boot covered feet hanging over the edge of the wood plank. The light wind swept through her hair making a long blond tress fall across her face. Her tears had stopped hours ago leaving her feeling emotionless, void and withered. She watched as the reflection of the moon danced across the top of the black saltwater.

Bjorn's words still rang in her ears. The words that left her feeling crushed and forever changed. "Your father is dead, Briet."