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The world was dark. I could hear the wind howl, the rain splattering down outside. But I couldn't wake up. I remember the nightmare so vividly, the world filling my lungs and swallowing me whole so that there was no possible escape. Trapped. Eternally trapped.
My tears stained my cheeks. I had to get out. I had to get free. There were dark figures surrounding me, monsters that threatened me.
Finally, I screamed. My screams echoed through the waking and sleeping worlds. The monsters that clung to me were flung back with the ferocity of my powers. And, suddenly, I was jolted awake to quiet cries and muffled gurgles.
My tired eyes searched through the darkness, heart pounding as I listened to the sound of death the stunk in the air. "Mother?" I whispered, catching sight of the shattered mirror and my beloved mother who lay upon the ground with shards sticking through her body. She came to help me when she heard my screams. I always had nightmares, always. She always comforted me. But, this night, she couldn't wake me. And, instead, I had unintentionally thrown her across the room.
Her blood pooled on the cold stone floor as she gasped for her final breaths, tears mixing with the thick crimson liquid.
"Mother!" I screamed, running over and touching her cheek. I tried to hold her, to keep her awake. But how much can a little girl do? I was ten years old and watching my mother die in my arms.
And it was all my fault.
Quickly, my eyes jolted open. I could feel my body shake as I recalled the traumatic night, the night that my powers began to develop. Until then, it was silly things like seeing the future in dreams and knowing when someone was good or evil. But that night, that horrible stormy night, was the night that changed everything.
Finally, my powers were free.
Slowly, I stood, tears still drenching my pale features as I walked to the narrow window. After a whole decade of agony following that night, I was finally queen of this unfortunate realm. And, I was going to need all of the strength that I could get to withstand the brutal attacks of these Saxon men.
Men.
Men fear what they do not understand. Men kill and plunder and care little for anyone else. But I am the monster and not them? I am the one who must be locked away and beaten? Well, I will be beaten no more. No matter who came to our gates, I would be resolute.
If they wanted a monster, a monster they would receive. And I would be a powerful adversary, that much I vowed.
As I looked out of the window, my eyes wandered to boats upon the horizon. Little black figures in the night, like dragons upon the sea.
No. These were not beasts. The only beast was me. These were men. These were Vikings. And they were on my land, my property. If it was war that they came for, then war they would surely receive. But I was no Saxon. They had no hope against me.
