Tales of Infamy (Viking)

5 - Ailmær

Several arrows hit the ship, but none managed to get through. These ships were blessed by Thor, no christian arrows would pierce them.

I peeked my head out over the edge. Two of our own were struck and killed, neither were my brothers, and one Thrall. Some of the Thralls were attempting to escape, while others just laid down on the ground and hoped that their own soldiers would not kill them. The chaos prevented them from leaving. Though their wellbeing wasn't a priority of mine.

The men had made a shield wall, with only a small opening at the very back where they could not be hit by the arrows. I could hear their curses from here, though the saksens could not understand what we were saying. I couldn't see my brothers.

I looked through the treeline. I counted four archers, but had to duck when I saw one shift and aim for my head. I once again ducked down in time and heard the arrow strike the wood.

"Four archers. I'd say about a dozen soldiers." I told Skarde. He snapped off the end of the arrow and tossed it aside. The arrowhead was still poking into his side, but he did not seem to feel it.

"Sannsorðit." Skarde cursed. "They won't waste any more arrows soon enough."

He was right. Soon I could not hear the low thuds of arrows hitting the wood of the ship, nor the curses of our men. Their curses had turned into well wishes. They were wishing each other a good fight and chanting Odin's name. I could not help but smile at this.

Fighting is in your blood. My father had told me this time and time again. He said it whenever I fumbled and dropped my weapon, he said it whenever I defeated my opponent. It rang out in my head during times like these. Like a chant Thyra would utter to the gods. Fighting really was something else. You are so focussed on your physical movements that thinking of anything but short phrases was impossible. Fighting was in my blood, in my soul.

About a dozen soldiers rushed out of the trees to the shield wall. Skarde stood up to join our men, but I pulled him back down. An arrow flew just by his right ear and landed in one of the oars behind us. They still had their archers, we were stuck.

Skarde cursed every curse word I knew, and even added to my vocabulary. The archers were shooting into our shield wall whenever they broke apart because of the soldiers, we were pinned and unable to defend ourselves. My hand went to the necklace.

"The christians fold their hands like this." I had told Thyra, and folded her hands together in mine. "They close their eyes and pray." She closed her wonderful eyes, pretending to be christian. Her dress was still somewhere on the floor, her skin was red and shiny with sweat from our previous activities. I placed a kiss on her nose, followed by one on her lips. She smiled.

I would not pray to a christian god, I would not pray to Odin. I only wanted her on my mind when I took my last breath.

I heard a familiar sound, followed by men screaming and others laughing. Skarde and I both peaked our heads out. The second group had returned, and were cutting into the backs of our enemies. The rain of arrows was finally finished.

We jumped out of the ship and joined the final moments of the battle. Some soldiers tried to run off, but they were chased by the vikings. The gods still favoured us this year.

I turned to where we used to have a shield wall, and spotted Kulli with his knees in the sand with his face streaked with blood and tears. His blonde hair was so dirty it looked almost brown now. I walked to him before I even knew what was wrong. Before I even looked to see whose hand he was holding.

For a brief moment, a terrible thought rang out through my head. I would have preferred it to be Kulli. Instead, Kulli was alive and well, holding Hringr's hand. His other hand was on his neck, though I could not see an inch of exposed skin. It was all covered in deep, red blood.

I kneeled next to my brother too. He was only faintly breathing still. His eyes switched from Kulli to me. They still looked at me like I would tell him all the secrets of the world. I wanted to, but we would not have the time.

"The Allfather is waiting for you." I said to my younger brother. "You will dine in Walhalla tonight, I envy you brother."

I thought I could see him smile, but perhaps that was just my wishful thinking. I faintly heard Reifr scream in anger behind me, Kulli had started to sob. I felt a tear slide down my cheek, at the same time that Hringr cried too.

The world was gone, instead I was in a bubble. A bubble that only contained my family and I. Thyra's necklace seemed to glow with warmth against my chest. She was still my sun, but this was a snowstorm like I had never seen before.