The Dawn of the Lost

19

I had been with the sorcerer for a week, he had healed my wounds and made me stronger. He had retrained me. We stood at the base of the waterfall near his home, he gently finished painting the war paint and runes on my face. "You are a reborn warrior, you are ready," he said. Tears glittered in his aged eyes. "It has been an honour to heal and revive you, but my tasks have now come to an end you must return to whence you came."

With that he kissed my forehead and left. "Goodbye," I whispered and watched him leave. I placed my sword into its scabbard and went searching for Ragnar. However, when I reached the camp it was empty, all the horses were taken, "looks like I'm walking," I sighed, I followed the tracks south but as the rain fell and washed over the land, it washed away their tracks. I kept walking frantically searching but found nothing. A little bit of rain wasn't going to stop me, I kept walking south but still nothing announced their presence.

I was losing light, but the night gave me strength. I continued walking listening to every sound in the night, the owls, the whistling wind, and the flowing streams. A few branches tangled in my hair almost like fingers, almost how Uhtred used to. I shook my head. "Don't think about him," I said as I walked.

"You know if you're talking to yourself it means the gods have cursed you," A familiar voice said. I turned and there stood Finan.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Beocca sent me, Uhtred needs you," he replied.

"Is it to kill his wife?" I replied.

"No," he answered. "Something has happened and he's not letting us near him, he's a broken man."

"He needs me at his weakest, but he didn't want me at his strongest?" I said and turned my head to the side.

"What happened to you? You've changed, you're not the same person who left us," he replied.

"Well I was reborn from a near death experience, shown the path I must take," he interrupted me.

"What path is this?" he asked looking me over.

"To get revenge on Aethelwold," I replied.

"Can we help Uhtred first, then come back and get revenge?" he asked. My gaze lifted from the muddy ground.

"He's that bad?" I replied, shock coated my words.

"Yes, he hasn't risen from his bed in almost a week," he said. I crossed my arms over my torso and sighed. "I'll take that as a yes." We headed back in the opposite direction of Ragnar, my own problems had to wait. It was a long trek but I had Finan to keep my company, we rode double on his horse I kept my hands on the back of the saddle. We kept riding till the sun came up, "we need rest."

"You mean you do," I replied.

"You're human too, the rest of our journey will need us to carry our strength," he said.