1 Ch 1. The Fire

Last week, the settlement was attacked for the first time in its history. I was in the garden, pulling weeds when I smelled the black smoke billowing up from the bottom of our hill. The storage warehouse where our winter food storage was kept was on fire- I could hear the shouts from the villagers as they raced to fill metal buckets with water from the cistern. Wiping my hands on my apron, I jumped up and ran down the hill, the wind blowing smoke in my face. In front of me, a crowd of men hauled heavy buckets and bins, dumping all the rainwater we had collected this month onto the flames. Wanting to help, I tied up my hair and began filling buckets, passing them to the men who moved back and fourth from the cistern to the fire. The smoke thickened, burning our eyes and lungs. I couldn't take a deep enough breath. All at once, the sky darkened and I prayed for rain.

I could hear the others coughing, like myself, unable to get clean air into our bodies. A guard was suddenly at my elbow, pulling me away from the scene. He placed a wet cloth over my nose and mouth as he tugged me upwind of the smoke. "It's lost," was all he said as he half-drug me away. That warehouse held all our winter rations. Our very survival depended on the canned vegetables and cured meat lining its shelves. I looked at the guard, wiping the cloth over my face. "What will we do?" I knew the loss of the food stores meant serious danger to our settlement. He did not answer, instead, pointed for me to sit on a stump. Taking my hands in his, he used the wet cloth to wipe them clean, his eyes narrowed. I must have gotten too close to the flames, because both hands were red and raw. "It's only a minor burn. I'll be fine." He shook his head and poured cool water over them, before signaling to another guard to fetch my mother.

I was shaken, but not physically harmed. I waited patiently for my mother, sitting on the stump like a little girl. My legs were pulled close, my chin resting on my knees, and the guard fussing over my burns. I was almost numb to the world- thinking about the families that depended on that food. There were families with small children that needed the rations. We all did. We had nothing else prepared for winter. While pondering our fate, I overheard another guard talking. "She said she saw one sneaking past the warehouse. I found an ax at the edge perimeter fence. I think she's telling the truth." I sat up a little straighter, straining to listen. "Vikings have been spotted nearby, recently. I wouldn't put it past them. Just like the old ones... looting and burning everything in their path." My blood ran cold, diary. We had never, ever encountered the wild Vikings that occupied the forests of the Free Lands. In the 100 years since the fall of modern civilization and the rise of our simpler one, our settlement had stayed out of their lands and they had stayed out of ours. Of course, there were stories of villagers wondering off into the forest, never to be seen again. There were also the horror stories from other settlements. Stories of Viking monsters burning families alive in their homes, stealing crops, cattle, and worse...women. I shivered to think about what was happening to my home when my mother shook my shoulder.

"Valkyrie! We need to get back top the keep...Val, get up! We need to get moving!" I jumped to my feet and ran with her, confused at her panic. A roll of thunder made me freeze and look up to the sky. "Val, move!" My mother shook me. I pointed up, thinking the rain would start pouring and save what was left of the warehouse. Just then, my mother hurdled herself at me, knocking me to the ground. "You crazy girl, you are going to get yourself killed! Crawl, as fast as you can. We have to get to the keep." I was still confused, but began to move my body forward on the ground. Then I heard it. The thunder wasn't coming from the sky- it was the sound a horde of riders made as they galloped towards us. My eyes widened in fear and I picked up my pace, trying to stay low enough to be hidden by the tall grass and bushes of the garden. I looked back at my mother, who's eyes also held fear. She shook her head and pressed her finger over my lips, pleading with me to stay quiet.

We crept through the grass until we reached the gate that opened to a path leading back to the keep. I anxiously waited for her signal, knowing the riders were getting closer. We would be in their line of sight soon, and who knows what would happen. I held my breath, my heart hammering in my chest. To my dismay, my mother smiled sadly at me, nodding her head for me to run. Then she stood up, in full view of the riders. I was frozen in position; fear and worry rooting me to the ground. I heard her yell for me to go, but couldn't get my body to move. I watched as she was approached by the riders, the one in the front slowing as not to trample her. In a swift motion, he jumped off his horse and grabbed her arm, holding her in place. Her face crumpled- she knew we were both caught. I stood up slowly and walked towards them. Ashamed of my cowardliness, my head hung low and I avoided eye contact with my mother. She had sacrificed herself for me and I had laid there like a scared child.

The men exchanged glances with each other, as they saw me approach. I tried not to look at their faces as I walked to my doom, only focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. "Does she have a death wish?" The man holding my mother asked her. "Val, run!" My mother screamed, but it was too late. I was within his reach and he wrapped his arm around my waste, pulling me tight against his side. "We need to move. Fast." With that, he handed my mother off to another rider and pulled me up onto his horse with him. I was momentarily stunned, but then instincts kicked in. I swung my head around trying to get a visual on my mother. I saw her with a rider near the middle of the formation, shaking her head at him with her fists balled up, hitting his chest. I felt the panic subside and the rage rise. I turned my body so that I could look at into his face, promptly spitting right in his eyes. He grunted and wiped his face on the top of my head. "Just you wait until we get to that keep... " My anger boiled and I began to fight to get off the horse. I slammed my fists at his face, head and chest as hard as I could. I thrashed my body and kicked at his hands as he held onto the reins. None of my attempts accomplished anything. I must have seemed like an angry kitten, for all the good my struggling did.

When we arrived at the keep (My home! The only place I had ever known. My safe haven...) The men dismounted. Panic rose in my chest and I knew I was almost out of time. I intensified my attacks on the rider that held onto me. I began biting and clawing at his face and arms. I executed a headbutt to his nose that was so strong it nearly made me black out. He cursed and dropped me on the ground like a rag doll. Somewhere behind me, I heard my mother calling my name. But my last attempt at escape had my ears pounding and my eyes watering. "Val!"she cried, as I tried to turn to look for her but was again hoisted up from the ground. I looked at my captor- it wasn't the rider that I had enraged with my struggling. It was the guard that had washed my burns on the stump. I thought we were saved! I threw my arms around his neck in gratitude, letting him lift me into his arms. I waited for him to take me away from the riders, or start fighting them. Instead, he held a piece of my hair between his fingers and laughed softly. The rest of the men around me started to laugh as well, as my brain tried to wrap itself around what was happening.

I looked at his face and my blood ran cold. 'Why would one of my mother's guards wear a braid in his beard?' I knocked the half-helm off the man's head, revealing him to be a Viking. I let out a noise that sounded like a trapped animal and tried pushing off of his chest to get out of his grasp. The laughing increased as the men watched my eyes widen with fear. The man held me tightly to his chest, smiling down at me like he had won a prize.