More Than A Dane

To New Beginnings

Welcome back to those who continued to read we love you. You know the daily drill drink water, stayed hydrated, and grab a snack.

Enjoy.

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Once, a small girl was on a ship overlooking the seas and the land beyond. Admiring the beauty that lay ahead, she motioned to her older brother to look at the sight before them. Looking up from his sword to pay attention to her, he looked ahead then back at the girl with a slight smile on his face as she gushed about the lands ahead. Breaking into a light chuckle, Young Ragnar pulls the girl down, ruffling her hair with a grin.

"One day, that land will be yours to take," he said heartedly, laughing with her as he let her go.

"And you'll be there by my side to claim it, right?!" The girl asked excitedly while jumping into her brother's arms, clinging to him.

"Of course! What brother would I be if I didn't help my little sister?" Chuckling at the girls' antics and hugging her back.

"Ragnar?" The girl said in a soft tone. He hummed, looking down at the girl. "Why did we come all the way here?" She asked, not looking away from the water. Steele was curious why she left home to be on new land. She knew her brother would tell her the truth and not her parents.

"To guthrum, to support a great Dane army." Responding to the girl's question truthfully. Then, looking up at her brother, she smiled a toothy grin.

"When we reach land, can you teach me sword skills again?" Eyes sparkling with joy, hoping her brother would agree. He laughed at the girl once more, shaking his head at her.

Looking out towards the land, young Ragnar couldn't help but feel like they were being watched and pulled his eyes away from the sea at their father, who watched them in the corner of his eye with a ghost smile.

Steele was more than your average little girl, and her looks did not go unnoticed either. When Sigrid was due to have Steele, she grew exceedingly fearful that hers or the child's life would be taken. Panic rose in the family when they felt the child did not make it. Then, one night during an awful storm, Steele's mother went into labor. Steele was born awfully quiet and barely clinging to life. By the morning when the rain had stopped and the sun steeped out of the clouds, a child with platinum blond almost silver hair peacefully slept in Sigrid's arms. It was clear the child was given a second life and a gift that only Steele could wield greater than any man who roamed the earth.

Growing up, she mainly stayed to herself instead of playing with other kids around her age like her sister Thyra. Instead, Steele found herself chasing after her older brother, watching him spar with their father and others. Much to her mother's dismay, Steele wanted to be a great fighter like the men in her life and fight alongside them as a warrior.

As the ships grew closer to the land and down a river, Steele watched her brother pull a bucket of water from the river, tasting it and calling out to their father. Handing it over to their father, Steele looked away with disinterest in the men immediately she noticed something move in the woods.

"Look, father, something is moving in the woods," she stated, curious about what
was beyond the trees hiding.

Her grandfather, Ravn, noticed as well from the sound of horses being heard. "Horses," he stated while continuing to drink the freshwater from the bucket.

"Yeah, and I see spies, shitting themselves," her father yelled out so the Saxons behind the trees would hear. Then, turning to his boat master, Kjartan, he called out to him to 'teach the boy a lesson.

The boat turned towards land as Ravn called out to Steele, catching her attention.

"Child, come forth." He pulled the child over and handed her the bucket with a gentle touch. "Drink, and tell me what you taste."

Grabbing the bucket hesitantly, she sipped the water and immediately savored the taste.

"It tastes of fresh, sweet water." She exclaimed, which earned her a chuckle from the elder before her. "Indeed." That was all he said, then urged her to drink more.

Soon they had reached the land where Guthrum was camped in Eoferwic by nightfall. Steele walked beside her brother into the great hall unbothered by her surroundings. As the men discussed battle against the armies of Northumbria, Steele was on the upper level of the great hall with her mother and Thyra. Though they paid no mind to the girl, all as well, Steele found her entertainment elsewhere, with Sven Kjartansson. Though Steele didn't like to play with other kids, she got along with Sven since he would practice sword skills with her.

From down below Ubba, the master Dane could be heard asking his seer, Storri, for advice on the engaging battle.

"Storri," he called to the seer who looked at him with certainty." The signs are good. Only this morning I saw a raven flying towards the Saxon camp. He was asking for me to follow it, I'm sure of it".

As Ubba turned to Earl Ragnar, Steele's father, he answered, "then we fight," men around the great hall cheered as the two children watched from above, listening, curious about the cheering.

That following night Steele went to sleep soon before her father, brother, Ubba, and Guthrum with their armies had marched to wipe clean the Saxon army in Eoferwic.

Battle of Eoferwic

As the three kings of Northumbria marched toward the Dane army. They quickly took off the charred earth around the Danes with trees still aflame. The kings also took notice that the Danes had higher ground. So they decided to divide half their men to attack in the first wave and the other half in the second wave.

When the first wave approached the Dane army, they aligned and placed shields together, which pulled the Saxon army into a slower approach. Soon the army had created a wall, four layers of shields on top of one another. Soon the Saxon army charged at the wall attempting to push them back. Ubba gave command of 'ease' to the men holding the wall. Slowly the men eased backward, giving the Saxons hope of winning, believing they had pushed the army back. Not going unnoticed by the second wave, they soon charged to finish off the Danes believing that we were winning and had already won.

Unbeknownst to them, it was a trap. Another Dane army had hidden below behind a hill, waiting for the second wave to charge so they would be surrounded. As Ubbas' army was attacking the first wave holding the wall, Earl Ragnar's army came up from the hill behind the second wave and made a shield wall blocking them in. Soon bloodshed was everywhere, and the Saxon army numbers were significantly decreasing. One of the kings, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, took quick notice and broke through the shield wall of Ragnar's army, commanding his army to follow. Unsuccessful, king Uhtred was knocked down by a Dane riding a horse. When he rose from the ground, a sword was stuck through his throat—not going unnoticed by his son of 12, who ran from home to join the army against his father's wishes.

The boy of 12 ran to the battlefield in rage to avenge his father. But, unlucky as the boy was, he was weak and could not strike a Dane and was knocked out. Taken back to the Dane camp, the boy was now considered a slave among the other people.

During that night, Steele had dreamt of a boy running across the field, yet his face was blurred. The boy was knocked out in a battle against the Danes and Saxons, only to be overtaken by the Dane army. Steele awoke that day and awaited her father and brother's return. Later that day, the army came back, to which Steele quickly dashed into her brother's arms. What caught the girl's eye the most was a boy, a slave, a few years older than her—the boy from her dreams.

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Word count: 1394