For The Sake of Revenge

Chapter 2: Into the Fire

If this was dawn, they certainly made sure of it. The bells were so loud...but no, something was not right.

As the bells continued to ring, screams began to be heard. I sat up quickly, looking about and taking off my nightgown, hurriedly putting my day clothes on and taking my Khaleej dress. I shoved it in the inside pockets of my cloak.

The smell of smoke reached my nose.

I looked outside of my window and saw the source of distress. Men, several of them, at least a legion of them--armed with chain, leather, and steel and their beards long--charged in. Houses were burning and I could see a mass slaughter taking place.

I had to stuff my fist in my mouth to prevent from crying out in horror, tears blurred my vision and my blood pumped with fear.

If it is one thing, I knew that the Vikings were the cleanest medieval Europeans ever recorded and that they had rounded shields. Along with many attributes such as cruelty and bloodlust, but that did not matter right now.

These were Vikings. They had rounded shields. They were coming to raid Whitby. I had to leave.

I yanked the candle out of its holder and grabbed my nightgown stuffing my Khaleej dress, some linen, a bar of soap I found next to the bowl and jug, mittens and socks, and the candle inside. I grabbed the leather shoes given to me and fled down the hall to the back window. Would I survive this jump? Possibly.

But no, I was not that lucky.

"You!" Godiva shrieked. I turned around and the amount of hatred in her eyes stunned me. I did not even know this woman. I grabbed the nearest thing I could find; it was a candle holder. Godiva shrieked madly and charged at me.

"You thieving, craven bitch!" Godiva roared. My hand came down on her head; it stunned the woman for a moment. The moment allowed me to punch her in the nose and push her back onto her bum.

I turned around and the idea of jumping off the window fled me. I huffed in annoyance at the darn woman and jumped over her feebly stirring body, and ran towards the creaky, steep staircase. I ran down the back stairs but to my horror, my sight was met with my worst nightmare.

Vikings.

This handful of Vikings were all blonde to the roots with eyes like colored emeralds. Their faces were partially hidden by their helmets and their mouths were twisted into unwelcoming snarls. Some of them had long and surprisingly well-groomed, well-braided beards. But what shocked me the most perhaps were their teeth. They had beautiful, white teeth, a sharp contrast to Father Ulric's browned, decaying teeth. But that fact did not click in my mind until later on.

A loud command stopped an oncoming blow to the head.

The man who stopped them was not blond at all. His hair was the color of the burnt chestnut; he had an undercut, and every inch of that bare scalp was covered in those weird Viking symbols I saw in museums and fantasy books. The top of his hair was in cornrows that met into one long, thick rope of dark, braided that was thrown over his strong, broad chest like a thick rope.

Although he was significantly taller than everyone else, on his legs were metal...rods? Braces? The structure itself was built to support that man's legs in particular; the metal contraptions were tightly wrapped around his legs, which were muscular like the rest of his body. His shoulders were broad, his limbs and trunk were long, his face was angular. But his eyes; they were so blue, that the whites of his eyes seemed to glow blue too. He was extremely handsome and well-proportioned, and it was clear that he had some authority over these people.

I had not realized I was staring at him, with a gaping jaw until he pointed his sword at me, looking me dead in the eyes. My heart leapt into my throat, there was never a more terrifying sight. I had not even meant to be scared and frozen, but something about that man was terrifying. He did not roar and scream like the rest of the other Vikings. The man's bloody lips were arched over his jarringly white teeth, but no sound came out. He was soaked, from head to toe, in blood and grime.