Hefna

Part 1

 

It felt surreal… the fire pit in the middle of the great hall burning brightly, the village council sitting in front of me, the mute village elder sitting in the middle, next to the chief… my own father. They’re talking amongst themselves. About me. About what I’ve done. I only hear a few of their words through my haze. I just stand silently in front of them.

The village elder turns to me after what felt like hours in my haze, but was only mere minutes in reality. She turns to my father, the chief, and draws out what she wants to say in the dirt patch in front of her. The chief stares at the writing, then me, with the stern face of a father who has never truly cared for their son.

“Stian the Wanderer, son of Chief Olin the Hallowed” he pauses. “The council has reached the decision that due to your recent acts that defy the laws of our great Viking clan, we have no other choice then to send you into banishment fro…’

I quickly open my eyes, the remints of the recollection still lingering on the edges of my mind. Groans of pain escape my mouth as I sit up from the rock hard cave floor, remembering that I no longer own a comfortable bed to sleep on. Looking around remembering where I am, my stomach growls as loud as a dragon in great pain for I have not eaten since I left my village’s island. Sure they gave me some food but that was my final meal before they sent me away.

Banishment. The word lingers with me in the tone the way my father said it. It didn’t sound forced but instead he sounded as a chief was supposed to sound, strong and emotionless.

I get up for the day and walk out of the dingy cave with a thin fur vest, long sleeve tunic and pants with fur boots serving as my only covering from the oncoming winter from Jokul Frosti. With no belongings to gather up, I walk in search for a meal. But with no knife to hunt with, I am stuck with looking for berries and other edible plants.

As I trek further onto the island that I landed onto late last night, I notice the absence of any animal. Not even a single sparrow sang or flew overhead. Not a single spider crossed on a branch. It was void of all seeing life.

The plant life looked to be flourishing though. Everything grew in brilliant shades despite the oncoming winter. Back at home, we had to get the entire crop gathering in before signs of fall even started; otherwise it would wither and die.

Through a clearing of trees there was a field, and along the hedge row on the other side of the opening was a row of bushes rich with berries. I run across the field, eyes set on the bushes. And I don’t even notice the deep hole that I fall into.

                                                      Part 2

My body slammed loudly onto the hard rock cavern floor. It was dark, and it was cold, and the whole place seemed to have a depressing atmosphere to it. And as if my body wasn’t sore enough from sleeping on the ground, I’m pretty sure I broke my arm from the impact. I look up and I can feel the blood run down my forehead.

“AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

The whole cavern shook with the force only a god could produce.

“DAMN SNAKE, IF I EVER GET OUT OF HERE I WILL……..” A man with a deep voice screams again as the cavern shook. Rocks fell from the caverns ceiling. The sound of chains being pulled at rang through the area.