Berserkr (boyxboy)

Chapter 3: Pitchforks and Hay Bales

Despite his wide eyes and twisting gut, Vali immediately jumped into action in the face of danger. Ignoring his sopping wet britches and sandals, the taller Omega pushed his friend's back into the stony face of the cliff, trying to hide his smaller frame among the rocks.

"Oh lord Odin, please!" Tofa's voice was quiet so as not to give away their position but scratchy and frantic nonetheless, his once carefree attitude shattered by an overwhelmingly depressing realization of what was currently happening to their village. "Not again!"

The smaller Omega had been through his before. And, if it had only happened yesterday, all of that blood and carnage, punctuated by the sight of his parents – faces frozen in an unchanging state of lifeless horror – eclipsed right back into the forefront of his mind.

Both friends stared at one another, gazes filled with equal parts understanding and terror. The connection only lasted for all of a few seconds, but by the time Vali finally fought past steel barriers of fear to speak again, it felt like they had been staring at one another for days.

"Tofa, stay here and don't make a sound. I have to go check on Sigge, Ahren and my manageress, but I will be back for you as soon as I ensure their safety." Vali muttered the words quietly, and both Omegas jumped when the chorus of screams bellowing from the village suddenly increased in volume.

Whatever was going on up there was certainly the farthest thing in the world from safety, but Vali couldn't possibly bring himself to leave his horses – his best friends – at the center of a bloodbath like that.

Tofa's bright blue shimmered with wetness, long strands of midnight black hair clinging to moistened lips as he whisper-begged a plea. "Vali, please just stay here! I–I'm scared and– and I don't want ya' to get hurt!"

Vali sighed, grasping Tofa's hand in both of his before pressing their foreheads together. Tofa was usually a bastion of fearlessness, a tiny fortress of fortitude against the terrors that this world contained, but right now he was a pane of glass on the verge of shattering. Vali would be lying if that thought alone didn't serve to increase his heart rate a few more beats per minute.

"I know, Tof. I'm scared too." He empathized, the truth of his words more than evident in the way both of their hands shook with a violent tremor between them. "I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise."

The smaller Omega offered a forlorn nod after a few moments of hesitation, adam's apple bobbing with a deep swallow. "May you remain under Odin's watchful eye."

The prayer of protection sliced straight through to the center of Vali's overworked heart, and he lifted his head, briefly pressing his lips to the middle of his friend's forehead.

"Thank you."

And with that, he was off.

The scene he was greeted with when he stumbled his way up the remaining steps and peered over the cliff line was one that almost sent him backpedaling right back the way that he came.

How so much devastation had been wrought in such a short span of time Vali would never know. But regardless of how it had occurred, the only thing that mattered is that it was awful.

It already looked as if there was more blood than dirt coating the ground and smoke rose like a monument as villagers tripped over their own feet, running to nowhere. Some scuffled around in the red dirt without direction, crawling on hands and knees until they were ultimately seized and slaughtered right alongside their friends, neighbors, and families

... Slaughtered by giants.

The sharp, musky smell of feral Alpha mixed in with the smoke, and Vali had to begin breathing through his mouth to keep his instincts from taking over his rational thought. Right now would probably be the absolute worst time for his inner Omega to decide that he should roll over and submit to the overbearing sensation of powerful Alphas in his vicinity.