The Only Girl

025

That night instead of getting a well needed sleep for the journey that awaited, Isi sat outside and reflected on her life so far. How that when she was finally happy, the gods were destined to ruin it.

The gods still had plans for her. It wasn't over, there's was something she had to do.

That night she was visited by all the people she had lost, their spirits coming to guide her. To teach her the things she was still yet to learn.

Isi sat on the wooden steps of the porch just looking out into the darkness. Her eyebrows furrowed when she felt a hand ghost over her back, causing her head to turn to her side. The figure that sat beside her shocked her, sitting there as if it was real was her mother. Her red hair braided at the back as she smiled at her daughter.

Isi sighed knowing that this was either a dream or a vision. She had to be seeing her for a reason.

"Your brothers are lost without you. You kept them together and now that you have disappeared they have broken" she told her calmly.

"The bond between us all broke the day Ivar killed Sigurd" Isi corrected, playing with a craving in her hand.

Sigurd had given her it as a child, it was a comfort for her. She had kept it close ever since. She had objects that belonged to all of her brothers. She had Ubbe's axe that he had given her in her final battle, she had a fur cloak that belonged to Bjorn, Sigurds wooden carving, Hvitisirk's necklace that he had given her and she had one of Ivars weapons he used to help him get around.

"Sigurd knows that was an accident, we all do. You cannot hold that incident against Ivar for his whole life. People can change Isi, you have" Aslaug told her daughter.

Isi shrugged, her mother was always wise and knew what to say, she had a way of making things sound easier for her.

"You are the thing that held this family together, your the only thing that can fix it" With that Aslaug disappeared back into the spirit realm. Leaving Isi alone with her thoughts.

----

A good few minutes pasted since Isi had been visited by the ghost of her mother, and now that the wind had grew colder she was contemplating on going back inside.  But she never got that far.

She stood up to go into the warmth of her home but stumbled when she saw someone leaning against the side of the building. His blonde hair the same length as she last saw him, his clothes changed and he now wore a fur cloak.

"Who would have thought that you would raise a Christian" He chuckled, his blue eyes looking up at her. The pupil in his left eye shaped like a snakes compared to his right.

Sigurd-snake-in-the-eye.

"I will never get tired of your judgement" Isi smiled, her body relaxing once again. "I have missed you"

"I do not need to be a burden on the life you have build sister" he told her, choosing not to make eye contact while he step beside her, gazing out into the darkness.

It was silent for a while, neither of them sure what to say. Does he tell her the same thing their mother had? Does she tell him she's sorry for what happened? They both just enjoyed being in each others presence again, even if it wasn't exactly real.

"Mother was right you know" Sigurd finally spoke up. "The only way our brothers won't kill each other is if you help, your families could die if Ivar wins this battle....I know you'll do the right thing Isi, just follow your heart"

Yet again the presence of him disappeared just as the wind blew once more. Isi inhaled a breath, taking in the smell of the countryside, the fields and trees.

She was upset. She could feel the tears pool in her eyes. She had pushed her past behind her and now it had suddenly broken the damn she had build that kept them locked away. Why now? She was being punished for being a coward, she ran when she should have stayed and fought like a true Viking. Like a real Lothbrok.

A tear fell, followed by another.

"A great warrior should not cry" Came a voice in the distance. It was dark and it took Isi numerous attempts to make out the shadow that stood in front of her.

Ragnar. It was official, she was being reunited with all of her family , first Ubbe and now  the deceased ones.

"You are very powerful, yet what lies in here" he lifted a hand and pointed it at his chest, gesturing to his heart. "Has stopped you from realising the potential that lies within you daughter."

"I have no potential, I ran from my problems long ago. I am no warrior, I am a coward."

Ragnar took a breath. "Then you are blind. I as well as your mother and brother have watched upon you this whole time, along with your older brothers."

Isi wiped a tear that had fallen before pulling herself to her feet and walking towards him. Though it was dark she could see that he hadn't changed since the last time she had saw him, the last time everyone saw him but Ivar, and well look what had become of him now. 

" You Isi, are the daughter of Ragnar Lothbrok and apart from all the sons I fathered there was only one of you. Your brothers allow what they believe to their fate guide them, that is why they are walking into a war with each other, because they are fools."

Isi stayed quiet and listened.

"Instead of wasting your life as they have, you chose to leave and build the life you dreamed of. A person that abandons everything to have what they want is no coward in my eyes, and is no coward in the gods. Fight for what you believe in my daughter, we shall be waiting to greet you into Valhalla when your time comes."

Isi blinked and he was gone, just like the others. This had to be the first proper conversation she had with her father and it wasn't even real, it was all fake, all of it. The woman fell to the dirt path bellow, the tears now streaming down her face. She sat cross-legged on the ground sobbing into her hands, occasionally letting out silent screams. 

She knew hat she had to do, she had to return to Kattegat and join her brothers in the fight against her other brothers. Isi knew for certain that one of them would not return alive, she let the gods decide who.