WRATH OF THE NORTH [BJÖRN IRONSIDE]

CHAPTER TWO

Vál had been up before the sun, the amount of hours she had been sleeping was unknown and insignificant. She only had one meal left and she knew she had to find food. She had no idea how long the blond man had stayed up here in her lands but it was impossible to eat almost all living things up here, he was scaring them away with his lack of experience. She was not going to starve because he thinks he owns the forest.

She mentally cursed when she was met with the heavy fog. The sky, ground and everything in between blurred together with the fog. The hunting would be difficult, or at least more challenging for her. The positive thing about the fog was that she were almost completely invisible. Her clothes were slightly heavy, her grey pants were the darkest but her fur jacket almost went down to her knees. Her head was almost completely covered by the large hood.

A smirk formed on her lips when she saw a hare. Vál got her bow and arrow ready, she pulled the arrow back, letting her back do the job as her eyes focused on the quickly chewing animal. She released the arrow and it flew quickly through the air before penetrating the skull. She walked over to the dead animal, taking out her rope after handing the bow over her chest. As she quickly tied the hare to her belt the sound of a faint laugher was heard. She quickly got onto her feet as she got ready to use her bow. She steadied her breath as she tried to pick up other sounds but there was nothing.

Vál looked around the forest, trying to see something but the fog made it almost impossible. It was a white thick wall of foggy air. Soon another laugh was heard on her right, her head snapped in the direction and with her bow ready she ran in the direction of the laugh. It sounded deep and evil. Her mind went quickly to the bear slayer, if he was going after her, he was even more stupid than she gave him credit for.

She stopped in her tracks immediately when she saw a large man run past her further down the slope, he didn't notice her presence in the fog. An evil smile formed on her lips as she follow him. It didn't seem to be the man from yesterday, this man was even bigger, naked head and grunted as he ran. She followed but kept a distance. Yet soon she stopped again, slightly hiding behind a tree when she could see a faint silhouette in the fog.

Vál frowned when she saw the man she had been following charge at the other. Axes were swung at each other as she slowly and discreetly moved closer to get a better view of the situation. She squinted her eyes as she thought she recognized the second man, it was the bear slayer. The bear slayer charged at the man who dodged his hit and bear slayer was to slow because when he turned around the other man had disappeared. She remained in her seat a little longer, the unknown man was probably a berserker. His clothing and persona indicated on it.

The berserker ran right, his laugh made it clear for her how close and in which direction he was. The evil laugh echoed once more though the forest and the berserkers idiotic ways of killing made her roll her eyes. Soon the berserker charged at bear slayer without him noticing from behind with a sword yet bear slayer dodged it with his axe. However the berserker got the upper hand and soon his sword cut the bear slayers cheek before his axe was cut off by the sword. Her grip on the bow tightened as bear slayer had fallen onto the ground and the berserker had ran away again. His laugh was still traveling through the forest.

Bear slayer stopped behind a large stone and some trees, she stood above him without his acknowledge and saw him hold what seemed to be fishing hook in his hands. She squinted her eyes as she looked at the object he held in his hand. He hissed when he touched the hook. Another laugh was heard slightly closer but still far away as bear slayer was trying the fishing hook to another rope before taking it and his knife before running away. A smirk was visible on her lips as she followed.

The berserker were on their right as she followed bear slayer. He soon stopped by a visible large crown of roots. She hid behind a bush on his left to get a good look. Soon the berserker ran out from the fog, in her direction. He stopped to look around and soon they stopped on bear slayer by the roots. He almost roared as he charged at the bear slayer again but this time he didn't get the chance as a rock hit his head before the bear slayer pushed his knife deep into his chest then pushing him towards a tree. She sucked on her teeth as they started to exchange hits with the blade still in the berserkers chest.

However her eyes soon widen before she raised her brow and smirked. The bear slayer showed the cut man what he had hidden, a ring with smaller chords with fishing hooks. The berserker had stopped laughing and soon the bar slayer swung the rope. The hooks took firm grips of the berserkers face as bear slayer then quickly tied his body to the tree with the same rope. She licked her teeth as the hook pulled roughly at the mans face.

"Who sent you?" The bear slayer asked after taking something from the mans hands. Soon he showed something to the man, she squinted her eyes and it looked like a ring. When the berserker didn't answer the bear slayer pulled at the strings.

"Who sent you?" He repeated but there was still no answer.

"Who sent you?" He asked for the third time as he pushed the ring in the berserkers face. Yet there was no answer. The blond man took a few steps back before facing the man once more and asking the same question but the captured man only groaned like an animal. The blond man seemed to be fed up as he pushed his blade into the berserkers stomach. She licked her bottom lip when the blond man pulled out the berserkers bowel onto the ground.

The bear slayer soon left as the berserker took his last breath. She remained in her seat for a while, so the bear slayer couldn't find her. The adrenaline was pumping thought his veins and her presence wouldn't make things good for either one of them.

Vál licked her bottom lip as she walked towards the dead berserker. The metallic smell and death were present as she got closer. She scratched her chin as she bent down to get to eye level with the dead man on the ground. His face was almost rearranged and his eyes was still open. She squinted her eyes as she tried to figure the man out. He looked like a berserker but her acknowledge of them is skilled fighters that worked effectively. The man in front of her lacked professionalism and effectively. It was almost like she could hear his laugh still ringing in her ears.

She pursed her lips before walking away. The sky were still light behind those clouds so she decided to hunt a bit more. She only had one hare captured, she needed at least four and a deer would secure her stash of food for couple of days.

When she arrived by the familiar stream her throat almost ached from the thirst. She drank and almost moaned as the cold water ran down her dry throat. Her body was tired and her stomach was begging for food. The day hadn't been longer than any other day but it wasn't everyday she had experienced a slaughter of a berserker. As she continued her way back home from the stream she ignored the croaking from behind. The raven was the least of her problems right now.

A smile spread on her lips when she had placed the hares and an arctic fox beside them. It was almost the size of two hares and she had found it on her way back from the stream. Her back ached slightly as she sat down to prepare a fire. When the warmth radiated from it she took a firm grip on a hare before she started to skin and gut it.

Soon all the animals were gutted and skinned. She walked inside the cave to get her other hare before placing it on a stick over the fire. Her mind got filled with ideas about the blond bear slayer. She had learnt a lot about him in only two days. Yet he never made her question her own abilities to defeat him. She had no idea why he was up here in the mountains nor why a berserker was after him or if those two things were intertwined in some kind of way.

She knew it was now necessary to carry her bow and both her swords. She needed to have alternatives if any unwanted situations got brought to the light. With her hare in hand she stuffed a few pieces in her mouth as she rested her back against the mountain wall. Her eyes were glued on the forest beneath her. The open ground barely visible from up here and all the mountain tops. A faint smile formed on her lips when she could here sound familiar croak in distance.

As she sat there eating her hare she felt her eyelids getting heavier by each passing minute. She threw away the stick when she was finished before entering the cave. She laid down, next to her swords before pulling a fur over her body then her body got engulfed in a deep slumber. The raven still croaked not far away.