Vikings-The Trick Of The Gods

Two.

I was lucky that his furs worked like padding between his body and mine or my position, stomach resting on his shoulder, would have been more uncomfortable than it currently was. As it stands, despite is boyish features, I could feel the broadness of his shoulders and every time I tried feebly to escape i could feel him tense around me, all his muscles flexing; he was built like a man. I could not pinpoint his age however and again it did not help that i was slung over him like a prized catch, facing into his back. He spoke as he walked. I was unsure if he was talking to me or himself but every time I once again roused my body into action, flailing and writhing, he voice would get lower, softer, smoother. As of yet I could tell nothing about him yet he could tell something about me: I thought I might be going to die or yet a fate far worse that had not yet crossed my young naive mind.

The forest seemed to continue for lifetimes but I could tell, even while hanging upside down, the trees were getting sparser, canopy lighter. The moss that once ruled the earth was now being overthrown as small shrubs and grass sprawled in its place. Heavy and sure, his footsteps now made small subtle thuds across the new terrain, no longer silenced by a softer earth and as sound was once more brought to the man's walk he seemed more human and I became more comfortable. However each new step brought his shoulder back up colliding with my stomach, rearranging my organs.

Very quickly the forest around me became lighter and lighter and in less time than I had anticipated we were out of the forest. I could hear now that new subtle sounds filled the landscape, the barking of distant dogs and another animal, cattle it must be, their bells clanging alerting their owners of their presence. The icy air that nipped at my body and cut at my already stinging face also moved through the tall grasses and growing crops, that I could now see as we walked further forward, causing it to feel like the whole world was whispering to me yet I could not speak its language any better than I could speak to the rambling man who was still clutching onto me.

We ambled onward and as more and more fields of crops or livestock passed me I couldn't help but let my mind wander back to the ever pressing question: where the hell was I? Only yesterday I had been in my own home. A classic red brick house that one would find in the UK. My mum and dad had been helping me get my belongings ready for my first day of secondary school. I remember only being slightly nervous for the next day as I clambered into bed pulling the duvet around me, having my mum assure me softly that I'd do wonderfully and that I needn't worry about not being smart enough and that I'd continue to excel if I remembered to...

"To stay curious," I said with a sigh, ensuring my mother that I did in fact already know the advice she was to give me.

Her eyes had lit up with my response and she had kissed me on my head and left me to "get some beauty sleep" and I don't even remember closing my eyes. I just remember waking up here.

I felt my face get hot and my eyes gloss over at these thoughts and my body began to tremble again but this time not with cold but with fear confusion and hurt. I began to cry.

The man carrying me over him clearly didn't know what to do about my tears and he placed his hand on my back and patted my gently. I did not struggle from his grip once more during the entire walk. Even as we passed others dressed in a similar clad to him sickles and scythes in hand I did no more than cry. They called out to him they too were confused and curious about the creature he was heaving back with him and he replied yet of course I understood none of it and I didn't want to. I wanted to go home.

I could hear a distant clamor of voices now but regrettably they were getting louder yet I could do nothing but cry helplessly. Buildings now passed my vision yet they were not what I expected. All were made out of wood with thatched roofs. Some had skulls of various kinds fixed to them, others had circular shields which looked worn and battered. Carvings of strange letter I thought I might have seen before covered the outside walls. We periodically passed small fires in braziers which lit up the darkening mud streets as the autumn sun began to set. The voices were getting louder now and we began to occasionally pass people yet every time we did their voice would become silent as their mouths closed and they did nothing but stare me down in perplexed caution.

As we approached what sounded like a much larger crowd I felt the adrenaline return to my body as tendrils of fear clouded my mind and vision. I stopped trembling now, frozen in panic. All the voices rose in joy then, all repeating one word: "Bjorn!" but then all the voices stopped. They had seen me over his shoulder.

To my left I could see a building, the largest I have seen so far, just a few meters away. Wide open, it's doors let me see the large space beyond. It was full of people, so full that a large number of them were still outside in the ever looming darkness all dressed similarly in linen and furs though some also wore armor made from leather occasionally accented with chain mail. Despite all looking eager to get inside and out of the cold they did not complain as we walked past them, quite the opposite in fact. They parted for us like we were royalty and I shivered with comfort as we finally entered the warmth of the building in front of us.

Quickly but gently, I was slung off the man's shoulder and placed carefully on my feet. He brought his arms to my shoulder and spun me about to face the back of the room we were in. Men women and children lined the walls all of them staring at me. I looked at the dirt floor and began to quiver in panic once more. Stern, loud and yet calming, a female voice spoke out and yet despite not being able to understand her words either I cast my eyes up to her.