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Chapter Four
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Berserker Chapter Five
Ulfhild pulled her ear from the door as she heard the scraping of chairs and boots on wood that signaled the meeting was breaking up. She barely made it back down to the main room before the stranger and Sigurd, followed by the rest of the warriors left her father's office and came tromping loudly down the stairs. He was letting the man train with the warriors? A man he knew nothing about. Yet, she, who was battle-tested and trained harder than any of his warriors, was shunted aside.Marching from the longhouse, she fought back angry tears. Nothing she did was ever enough for the man! She had proven herself over and over, but still he insisted on treating her as some useless female. Or worse, looking at her askance as if she might cast a spell on him at any moment. She'd never given him any reason to believe that she had powers like her mother, but he was suspicious all the same. When he had humiliated her in front of his warriors last night, her fingers had tingled to let just a frac
Berserker Chapter Six
She stared until the man and Leif were out of her sight, then left the headland in a fury. The man was completely infuriating. Insufferable. Intolerable. Plumes of white breath billowed from her mouth as she marched across the half-frozen landscape trying to dispel the anger and frustration burning in her chest. When she reached the small wood on the east edge of the village, she invoked the words of power that allowed her to pass through the protective spell her mother had placed there. Heading straight for the clearing in the middle, she inhaled the warm air and reveled in the nature that surrounded her. The meadow there lived in perpetual summer with green grass underfoot covered in vibrant wildflowers. Chittering and chirping from the small animals and birds that were found there welcomed her. The wood was her refuge from her father's otherwise frigid, windswept lands. No one could come here but her mother and her acolytes. Only those who were trusted with the ancient incantation
Berserker Chapter Seven
The next morning, Ulfhild stood on the slight hill just outside the village and watched the village come to life. She'd been up for hours, already having completed a warm up and bow practice in the empty training grounds. She always did more than any other warrior. She had to. Now she stood on high ground, watching for any threat. Another hour of sentry duty and she could return to the training fields to spar with the other warriors. Ulfhild told herself she was simply doing her duty. As one of the junior warriors, boring duties such as watching over the village as the farmers and people started their day, were something she was accustomed to. In truth, her eyes locked on and followed only the stranger as he stood near the kitchens with Eric and Birger. They laughed together, and Ulfhild's mouth turned down in a frown at their easy companionship. "You're watching him again, min søte." Ulfhild's eyes did not turn to acknowledge her mother's presence. "I don't know who you mean," Ulf
Berserker Chapter Eight
Later, after the evening meal, Brand managed to slip his friendly guard and sit on a bench outside the longhouse alone. Oh, he was sure someone was aware that he had left, and it would not be long before his reprieve would be over, but he would take what he could get. Though he had felt too closely controlled by his brother at home, he wasn't watched twenty-four-seven. Brand felt the weight of it like a heavy shroud over his shoulders.He closed his eyes and breathed in the sharp night air appreciating the smells and sounds of the sea. His family had been land locked in Wyoming for centuries now, living in the middle of a large national forest area. He hadn't realized how much he had missed the ocean. The familiar, briny scent. The soothing sound of the waves hitting the shore. The occasional sea bird calling overhead. Ah, small things to be thankful for in this time he was stuck in. "Don't react, Brandur the Destroyer." Every muscle tensed as he heard the whispered words behind him.
Berserker Chapter Nine
That night when Brand was taken to his hut, he lay on his bunk and pondered the incredible turn of events over in his mind. Though he was now being allowed to train with the warriors and take his meals with them, he didn't fool himself into believing that he was really any more than a glorified prisoner. They guarded him at night with a warrior at his door. He thought he should probably be rather insulted as his guard was only a very young warrior. The boy couldn't have stopped him leaving if he tried, but, Brand supposed, he could call for reinforcements. They wouldn't trust him with any torches or candles. The hut being too flammable and tempting to burn, he guessed, so he would have only sleep to look forward to soon. A faint light shone through the chinks of the wood that made up his prison hut. Though the days were slowly getting longer, as soon as the sun went down, he was in complete darkness until the following morning. Unable to settle his mind to rest, he got up and looked
Berserker Chapter Ten
The hair on Ulfhild's neck prickled as she followed along in the dance. She'd been participating in this moon rite for so long, her body knew the steps without conscious thought, giving her the ability to sense something else. Someone else. Someone was watching her. She knew it as sure as she felt the sand under her feet. But who would dare? The wood and this area of the beach where the sacred circle stood were enchanted. No one could find them. Unless that someone had magicks as well. Her eyes darted to the nearby trees as she danced by, trying to find the cause of the sudden anxiety twisting in her gut. All she could see were the glowing eyes of some woodland creature. Her breathing came faster as the dance continued, and the patterns became more intricate. A familiar scent wafted faintly from the trees. What was it?She almost tripped when the answer came to her. It was the scent she associated with the stranger, Brandur. But his being here was impossible. He was locked up and gua
Berserker Chapter Eleven
"Ulfhild?" an altogether too familiar voice asked.Reality came crashing back down upon her like a relentless tidal wave. The cocoon that had been spun around her and this captivating creature in her arms shattered into a million fragments at the voice. Ulfhild wrenched herself away from the wolf upon hearing the dark-haired woman. She blinked rapidly, her mind struggling to right itself. "Mamma? What are you doing here?""I might ask you the same, min søte." Astrid stared at the pair, a sardonic smile playing on her lips. A low growl came from the animal's throat as Ulfhild gained her feet to face her mother. She shook like a leaf in a high wind, whether from fear or being out of contact with his soft fur she couldn't say. A shiver ran down her spine at the unwelcome realization and she took a step back. The animal whined, turned in a circle, and sat again. His ice-blue eyes had a pleading quality to them. Ulfhild wondered what they could be pleading for."I…I'm not sure," Ulfhild c
Berserker Chapter Twelve
Chest heaving, Brand skidded to an abrupt stop, his paws no longer encountering the resistance of pine needles and leaves, but instead sinking into the soft sand and tendrils of seaweed. He was standing on a narrow slice of beach. Looking over his shoulder, Brand could barely make out the wood where he had been talking to Ulfhild and Astrid only moments before. His only thought had been to escape, and he had run with no thought to where he was going other than away. Witches! By all the gods, why did it have to be witches?As he panted, he tried to take in his surroundings and figure out exactly where he was. White cliffs rose behind him. The roll and crash of the sea thundered in his ears where he had only been able to hear his heartbeat moments before. The white foam of waves swirled around his feet, rising farther up his legs with every return. The tide was coming in. He needed to get off this beach and find shelter, but he couldn't move. His gut twisted as he tried to forget the t
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