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Chapter Twenty
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Berserker Chapter Twenty-One
Ulfhild stood in the shelter of a lean-to on the edge of the village and almost forgot to breathe as she watched her mother making her way slowly down the muddy lane, hunched over, clutching her gnarly hickory stick tightly in a knobby hand. Ulfhild had wanted to be the one to deliver the missive to Brandur, if only so she could be near him again for a moment, but her magick was not nearly as strong as her mother's. She was not able to glamour herself. For once, she regretted not taking her lessons more seriously.Though she was watching intently, she almost missed her mother flinging the leather envelope with the prophecy under the door of Brandur's hut, she was so stealthy about it. Ulfhild smiled to herself as the young warrior, returning to his post with a loaf in his grimy hand, passed her mother without a glance. Astrid truly should have been a spy. She had a talent for doing things unseen and gathering information that was supposed to be of a secret nature. Thank Freya! Ulfhil
Berserker Chapter Twenty-Two
While spring storms continued to rage, Brand spent hours locked in his hut, the pretense of his being a guest apparently abandoned. He studied the parchment he had been given until he had committed every syllable to memory. He'd wracked his brain trying to remember if he had ever heard anything similar in shifter lore but couldn't. Brodi had kept up with all that. Brand had never been interested, and now he regretted it. He wished he could get a copy to Bjorn to take to the elders, but he didn't know how. Not being allowed to move about freely while all the warriors were holed up from the storms, he had to find another way to pass on his message. Young Leif had been put on guard duty the last few nights and he obviously took his duties much more seriously than Vidar. He'd stood straight as the King's Guard at Buckingham Palace all night. Not one snore or nodding head that would tell Brand he could try to sneak out in wolf form even without the bar across the door.His wolf was not ma
Berserker Chapter Twenty-Three
Removing her cloak and laying it beside her, Ulfhild leaned back against the boulder at the edge of the meadow, sighing as she ran her hand across the soft grass under her. She had come to the enchanted woods to escape the stormy skies and the sucking mud that had been reeking havoc on the village. People were starting to murmur about unhappy gods and curses as the skies continued to dump buckets of rain on them. Her father had even called off training for his warriors, and that had never happened. Ulfhild missed the exercise. Without it to distract her, she'd had nothing but time to think on the prophecy and the strange warrior. Her mate. She should learn to say it. There was no doubt any longer that it was true, but it was still difficult to wrap her mind around it. A shifter. From the future. The Spirit was truly a fickle and unpredictable thing.A barely perceptible rustle in the bushes had her freezing in place and reaching a hand into the pocket of her dress where she secreted
Berserker Chapter Twenty-Four
When Brand returned to himself, he was slumped over Ulfhild's body, his full weight pinning her to the ground. He pushed himself up to his arms in alarm, afraid he had smothered her. Her body lay limp under him. Trickles of blood pooled in the hollow of her neck. Oh, Freya bless him! What had he done?"Ulfhild, Elskede!" he called in a panic, his hands smoothing across her still face. "Please, wake up!"His heart nearly stopped in his chest with relief when her eyelids began to flutter. She leaned into his hand and nuzzled it before she spoke, her voice sounding like she had not had water in days. "Brandur? What…what happened?"Brand heaved out a breath, the exquisite tension that had built up in his fear draining from his body. He rolled to his side, taking her with him and nestling her into his chest unable to be parted from her for even a moment.He swept a tendril of hair off her face and kissed her head before he spoke. Regret tinged his words, though his wolf regretted nothing.
Berserker Chapter Twenty-Five
Brand loped along the beach toward the sea caves feeling like he was swimming instead of running. The rain had returned with a vengeance while he had been sheltered in the magickal grove with his mate. He blinked the steady stream of droplets from his eyes and chuffed water out of his nose as he ran. He shifted at the mouth of the cave and a shiver went down his spine. Without his fur, he was freezing cold. His teeth chattered as he tried to slick water off his body with his hands."Cousin!" Thorstein's voice boomed from the dim light of the cave. "Come in from the cold and wet before you catch your death."Shifters, in his experience, rarely got sick, but maybe it was different for these poor Skölls here. After all, they had lost much of their ability to shift. Who knows what else might have changed. Either way, Brand would gladly take some blankets to dry off and get warm. A few minutes later, Brand was dry, dressed in a borrowed tunic and pants, and was sitting before a fire with
Berserker Chapter Twenty-Six
Vidar snorted and jerked upright as rain poured into his open mouth. The storm had started again in full force and the overhang on the small building left little shelter for him. Maybe I will just go inside the hut for a while. Surely, the captain will not care if I guard the man from inside the room. Vidar opened the door quietly, a bubble of concern rising within him when he realized the door was not latched. He peered inside letting his eyes adjust to the dim light thrown by the single candle. His knees began to wobble as he took in the room. It was empty. "No!" He whirled in a circle searching in the shadows for the man that was supposed to be there, but there was nothing. The young warrior had to sit on the edge of the bed before his legs went completely out. The man had escaped on his watch. He could only imagine the punishment that would be meted out to him for his failure. Oh, why in Odin's name could he not stay awake? He would never be trusted again and would never make th
Berserker Chapter Twenty-Seven
Bracing himself, Brand watched Erik and Birger enter the hut. The three large men barely fit in the small space. Brand's eyes narrowed when Erik pulled the door shut behind them causing the room to darken even further. "We had heard a rumor that you had escaped, Brandur, but here you are." Birger looked at him, his brow raised in question.Brand decided to try to brazen it out. He responded in as light of a tone as he could manage, though his heart was spasming in his chest. He was strong, but these were two of Magnus' best warriors. He wasn't sure he could take on both of them and win. "As you can see, here I am." He perched on the edge of his bunk, wishing desperately he had even a small eating knife as a weapon."So you are," Erik agreed. "Apparently, young Vidar was mistaken when he could not find you here a few minutes ago."The men were fishing, but Brand wasn't sure for what. "The boy is rather excitable…when he's not sleeping."Both warriors chuckled briefly. Brand sat, waiti
Berserker Chapter Twenty-Eight
"The woman has the soul of a general," Brand thought as he watched Astrid take in his news and immediately begin barking orders. In short order, she had two packs of her own filled and her women gathered for instructions. "Brandur has come to tell us we have run out of time," she announced. The women murmured and looked to each other with wide eyes. He could see the fear, but also the determination in them. These witches, these women, were just as fierce in their own way as Magnus' warriors were. He listened and watched intently as Astrid continued."We know what we have to do. I know what I ask of you is not easy. We are going into the unknown on nothing but faith." She swallowed. "Should the spell fail, you know what the consequences will be. Even if we succeed, we are traveling to a place none of us can comprehend. A future we can only imagine."She met the eyes of each of the women of her coven. "If you do not feel you can make this journey with us, no one will think less of you,
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