The Viking

~Bjorn~

The axe felt heavy in my hand, but I've been holding it for half my life. It was my father's.

He passed it down to me before he was slaughtered in the Snow Wars against our enemy.

"Bjorn! Come." Captain Toke calls for me, "There is an enemy ship, loaded with women, possibly captives or whores."

"On it." I told him, "West or the South side of the docks?"

"South, from what our patrols can see." Captain Toke points to the South said of our docking area on the map, "Go, they should be here within the hour."

I walk in the direction of the South Dock, Steem, one of the youngest warriors comes running towards me.

"Where you going?" He asks, "Can I join?"

At the age of fourteen, Steem was very immature. But, so was I, and I'm almost thirty.

"Nope." Is all I say.

"Why not?" He asks, "I'm strong! I've been training with Cass."

"It doesn't mean that you can come with me." I say, "There are too many."

My group calls for me, "Go back home, Steem." I tell him, "I don't have time for this."

"Come on, please." Steem begs, "Let me go with you." Steem grabs my arm, I flinch and push him away.

"Next time, Steem." I say, "I can't have you risking your life out there."

"But you do it every day!" He complains.

"I do it when I must." I say, "You will do it when you are older, stay with your Mother and sisters."

He groans and storms off, his feet splashing in the muddy puddles. I don't have time for these childish games.

"You look tense, Bjorn." Aegir says, "When was the last time you indulged in one of the whores?"

"Years." I say, "I don't do that."

"Come on, you need to-"

"I don't need to do anything." I interrupt him, "We are going to leave, unless you want an axe in your head."

Aegir laughs, but we continue to walk towards the docks. We stand in the trees, waiting for the ship to arrive.

"Did Captain send you on this mission?" Ruek asks.

"Yes." I say, Ruek isn't over the age of nineteen, already risking his life. I was twelve when I was shoved into this world.

I didn't come from the tribe I am in now. I came from the far north, where it is cold most of the days, barely ever war.

My people were taken over my sickness, my mother sent me on my way with my little sister who died in my arms the second night of being gone.

I was found by Toke and many others who treated me like I was their own.

I roll my shoulders and crack my knuckles as I see the ship slowly approaching.

"Ruek, Aegir, go left." I say, "You too Baldr."

They take off left.

I go right, three men behind me. We wait for the ship to dock, and then we charge inside.

Men with fancy european clothes start to get off the ship, they cry out for others when they realize that we are coming for them.

I raise my axe, cutting one directly in the head. He falls to the ground in a heap of blood and brains spilled out everywhere.

"Take care of these." I tell my group, "I'm going to free the women."

I take off down the hall of the ship and down the flight of stairs. It's dark down here.

Good thing I'm not afraid of the dark. I break down towards to map rooms and bed chambers and bath chambers.

At the very end, there is a small cramped room with over fifteen women and children.

"Come, all of you." I say, "I will take you back to your village!"

Babies cry, women are crying as they stand up.

"How are we supposed to trust you?" A woman demands, standing in front of all the rest.

Brave, I'll give her that.

The woman has long dark black hair, her clothing is ripped and coated with blood.

Who did she kill? What happened to her?

I should not care. I just need to get them out of here.

"Because." I say, "You would be dead already if I wanted to do you harm."

The woman looks behind her, "Follow me." She tells the others. She follows me, and when we walk up the hall, an enemy is holding some sort of gun.

I lift my axe, throwing directly at his head. It hits right in between his eyes.

The man slumps to the ground and I kick his body out of the way.

"Go, Go." I tell them, trying to be as gentle as I can. I haven't touched a woman in many years.

Aegir, Ruek, and Baldr appear, there weapons coated with blood.

"We got them all. If a few are hiding, they are damn to hell lucky." Aegir says, "Did you get them off."

"Yes." I say, we get off the ship, the women back away from us, tripping on the wood dock.

"You are safe." I say in a calm, but loud voice so they can all hear me, "You will not be harmed in any way."

I see the woman who put herself in front of everyone in the crowd. She is talking with a younger girl, possibly Steem's age.

"Come with us, unless you want to leave and starve to death or be killed by bears and wolves." I say, pushing past them. They are terribly small compared to me and my people.

Aegir and Ruek walk behind the group, and the rest walk in front with me.

We get back to the village and I go straight to the Captain to report.

"I'm going to need to talk to one of them." I say, looking outside of the tent.

"We'll put them in their own quarters until we figure out what to do with them." Toke tells me, "Whores or captives?"

"Captives, from what I can tell." I say. I turn around and leave the tent. I go on a search, trying to find the woman earlier.

I see her, comforting small children as their mothers use the women's bath chamber.

"You." I say, looking directly into her eyes. I thought she had brown eyes, no, they are blue. Like water, clear water with hints of green.

She puts the children behind her as she steps towards me, "What do you want?"

This one has an attitude. I think I like her already.

"What is your name?" I ask her.

"Why is that important?" She demands.

"I asked you a simple question, I expect you to answer it." I say, "Or will you continue to have an attitude with me?"

"What are you, my father?" She asks, and then she looks down.

"I'm not, but all I wish to hear is your name." I say, "Where do you come from, at least?"

"France." She says, "We have been taken from france."

"Where did you come from before that?" I ask her.

"I cannot remember." She says, "I was very young when I was captured."

"How about we continue this conversation over dinner?" I ask, "I would like to gather more information."

"I couldn't." She replies, "I must take care of the children."

"Are they yours?" I ask her, they don't look like hers.

She shakes her head, "No, they are not mine. I don't have any children."

"Then find their mothers and I will collect you for dinner." I say, "Or at least some beer."

"I don't drink." She tells me, "I thank you dearly for the offer, but I must decline for now."

I can feel a small smirk appearing on my face, playing hard to get.

"Before I go." I say, crouching down, "What is your name?" I ask that of a little boy. He has green eyes and blonde hair with dirty clothes. He smells terrible, but I will make sure that they all get a bath.

"Matthew." The little boy says, "What is your name?"

"Bjorn." I say, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

The little boy cowers behind the mystery woman's legs.

"You are scaring them." She says, "They are not used to people like you."

"What do you mean by that?" He asks.

"Tattooed. Muscled." She responds, "They are used to europeans, not vikings."

"How do you know what I am?" I ask her.

"I've done my research. It was my job to keep look of the libraries." I say, "I would dust, sweep, everything. I was a housekeeper."

"A slave?" I ask.

She nods, "I was a slave."

"Name?" I ask again, I want an answer this time. I need this answer. I can no longer wait.

She sighs, "Estrella."

"Estrella?" I ask, repeating the name she just gave me, "Wonderful name."

"Thank you." She says, "I have to go and clean up the children. I will see you again, another time, Bjorn."

I watch her as she brings the children in the women's bath chamber.

Estrella. I say her name over and over again in my head. It's beautiful. It's a beautiful name.

I haven't felt that way about a woman in a very, very long time. It's been four years since my wife passed away. I spent the first year sleeping around, trying to erase her memory.

I respect her more now. I have given myself time.

Estrella is not interested in me in any way. But I'll try to learn more about her and make her more comfortable with me.

She has a mouth, plump pink lips, her body is curvy, from what I can see in her dress. The bottom is nearly shredded. She must have been on that ship for a very long time.

Or was she attacked? The thought pisses me off as I walk to the pub.

Ruek is already here.

"Day drinking?" He asks when I sit down next to him on the stool.

"Yep." I say, nodding over to the bartender for my usual beer. He sees me and my men in here all the time.

"So..." He says, trying to carry on the conversation, "How many did you kill?"

"Two." I say.

"Only two?! I expected there to be more." He says, shrugging and taking a sip as mine appears.

"They could have been cowering." I say, "They must've escaped by now, lucky jackass's."

"What do you think they did to those women?" Ruek looks behind us, expecting to see one, but there are no women who aren't whores or wives in here.

"I don't know." I say, "I'm going to find out, from either one of the children or a woman when they start to speak."

"Alrighty then." Ruek says, chugging his down, I take a sip of mine.

We don't say anything for the next two drinks together. But on drink number three, it's like I have a new fucking best friend.

"So, the last time you ever indulged in a woman was three years ago!?" He asks, clearly shocked.

"Yeah. But um-"

My head starts spinning and I try to stand up.

"I have to go. I have orders." I try to get out in a sentence. I stumble out of the pub.

And I slam into a small figure.

"Shit!" She cries out.

Oh shit.