14 Creature of the Moon
Eowyn was afraid, she had not been afraid often, one of the few times she was happened when her sister was taken and again when Thorfinn had come to their home. In all cases, she feared for her life, which was just how she felt now when she watched the sun almost disappear beyond the horizon. She had just finished cooking food for Thorfinn, but she couldn't help but shake. She knew whatever creature haunted those woods was real, she had seen it once before; she had never told anyone about it, but she had seen it the day her sister was taken.
Even years later it still haunted her dreams and gave her many sleepless nights. On nights when the moon was full, she never slept, she lay awake in her bed with a knife in her hand, she knew that it would not do much, but she could never sleep on those nights of the deep fear that she would wake up to the creature in her room. She believed that Thorfinn was not taking her warning seriously, he looked too calm as he sat there drinking mead, they should've tried to run in the opposite direction and use Aelfrida as bait to lure the creature somewhere else.
She did not know what Thorfinn planned to do, but she had little faith it would work. If things were so easy then the creature would've died years ago; while he might be good at killing people, it didn't mean those skills would translate well into fighting the large hairy creature she had seen take her sister. One small comfort she had is that they might be able to reason with the creature by sacrificing Aelfrida for their lives, she would have to bring that up to Thorfinn when the girl was not present.
Despite Eowyns thoughts on Thorfinn, he did take the situation very seriously. Thorfinn knew that creatures of the night existed and while he was a little fearful it didn't mean he wouldn't fight it, in truth he just wanted to know what creature he would be facing, if it was another Draugr then he was confident he could defeat it. Though a feeling in his gut told him it wouldn't be a Draugr, and that is what scared him, he knew that Freyja was watching over him, and the gods themselves had blessed him. He would dishonour them if he did not fight, and even if he should die he knew they'd welcome him into Valhalla —at least he hoped they would. A small voice at the back of his mind kept repeating what the seer had told him, that he would never go through the portals of Valhalla if he chose Rebekah.
"Eowyn have you seen this creature before?" Thorfinn asked as he took the plate of offered food from the woman.
"I have lord," She replied. Thorfinn looked at her expectantly and she knew he was waiting for her to clarify and describe what the creature looked like. In truth, she did not want to as she felt it would take her back to the night her sister was taken.
"If was large my lord, at least five heads taller than you are and twice as wide," Eowyn said slowly as she gripped her hands tightly.
"Despite its size, it moved quietly, like a fox I would not have known it came into my home had I not been checking on my sister," she continued.
"This creature took your sister?" Thorfinn asked.
Eowyn nodded, her facade slightly cracking as a distraught look made its way onto her face. "How many winters ago did it take your sister?" He asked.
"Four," she replied.
Thorfinn sighed as he looked out the window to the setting sun, this would not be an easy task. From what he had learned this creature was fast and light on its feet, its size would suggest it was strong and it wouldn't be that unusual to think it would have claws or teeth of some kind. He hoped that the gods were on his side tonight cause it would be a difficult fight no matter what the creature was; he would need to prepare, there was no shame in preparing to fight such a creature.
He stood up "Keep yourself hidden, if I die then you have my permission to take the silver and leave," Thorfinn said causally, he wouldn't need it if he died and couldn't expect her to get it back to his land back home; she'd also most likely take it anyway, at least this way makes him look better. 'It doesn't matter anyway as I don't plan to die,' he thought I himself as he walked over to Aelfrida in the corner.
"Aelfrida would you like to be free?" He asked as he knelt next to her.
She looked at him with unrestrained malice, as if hoping her mere gaze would strike him dead. "I will be free, the Lord of Bebbenberg will wonder where my father is, he will send men to investigate and when they come they will slaughter you like a dog!" She spat out at him.
Thorfinn nodded "Perhaps you are right, but if I kill you now you will never know," he said with a cold expression on his face.
This shut Aelfrida up and she managed to bite back her scathing response. "I am going to chain you outside, you are going to make as much noise as you can and if you survive I will let you go, or you can stay here and take over your father's land," Thorfinn offered.
Aelfrida scowled at him "I am not a fool, I won't let myself be torn to pieces by a creature from hell, get that bitch who spreads her legs for you to do it!" She replied.
Thorfinn hummed "I felt a little guilty for taking you over your dead mother and brother last night, I offered you this deal as a chance to make up for it," he said with a sigh.
"You can shove your deal up your arse!!!" She screeched.
"A shame... because in the end the deal was only for your benefit, you have no real choice, you'll be chained to the ground either way," Thorfinn said as he shot a hook right across her jaw knocking her out cold. Eowyns eyes widened as she saw him do that, but she had to admit she felt a bit of pleasure seeing Aelfrida be hit like that, the bitch deserved it.
Thorfinn grabbed her by the leg and started dragging her out of the house. Finding a chain in the barn he attached it around her ankles before hammering it into the ground, the sun had just gone past the horizon and he knew the animals of the night would emerge soon. He grabbed Eowyns brothers bow and the arrows he had before stashing weapons in certain locations; he would be waiting for the creature on the roof of the building where he'd try and kill it with the bow, he was a decent shot but wasn't a prodigy, that's why he chained Aelfrida close to one of the other houses.
Carrying his shield up here would be inefficient so he left it by Aelfrida and stashed various weapons including a pitchfork around the different houses. He kept his sword on him as it was possible it might work well against the creature even if it wasn't a Draugr.
Before settling into his ambush spot Thorfinn took off his tunic and rubbed mud and earth onto his body. His ambush wouldn't work if the creature had a good sense of smell, just like on any hunt he erased his scent and then climbed on top of the house settling down on the thatch roof.
...
Aelfrida woke up to a throbbing pain across her face, it was so bad she felt like crying. She pushed herself up from her back and looked around, it was dark and she was outside, her father's land was illuminated by the light of the full moon. She started to breathe heavily as she realised the position she was in; she tried to push herself up but fell to the ground as her head was still spinning. She tried again and while she was able to get up when she tried to walk she felt something pull her and make her fall back to the ground.
"No! No! No!" She screamed fearfully as she saw the chain secured tightly around her ankle, she tried yanking on it and pulling it from the ground, but Thorfinn had hammered it in deeply. Someone of her size and strength would not be able to pull it out.
"No! No! Help! God save me! Help!" She shouted as she kept trying to yank to chain out, she pulled so hard she slipped on the ground falling on her back. She started to weep, her life had been going so well until a few days ago, she had lost her mother, father, brother, her purity, and now she was about to lose her life. 'Why have you forsaken me, god,' she thought to herself.
*Howl*
She looked down the dirt path that led into the forest and froze at the sound, it was loud, louder than wolves usually were. "Please help me! Please help me, god! Anyone! This can't be happening!!!" She wept as she got to her knees, the howling was getting closer, she knew that the creature was coming and she would soon be on the receiving end of its horror.
"Please, Lord!!! Save me!!! Save me!!!" She shouted trying to catch Thorfinns attention, as she yanked on the metal chain.
"I HOPE YOU BURN IN HELL!!! I WILL LAUGH FROM GOD'S KINGDOM AS YOU DROWN IN THE LAKE OF FIRE!!!" She screeched to Thorfinn as she pulled on the chain with all her strength, the result being her falling on her back again. Despite her outburst, Thorfinn did not come, but the night seemed to wake and more sounds started to echo through the forest.
"I promise to give myself to you freely! You can have my body whenever you want!" She pleaded. She believed herself to be beautiful and so this deal would be one Thorfinn would surely take. He still did not come and Aelfrida knew she would not be getting any help.
"Please... anyone," she said as tears streaked down her face and she slumped onto the ground.
*HOWL*
Aelfrida looked up as she sobbed, the sound of the howling was close now and she knew any second now she would see whatever it was coming past that tree line straight towards her. Above her Thorfinn looked to the tree line and waited for a creature to emerge, none of Aelfrida's pleading had swayed him, he was content to let her die as it would mean he'd have a better chance of killing whatever was coming towards them. He kept his body low and covered in straw, the only thing visible on his body were his eyes.
Thorfinn held his breath as he saw movement at the tree line. He looked closely and saw a large black figure emerging from the forest, at first he thought the creature was a horse, but then it stood on its hind legs and seemed to sniff the air. Thorfinn felt his heart start to beat incredibly fast, the creature must've been almost 7 feet tall when stood on its hind legs, and it was thickly muscled with a large snout and jaw. It looked like a man in the shape of a wolf, he knew such men pretended to be back home, but he never knew such things were real.
He felt his hand shake slightly as the creature fell back onto its hands and rushed towards the Hamlet. Down below Aelfrida seemed to have given up and accepted her fate, she sat there with her head low looking down at her feet. Thorfinn could hear the growling of the wolf-man as it got closer, the creature went over to the dead bodies and started licking them before ripping a chunk out of them with its powerful jaws.
The creature was barely a couple dozen feet away from Aelfrida who watched as her father's leg was ripped from his body. She had thought Thorfinn was a creature from hell, but she had not truly known what that was until she saw the monster before her, she flinched every time she heard the crunch of her father's bones and the tearing of his flesh. She knew that this would be her fate and the more the creature ate the closer it would be to having her as her next meal 'God forgive me... let me join my family in your kingdom,' she thought as she clasped her hands together in prayer —repenting for her various sins in life.
*Growl*
She flinched and started to shake as she heard the creature growl, she opened her eyes and saw that it was stepping towards her with blood and flesh dripping from its mouth. She barely contained the scream that almost slipped from her mouth and quickly closed her eyes again and mumbled her prayer. Had it not been for the growls that were slowly getting louder she wouldn't have known the monster was getting closer at all.
Thorfinn raised himself on his knees and nocked an arrow. He drew back on the bow with all his strength, the creature was large but if he managed to hit the creature in the nape of its neck then he might be able to take it down in one shot. He watched as the creature was nearly stood over Aelfrida and ready to lunge.
"AH!!!" Aelfrida couldn't contain her fear anymore and screamed as the monster stood over her.
*Twang*
Thorfinn cursed as the monster stepped back slightly due to her scream and so the arrow missed his nape and sunk into the thick muscle of its neck.
*ROAR*
It stood up on its hind legs letting out a mighty roar before looking in Thorfinns direction. Thorfinn cursed as he went to nock another arrow, but the wolf man leaped off the ground with its powerful legs clearing the distance between them almost in an instant. Thorfinn dived into a forward roll, sliding down the roof of the house as the creature scrambled behind him to regain its footing. As he slid down the roof he slowed his descent with his hands and feet so he wouldn't fall roughly.
*Roar*
He looked behind him and saw the creature coming after him, sliding down the roof at a much faster pace. Thorfinn drew his sword and letting himself fall faster, he heard the monster coming closer, he waited until it was right behind him and he thrust his sword into the roof spinning his body 180 degrees and kicking the lunging wolf man in the stomach with both legs as it jumped at him which sent it flying off the roof.
Thorfinn drew his sword back out and rolled off the roof landing on his feet. He couldn't see the monster which concerned him, it must be hiding in the shadows waiting to find an opportunity to strike; Thorfinn cursed as a few moments ago he was the hunter, but because of his missed shot, he was now prey. He walked lightly as he approached his shield and grabbed it off the ground, he looked over to Aelfrida who seemed to be on the floor crying and shaking —not even acknowledging his presence.
Thorfinn walked into the middle of the dirt path that was surrounded by buildings and started banging on his shield with his sword.
"Upp á hǫfðið snúið keilinn (Up onto the overturned keel),"
"Klifra, með hjarta af járni! (Clamber, with a heart of steel!)"
Thorfinn looked to his left as he saw a shadow move between the buildings. He kept banging on his shield loudly, he would not show fear in front of this creature even if this creature was his death.
"Kaldt er sjávar sprautið. (Cold is the oceans spray.)"
*Growl*
Thorfinn turned and saw red eyes peering out from the shadow, he bent his legs and squared his stance.
"Dauði þinn er á leiðinni! (Your death is on its way!)"
*Growl*
"Með meyjum hefir þú farið din veg! (With maidens you've had your way!)"
*ROAR*
"Hverr skal deyja einn dagr!!! (Each must die someday!!!)"
The wolfman burst from out of the shadows lunging at Thorfinn who rolled to the side, on his way up he swung his blade up and caught the creature on its leg making it roar in pain. It sent a clawed hand straight at Thorfinn who brought up his shield to block it; with a grunt, he was sent rolling back as the creature almost smashed through his shield. Quickly getting to his feet he avoided another lunge and cut the monster's shoulder, the wolf man grabbed Thorfinns shield, but Thorfinn didn't let go which led to him being tossed a dozen feet in the air.
Thorfinn felt the wind rush out of his lungs as he hit the ground hard, he quickly brought his shield up as the wolf man scraped his claws over what would've been his body.
*ROAR*
Thorfinn stabbed his sword into the creature making it whine and retreat. The creature was incredibly fast, had it not been for his gifted speed he would've died on the creature's first lunge. He inhaled heavily to get the wind back in his body, and jumped on his feet to disperse the numbness of his limbs, 'This creature must be the spawn of Fenrir or perhaps a Hamrammr,' he thought to himself.
Thorfinn looked and saw a blood trail on the ground, he stepped softly and followed it only for it to lead him to the barn. The large doors were open, letting the moonlight shine inside; Thorfinn kept his shield up before stepping inside, looking at both ends of the barn all he could hear was the sound of the wind and the few farm animals that were kept inside. The trail ended inside her so Thorfinn knew the creature must've been in there somewhere but he did not know where. He looked for any signs of a disturbance both on the ground and walls but found nothing.
*Drip*
*Drip*
Thorfinn felt the warm liquid drip onto his face and he paused. He cursed as he slowly switched his grip on his blade, but it was too late the wolf man grabbed Thorfinn by the neck —its claws scrapping into his skin— and lifted him off the ground. At the same time, Thorfinn swiped up with his sword carving through the creature's chest, it roared and tossed Thorfinn across the barn. He dropped his shield and rolled across the earth, he thanked Tyr that his weapon remained in his hand as the creature stood on its hind legs and swiped at him. He ducked underneath the monster's claws and went to thrust his sword right into his chest only for him to get grabbed by the wolf man's other claw and lifted straight to its jaws where it snarled at him.
It opened its jaws wide and wound its head back to rip Thorfinns throat out. Thorfinn brought his sword up and held both ends; the Wolfman's bite was stopped and its mouth was filled with the cold iron of the blade. It roared in pain as the sword carved out the side of its mouth and broke many of its teeth. He growled and threw Thorfinn threw the barn walls, he crashed out of them and rolled onto the dirt path where he struggled to get up. The wounded and enraged creature crashed through the wall after him and swiped at Thorfinn which carved four long gashes into his chest. It tried to bite him again but Thorfinn grabbed its snout and lower jaw; the wolf man kept moving forward and Thorfinn was pushed across the ground, his back scraping against the hard dirt floor.
He yelled out in pain but tried to make it seem more like a battle cry to try and intimidate the creature. The creature's jaw got closer and closer to his face until Thorfinn could smell its rancid breath "Sigur eða Valhöll!!! (Victory or Valhalla!!!)," he shouted as he opened his mouth and bit down on the wolf man's snout, sinking his teeth in deeply.
"RAAAAAH!!!" He screamed as he ripped off a large chunk of flesh and spat it on the ground. The creature growled and stood up on its hind legs shaking Thorfinn off. He managed to roll to his feet, but quickly realised he didn't have his sword as he dropped it to stop the creature from biting his face off. He ran towards the closest building with the monster running close behind him —though a bit dazed from having its snout bitten off.
Thorfinn grabbed a pitchfork that he had left leaning on the building and turned around, bracing himself against the building. The disoriented creature charged right into the pitchfork and the thin metal drove right into its body making it howl with pain once again. It tried to swipe and claw at Thorfinn but he was able to avoid it, he ducked and then slammed his palm down on the shaft and grabbed the bottom end. Once the pitchfork broke, the wolf man fell forward and Thorfinn dived through its legs, before getting up and driving the wooden shaft into the creature's back making it howl in pain and thrash around.
Thorfinn turned around and rushed back to his sword but was grabbed and tripped up by the creature. He turned around and slammed his other foot into its already injured snout, but it was determined to tear Thorfinn apart as its claws dug into his skin. Thorfinn kept struggling but he could not match the creature in strength, the wolf man dragged him until they were face to face and; the beast's saliva dripped down onto his face, the wolf snarled its teeth and Thorfinn returned the expression as he thrashed around trying to get loose.
The wolf lunged again and Thorfinn grabbed the first thing he could think of and shoved it into the beast's mouth forcing it down his throat. He lamented the loss of his pouch of silver, but it had bought him his life for a moment longer. Thorfinn waited for the creature to spit it out and attack again, but the creature paused before getting off Thorfinn and acting strangely, it started choking and fell to the ground throwing up the contents of its stomach. The creature seemed to be in agonising pain as it shivered and shook, its claws scraped against the ground and he howled in pain and anger.
Thorfinn stood up with a bit of struggle and limped towards his sword. When he picked it up the creature still seemed to be in pain and it continued throwing up everything it had eaten, including the pouch of silver. Thorfinn didn't think much of it and instead decided to end this, he rushed towards the beast —ignoring the pain in his leg. He brought his sword down on the beast's neck, but it seemed to be aware enough to avoid it, so Thorfinn only managed to get his collarbone and chest. Thorfinn wouldn't let him escape, he lunged forward thrusting his sword into its chest and making the wolf man howl.
Its claws scraped against Thorfinns arm tearing deep gashes of flesh from him, but Thorfinn looked down with his icy blue eyes that seemed to reflect the moonlight glow and he twisted the blade, before drawing it out again and thrusting it into the beast's heart "RAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Thorfinn yelled into the wolfman's face as it weakened under him. The creature eventually went limp under his grasp and collapsed to the floor.
Thorfinn drew his sword out of the beast and raised it into the air "Óðinn!!!" He shouted, his voice echoing across the lands. He had once again prevailed over a creature of darkness proving the gods were on his side.
He looked down at his body and saw the deep gashes that were carved into his skin, they were not life-threatening but if he did not treat them they could become corrupted. He went to limp back towards the main house when his ears twitched and he turned his head.
*Growl*
Thorfinn scowled as he saw another wolfman stalking through the dirt path of the hamlet. This one was a lot smaller than the one he had just killed, but that would make it no less dangerous; Thorfinn fought through the pain and held his sword up to face the new foe. He had run and hid when the Draugr had come for them, he wouldn't do that again, he would fight until he could no longer fight and let the Valkyries take him should he fall.
The wolf man started running towards Thorfinn and lunged at him. Thorfinn was in no condition to dodge at the same speed as he could before, so he held his sword flat against his palms and blocked the beast's mouth as it attacked him. The beast's speed and strength were overwhelming and as soon as it made contact with Thorfinn he was swept off his feet and both man and creature tumbled across the ground; Thorfinn avoided its teeth as they tumbled and tried to thrust his sword into its maw. Thorfinn missed and ended up stabbing the ground, because of this he lost grip of his blade when they continued to tumble.
As the creature was a lot smaller —not much bigger than Thorfinn— He was able to kick it off him, but he was attacked again when he tried to reach for his sword. He tried slamming his fist into its nose, but the creature was only dazed for a second. It clamped down on his shoulder with its jaws and shook his head "AAAAAAHH!" Thorfinn screamed in pain and anger before he was tossed to the ground.
He breathed heavily as he pushed himself back to his feet. The creature approached him slowly on its hind legs, his blood was dripping from its mouth; it ran its tongue across its chin licking the blood up before it could fall to the ground, but before it could reach Thorfinn it paused. It stumbled back and then started shaking, it started howling in pain as it fell to its knees. Thorfinn could hear bones crack and move as the creature started to get smaller, its muscular body disappeared and in its place formed a feminine one, the fur dropped to the ground and the only fur remaining was that between her legs and on her head.
Thorfinn was surprised to see that on the ground before him was no longer a creature, but a girl roughly his age. He limped towards her to see her breathing heavily with blood at the corners of her mouth, she looked to be feverish. Not that it mattered, he would end her right here before she could turn into whatever that creature was. He limped over to his sword and pulled it from the ground before approaching the unknown girl. However, when he brought the sword up to end it, the doors to the main house crashed open.
"Lord!!! Please stop!!! Please!!!" Eowyn shouted desperately as she fell to her knees before him, placing herself between herself and the girl.
"Move yourself woman or I shall kill you as well," Thorfinn said with his sword still raised.
"Please lord! This is my sister! Please spare her!" She pleaded with her hands grasping his hosur's.
Thorfinn frowned "If this is your sister she is beyond help, best I destroy her now and be done with it," he said unconvinced.
"Please, Lord!!! She changed back, but the other wolf had not, whatever you have done must've saved her! Please give her a chance! I will give myself to you body and soul if you grant me this!" She was pleased as her eyes filled with tears.
Thorfinn breathed heavily, the temptation to push her out of the way and kill her was overwhelming, but there would be no honour in killing this girl as she was. "I will wait until morning, if the girl has not turned back by then, she can live," Thorfinn stated lowering his sword. He hoped she did turn back, as he wished to have two trophies of his victory rather than one.
Thorfinn sheathed his sword before walking over to the girl and easily lifting her over his shoulder. Eowyn walked close to his side constantly touching her sister to make sure she was real and not a dream. Thorfinn walked into the bedroom and dropped the girl onto the bed before pulling a chair by it and sitting down with his sword on his lap. "Go and get me a drink, and get something to pack my wounds," he instructed Eowyn who obeyed right away before taking one last look at her sister.
Thorfinn just silently watched and looked for any sign the girl might change back into the creature from before.
(AN: The chapter is done, sorry it took a while but I've been busy with work, you guys know how it is. Anyway, this is Thorfinns fight with a werewolf, not a Lycan. For those of you who have watched Underworld you know werewolves are cursed to never take human form again, this is them. Anyway, if you figured out who Thorfinns father is then you'll know why his blood had an effect on Eowyn sister, (a little hint is purity). I hope you enjoyed the chapter.)
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