[13]

I feel a bit hollow as I look at my handy work, unsure how to feel, "Vidar…it's okay…kill them all, remember." Lagertha says to me softly as she angles my chin so that we look into each other's eyes, Lagertha leans in and gives me a soft chaste kiss on the lips, that pulls me out of my head.

"Thank you." I whisper back to Lagertha, receiving a nod and a soft smile back in return, "Come there are still more to kill." Lagertha commands me softly, stopping me from sinking into my head again. 

Exiting the hovel to find most everyone except Ansel from the village dead along with 23 dead and 5 injured amongst our's. 

"Please Mikael let my son and wife go." Ansel begged while on his knees cradling the stub of an arm to his stomach, a very familiar looking ring attached to the ring finger of his severed hand. 

"The way you and yours let my son go last night?" Mikael snarls as he raises his sword. 

'I wonder what affect including werewolf venom into the spell that will turn us into vampires will have?' I ask in my mind.

"Father, wait!" I shout, making Mikael stop, and look at me his body language screaming to know why.

"I want to harvest some things from him…after all he's an alpha from a long lineage of alphas." I say to Mikael as he looks at me strangely before nodding, "hold him down." I command as I slide the moonlight ring off of the finger of his severed hand and slide it onto the ring finger of his other hand.

"Y-you killed them." Ansel growls at me, his eyes glow and his fangs are exposed. 

"I did, not only did your kind attack my little brother, but you attacked my son." I reply coldly as memories of raising a week old Gar to the wolf he is today all the struggles of parenthood and the rewards of it like watching Gar on his first hunt. Or tracking prey with him in the forest to having him save my life when he came running into the battlefield,  while I grab Ansel's face and force his mouth open using telekinesis. I rip the venom sacks and fangs from his mouth, making him scream in pain and rage.

 I store the two precious ingredients in one of Roach's sealed and empty bags, and take off his other hand with a swipe of my sword and retrieve the ring, and put it in a pouch sowed into my arms. 

"Would you like to do the honors, father? or maybe we should take him back home and burn him for all to see." I ask but Mikael kills Ansel but not before getting on his knees to look into the mutts eyes, Mikeal leans in and he whispers something in Ansel's ear that I can't hear…sure I could have used magic if I wanted to but I didn't, shit I didn't want to wait here any longer I just wanted to return home check on Gar and take another bath as I felt dirty.

'Hmm, I think we should send a message...to the allies of this pack.' I humm in my mind as an idea pops into my head, 'That could work...but should send our dead and wounded back to the village.' I continue talking to myself in my head.

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"I know who gave you that ring, now I know why he's such a disgraceful weakling." Mikael whispers into Ansel's ear.

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"Father, I believe we need to send a message to our enemies...that can help prevent any retaliation...for our attack, but we should have the injured and fallen escorted back to the village." I say to Mikael who nods in agreement at my suggestion.

"I'll return to the village with half of the remaining men in condition to fight, and have the other half of the men stay here with you to carry out your plans, my son." Mikael replies to me with a smile on his face.

...

I feel a strange sense of pleased and disgusted at the sight of my plan actualized, as I mount Roach, and lead the men that stayed behind with me out of the remains of the Village with Lagertha on my left.

I can feel her looking to me in worry, as we ride back to the village.

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'I can't help but feel concerned for Vidar…for nearly all our lives he's only lost his composure like he did back there after strangling that mother with the umbilical cord, a rare few times like that...while thinking and worrying over Freya, myself, Ayana…and Gar, especially when he first found that little abandoned pup, and had difficulty in getting him to drink milk.' I worry in my mind as I watch Vidar, as we ride back to the village…the images of all the inhabitants of the village impaled on posts. 

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Returning to the village, taking the special bag off of Roach's saddle and entering my Longhouse being welcomed home by an excited Garmar who stands up on his hind legs and puts his front paws on my torso as he makes a continuous barking whine.

"Hey Gar... I'm so happy you're better." I greet happily smiling so wide my face starts to hurt and my grow wet with tears, as I kneel down and press my face into his fur, as he nuzzles his head against me.

'I LOVE MAGIC ! ! !' I shout in my mind at a nearly completely recovered Garner.

"Come on Gar, it's time for a bath." I say to my boy as I stand up he whimpers and lays down covering his snout with his paws and giving me puppy eyes.

"Don't give me that look…you're getting a bath and that's final." I say sternly to Garmr as he rolls over on his belly and beats the air with his paws.

"Stop being cute." I chuckle softly while reaching down and rubbing his belly, straightening my back and taking off my armor as Bekah walks in.

"I'll clean and treat everything for you brother." Bekah says to me softly.

"Thank you Bekah." I thank Bakah as Gar rolls over and exasperatedly rises to his full height and we trod into the bathroom together, clean water in tub, the water's temperature is a bit tepid from the cooling heating stones.

'Ayana must have come back and prepared the bath for when we returned.' I humm to myself as I brush my hands over the tender area Gar has from his scuffle with a werewolf making him reach around and take my hand into his maw but he doesn't bite down.

"Don't be a baby." I say to Gar softly as he whines and licks my hand before I pick him up and put him in the bathtub and slowly start working through his dried blood thick fur with a comb of bone, and mixing in some soap soon the whole tub is dyed red and filled with soap suds.

"Alright, Garmr you're all done, you're a good boy." I say to my boy who is almost purring like a cat as he gets pampered, he loves getting his fur brushed out.

"You better be planning to do that to me." Lagertha teases from the doorway as I take Gar out of the bathtub and use one of the many Talismans placed round the house…not that my Longhouse itself isn't one massive talisman in itself and I use the energy to dry Gar's fur.

"Of course I will." I reply back just as playfully to Lagertha, while I reach into the tub and pull the drain plug, listening to the burble of water draining.

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After taking a nice long relaxing bath with Lagertha and giving her a shoulder and neck massage.

I meet Ayana at the table who is pacing back and forth, "Vidar…we'll have to contact that witch for what your father wants." Ayana says as she wrings her hands together, I know who she's talking about and why she's so nervous Tess better known as Qetsiyah…even if she did help me create my soul absorbing sword…and another secret project of mine, an anti-witch one to be exact.

"I understand…think she'll want the same payment as last time?" I ask Ayana with a little smirk on my face as the payment…last time was a spiritual threesome between her, myself and Ayana.

"Or something dangerous…if she even makes herself known to us." Ayana mutters worrying over Tess's fickle nature.

"Well, we shouldn't waste anymore time I'm sure...Tess is waiting for us even as we speak...she pretty much sees everything." I say as I roll my shoulders as take Ayana's hand leading her into the bedroom.

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