Chapter 2 First love

Several years have passed since Erik, and Tori found that baby. They took him in thinking it was a blessing from the gods. They raised him as their own, and as far as he knew he was. Now with a child to be concerned about. They realized the village they were in wasn't fertile enough to sustain another mouth to feed so they left for Kattegat. It was there they join a group of farmers who intend to settle in England. By the time they had built up a decent-sized village, Sven was already old enough to run, and play.

During the day he helped his mother with the caring of the livestock and was taught about the gods. At night his father would teach him about combat. He learned to use a wooden shield, and sword rather quickly for a child his age. Everyone in the village was sure he would be a great warrior someday. He was very close to his mother and possesses a very kind heart. This is why his father believed that regardless of his talent that he could never be a warrior. Since you had to be ruthless in battle, or it would cost your life. His mother died when he was seven. The cause of her death was unknown. This death hit him very hard. If Valhalla was real then his mom would not be there for she did not die in battle. It caused him to question his beliefs at such an early age.

Sven was now reaching the age of seventeen. He had medium jet black hair, green eyes, and was very tall for his age. His father was now the leader of the village. Sven was close with all the villagers, but there was one he was inseparable with. Her name was Bethany, she wasn't a Dane like the rest of them. She was a Saxon slave girl, but Sven treated her like all the other people in the village. She was a few years younger than Sven. This didn't bother him one bit he was still in love with her. Sven was scolded often about the status of slaves, but he always refused to listen. He would sneak out to bring her food he saved from dinner. When he could he would spend all night with her talking about their future and how he will become a great warrior. Then no one would complain when she was granted freedom and became his wife.

"Why do you care for me so much? I'm always dirty, I don't have nice clothes, and I'm viewed as a tool to be easily replaced. They treat some of the animals better than me. You shouldn't want me." Bethany said as tears slowly began to form in her eyes.

Sven grabbed her hand that she was using to try, and hide her teary eyes from him. He looked her in the eyes and immediately responded.

"You were the only one to make me smile again after my mother died. When I'm with you I can't help, but feel happy. I think of a future when I'm together with you. A few years ago I didn't care what could've happened to me, and could care less about what the future held. You brought me back to life. Even my father was no comfort since he would recite 'it was the will of the gods' over, and over like that is supposed to make it okay. I need you to know that you are the most important person in the world to me."

After hearing this she stopped crying and wiped away her tears as she smiled at Sven.

"Your also the prettiest girl I've seen, even when your dirty" Sven teased.

"You're not funny!" She snarled as she kicked him in the balls, and left the barn they were talking in.

Needing time to recuperate from the sharp pain she managed to create some distance between the two of them. She wandered off towards the edge of town pouting. When Sven finally managed to regain his composure he heard Bethany scream in terror. Sven quickly ran over as fast he could; and while closing in he could see that it was a large wolf that was slowly walking towards her. From the look of the wolf, it was a loner. It was close to starving so it's definitely going to attack her. He was almost close enough to get in front of her to shield her when it lunged towards her. Things seemed to almost come to a halt at this point. Sven pictured all the nights they had spent together, and how he may never see that smile he loved so much again. Things go dark, and the next thing he remembers was being covered in blood. Bethany was crying attached to him.

"Are you okay?!" She asked.

"What happened?" Sven asked.

"You got in between us, and it bit hold of your arm.' It shook viciously but you managed to free your arm. The next thing I see is blood everywhere, and it lying on the ground covered in blood" She replied.

"I don't remember..." Sven said before face planting into the ground

Finally, the adults manage to make it to them. They were armed and expecting to fight something off. To their surprise, the jaw had been ripped clear off, what could've done this? Surely it wasn't the girl. Even Sven wasn't strong enough to do that. Erik quickly rushed over, sliding Bethany aside ignoring her trying to clean the blood of Sven to see how bad the bite was, but no wound was found. Sven was moved into the house where he was thoroughly checked over for injuries but could find no reason he would be unconscious. He was out for several days. Which was more than enough time for rumors to spread of a young boy, killing a wolf brutally with his bare hands.

Finally, Sven has awoken; and standing over his bed is both his father and Bethany. Sven was confused, normally his father would never let her be inside their house unless it was for cleaning. Due to her being a slave.

"Are you okay? We were so worried about you. We even sent for a healer to be brought. They should be arriving any time now. I'm glad you're awake, but I have some matters to attend to." Erik stated before leaving.

When he left the room he didn't even bother to acknowledge Bethany's presence in the room. Before Sven could even ask what happened to him she was on top of him hugging him and crying.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again! I thought I lost you. " She said while hitting him

"Oww!' Is that any way to treat someone who just woke up from injuries?" Sven exaggerated

Her face went bright red, and she looked like she wanted to hit him more now. She was about to hit him again but began laughing.

"Why must you always tease me? It's like you want me to get mad, and hit you. You know they been talking about you like crazy the last few days. Some people are already trying to arrange for you to be wed to their daughters. They say you can marry whoever you want with potential like that" she said in an irritable tone.

"Ohh really? Is there a lot of them? I definitely have to see this" he joked pretending to get up to go outside.

She grabbed hold of the iron pot they been using to boil water recently; and smashed it over his head. Down he goes again.

"You know I'm kidding!" He begs for mercy in order to not receive a double-tap.

"Maybe now my dad will let me marry you." He said hopefully

"Maybe," Bethany said as she leaned in to kiss him.

Meanwhile outside Erik is expecting people to arrive in town to heal Sven. He can see 6 horsemen pulling up, but doesn't recognize the insignia on their shields. He signals for the villagers to be ready to fight if need be. As the riders approach one identifies himself.

"Is this the village that was needing a healer?"

Erik quickly gave the signal for the villagers to disarm themselves, cause they appear to be the help he sent for.

"Yes, we are. Thank you very much for getting here so quickly. We know the village is far out of the way of the usual roads."

"Oh it's no problem," said the mysterious man.

All of the riders have the same black leather armor; and chain mail. They seem to be a seasoned warrior so why would they be escorting a simple healer? Erik thought to himself. Still feeling uneasy about the situation, but out of concern for Sven, he wrote it off as a talented healer with deep pockets. The soldiers get off their horses and lead them to the troth to drink. While the healer talked with Erik.

"So can you describe the way the wolf's corpse looked?" Asked the healer.

"It was rather skinny and weak looking. Why is that important?" Erik questioned.

"It could have had a disease that could spread to the people" The man replied.

"It did look sickly now that you mention it," Erik said.

"I'll need to see the ones who found the wolf; and all people over the age of sixteen. I need to examine them to make sure they aren't sick" The healer demanded.

Everyone was rounded up; and most of the workers had stopped to observe what was going on. Sven and Bethany were the last to gather.

"They were the two who found it." A villager said as they pointed to Sven and Bethany.

The mysterious man was observing them closely, almost as if they were on trial for something. He raised his hand to signal his men to come over. He whispers to one of them.

"I can't feel the same energy trace from the other day. The seer said it would be here in this village though. We should cull them all to be safe. It's probably the girl since she was at the scene, and is the right age. Make it quick, and painless."

The healer began to chant something in a language they can't comprehend. Suddenly a wall of fire covered the village. Everyone was stunned at the sight. They have heard stories of seidr, but never seen magic used before. Sven had his eyes on the wall of fire. Before they had time to react three daggers flew into the chest of Bethany, and one of the men swiftly swung his ax, and before Sven could even look down from the wall. Her head began falling to the floor. Sven was so focused on Bethany's head rolling on the ground he tuned everything else out. He dropped down to his knees holding her head in his hands with tears rolling down his face. His heart beating rapidly, and the only thing he can hear is the thumping of his heart growing louder.

There was screaming echoed into the background, as people tried to defend themselves. The warriors were just too powerful for the farmers. Erik having spent many years of his life raiding, and on the field of battle was holding his own. He managed to take down one of the warriors in black and was starting to make his way to Sven. He could clearly see he was in shock, and not able to respond. The one who cast the barriers saw this and focused on him. He was chanting again, and blood began to pour from his eyes; ears, and mouth. Yet Erik kept walking forward in an attempt to reach him. It was at this moment that Sven looked up, and noticed the people he grew up with were almost all dead. His father struggling so hard to be by his side in his time of need. Erik can no longer withstand the pressure. He falls to his knees, and Sven can see him mouthing "I'm sorry" right before his head explodes.

He just witnessed the death of his first love, his father, and everyone he grew up around die in under a few minutes. His entire world was shattered at that moment. While he was lost in thought one of the warriors was now swinging his sword downwards to cut him in two. It was then he heard a voice in his head that he didn't recognize yet it sounded so familiar say "kill them all."