Blessed by the Gods

A Voice

Inside the house, Hvitserk placed Rùna on her bed, the head resting on a pillow. He heard the men's screams outside, but following his father's orders, he did not leave her side. The sword and axe in hand, his back turned to Rùna, Hvitserk stood still, listening for the men that stormed into the town and attacked all that had not found shelter in time.

Through the window a man climbed, struck down by the axe Ivar had thrown, protecting his brother from the attack. "We cannot hold them down for long" his voice as shrill and alarmed as his brother.

"I know, what now?"

Rùna sat up straight in her bed, her hand on the wound that had stopped bleeding a long time ago and healed under her touch. A voice inside her head demanded her to open all doors and let the enemy into town.

A sudden wind blew through the window, filling the room with the salty smell of the nearby lake. And with it the yelps, screams and battle cries of many men who lost their lives or fought bravely on until their last breath.

Trust me

The clear, calm voice inside her head led her through the house, followed by Ivar and Hvitserk who fought off any man that came close to her, but Rùna did not notice any of that. She followed the voice that guided her to the centre of Myrhult, upon a small hill where a long time ago had stood a tree, but now remained nothing but the stomp and the roots leading to the wells around the square.

Rùna stepped onto the stomp and closed her eyes, the arms stretched out to the voice that guided her. Lightning split the sky once more, striking her down, and when the bright light had gone, Rùna stood tall on a living tree, up in the crown, viewing the entire town, the woods beyond and the lake where the Berserkers had forced Ragnar to retreat. In the corner of her eye, her father's men followed the enemy into town, chasing and killing them, but not only the men of Bǫlverkr had come to kill, the queen wandered amongst them. Hidden from the sight of others, in the shadows, but Rùna sensed her.