The Berserker

12

Light peers through the small window, hitting me in the face. Stirring me from my slumber. My ears perk at the hushed voices outside the cabin. One of whom I knew belonged to Tormad.

"She isn't ready!" Tormad says. "And when she is, it will be me who trains her."

"Don't be stupid, brother," the other voice I now know belongs to Igor. "You will go too easy on her."

Silence forms and I go to get up, stopping at the sound of Tormad's voice.

"If she wishes to train with you and Freya, then teach her." Boots crushing against the grit path outside the cabin fade off and I take this opportunity to get up and get myself ready for the day. The door bursting open startles me and I spin around expecting to see Tormad, but my eyes land on the frightening beast Igor.

"I gave you my word. You are in my debt."

I tilt my head, not comprehending his words.

Igor takes a cautious step toward me. Panic builds at the uncertainty of his visit.

"Relax," he murmurs, waving his hand out. "If I were to hurt you, I would have."

He glances over my body. I instinctively cover my chest with my arms. Noticing the smirk on his face. "Not my type," he declares.

"Meet me outside in 5 minutes!" Igor left as fast as he arrived. The cabin door slams with a loud bang. It is barely attached to the frame, so I'm surprised it didn't fall down from his brute force.

I am afraid of Igor, so I did as requested and five minutes later I was standing outside pressed against my door. People walked by, none of them gave me a second glance. I've been here a month, and this is probably the second time I've left the cabin alone. Helga delivered the food or Tormad took me to the hall, which is currently being rebuilt after the raid.. I guess that is why people weren't paying attention to the outsider, as they were all busy getting their village back in order. This brought me back to my village; were there any survivors? Lucky people who escaped and hid until it was safe to come out. Have they rebuilt Eldham?

"You will need to train her to beat me."

I jerk my head at the voice of Freya approaching me, with Igor walking beside her.

"We will both be training her," Igor pointed out. His tone set for no negotiation.

"She isn't one of us," Freya sneers and turns to face Igor.

"According to Tormad, she is."

"Tormad's visions have been known to be wrong."

Freya chose this moment to walk away. "I won't be training her."

I breathed out a relief watching Freya depart, but then frown remembering her words before she did. Tormad's visions have been known to be wrong. Before I can dwell on it further, a hand grips my wrist and pulls me away from the safety of my cabin.

"We have little daylight left," he murmurs, and drags me further away from the cabin.

I didn't want to be alone with Igor, but with his tight grip on my arm, I had no choice but to follow him.

"Here will do," he simply states, unlatching his fingers from my now bruised arm. His eyes immediately travel to the area.

"You will eat more meals and train daily."

I scoff at his brazenness. "And do I get a say in how I live my life?"

He glances over his shoulder as he walks a few steps away. "Nei!"

I place my hands on my hips and glare at his back. "You can't order me around."

"I can't, no," he agrees. "But eventually you will want to learn our ways."

He leans his back against a large tree and folds his arms across his chest. Making his muscles bulge. A quiet voice tells me Igor could kill me with just his hands alone. But the other voice inside my head assures me he wouldn't hurt me because of Tormad.

"You're loyal to Tormad?" I ask. From this space between us, I can still see him cock a brow at my question.

"Do you even have to ask?"

I nod. "I do. Freya isn't as loyal as you all believe her to be."

"Freya is Freya," Igor simply says. He pushes off the trunk.

"We need to start training."

This brings me to glance around. We are in the middle of nowhere. No weapons are nearby.

"How do I train without a weapon?"

Igor chuckles and places his burley arms across his chest. "You're too weak to be wielding weapons today!" I felt my face heat, and the need to look away from his interrogating gaze.

"Run!" he belts out, causing me to look at him. Run! Run where?

I go to speak, but stop when I hear the thudding of feet in the distant. The sound is heading this way.

"Run, Catherine, or they will hurt you!"

The moment I turn to see who he was referring to, my heart picks up a pace. Sheer panic causes my legs to buckle. Four large men make their way toward me. Each one of them holds a weapon of their choosing. And their faces contorted with an evil glare.

"I'm not joking, Kari," Igor explains. "They won't kill you, but they will hurt you."

"Whaaat."

A squeal leaves my lips the moment I feel the rush of wind blow past my ear, and an axe lands on the trunk in front.

I don't know where to run. A tear seeps past my eyes and makes my vision hazy. But I didn't have long to fight off my fear. I needed to pick a direction and run. A man reaches out to grab me and I choose this the perfect time to duck and slip past. I'll run in that direction. They had to have come from camp.

My legs hurt, my chest burns, but I keep running. I don't dare take a peek over my shoulder to see how close they are on my trail. I can hear them. They are close, but not close enough to touch me. Though I swear I felt them breathing down my neck. But I propel myself to push harder.

I know the moment I make it to camp, I'm going to collapse in a heap and pray for death.

I see the parting trees, and a few people close by. Then my eyes land on him. Tormad turns around and I call out to him. He rushes over, taking with the weight of my tired body in his arms.

"Kari!" My mouth is gaping for air. Thankfully, Helga comes into view with some water.

"What has happened?"

I take the water and down it like I have been deprived of fluid for days. "Men..." I breathe out.

Tormad's fingers pinch my sides, but I'm too numb to care.

"Men!" He repeats. Just as he was about to question me further, I heard clapping from the thickets and, along with Tormad, glanced around to see Igor stepping into view.

"You can run." He keeps walking toward Tormad and me. "I guess you're not a complete waste to train."

Tormad groaned in frustration. "You didn't say she was starting today."

"Would you have agreed?"

"Nei," Tormad mumbles. "But I would have warned her at least."

Igor chuckles. "That is no fun." Igor glances down at me. "When we aren't training. I want you to be watching."

Tormad chooses this moment to nudge me forward. "Go with Igor."

I stare at him with my mouth open. Not because I'm still puffed, but this time shocked.

"You will be safe."

I thought I was a few seconds ago until I was running for my life.