The Berserker

22

Because I have been sort of slack with updating. I figured I would reward you all with a slight insight to Tormad the great. 

TORMAD POV

There were some things I could control. Will to my desire -for my benefit. My gains in this world. My name stretches across the waters. Who didn't know Tormad Ivarsson? I purposely left a stamp of myself wherever I go.

There was only one foolish man on this earth who dared to battle me. He fails, but still, he comes back. Only this time, I couldn't control what was to happen. I saw it before it began. I knew it was to play out this way. Sadly, I could not speak of what I could see.

"Tormad," Igor calls for me. I glance up from staring at these footing for longer than I should. With her gone, my senses aren't all right. North is South. East is West. The snow that blankets the ground we walk on no longer feels cold.

I sighed and stood. Mentally urging myself to keep going. There is a blessing to know of the future, but sometimes there is a curse. The curse is present. I drag myself over to Igor. At least with him at my side, my people will still have a top warrior to lead. Igor doesn't form an attachment. He lost that bond when his woman died. He still has his two boys, but they do what they will. Igor will fight for them, and protect his kin with his life, but he won't father them, like a man should.

When I told him of Kari and what she meant. Igor warned me of all this. He wanted to spare me the pain. Maybe I should have heeded his warning, but I couldn't deny destiny, either. It was paramount we put my father to rest. His claim on these lands was becoming too much. During his reign, there would be nothing but baron soil far and wide.

Igor pulled a broken twig from the shrub and brought it to my face. "It's fresh!" he points out. I'm not beyond incapable. I knew what fresh blood looked like. "I'd say..." he pointed to the east. "We head in that direction!"

I guess with my nonlucid mind; I have no reason to detest his ability to hunt. Igor was good at what he does. Hunting game was a sport. The only difference here is Game became Kari and our Father.

"Ok," I spoke out. All my men stopped what they were doing and glanced up. "We will be marching East." My eyes wandered over my people. To some, Kari wasn't one of them, but to the select few, she became kin without knowing. Helga stood in front, eagerly awaiting my orders, standing next to her stood Freya. Kari never liked her. I could sense this. I didn't need my vision to tell me why. But Freya was needed for my destiny to come to. I didn't trust her. The night of the attack on Kari village proved so.

Before we could collect, my Father's men raided the small village. Only three people knew of my plan and vision. Igor, myself, and Freya.

"Helga," I call out her name. She steps forward. "I want you to take my right." Freya steps forward and bows her head.

"And I will take your left," she murmurs.

"Nei!" I denied. Freya's head jerks up. She gazes at me, confused. "You will be my back. I want Bjorn to take my left."

I can see her trying to figure this out. Normally my left back is Igor, but I needed him to be up front. Freya's never been my flank during a march. She has only ever been the shield maiden for the traveling women. There was a time I had considered her to be standing beside me, but then the visions appeared, and they kept coming. I was certain I was losing my mind. But then I saw her.

Hilda. My world stopped. She was just as beautiful as I remembered. Her laughter. The way she smiled. My father was besotted with her, even though he had many to choose from. I must have made a noise. Something I was cautious not to do, but at this particular moment, my mind was not thinking.

Hilda stood still. Her gaze fixed on my direction. The longer I stared, the more I noticed she was different. Her belly protrudes and in fear, she covers it with her hands.

"Mama." I turn away to see a small girl running towards her. Hilda smiles and opens her eyes. "Kari, what are you doing all the way out here?" She picks the child up. "Papa will be worried terribly."

From that day onwards, I stayed close. And watched Kari grow.

We marched East, stopping for rest when needed. I didn't want my Father to gain more of a distance than he already has.

"I taught her well," Igor says, bringing me back from my thoughts. He held up a small piece of torn fabric. I smile, remembering how she tied a piece of her nightgown to a nearby tree. At the time, I was livid, as it would have marked a tracker for my father and his men, but I couldn't deny how smart she was for trying to save herself.

"I told her to make it less obvious," Igor stated. "I have the eyes of a hawk."

I'm fairly certain Kari wasn't thinking Igor would find the hidden cloth, but rather concealing it from our father's men, and hoped someone else found it interesting to pursue. Just so happens, we were the people willing to come to her rescue.

I slapped him on the shoulder and gave him a graceful smile. "Thank you." It should have been me who trained her. But she was barely tolerating me being in the same space, breathing the same air. I have unknowingly hurt her. Losing her father was not part of my plan. Though, I must admit, after his death, the dreams became more clear. With her anguish, Kari will fight; though it was unclear on whose side she will go to battle for.

Igor moved forward. "We are close," she shouts. "Look!" I watch where he directs his hand. My eyes widen in surprise, and a small smile makes itself known. For days; we have been walking for three moon rises and four sunsets. Tonight is the fourth moonrise.

In the far distance, I can see the faint flickers of a small camp just north from where we are standing. Somewhere in amongst those people is my destiny.

We have little time to waste. If we rested now, then they could be gone by sunrise. So we battle now.