The Failed Attempts//Ivar the Boneless [AU]

Attempt #2 - The Völva

Norway 816 AD

 The woman sat in her dark tent, she whispered soft chants to herself in a language even foreign to herself. Eir was her name, feared and blessed by all the Vikings and northern people. Even some of the people to the west, who had heard of her great power, feared her. They called her a demon, she must be a devil because she performed magic.  

  The woman threw a few leaves into a ceramic bowl, grounding them into a soft paste. She proceeded to put a tiny bit of water into the small container, mixing the ingredients into a nice texture. She took it in her hands, spreading the somewhat thick liquid unto her face as she had done so many times before. Unknown to her, not being born in the 21st Century, that the leaves had a hypnotic effect on them. She thought the gods were allowing her to see the almighty messages that they want her to tell their people. Though, I will not deny that sometimes, in her drugged state, they did give her messages to pass on. As the gods found her so very amusing, they favored her above many other priestesses. 

    The woman smiled to herself in her new state of "enlightenment". She stood up from her wooden stool, making her way to the flap of her tent, flipping it open in one swift movement. She stepped out into the forest, only to be met by none other than her queen, the queen of Kattegat, Aslaug. She stood a few strides in front of her, looking as if she was ready to go back at any moment.  

"Aslaug," smirked the drugged witch, "what can I do for you?" 

Aslaug looked at her cautiously for a moment before proceeding to walk forward into the others tent. Eir followed after her, purely delighted that such a proud figure as Aslaug had lowered their self to ask her for help. 

Aslaug took a graceful seat on one of the makeshift benches, to be blunt, a log, and looked towards Eir. She was clearly unhappy about asking the adored priestess for her help, but she was at her wit's end. 

"Eir," she started, as Eir took a seat in front of her, "I need you to tell me. Is my son dead? Is Ivar dead?" 

 The woman was clearly distraught but had long since run out of tears to shed. She only wished to know if her most beloved son was truly dead. Eir was silent for a moment, debating on whether or not it was her place to tell of such things. The gods would be unhappy, she knew that for sure, but the one small sliver of humanity, of motherly yearning, she decided she would tell. Even if this foolish idea cost her her powers and possibly her life. 

Eir took a small breath, "No," she spoke clearly. Aslaug looked up at her, surprise and shock being clearer than any other emotion on her face. 

"W-What?" she gasped, not being able to believe that her vision wasn't true. Aslaug, the proud creature that she was, couldn't bear to think that her vision was wrong. She stood up, startling Eir as she screamed at her, "YOU LIE!! MY VISION IS NOT WRONG! MY VISION'S ARE NEVER WRONG!"

At this point, Eir was pretty sure that Aslaug had lost it. Eir shot up from her seat, backing away from the crazed woman, the drugs side effects losing a hold on her. Her survival instincts kicked in, she wanted this woman out of her home. She wanted her out now.

"Get out," she spoke calmly, quieting the once screaming queen, but the woman didn't move to leave. It was almost as if she hadn't heard say those words. "Get. Out." Eir said again through gritted teeth. She was losing patience, she was going to snap this woman's neck if she didn't get out of her home. Queen or not, Eir didn't care, she was going to kill her and use her dead body as an offering to the almighty gods. 

Aslaug made no attempt to leave the tent, she only stared at the witch in shock. Eir reached behind her wielding her long wooden wand. 

"GET OUT!" she screeched, scaring the ruler. Aslaug fell back on her butt, staring at Eir in shock.

"How dare you," spoke Aslaug, "HOW. DARE. YOU. HOW DARE YOU!!" she shrieked, clearly having lost her mind as she lunged at the skilled shield maiden. 

Eir pushed her aside as if she was but a simple gust of air. Aslaug fell to the ground, finally gaining some of her sanity, in attempt to stay alive, she turned, fleeing to the door. As soon as she was gone, Eir looked out of the tent, gathering a basket and headed out the door. Sure, she knew Ivar was alive and in some respect knew it wasn't his fault that his mother was a crazed lunatic, but she knew that she had to punish Aslaug. She was going to do that and there was no stopping her. It didn't matter if Aslaug was eventually going to be killed, she was going to make Aslaug pay right here and now.  

 As she ran around the forest, in a crazed frenzy, gathering all the ingredients she needed to make the elixir that would allow her to do what she needed to do. She stopped in front of a tree looking out into the distance, a brief glimpse of the future laid before her eyes. Lagertha was coming and now was the time of Aslaug's defeat. It had come so quickly. 

 Eir gained a smile on her painted face, skipping back to her home and set down her items. She cheerfully made her way to the soon to be raided Kattegat, to watch from a distance until Lagertha's inevitable rise to power. 

 A short battle later and Lagertha stood in control of Kattegat once again. Eir made her way down to the crowd which had enough respect to let her through so that she could clearly see both Lagertha and Aslaug as they talked. Eir didn't care to pay attention to their meaningless conversation. She waited to the moment she had been dreaming of and soon it came. As Aslaug fell to the ground, Eir caught her just in time, a sick smile covering her face. 

"I will make you pay, Aslaug," she whispered to her, "I will make your precious Ivar pay."

With that she let her drop to the ground, walking back to her humble abode, but not before she could her the cries of triumph that filled the great city.