GLORY OR VALHALLA
— 14. Rule this world
That night, Ylva had paid a man to take her by boat back to Lagertha's farm. She had left Harald's kingdom in a rush, wanting to get back in time to join the others in fighting Whitehair.
It was the middle of the night and she laid asleep on the boat. Two of her most trusted guards sat near her while two other men rowed the boat taking them to the farm.
In her dream, Ylva was sitting in front of a chessboard with her father, who was discussing the plan with her on what to do next. He had moved one of his pawns on the board, just before glancing up at her.
"Your move," He told her and Ylva rolled her eyes before taking her turn, "What plans do you have for Hvitserk after the farm is dealt with? He must be dealt with. He is spiraling. If you do not do something about it now, Bjorn and Ubbe will. They will shun him, exile him. He will have no choice but to return to Ivar and that will ruin any chance of you defeating the man who murdered Freya and cost you not only your daughter and your brother but also a part of yourself. What shall you do?"
"I don't need to explain myself to you," She argued in a cold tone, "Just play the game."
"Chess is not a game. I told you this before. It is a lesson in strategy and you're not paying attention. Just as you did when you were younger," He explained and Ylva let out a loud laugh.
"Yes. I remember all too well. You used to beat me every time I made the wrong move that cost me my most important pieces," She explained and Sigefrid smiled slightly.
"But then you learned your lesson and defeated me every time. You mastered the Queen's Gambit. Every time you opened with it, you won," He explained and Ylva's smile faded.
"And in the end, I won the battle off the chessboard," Ylva replied as she placed her next move and removed his queen from the board, smirking in satisfaction.
"Hvitserk is a pawn in your kingdom. All those you surround yourself with are pawns. You could use them to your advantage but instead, you let them roam free to be taken by Kings, Knights, and Queens alike until the people closest to you are left open and vulnerable to be taken by those more powerful. It is why Erik died. It is why Sihtric died. It is why Freya died. And it is why your other children and Sihtric's children and the sons of Ragnar will all die too."
Unable to take it anymore, Ylva flipped the entire board and glared at her father hatefully. "What do you want from me!" She roared out angrily as she panted heavily, "You've been haunting me for weeks and I have endured it. You claim to be here to guide me but all you do is torment me. I know you're not real. I know you are just the voice in the back of my mind, appearing to me as you. But why? Why are you here? What do you want from me? What do you wish to tell me?"
Finally, Sigefrid stood up. He lifted his head and looked deeply into Ylva's eyes with a cold stare. "All your life, you bore the madness our entire family did. Bloodline after bloodline, madness took over the greatest individuals of our family. They were destined for greatness but madness consumed them. Until you. You did what no one else had been able to. You bore both at once. You had the madness but were able to contain it enough to use it to your advantage. I was you once. I was you before you were even born. Just like you when you were younger, before you had become a queen, I was you. I was a young man destined for greatness. So much responsibility placed on me at such a young age. My father was mad, too. I wanted to be nothing like him. I fell in love, married your mother when we were younger than you and your husband were. We had our first child. Your brother Erik. All was well. We had the kingdom of Ashton, people who loved and adored your mother and me. Soon enough, your brother Sihtric was born and I couldn't have been happier. Though the happiness began to fade. Hardship after hardship plagued our life and we were fine at first but soon enough, it became too much to handle. One day, I snapped and I never recovered. The power your mother and I bore became too much. It corrupted me and brought out my madness even more. We could have ruled these lands together, made these lands better but I let the madness consume me. I was never the same and it cost me my life at the hands of you, the girl who reminded me so much of her mother that it made me hate you. It reminded me of my greatest mistake. Killing her. And I was punished by having a daughter exactly like her. With the same potential to be great as she had been destined to be before I killed her."
"What I want..." He trailed off, his tone becoming lower as he leaned closer to her, "Is for you to do what we could not. I want you to rule this world. To have patience. I want you to play the game of chess around us. I want you to wait. To wait until the perfect moment to take Norway for yourself. I want you to wait even longer before you take Denmark and Sweden as well. I want you to take all of Scandanavia and make it your own. I want the name Ylva the Dread to be spoken of for centuries. I want your name to cast a shadow over Ragnar Lothbrok's. I want you to be the most famous Viking who ever lived. And I want you to kill and eliminate anyone who gets in your way. I want you to avenge your youngest son and when the time comes, I want you to kill King Harald and then Ivar the Boneless to avenge your daughter."
Ylva remained silent for a long moment, taking in what her father had told her. "Tell me all that I must do," She insisted, causing Sigefrid to smile proudly.
______
At Lagertha's farm, Whitehair and his team of bandits stood in the maze, looking around for any sign of the villagers.
Hearing a cawing sound, Whitehair frowned. He stood around, seeing numerous shieldmaidens running through the maze, taunting them.
One of his men released an arrow from his bow, which ended up hitting one of the women.
"Come on!" Whitehair shouted and was the first of many to run into the maze.
"Gate! Go! Go!" Gyda ordered a few of the women around her.
One of the men rushed at her but she raised her shield in time to save herself from being slashed with his sword. She grunted, striking back at him with it before she slashed with his sword.
As she stepped out of the maze, alongside Lagertha and numerous others, they began to stab their blades through the openings in the wood to kill the men trapped near it.
She stepped away and moved toward a group of men. One swung their sword at her and Gyda ducked. She avoided his form of attack and as he stumbled a bit, she slashed him across the belly. She kicked to the ground and turned in enough time to use her shield to protect herself from the man about to strike her.
She grunted as he shoved her against the wooden wall. She raised her shield in time to block his arm. She grunted, jabbing her sword forward to stab him in the leg. She kicked him and forced him into a kneel before she drove her sword through his chest.
She continued to run through, stabbing any who came into her path. "Oil! Oil!" She shouted out as she commanded the shieldmaidens to enact the plan she and her mother had created together before Ylva had been forced to leave.
From above, she watched the shieldmaidens pour hot oil onto the bandits. It wasn't long before Lagertha tossed the flaming torch in, causing many men to be set aflame.
Those who survived ran through, only to come face to face with Gyda and numerous other warriors.
One of the men charged at Gyda, beginning to slash his sword at her. She was able to deflect his forms of attack, killing him soon after.
She whipped herself around, grunting as she struck a man with her shield. His body whipped around and she wanted no time driving her sword through him.
She turned again, hitting another with her shield while slashing her sword at another.
Two other shieldmaidens fought men to her right while Gunnhild stood to her left, taking out men left and right as if it were nothing. She understood why her mother like her. The woman was a beast on the battlefield, comparable to many of the men they fought beside. Men like Ubbe, Hvitserk, and perhaps even her father.
One of the men smirked as he continued to slash at Gyda, forcing her to continue to step back. Just as he thought he'd succeed in killing her, Gyda ducked in enough time to save herself.
She stood back up, stabbing him in the stomach before she began to run through the maze.
Moments later, alongside Gunnhild, Gyda traveled through the maze to find numerous men running for their lives. They quickly ran through the maze, Gyda eager to find the man responsible for her brother's death. She wanted to kill him. Ylva wasn't her to do it so Gyda intended to do it.
Gyda ended up walking ahead of Gunnhild, only to turn a corner and come face to face with Whitehair himself.
"You," Gyda growled lowly and without thinking, the young shieldmaiden began to rush at Whitehair.
She grunted and swung her shield at Whitehair, who easily deflects her form of attack. They continued to swing at each other but since she was already weakened, it wasn't long before the woman was forced into a kneel.
It didn't stop her from continuing to fight with all she had. However, before Whitehair could even attempt to execute Gyda while she was in her kneeling position, Gunnhild had arrived with several other shieldmaidens.
One of the women cawed and charged at Whitehair, on the verge of swinging at him when the man took her head off with one clean swing of his ax.
As she witnessed the scene occur, Gyda's eyes widened and horror consumed her expression. She turned to Gunnhild, shivers running down her spine.
Not far from the maze trap laid out near Lagertha's farm, Ylva slowly walked toward the scene wearing her battle attire.
She inched closer, carrying a bow as she listened closely to what was going on inside the maze. She heard women imitating bird noises, swords clanking, and the screams of both men and women.
The battle wasn't over yet, which she was thankful for. No matter who was winning, she was going to make sure it ended quickly with Lagertha, Gyda, and the other women as the victor.
Finally, Ylva began to run toward the maze, aiming her bow at some of the men about to run out of it like the cowards they truly were.
She shot a few more about to run out before she threw her bow to the side. She unsheathed her sword and bent down, picking up one of the men's axes off the ground. She turned, tossing it at one of the men about to charge at her. He fell to the ground, the ax embedded in his face.
She ran over to the dead man, pulling the ax out of him before slashing one of the men charging at her from the other side.
Another man came at her, arriving in enough time to cut her across the leg. She grasped her cut thigh with her left hand, using the sword she held in her right to execute the man before he could do any more damage.
She winced as she glanced down at her bleeding leg. She sighed, wiping the blood on her face as she walked into the maze once and for all.
The wound to her leg slowed her down a bit, but not enough to stop her from fighting. She had experienced worse.
Ylva fought her way past numerous men, only to stop when she looked ahead of her to see Whitehair standing there.
With his arms extended outwards, he stared up at the sky and roared out. She killed the man who dared to get into her path before beginning to run in the direction that Whitehair had just gone in.
However, the sound of Gunnhild crying out in pain caused her to stop. She turned, finding Gyda and Lagertha assisting the injured woman in walking.
Ylva began to move toward them, only to have all three tell her to go, claiming they'd be fine.
"Go, go," Lagertha had demanded as she nodded in encouragement, "Go, Ylva. Get your revenge. Make him pay for taking Erik and Hali from us."
A determined look on her face, Ylva nodded, running in the direction Whitehair had fled in without a second thought.
As Whitehair found his way out of the maze, he became enraged at the sight of his men fleeing for their lives.
"What is this?" He asked them angrily, "Are you scared of a few women and old men? Why don't you go back to the forest and live like dogs? We may be Skogarmaors, but we call still reach Valhalla!"
"Oh, I highly doubt that," A voice suddenly spoke up from behind him.
Slowly, Whitehair turned and his face paled at the sight of Ylva standing before him. He now realized why his men had fled for their lives.
It was one thing to be fighting Gyda or one of the other women, Ylva was different. She was someone no one wanted to face in battle. She was called the she-wolf for a reason.
And now he was to face her fury alone, for he was the reason she lost her youngest son.