by Lee Savino
Sorrel
Under Yggdrasil’s giant canopy, I slipped in and out of dreams that were not dreams, but memories. I remembered the first moment I first saw Vik and Thorsteinn…
Then
“Stay back,” I forced the words out. My fingers gripped my small bow and arrow. If the nuns found me with such a weapon, they’d beat me half dead. So, I hid them with the rest of my belongings in the stillroom, where the nuns were not allowed.
The abbey was under attack. Underneath the stillroom table, Fern and one of the young orphan girls cowered. A warrior hunted me, a demon-eyed invader with an axe and long knife in his belt and a grey pelt over his shoulders. He held up his hands, weapon free.
“No need to fear, little warrior,” he crooned. But at his feet, a giant creature prowled—an enormous white and grey wolf with glowing eyes. The warrior murmured something else and the wolf stepped forward.
I jerked my bow towards the creature. “I’ll shoot you.”
The warrior chuckled.
And the impossible happened. The wolf hunched and changed, its back lengthening and body reshaping. My hair blew back from my face, though there should be no wind in this small, underground room. A flash and a man stood before me, a second hard-muscled warrior naked but for a grey and white fur pelt across his shoulders.
The colors of the pelt matched the fur of the disappeared wolf.
It could not be. It was not possible.
The warrior who was once a wolf reached out and plucked my weapons from my nerveless grasp. I flinched but he had me out and wrapped in his arms, my back to his chest. I kicked and struggled but he held me fast.
“Got her,” his voice rumbled, more like a wolf’s growl than the speech of a man. “She’s a fighter.”
My mind separated from my body and I thrashed as hard as I could. I pushed and contorted against my captor’s iron hold, but his grip did not budge. He carried me past the first warrior towards the steps to the abbey.
“Easy,” the first soothed, and held up my bow and arrows, an amused look on his face. “Hush, little warrior, I’ll bring your weapons. We’ll let you use them again, once we get you to safety.”
I called to mind all the worst curses I’d ever heard and used them all. The warrior holding me laughed, climbing the stairs, stepping aside to make way for two more warriors. My captor clamped me tighter, squeezing the air from my lungs. I cursed, struggling to move, to breath.
The first warrior I’d met emerged from the stillroom.
“It’s all right, little warrior. You’re safe with us.” And with that, he ran to the end of the hall and leapt through the broken window. My captor followed, landing on his feet with the soft grace of a cat. Without hesitation, the two men raced to the forest, plunging into the dark.
I don’t know how long they carried me or the direction they went. Branches slapped at my body, but the warrior holding me shielded me. He ran uphill and down, around lichen covered boulders and over small streams. My arms froze. I wish I had thought to pull on makeshift trousers and boots under my nightgown. I’d hidden them in the stillroom, where the nuns would never find them. In the confusion of the attack on the abbey, I’d grabbed my bow and arrow, but not thought to change into warrior garb. I’d been too busy fighting, trying to protect Fern and one of the young ones.
As my captor paused on a moonlight hill, I spared a thought for my captive sisters. Where were the warriors taking us? Would we be enslaved or killed?
“Here,” I’d given up on hope when the warrior dropped me to my feet. I would’ve crumpled to the forest floor, but he steadied me until I could stand on my own. I pushed him and backed away.
“Careful. You’ll muddy the water.” Again, that amused tone.
My feet splashed into a flow of water, a brook welling up over the carpet of dead leaves. I froze, wondering if I could run.
The first warrior appeared before me. “We’ll make camp here. Drink while we make a fire. Try to escape and we’ll bind your hands.”
I stared up at him. The moonlight softened the sharp lines of his face
I shivered.
The warrior shifted his stance over me. He raised his hands and I flinched, but he only smoothed back my hair.
He dropped the pelt over my shoulders. I huddled under the heavy pelt, letting the warmth of his body seep into my chilled skin.
I crouched and drank.
He turned to speak to his fellow warrior, and I threw myself into the bushes beside him, fighting through them to escape into the night.
I kicked my legs in the air as the long-haired warrior carried me back the way I’d come.
He’d caught me easily, letting me weave through the trees and brush. When I finally realized he was tiring me out, and dropped to my belly under a thorny bush, he reached down and plucked me from my hiding place before I knew what was happening.
These warriors moved with greater stealth and skill than I’d ever seen. They were stronger, so much stronger than me. I was a fool if I thought I could fight them. But I’d rather die a fool than submit.
Firelight winked through the trees, a dark shape moving between us and the small flames. The bearded warrior had built it while the other had fetched me from my failed escape. I dug my fingers in the leather jerkin, tears pricking my eyes at how helpless I was.
My captor crouched next to the fire and rolled me off his shoulder, catching my ankles and binding them together before I could think to kick.
“There,” he left me lying on my side, facing the small blaze. I lay stunned a moment, my cheek buried in soft fur. He’d placed me on a wolf pelt.
“We have a warrior in the making,” he announced to his comrade.
“I see that,” the other replied from his seat on a rock next to the fire. He grinned at me, showing white fangs, and stroked his beard. “She is fierce.”
The warrior who’d tied me returned, brushing back my hair. I jerked away from his touch, propping myself up. He wasn’t intimidated by my glare. Instead, he studied me, cocking his head to the side. “What’s your name, little fighter?”
I pressed my lips together and refused to answer. With a sigh, my questioner rose and stalked away.
The grinning one took his place. “Come on,” he reached out to tug a lock of my hair. My arm whipped out and batted him away before I froze like a rabbit cornered by a large wolf. I couldn’t fight these warriors. They could snap my neck without even trying. I cringed, waiting for a blow to fall.
But the bearded warrior did not retaliate. Throwing back his head, he laughed.
“Wait until she bites you,” the first said.
“I think not.” The warrior in front of me caught my hands before I knew what he was doing and bound them tight.
“There.” He sat back on his haunches. I glared at him. I could scoot and try to kick him, but how much good would that do? Trepidation rippled in my belly, threatening to take over.
The long-haired warrior called across the fire, “We’d rather not bind you. But if you insist on fighting…” he shrugged.
“No need to fight us. We’re on your side,” the warrior close to me winked.
I shook my head at him. What did he mean? This made no sense.
“That’s Thorsteinn.” he spoke the unfamiliar name in an accent I’d never heard before. “I’m Vik. We’ll know your name when you’re ready to tell us. Until then, we’ll call you ‘shield maiden’.”
I stared at him. Was he making fun of me? Somehow that was worse than them hurting me.
He dug in his pouch and held a piece of dried meat to my mouth.
“Here. Eat.”
I hesitated and he shook it. “Take it. You must eat to keep your strength if you are to fight us.”
Darting my head forward, I snapped the food out of his hand. He chuckled and fished in his pouch for another, holding it to my mouth after I had swallowed. I chewed the second piece more slowly, my eyes darting around the clearing. The warrior didn’t bother to hide his sc
rutiny of me. His large hand circled one ankle. I tried to pull away and he clucked. “You’re bleeding. We must care for you better.”
The other warrior, Thorsteinn, stalked over. He tore a piece of his jerkin off, and, wetting it in the stream, used it to clean the cuts on my legs as Vik held me still. By the end, I stopped fighting. Vik offered me more meat, a reward for submitting to their ministrations.
When Thorsteinn was done, he gripped my knee and fixed me with his grey-eyed gaze. “No more running. We’ll protect you.”
I scoffed and looked away, only to catch Vik’s eye.
He winked again. “In time you will believe us.”
I did not believe them. How could I? They’d stolen me from my home. A home I hated, but the only home I’d known.
I continued to make plans to escape. I tore the bottom of half of my nightrobe into strips and used rope to bind them around my legs. The warriors studied me but said nothing about my makeshift breeches.
The next time I woke, a pair of boots and a set of clothes had been placed by my head. Not a dress—a jerkin and pair of long breeches. At first, I couldn’t believe it. Had fairies come in the night and gifted me with what I most wanted?
I quickly pulled the breeches on under my robe, crouching to dress so as not to show any skin. When I was done, I didn’t recognize myself.
“Shield maiden,” Vik said.
Thorsteinn stalked across the campsite. He looked me up and down but didn’t touch me. At last he handed me my bow and arrows. “As promised,” he told me gravely. I blinked. He’d said he’d return them, but after I had tried to shoot him in the abbey, I didn’t think he would actually let me be armed. “Use them to defend yourself.”
“Against you?” I’d been brave enough to ask. Vik guffawed. Thorsteinn looked at me a moment, then grasped the back of my neck and pulled my forehead to his.
“Shoot us and we’ll never arm you again.”
I nodded. What choice did I have?
But standing in warrior’s garb, armed like an equal, it was easy to agree.
In time, the warriors explained why they had come to the abbey.
“There is a mage who feeds on the magic of spaewives,” Thorsteinn said. “He was coming for you and the other spaewives in the abbey.”
My face must’ve shown confusion, for Vik laughed and explained, “A spaewife is a woman with magic.” He tugged a lock of my hair, chuckling when I pushed his hand away.
“Like a witch?” I asked. The friar had spoken against witches.
“Different magic,” Vik said.
Thorsteinn continued, “The mage married many women and grew in power until one of his wives rose up and bound him for a thousand years. The spell wore off, and now he has returned.”
“We call him the Corpse King,” Vik said. Both warriors looked grim, their hands going to their weapons as if checking to make sure they were still armed. “He has the power to raise the dead and make them his slaves.”
“Draugr. That is the word for his undead servants,” Thorsteinn added.
I shivered but thought Vik and Thorsteinn were exaggerating. Doing what men do and making the enemy sound like the most powerful force anyone had ever faced. Even if it was true, I had faith in these warriors. I shouldn’t trust the men who stole me from my home, but something about them made me feel safe. They could face anything, even an undead army—not that they were real. It wasn’t true, I told myself. It was just a story.
The next day, we ran into a party of draugr. A fetid mist rolled over the hills, choking us as it robbed our sight.
“Run,” Thorsteinn ordered, and I did. We raced through patches of the stinking fog. For a moment it cleared, and we scaled a hill, dropping to our bellies to peek over the rise.
“There,” Vik pointed at a grey river of moving bodies, laden with spears and shields. At a distance, the draugr looked like men. When they came closer, I caught glimpses of their decaying faces and rotting skin.
With a gasp, I threw myself on my back behind the rise.
“They cannot see us,” Thorsteinn gripped my arm to steady me. “But the contingent can sense us. Your magic calls them.”
I frowned at my chest. I’d never thought of myself as having magic. I had many sins, but being a witch wasn’t one of them.
“Look,” Vik nodded to the mist creeping up the hill behind us. “There are two forces.”
Thorsteinn swore.
Goosebumps broke over my skin. My stomach flipped, turning to stone. “We’re trapped.”
“Not yet,” Thorsteinn pulled me up and propelled me forward. Slowly, we crept along the rise.
“You do as I say, when I order it and not a moment sooner,” the big warrior whispered in my ear. I nodded.
We slunk between the enemy’s lines, hiding behind rock croppings and weaving through trees. When the mist grew thick, Thorsteinn guided me with slight touches, his breath on the back of my neck as I inched along the ridge.
At last the mist cleared. The thumping of marching draugr faded in the distance. We had outpaced them. I had snuck around the abbey plenty, but never with such high stakes or with such able comrades. Despite the danger, my nerves hummed with triumph.
I made a mistake. I looked back. A massive beast with glowing eyes loomed over me, fur sprouting from its giant body. Its face was a long muzzle, black-furred like a wolf’s, but it stood on two legs like a man. One hand held an axe. The other was tipped in viscous claws.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Every instinct screamed at me to ‘run!’
“Stay calm—” the monster had Thorsteinn’s voice.
I flung myself off the path. The hill was steep, and the fall claimed me. I flailed as I rolled, trying to stem my descent. A rock broke my fall. I slammed into it, my leg wedged in a crevice. When I tried to move, something snapped. I screamed.
A paw slapped over my mouth.
“Easy, little one, it’s just me.”
Pain filled my world with red hot pincers, the devil’s teeth at my leg. I thrashed and giant arms slid around me, clamping me tight.
Pain receded in the face of terror. My eyes rolled like a horse faced with a wolfish predator. The thing was half man, half wolf. It was not real. It was not possible.
A second beast dropped next to me. It wore Vik’s loose breeches, the belt with the axe and knives and short sword. But it was grey-furred like a wolf with a white splash on its muzzle.
“Hold her still,” the creature growled in Vik’s voice. I started in terror, but the hard body behind me kept me from jarring my throbbing leg.
The black monster held me as the grey one clawed the boulders apart. The mist swirled, filling my nostrils with the stench of rotting corpses. I gagged against the black-furred paw and it tucked me more firmly into its body.
“Easy, be still,” Thorsteinn’s voice crooned. “Vik’s almost got you free.”
Face buried in the thick pelt, I drew in big gulps of the rich scent. Fur, earth, tangy pine, and a fresh smell like the air after a storm. A paw settled on the nape of my neck. I glanced up—and met Thorsteinn’s grey eyed stare.
“How?” I breathed.
The beast’s face had a human expression of regret. “Forgive us, little one. We should’ve told you.”
Another wave of mist rolled over us, thick and oily. I hugged the monster’s neck, listening to the dreaded slow, steady thump of a hundred undead soldier’s marching in lockstep. I gasped. “They’re coming closer.”
“It’ll be all right,” Thorsteinn soothed me. To Vik he said, “Hurry.”
With a final grunt, Vik broke the rocks holding my leg. Thorsteinn pulled me free. I looked down and almost swooned. My breeches were torn, red lining the seam. Underneath there was a flash of white bone. At the sight, agony shredded me. I gritted my teeth against my cries of pain. I had endured beatings and never cried out. This was no different.
“Broken,” Vik reported grimly. “I can set it but…” his hand hovered over my leg.
I would’ve begged him not to touch me, if I could speak.
“There’s no time,” Thorsteinn snarled. The drumbeat footsteps had grown closer.
I whimpered as Thorsteinn lifted me in his arms. Already his feral looks were less frightening. This was Thorsteinn. My tortured body recognized him, was drawn to him as it had been from the first, in a way I couldn’t explain.
“Forgive us, little one. We have run out of time.” Smoothing back my hair, Thorsteinn reared his head back, baring his teeth. Before I could shout, he snapped and sunk his teeth deep into me, at the tender juncture where my shoulder met my neck. A flash of red as he broke the skin. His hand muffled my scream.
On my left side, Vik ripped open the neck of my jerkin, lifted my hair, and bit. A ferocious sting flashed through me, followed by a glimmer of something else, something wonderful. The pain ebbed and swirled away.
“There,” Thorsteinn lifted bloodstained fangs, and I fainted.
I woke, blinking blearily. Strong arms tightened around my body.
“Thorsteinn?” I mumbled. “Where are we?”
“Safe. high in a tree.” He sat cradled in the crook of a giant branch. My legs dangled off his lap, my feet swinging in midair. Far below, the mist swirled around the trunk. “Nothing can touch us here.” I shivered, and he palmed the back of my head, steadying me. “How’s your leg?”
In a flash it returned—the mist, our route along the hill, the monsters who were really Thorsteinn and Vik. My broken leg, their fangs flashing as they bit me.
With a gasp, I grabbed my neck. The pain was gone. There was no broken skin, no blood, no sting.
“There’s still a mark,” Thorsteinn told me, faint amusement in his tone. “But the healing worked.”
“How—?” I gaped further as I touched my leg. The breeches were still torn.
“That’s what the bond does, little one.”
