Okay, Freya, this is yer plan, what now?
He’s skittish but you need to get on him like a horse, and whatever you do, don’t drop the antlers!
This is yer plan? Mount him like a horse? I’m gonna die.
Don’t be silly, he’s really quite gentle once you placate him.
I’m not sure what that word means, but I’ll try.
Mackenzie stepped cautiously out from behind the boulder, her feet finding the path almost on their own. She was careful to be upwind of him so she could smell him, but he couldn’t smell her. His malodorous scent wafted on the cold air. Gusts of steam like dragons breath filled the air in front of him.
“He’s a damn big beastie,” Mackenzie whispered to herself.
Just like I showed you lass, up the side and over.
With a deep breath, Mackenzie shot off over the snow covered ground. It still amazed her, that virtually naked, the cold didn’t bother her. Freya said it was her wolf’s coat, whatever that meant. She plowed through the ankle deep snow right up to the creature's flank before vaulting up on its haunches.
Its animal awareness kicked in just as she leapt onto him. The Revenaugh squealed as it threw its back into a tremendous arch. The mass of the creature lifted off the ground and slammed down with a tremendous rumble ten feet away.
Mackenzie clung to his rough fur with one hand, while the other scrambled to get a hold. The creature burst into a frenzy, driven near mad by the girl that clung to his back. With each buck of his hips, Mackenzie slammed down into his leathery hide, her joints ached as she pulled herself up. She couldn’t imagine the strength she exerted to move forward each inch. After a few seconds, her hand found the ridge that was his spine. His wild squeals echoed in her ears at deafening volumes.
Now what?
Get to his neck and use the antler to scratch behind his ears.
What? That’s your plan? Give him a good scratch?
You’ve raised pigs before Mackenzie, you know how they are; he’s just a big pig. Trust me.
Wordlessly, Mackenzie nodded. Each time she let go of his back, it was treacherous. The boar’s massive body bounced and jerked in odd angles. Without warning, he stopped. Mackenzie scrambled up the rest of the way and straddled his neck, between his two massive ears.
The Revenaugh had different plans. With a speed unimaginable for its size, it charged the sheer rock wall of its home.
Fingers numb from the pressure of grabbing, Mackenzie fumbled with the leather string that secured the antlers to her back. The rock wall loomed ever closer. She brought the antlers down and raked them across the small divot where his ear met his body.
The reaction was immediate.
The massive boar – the dreaded beast of the north – collapsed into a quivering pile of happiness. Mackenzie held on for dear life as it tilted sideways and crashed into the ground. Within a second, she was back up scratching behind his ears with the bucks antlers she had fought so hard for.
A half hour of this, and he’s yours for life.
She wasn’t lying. After a few minutes, he squirmed on the ground and rolled to the other side, his ear flap standing up so she could get to the sensitive spot that he could never reach. She obliged, scratching just as hard. Despite the cold, she worked up a hard sweat that covered her head to toe in frost.
Her stomach growled a warning to her. Saliva built up in her mouth and the first pangs of hunger started.
Freya, I need to eat soon, what do I do?
Well you don’t want to eat him, but look, he’s asleep.
Her wolf was right, the boar snoozed peacefully, it’s massive belly rising gently with each breath.
Quietly, Mackenzie put the antlers down, took a few steps away from the boar, then charged the end of the ravine. With a leap that covered thirty feet at least, Mackenzie changed from girl to wolf in the blink of an eye. Instantly, her perception changed. She could smell the boar, the rabbits, everything.
At the top of the ravine, she picked up the scent of a buck. She charged after it, a low growl escaped her mouth. She ran so fast the deer never had time to move. She leapt out of the bushes catching it completely by surprise. Her jaws clamped down on his neck, bearing him to the ground with her weight. He struggled for a moment and then died. Mackenzie was lost in a frenzy of hunger. Her exertion at befriending the boar drove her to find fuel. She tore into the buck before its last breath left its body.
The wolf would not wait.
*
Mackenzie fretted at the progress they were making. The sun still hung high in the sky when she had to stop to scratch the Revenaugh’s ears – again. Each stop lasted one-third of an hour, at least. Not to mention the fierce beast that sent grown men to weeping tended to fall asleep while she was scratching his ears.
Freya was right, though; she had a friend for life. While awake, the Revenaugh would follow her everywhere while snorting and squealing like any piglet she’d ever been around. Each night they slept, and they were on their third day, she half expected him to wander off by morning. He didn’t, he eagerly awaited his morning scratches, and his mid morning, afternoon, mid afternoon, and as much as he could get in the evening.
“Oh come on you great big baby, can’t ye wait just a little longer,” she cursed at him.
His ears flopped open to reveal the desired spot. She couldn’t help but grin at the beast. Despite his size, once he wasn’t trying to kill her, he was quite cute.
However, her worry about her village and Thor was gnawing at her. Each day she spent away was another day Kirkpatrick’s army could have marched through the village. If anyone died due to her delay, she would have to live with it. She couldn't stand the thought of losing any of the people she grew up with, Deirdre, her da, Cesan, each one held a place in her heart she didn’t want vacant.
“Enough’s enough, yer just going to have to wait,” she said. She hooked the antlers on to his collar, next to where her mother's sword hung. She had fashioned the collar for him out of buckskin. The collar allowed her to shift without worrying about clothes.
They’d left the snow behind the previous day and she could smell the trees on the cool breeze that flowed through the air.
“Were almost to the outskirts of me da’s territory, so behave, ye little beggar.”
She didn’t think the Revenaugh could understand her but it helped to talk to someone. Freya had been strangely quiet since she captured the great boar of the north.
She wasn’t sure exactly how long she’d been apart from Thor, but it felt like forever. She could almost feel him when she closed her eyes. She could imagine his touch, the way his tongue lingered in her mouth, his rough hands on her sensitive nipples, how he moved when he was inside her. A familiar heat rose up in her stomach, warming her whole body. Her nipples hardened and goosebumps rippled through her skin.
Get ahold of yerself girl, what is wrong with ye?
Nothing’s wrong with you Mackenzie, we call it the call of the wild.
The what?
You have to remember, you're as much wolf now, as you are girl.
And?
Well… you are at your most uhm… fertile.
Oh god, ye mean I’m rutting like a dog in heat?
Even though no one was around, she covered her face out of embarrassment.
Yes.
Mackenzie could hear the amusement in her voice.
“Hold up beastie, I need to hop over to Deirdre’s farm and snatch some clothes, it would do me no good to come home naked as the day I was born,” she said to the Revenaugh. She led him to a small copse of trees where she fed him from the mushrooms she foraged and scratched his ears until he was pleasantly snoozing.
She left the creature hidden in the trees and made her way to Deirdre’s farm. She didn’t want to be seen, and she didn’t want to go as a wolf, it would scare all the animals her friend’s da raised.
The farm was just how she remembered it. Though the last time she visited was scarcely two weeks b
efore, it felt like months.
Lets see, it’s late afternoon so Deirdre should be out milking their lone cow.
Crouched low, Mackenzie approached the farm through the tall brush. She could hear the animals; even smell them. She had eaten a large breakfast, so while her stomach didn’t growl, it made complaints that she wasn’t gobbling up the hens that were roaming free.
She heard the sound of bare feet in mud and a thatch door being shut. The footsteps were to be Deirdre’s da. Sure enough a few seconds later; Deirdre came into view.
Now for the hard part.
Mackenzie hid herself behind the chicken roost so that only her head was visible. When Deirdre passed not twenty feet away, with a stool and a pale for milking, Mackenzie whistled once to get her attention. Deirdre stopped and looked around. Her eyes came to rest on her friend and her face burst into excitement.
“Mack,” she cried as she dropped her pail and stool and ran to her. She rounded her hiding spot, despite Mackenzie’s attempts to get her to stop, and slid to a halt.
“Mackenzie, why're ye naked?”
“It’s a long story, do you still have some of me clothes here?”
“Aye, but I thought you were gone? Yer da said you couldn’t come back, and I hadn’t even heard ye were gone till after ye were married. What happened?”
“Clothes first okay, I don’t want yer da or Cesan coming about and finding me this way.”
“Aye, lets git ye some clothes, but no worries, they’re in town, for the battle.”
A cold shiver went down Mackenzie’s spine.
“Deirdre, what battle?”
“Yer husband, Lord Kirkpatrick, rode into town and declared himself our master. Yer da called all his fine men together to fight. I haven’t heard if it started or what, but all the men in the village are there.”
“He’s not me husband, we were only handfasted, and it…,” she shuddered to think of her time with him, “...did nae work out.”
Deirdre led them inside to her small thatch hovel. A hand carved trunk ordained one corner. In it, Deirdre stored all her clothes and belongings, to protect them from the constant wet weather. “Here ye go, yer blue riding dress, remember this one?”
Mackenzie nodded as she pulled the dress over her head and down her body. “Feels like forever since I’ve been dressed, thank ye,” she said.
“Mackenzie, there something I have to tell you …” Deirdre looked down at her feet.
“Are ye okay?”
“Well, we thought… we thought ye were gone and nae coming back… Cesan, he asked me …” Deirdre stumbled over her words.
“Oh….OH! That’s great Deirdre, I’m so happy for the both of ye,” Mackenzie said. A pain of hurt hit her heart. It was unfair, and out of place, since she left and found Thor, but that was different.
Was it though, was it different?
“Yer not mad at us?”
“My two friends found love, nae lass, not mad at all, but I have to go. I need to get back to the caern before the fighting starts.”
“Why? What are ye going to do? Surely, not go back to Kirkpatrick,” Deirdre said as Mackenzie opened the thatch door.
“Oh, I’m going back to him all right,” she growled out the words in a way that sent Deirdre's hackles up.
THE FINAL CHAPTER
The Revenaugh was just where she left the big beast. His snores echoed through the forest sending small critters scrambling for their lives.
“Up ye go,” she said as she patted his side. He awoke with a snort, his legs flexing as he scrambled to his hooves. Not for the first time, Mackenzie stood in awe that such a massive creature could move that fast.
No wonder he’s never been caught. Anyone looking at him would think he was slow.
She climbed up on his back and straddled his neck. She used the makeshift collar to hold on as he started trotting through the trees. She checked her mother’s sword, though she wasn’t sure how much she would use it in the looming battle.
Have a care, girl, if you turn into a wolf in front of your people, they may not be understanding.
I hadn’t really thought about that, what do you suggest? My da won't let me on the field as I am. Even if he thinks I’m like me ma.
Don’t give him the choice. Wait for the battle to start, then charge in the flank with our new friend. His size alone should scatter Kirkpatrick’s men and send them fleeing.
Mackenzie liked the plan. She could rally her da’s men and use the Revenaugh's size to get right to Kirkpatrick. She leaned down over the great beast's head and scratched behind his ear. He seemed so sweet and friendly now, she had a hard time imagining him as a great ravenous beast that killed men and destroyed farms.
Freya, where do I go when I die? Do I go to me ma’s in Valhalla, or do I go with my ancestors on me da’s side? It’s not something I’ve ever had to think about before.
I’m the wrong person to ask, Mackenzie. I’m in neither of those places; in a sense, I’m everywhere and nowhere. When I’m waiting for a new girl to bond with, it’s like a dream or a nightmare, and I can’t wake up from it.
Oh, Freya, I’m so sorry, will that happen to me?
No. I’m here, as are all my kind, as punishment.
The presence faded from Mackenzie’s mind without a further word. Mackenzie’s heart weighed heavily for Freya. To be imprisoned for all eternity seemed like a hefty price for whatever crime she may have committed.
The sun crested the sky as Mackenzie neared the village. Normally at midday, all kinds of activity could be heard, the blacksmith banging on his hammer, the tavern would be in full swing. Today though, there was silence. Not even the smell of baking bread that Mackenzie associated with her caern. For some reason, she thought the battle would be here, at her village, or nearby. She left Revenaugh on the outskirts behind an old farm that no one used. She slid off of him, scratched his ears vigorously for a few minutes, then made her way to town.
All the doors were closed, the shops locked, even the guards were absent from their lookouts.
“What are ye doing here, this is all yer fault,” a shrill voice screamed from the shadows.
Mackenzie turned to see Gwen, crouched in the alley, her once beautiful dress was now crumpled, dirty, and ruined.
“I could nae make ye see anything, Gwen, just be useful and tell me where me da is?”
The woman who was once her stepmother scowled.
“And what are ye going to do? Yer just a girl, not even a woman, ye can’t spread yer legs for him, he’s out for blood now. Stupid cow, if ye just laid there and did yer duty, none of this would have happened!”
Mackenzie didn’t have time for this, she needed to know where her da was, and she needed to know now. With a long stride to close the distance, she reached back and slapped Gwen hard across the face.
“Shut yer mouth for once and do the right thing, where are they?” Mackenzie's fierce words, backed up by a blaze in her eyes, made the older woman weak in her knees, causing tears to well up. Suddenly, instead of the confident shrew that made Mackenzie’s life hell, there was a bubbling, crying, helpless human being before her.
“Please don’t hit me again, I swear I'll tell ye anything, just don’t hit me,” Gwen sobbed as she knelt on the ground.
Mackenzie took a knee next to her and gently whispered, “Gwen, just tell me where my da is, and it will be okay, where is he, where is everyone?”
Gwen wiped her dirty face on her sleeve, it didn’t help. “They came in yesterday before dawn, when yer da’s fine men were still marshaling. Before anyone knew what was happening, Kirkpatrick seized all the women and children, he threatened to kill them all if yer da didn’t surrender. Foolish man, he shoulda sent that imbecile daughter of his back in chains,” she mumbled more to her herself than Mackenzie.
“Gwen, it’s me, it’s Mackenzie, how do ye not recognize me?”
Gwen looked up into clear blue eyes but all she saw was the gaze of a predator. She scrambled back
against the wall, hiding her face as if that would protect her.
Mackenzie sighed, there was nothing to be done with her. But if her da was captured, where was Thor? He wouldn’t have let that happen… unless the only way he could stop it would be to shift.
He must have let himself be taken, as long as he’s with my da, they’re both safe!
Mackenzie walked back toward her waiting boar, pondering where they could have gone.
When Kirkpatrick had originally taken her, they rode horse all the way to the tree, then switched to the carriage. She recalled the horse going at a canter at least. Her bottom ached from the memory of the horrid ride and the spill in the mud at the end. Oh, she owed Kirkpatrick for this – for everything. And she was going to collect her due.
*
Thor stood proudly next to his hjarta’s father. It honored him that her father was a man of such honor. Repeatedly, he had tried to bargain for his people's release, offering his own life and wealth to Kirkpatrick. The man would have none of it. It seemed to infuriate him all the more that a leader would even try to save his people.
As for himself, Kirkpatrick took pains to describe the ways he would emasculate the young Norseman. “You will be in such pain you will beg me to end it, but I won't, I will make you eat your own manhood and beg for more!”
“Think what you will, toad, but you will die screaming, and soon,” Thor said bravely. Kirkpatrick kicked him in the head from his horse. The force knocked Thor to his knees but not on his face. His arms, like every other man, were strung over a log that rested on his shoulder. Were it not for his immense physical strength and his dexterity, he would have fallen flat on his face.
“I give ye marks for bravery, lad, but ye best accept yer fate and pray to whatever gods ye worship,” Mackenzie’s da said to him.
“Collin,” Thor said as he rose to a stand, “Mackenzie is coming, and when she does, Kirkpatrick will rue the day he met her.”
“I know yer people are hardy, lad, but he has a thousand men and all my men are tied up as us. If anything happens, he’ll start killing the women and children first, he’s a madman, clever bugger, but a madman.”
Mackenzie's Fate Page 8
