Prologue

The charred remains of his home stunk like death. With one powerful hand, he threw the obstruction leaning against the door off to the side and staggered into the wood and sod hut. Hott swallowed hard against the burning tears building in his throat. He moved slowly to the body lying on the dirt floor. His hand rubbed at his face as he dropped to his knees. He lovingly fingered the silken strands of his wife’s hair, while he cradled her head against his bare, filthy chest.

He rocked his body while he held her. The bastards who had done this had sealed her and their child in, and set the home to flames. Because of the rain, the hut hadn’t burnt to the ground, and his wife and child were unmarred. Thank the Gods she hadn’t been burnt, but the smoke had proven to be too much. In death her features were as beautiful as ever. In her arms she held the body of their six-week-old son, Biorn. The babe’s eyes were closed as if he slumbered. The rabbit skin he was swaddled in still had remnants of heat.

The hearth simmered near where Hott knelt. The remains of supper in their black cauldron smoldered over the smoke. Cries of the survivors could be heard all around their village.

The men had been away hunting reindeer. The attack against the village had been unprovoked and carried no meaning. They had taken the livestock and killed the few dogs they had. The three older Vikings left behind to protect the village had been slaughtered.

Why had the raiders not just stolen the women and children? What was the sense to this brutal murder? Why would anyone wage war on defenseless females and their young?

Most assuredly Odin would retaliate in fury. It made no sense. How could it make sense when his Drifa lay so cold in his arms? She could never have hurt anyone. She was sweet and kind…or she had been. And his newborn son, Biorn could have wreaked no havoc. No, whoever had done this was evil to the core, and they would pay.

Hott hung his head. He wished he could go with them, his wife and babe, to protect them on their journey into the afterlife. But if he took his life he would be unable to travel to Valhalla. He would be branded a coward by the Gods. Gently he picked up his wife and son, cradling them against his chest. He stood then remained motionless for a long time, simply holding them. He couldn’t bear to part with his family.

“Come, Hott,” said a voice from the doorway.

Hott lowered his head and breathed in the fragrance of his wife one last time. Only now her sweet smell of beauty was marred by smoke and death. Hott felt his heart break within his chest. There was no purpose to his life. How could Odin have allowed this? Hadn’t he been a brave and faithful warrior his entire life?

“Please, brother. There is nothing that can be done for them. We must give them and the others a proper and respectful burial.”

Hott turned slowly. He didn’t bother to wipe the tears from his desolate eyes. There was no shame in mourning. His brother stood near him. Ulfr placed his hand on his shoulder. He reached to take the babe, but Hott took an unsteady step back, refusing to part with his small son, his only child. How desperately he had wanted this boy. A child named after his father. Hott had seen his father in the boy already; he knew he had come back. The boy would have made a fine warrior, and Hott would have been honored to teach him. He would have taught him as well as he himself had been taught.

“Biorn was like my own,” his brother reminded him.

It was true; Ulfr had been convinced the boy was also their father. Nodding reluctantly, Hott relinquished his hold on the babe. Together the brothers walked from the charred hut. They joined a procession of men carrying their deceased wives and children, making their way to the burial site.

* * * *

“We must retaliate,” Ulfr demanded. His powerful fist slammed into his open palm.

“We will, but first we must grieve,” stated another man.

“But their trail is already growing cold,” Ulfr argued.

“Look upon your brother, does he look ready for battle or for death?” snapped the man. “If he goes into battle like this, he will be the first to fall and do so happily. Are you so ready to lose the only family you have left to death?”

Ulfr looked at his brother with guilty remorse. “I am only anxious to avenge our people,” he mumbled.

“What of you, Hott? Are you ready to battle like a warrior?” the man asked.

Hott looked at the older man. He was a dear friend of his late father’s—a man who had lost his wife years ago and now recently his only daughter. He was a man ready and eager for his last battle and the reward of Valhalla.

“I am ready for battle, Alfarin.” But in truth, Hott felt dead. He wanted to battle, but he couldn’t battle with these men at his side. He had no thirst for blood or revenge, just death. He was too honorable to not give his best to his people.

Hott looked around the thatched hut. There were perhaps six handfuls of men. Only four women had survived by fleeing into the forest. Of those women, one had turned twelve in the spring only a few months ago. She was a beauty and buxom, but shy and skittish, like a young filly. The poor thing had watched her mother fall from a distance during the brutal raid. Already her father had been approached by half the men wanting to wed with her. Even the older woman, Bera, with the graying hair, had been sought after. The other two women were guarded closely by their husbands. No children remained. It was a sad day for his people.

“It is harder to live than to die, my friend,” Alfarin said kindly. He placed a hand onto Hott’s shoulder.

“I will not dishonor my family,” Hott replied in a choked voice.

The group began to disperse. Hott rose and wandered slowly into the night. The dark sky, alight with beautiful stars, fell on blind eyes as Hott raised his face to the Heavens. All around him was the lingering scent of smoke and burned flesh. There were men, his friends, with wet eyes. He was not the only one to have lost everything. But he had also lost his faith in Odin. Again he wondered how his God could have forsaken him. Hott turned when he felt a strong hand on his arm. Alfarin was beside him.

“How could Odin allow this?” Hott asked. His open hands fisted in his frustration.

“I do not think he allowed this at all. I think he rages in the Heavens. Go, my friend, seek your answers. You will not find them in battle. And you will be of no use to us if you are already dead inside.”

Hott nodded. He looked towards the dense woods and then began walking. The answer was out there. It had to be out there.

* * * *

Hott wandered throughout the long lonely night. He envisioned his large hands gently cradling his small son to his chest. He could still taste the sweetness of Drifa’s lips against his own. Her touch had always been so tentative, but she had been young, much younger than himself.

He had captured her from a distant land. The ocean voyages held such mystery, yet Hott was ready to settle down and begin a family. Hott had never seen such a stunning dark-haired, dark-eyed beauty. She had been terrified of him at first. He couldn’t blame her. He was a powerful Viking, a warrior. His chest was broader than a horse, she had laughingly told him once, and he appeared taller than a tree. He had patiently taught her their language and chosen a new name for her—a decent Viking name. She had been offended at first, but in time she accepted her fate, she accepted him into her bed, and then into her heart. Especially once Biorn was born.

Theirs had been a sweet love. Because he had stolen her from her family and homeland, Drifa had been as angry with him as she had been frightened of him. Understanding of the village ways was hard on her. Everything was so different from her previous way of life. She had felt so alone and lost. Eventually she had had no choice but to turn to him. He protected her. He took care of her. Hott had hoped in time their love would grow deeper. Now he would never know.

Hott wondered if he would ever have been gifted with the overwhelming love his parents had for one another. His parents could show love in a touch, a glance. Hott had hoped it would be the same between him and his wife. Now she was gone. There was no chance for their love to alight and become more.

As morning approached, the mist rose from the land to swirl around him. The massive trees reached the Heavens and once more Hott thought about his betrayal by his Gods. By stealing Drifa away so many thoughts of ‘what if’ tumbled in his thoughts. With the arrival of his son there could have been so much more to his family. With each step, with each passing moment he felt cheated. His hands fisted and he let his anger fuel the raging emotions. It wasn’t long before his sword found its way into his hand.

“What am I to fight?” he shouted. “What have I not done for you? What wrong did I commit?”

Hott was a man of strength, and yet he couldn’t fight this feeling of loss. What weapon could he use to battle this? He could not slice the emotion of rage from its head with his battleaxe across its neck; he couldn’t run the emotion of hurt through with his heavy blade, nor stab it with his knife. There would be nothing to strike. How could he battle such a desolate feeling that was without any substance?

“Odin!” he bellowed.

Suddenly the ground beneath his feet shook. Hott stumbled and swayed under the shifting earth. Never before in his life had he felt the earth pitch to and fro. Something huge must surely be approaching to cause such an awful shudder. He gripped his sword within his hand while his body was tested to remain standing. As quickly as it had started it stopped. The mist before him grew heavier, and he peered to see further into its surreal rolling billows.

“I will battle!” he roared. “Bring forth a giant and let me slay my emotions with it.”

The mist churned as he stalked on, enveloping him. He raised his sword in anticipation. There must be something in the foul breath of the forest smog. Something so hideous a lesser man would die of fright just to gaze upon it. And as though thinking it conjured something before him. An apparition formed in the distance. A creature was moving towards him. An outline of something approached. Hott’s heart hammered in his chest in eager anticipation.

Today was a good day to die.