NOVEL NEXT Chapter 25: Battle and Blood
Thorfinn ate a bowl of porridge as he sat by the fire, it was the day they would raid Hexham and the men were getting ready. While he was excited he didn't seem to share the same excitement as most of the men here, some of them didn't even eat that morning and stood waiting for Ragnar to give the signal. 'My heart isn't in this,' he thought to himself. He had three chests worth of silver and gold, he didn't need more for the moment, what he wanted was to go home and see Rebekah, Hild and Gyda; he missed them all and couldn't wait to see them again. He would be a father soon and so he had much to do before the birth to make things suitable.
Blaeja and Arwyn sat next to him eating their own food. They would be staying at camp during the raid, while he had no doubt Arwyn would slaughter everyone in the town should he command he didn't want Blaeja to have to watch that so he commanded Arywn to look after her. While everyone was standing up and had weapons in their hands waiting for the command to enter the town, Ragnar stretched before coming to sit down with Thorfinn he poured himself a serving of food ignoring the stares from everyone else; Thorfinn couldn't help but laugh as he saw the looks of annoyance on everyone's faces, including Lagertha and Rollo.
He knew why Ragnar wanted to wait for today. It was Sunday and everyone including guards would be in church; while it was a good plan it meant raiding this town would be almost as easy as the Monastery. "Are you ready Thorfinn?" Ragnar asked as he started to eat.
Thorfinn chuckled "Do I need to be ready, we both know how easy this will be," he replied.
Ragnar returned his laugh "It should be easy, but you never know something unexpected could happen, only the gods know when a man dies," he said.
"Then I hope they'll welcome me into their halls when it's my time," Thorfinn replied.
"I have no doubt they will, you have done much in a short time, more things than most men do in their entire lifetimes," Ragnar said.
"It's clear to see you are the envy of most men in this camp, you must notice how they look at your women," Ragnar said with a chuckle.
Thorfinn nodded, he had noticed but he didn't much care, if they went beyond looking he would cut off their hands. "I'm sure they envy you just as much, the man who discovered the west," he said with a laugh, one that Ragnar joined him in.
*Dong*
*Dong*
Both Thorfinn and Ragnar looked up from their food and smiled. "I think that's our signal," Thorfinn said. Ragnar nodded and stood up, picking up his shield and axe.
"Stay here, Arwyn make sure to protect her and the Silver," he said to both girls.
"If you have to choose then I suppose you can pick Blaeja," he said jokingly making the Princess roll her eyes.
"I'm glad to hear you hold me in such high esteem, hurry back I want to get started on learning the language," Blaeja replied.
"Be careful Lord," Arwyn said with a small amount of worry. Thorfinn smiled and stroked the young girl's head before standing up and lifting his shield. It was time to add to his wealth.
...
The Vikings moved slowly and silently through the empty town. Besides Ragnar and Thorfinn, the others did not know why the town was so empty; they looked around with confusion, especially when they saw the weapons of the guards all hung up and left unattended. Ragnar instructed some of the men to take the weapons, their iron was stronger and better made than their own so they'd be remiss to not take it. Perhaps their blacksmith could unlock the secrets behind it, but more likely they'd take a slave and force them to reveal it.
Some of the others started to split off from the main group and search the houses in the town, which wasn't surprising as they no doubt planned to fill their pockets separately. They would be entitled to a share of the raid, but if they hid some of what they had taken then they'd earn a bit extra. This was a common practice and Ragnar didn't much care about it as long as what they tried to hide were just small pieces of silver. The Northmen looked in disgust as they saw large stone statues of crosses representing the foreign god these people worshipped.
The main group approached what Ragnar and Thorfinn recognised as the church. They could hear voices coming from inside and Ragnar signalled for the men to kick the doors open. As the doors opened the Saxons inside cried out in shock and spun their heads around, fear quickly plastered their faces as they saw the giant foreign men who stood before them.
The priests who were leading the prayers stood speechless as the men came inside. The men at the back managed to gain some bravery and charged against the Vikings; Thorfinn laughed as he booted the man who attempted to push past him and brought his shield down on his ankle making the man scream in pain.
Arne sunk his axe into another and Torstein thrust his sword into a Saxons heart. The others all screamed as they watched this, but Ragnar and his men just laughed. They all sunk to the ground in fear as Ragnar and his men walked further in; Thorfinn laughed as Floki ran up to the Saxons scaring them like a group of birds.
He saw a man try to stand up but Thorfinn hit him in the face with the blunt end of his axe making him fall back to the ground. Floki giggled as he stomped on the man's stomach making him throw up on himself, the priests could only look on in horror as they disrespected and desecrated their holy place.
"In the name of god who are you!?" The priest asked as Ragnar approached him.
"This is a house of god!!!" He said desperately.
"Tell your people if they do not resist we will not hurt them," Ragnar replied. Though as he said that Floki slit one of the Saxon's throat giggling as he did it. The priests quickly told the people to not resist and to trust in god to protect them; Thorfinn could only shake his head and laugh, their god would not protect them from Floki's dagger or his axe.
He watched Floki walk up to the alter and drink from the cup of wine before spitting it out and making them all cry out in shock. "Be respectful Floki you drink the blood of their god," Thorfinn said with a laugh.
Floki frowned before looking at the cup and pouring it out "They drink the blood of their god, you'd think they killed him themselves," he said.
"I think they did," Thorfinn said as he stroked his face. While it was amusing to watch Floki scaring the other Saxons Thorfinn decided to search the town for any valuables. Some of the Saxons had made it out of the church by breaking the windows and escaping so perhaps he'd go find some of them.
He watched the other men break through the doors to the houses and ransack them all. Saxon men and women tried to escape, and while the women were merely pinned down and taken, the men were slaughtered and left to die in the streets. He frowned when he saw Lagertha enter one of the houses, she shouted something but he couldn't hear what she said. He walked closer to the house and could hear the sounds of a struggle, but before he could enter the house Magnus came out blocking his way.
"We have already emptied this building, you should find another," he said placing a hand on his chest. Thorfinn looked down at his hand before brushing it aside, he wasn't stupid and could hear the sounds coming from inside.
"Move," he said.
Magnus laughed at him before pushing him away. Thorfinn just sighed before approaching Magnus headbutting him and tripping him to the ground. When he walked inside he saw a dead Saxon woman with an axe in her back and Lagertha bent over a table with Knut attempting to undo her hosur's and rape her. She had a bloody nose and despite struggling and trying to get out of her grip he was too strong and she couldn't get a good grip on any weapon.
Thorfinn felt his anger bubble beneath his skin as he looked at Knut trying to rape the women who raised him. He rushed over to both of them tackling Knut to the ground and smashing his fist across his face; he managed to get five powerful punches off before Knut pushed him off, but Thorfinn was quick to his feet and slammed his foot down on the man's exposed balls.
Knut wailed and cried out in pain as he was unmanned, his balls exploded into a white and red liquid that pooled across the floor. Magnus had walked back into the house holding his nose when he saw this and then drew his sword. Thorfinn drew his own and they both looked intensely at each other "You would defend your uncle who tried to rape a free woman, and the gods would spit on you," Thorfinn scowled.
"I should kill you both where you stand! I would not be punished for it," Magnus spat out as he walked closer.
Lagertha was only recovering from what Knut did now as she had knocked her head when he forced her down on the table. She spat some blood out on the table before picking up her sword and creeping around the other side of Magnus.
*Horn*
The sound of a foreign horn distracted them all from their standoff, and Magnus growled. "This is not over," he growled out before sheathing his sword and walking over to his uncle pushing past Thorfinn as he did. Lagertha looked ready to shove her blade straight through Knuts throat, but if she did that then things would not be favourable for them. The Jarl would take the word of his son over both of them; Thorfinn grabbed her wrist before she could do anything and led her out of the house.
She had a look of displeasure on her face as she ripped her hand from his grasp "Why did you not let me kill him, by law I had every right," she yelled.
Thorfinn grabbed her wrist again before taking her away from the house "The law means nothing when the one who enforces it wishes the death of you and your family," Thorfinn replied.
"If you had killed Knut, Magnus would've spoken against us and the Jarl would've taken his word, we would both be executed which would've forced Ragnar's hand," Thorfinn explained.
Lagertha was still angry despite seeing the sense in his words. However, before she replied the sounds of shouting and war cries echoed through the town. They both turned and saw Saxon warriors charging down the road they were on. "AMBUSH!!!" Thorfinn shouted as he drew his sword.
Thorfinn ducked under and stabbed the first soldier in the stomach before turning and swinging his blade around and slicing it across the other's throat. Lagertha the fierce shield maiden that she was parried a sword off to the right before stabbing him through the gap in his helmet. "We must rejoin the others," Thorfinn said as he gestured for them to go. Lagertha nodded and they both made their way back to the church, they encountered a number of other soldiers along the way. Thorfinn felt his blood start to boil with excitement, he started to move faster and hit harder.
A wolf-like smile adorned his face as he sliced through one of the Saxon legs cutting it off completely and making him scream as he fell to the ground. He smashed his shield against another's face before cutting off his hand and barging him to the ground.
Lagertha was in awe of Thorfinns skills as they fought, she had never seen such fighting ability from one so young. He had improved much since his fight with Ragnar, it was as if he learned and improved from every fight he had. She clashed swords with a Saxon, but instead of allowing herself to be overpowered she pivoted around him and let her blade slice his throat. When they got to the others there was a massive battle taking place, the Saxons seemed to outnumber them but despite that the Northmen had the momentum and were pushing them back.
Thorfinn and Lagertha joined the shield wall and joined the others in pushing back. "PUSH!" Ragnar yelled and they all roared as they stepped forward pushing back the Saxons. As they did they swung their axes over their shields impaling Saxon soldiers in their heads. The smell of blood permeated the air, Thorfinns muscles ached but he pushed and slid his sword through the shield cutting flesh and killing Saxons. "PUSH!" Ragnar shouted again and they moved forward.
They started stepping over dead bodies as they moved forward and they laughed as they started to see the fear in the Saxon's faces as they were slaughtered. Thorfinn eyed Rollo as the shield wall opened allowing some of the Saxons to spill through, he sunk his great battle axe into the man's flesh before picking him up and throwing him back over the shield wall into the enemy soldiers.
Thorfinn roared as he kept fighting and pushing, a few arrows penetrated his shield and sliced his shoulders. A Saxon got lucky and his spear managed to push through the shield aiming for Lagertha, but before it was able to Thorfinn pushed her out of the way and allowed it to sink into his shoulder. He roared before swinging his sword at the perpetrator and ending him; he pulled the spear out before continuing with the fight. However it didn't last for much longer as the Saxons started to run, the shield wall broke and the Northmen started to kill the retreating men, Thorfinn picked up the spear that had injured him and threw it into the back of one of the men. He then spat on the ground as he allowed himself to take a breath.
He walked over to Ragnar who was similarly covered in blood to check he was okay. Unsurprisingly the man was untouched, as were Elijah and Niklaus, the latter of whom was chasing the Saxons killing as many as he could. "Are you both well?" Thorfinn asked the men.
"I won't be going to Valhalla yet," Ragnar replied.
"It surprises me they managed to get so many men together in such a short time," Elijah said thoughtfully ignoring his question.
"Perhaps your fame is larger than you thought," Ragnar said jokingly to Thorfinn who chuckled.
After the battle, they started to strip the soldiers of their weapons and any wealth they had. It didn't take long before all the silver and gold was taken from Hexham and the men returned to their camp. However, as they returned they saw that a few of their men that had been chosen to guard the camp lay dead on the ground with arrows sticking out of their necks. Ragnar held his hand up for everyone to stop; Ragnar, Thorfinn, Rollo, Elijah and Lagertha all crept forward into the camp where they came across a large number of Saxon soldiers who looked as if they had been torn apart.
Thorfinn most of all was worried as he had left Arwyn and Blaeja at camp. Though his worries were quickly alleviated when he saw Arwyn running up to him, the girl was almost naked and would've been had it not been for the large amount of blood covering her body. "Lord!" She shouted as she approached him.
"Arwyn, what happened here," Thorfinn asked as he sheathed his sword.
"Strange soldiers came trying to take everything so I killed them all," she replied. Ragnar being the only other person to understand the language raised his eyebrows in shock. There were at least ten men here, for a young girl to have killed them all was hard to believe. And yet the evidence would suggest she was telling the truth.
"Good, you've done well," Thorfinn said as he stroked her blood-soaked hair making her sigh in contentment.
"It's clear!" Ragnar shouted to the others who relaxed and started bringing in their goods to the camp. Thorfinn put his arm around Arwyn and led her back to their campfire; the sight of this was displeasing to Elijah but he didn't react and instead went to go find his brother.
At their campfire, Thorfinn saw Blaeja who looked positively traumatised. Thorfinn could understand why, seeing a small girl turn into a werewolf before ripping people apart would no doubt scare even the bravest of men. He sat down next to her and put his hand on her shoulder "She wouldn't have harmed you, you have no need to worry about her," Thorfinn said to Blaeja who almost jumped when he sat down.
Blaeja looked at Thorfinn and then up at the blood-soaked girl who smiled back at her "I think I need some time to process this," she said before staring back down at the campfire trying to stop herself from going mad.
Thorfinn chuckled before squeezing her arm and standing up. "Come we should go and wash," he said to Arwyn who happily joined him. There was a small stream next to their camp that ran through Hexham, while it wouldn't be the same as the warm baths they took in Bebbenburg it would get rid of the blood that covered both of them.
Approaching the stream he started to undress letting his clothes pile up on the floor, he kept his sword by the riverbank in case there were still enemies in the area. He breathed sharply as he waded into the water, the cold hit him immediately and while it was unpleasant at first it quickly became a pleasurable experience as he started to wash all the blood and grim off his body.
Arwyn was much better suited to dealing with the cold. One thing Thorfinn had noticed about her was her body ran hot despite the weather, her skin was always warm to the touch and so she walked into the water easily. Thorfinn dunked his head beneath the water and washed out the blood that had splattered onto it, when he came up his white locks shined brightly once again. Arywn hadn't even begun washing as she was transfixed on Thorfinn, watching the way he brushed his hands across the muscles of his chest.
Thorfinn looked at Arywn and sighed before moving over to her. He started to move his hands across her body wiping off the blood that covered her "Mmmmmmnnn," she moaned lightly and closed her eyes as she enjoyed the sensation of his hands brushing against her skin. She breathed in when his hands slipped around her front and began moving up towards her breasts; she wanted to be taken by him so badly. Her core burned and could only be cooled by having his seed inside of her, but even this felt good. Thorfinn was her master he was her everything, her thoughts were consumed by him, and she would do anything for him, let him do anything to her.
"Aaaaaaaaaaahhh!" Her legs rubbed together as she felt a wave of pleasure rush through her when Thorfinns hands brushed against her nipples. Her womanhood was throbbing and with every throb came another jolt of pleasure, she fell back into Thorfinns chest as she struggled to even remain upright. She had never felt so good before, she wanted to keep feeling this, she wanted to beg him to continue.
"Dip your head," he commanded her and she obeyed immediately, but even the cold water or the stream was unable to cool her off. She felt Thorfinns hands rubbing her scalp as he washed all of the dried blood off her hair. When she emerged from the water she felt his hands on her face, she opened her mouth when his finger brushed her lips and even let her tongue move to taste him, she felt her nether regions throb again at the taste of his finger and wished he'd push it inside of her like he'd seen her do to Eowyn.
"Let's get back to the camp," he said abruptly.
Arywn snapped her eyes open and looked around in shock, she looked at herself and saw she was clean. Disappointment flooded through her, but when she looked at Thorfinn she noticed that his cock was standing hard which made her smile. 'At least he finds me attractive,' she thought to herself. Hopefully, this meant it was only a matter of time before she was taken by her lord.
...
Later that night Thorfinn sat around Ragnar's campfire as they ate. They were eating well as they had taken some of the livestock from Hexham and slaughtered them. The men cheered and sang as they enjoyed the spoils of a successful raid.
"Thorfinn, I am in your debt," Ragnar said abruptly as he took a bite from a chicken leg.
When Thorfinn looked at him questioningly he continued "You protected Lagertha from Knut and Magnus, then you protected her from herself, I do not like to imagine what may have happened once we returned home if both the Jarls brother and son were dead," he clarified.
"I am grateful to you Thorfinn, and I apologise for my heated words," Lagertha added.
Thorfinn waved them both off "You are both my family, there is no debt, and there is no need to apologise Lagertha, had Magnus not been there I would've killed Knut myself," he said.
"We still should kill him," Rollo growled out as he stared at Knut who was lying down wriggling in pain with Magnus by his side.
"He will die, but for now it can wait," Ragnar said as he looked into the fire. His blood boiled at what the man had tried to do to his wife, the only reason he didn't skewer the man responsible was because Thorfinn had prevented it. Knut would still die but now he could do it in a way that would not put them in trouble with the Jarl.
"Thorfinn, I think I'd like to hear more of your time at Bebbenburg," Ragnar asked as he leaned forward.
...
The next day they broke camp and made their way back to the ships. While they walked he talked with Niklaus about the werewolf he had fought, he seemed to be very interested in it for some reason, but Thorfinn didn't mind and regaled him with the tale. Elijah stood next to them silently, he had taught Blaeja some words of his language and so the man was on the receiving end of her attempts to practice.
Knut was carried in a small cart that a man dragged behind him. The others laughed at him as they looked at his injuries though they also winced in second-hand pain. Having your balls crushed underneath someone's feet was perhaps one of the worst pains a man could imagine; Thorfinn knew he'd rather take a thousand stab wounds before that happened to him, but the bastard deserved it.
When they arrived at the beach and the ship was in sight Thorfinn felt relief rush through him. It wouldn't be long now until he was home and he would see Rebekah again, his heart yearned for her and soon he would have her in his arms.
(AN: So that's the end of the Arc, Thorfinn had achieved what he wanted to and now he returns home to his land. What will be waiting for him, will he ever see Eowyn again, what will become of their child? Who knows, maybe you'll find out next week, maybe you won't, maybe I'll drop this fic and start a new one where Thorfinn joins the Justice League or maybe I'll write a femboy FanFiction, anyway I am tired so I'm gonna sleep. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.)
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