Blessing of Aesir

      It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. I sit up from a lying position on the ground and feel a sharp pain blinding pain all over causing me to vomit. A pulsating pain on the top of my head feels as if my head is split in two. I reach my hand up and feel a large painful gash surrounded by knotted hair sticky with what I assumed is dry blood.

  Looking up I notice I am not the only poor soul lying in the snow. Checking my surroundings there are bodies strewn across the ground; blood in the snow surrounding them and weapons at their sides. Large clouds of black smoke billowed out into the sky blocking what was remaining of the daylight. A vicious battle had taken place and I appear to be the only survivor. My mind races, overstimulated by the pain, sights and sounds. I ask myself the most concerning question of all.

“Where am I? Who am I?”

Slowly I bring myself to feet. As I stand the throbbing in my head intensifies and I fight to remain standing as the world begins to spin around me. My stomach cramps yet again as my throat forcefully expels bile into the snow beneath me.

Looking up I muster up all the strength I can to yell “Hello?! Can anybody hear me?”

The only sound I could hear is the crackling fire devouring the rows of longhouses in the distance. There is no sign of life around me. I start walking towards the burning village with the hope I can find someone still amongst the living. Looking at all of the motionless bodies in the snow I wonder what exactly happened. Cleary some kind of battle had occurred, and it isn’t hard to imagine that someone had delivered what should have been a final blow to my head yet somehow, I survived.

Entering into the village I approach a broken fence where there are two ravens perched on what was left. “Is there any chance you two could tell me what happened?” I hopelessly ask the birds. They remain motionless, staring at me with no response. Although something is off about them. Naturally birds tend to fly away as someone approaches. These two remain still with their eyes focused on my every movement as I pass them and make my way further into the village.

Everything in this village is destroyed. The homes are burned, the livestock slaughtered, the men, women, and children butchered. The sights are horrible, and the smells are even worse. “Who could do this?” I ask out loud.

As I approached the center of the village, I can begin to see the main hall. It appears to be the only building left within the village that has not been destroyed. I can hear voices as I get closer to the entrance of the main hall. Pressing myself along the wall near the entrance I can clearly make out some of the conversation.

“Jarl Erikson will be satisfied that we finally put these savages down.” The voice continues “This sends a message to the other villages that this land belongs to the Jarl and those who refuse to swear fealty to him will suffer ultimate consequences.”

Wings flutter closely and land on a barrel next to me. The two ravens I encountered earlier have made themselves present to me again. An eerie sensation comes over me as I look back at them. Their eyes are focused on me, almost as if they are peering into my soul.

“What do you want?!” I whisper loudly. Quite too loudly in fact.

“Quiet you idiot. Did you hear that?”A second voice responds “I didn’t hear anything, best go check though. We cannot leave any of these savages breathing or else the Jarl will have our heads on a pike.”

Shit they heard me! These stupid birds!

Quickly and quietly, I relocate around the corner of the main hall to get away from the main entrance. As I make it around the corner there appear to be some other huts that have not met the same fate as the rows of long houses I encountered earlier. They remain untouched and really are my only option to go to.

The birds land on a fence outside of one of the huts and I get this sensation that I should go into that hut as well. I move quick as I can and cross the threshold into structure. “Smithing equipment. This is the shop of a blacksmith!” It feels the ravens had led me here for a reason. Strewn across the hut are short swords, shields, and axes. The birds fly into the hut and land by the axes. Once again, I am drawn towards the ravens and their eyes that watch over me with great intensity. An axe with a carving of two ravens etched into the blade stands out among the others. A mysterious power draws me towards the weapon.

Grabbing the axe with my right hand I feel a jolt of energy surge into my veins. My memory that was once cloudy begins to return as the power takes hold of my body. The ravens' eyes glow bright and our eyes lock for a moment and there is a sense of understanding one another. These are not just any ravens.

Footsteps approach the hut, yet I am ready. I meet the attackers outside the front door. As I emerge from the entrance the hesitate to act. Letting out a battle cry I raise the axe and swipe a devastating blow to one of the men. The axe slices through the air followed by a bright blue light. Upon contact with the body the blade slices through flesh and bone as if it was not even there. The second attacker standing in shock is unable to act in time. It would not have mattered if he fought or ran my power is great and axe landed true. I slammed the blade of the axe straight down onto his skull splitting him in two down to the shoulders.

My home may be destroyed, and my loved ones have been slain, I will not let them have died in vain. I have been blessed by Odin himself with Unrelenting power and the eyes Huginn and Munnin. With their sight there is no place that Jarl Erikson and his warriors can hide. My name is Kara, I will have vengeance and reclaim my home.