Snow and Blood

The sun was going down, the cold was growing and the snowstorm appeared to be getting stronger. Somerled could barely see five feet in front of him, but as long as he could hear the sound of Fleor’s hooves hitting the stoned road he knew he was still on track.

He had only stopped when the sun was at its highest to catch a rabbit and roast it over a small fire. He was hopeful that the stable owner was being accurate with his distance to this town as Somerled would not want to put his horse through the struggle of sleeping in the cold.

But he was in luck, he could see the glimmering of fire light ahead through the blizzard.

“Nearly there girl.” He said as he carried on going forwards.

The fire light grew bigger as he approached the town.

That fire is too big. He thought.

As he got closer, only the sound of the whistling wind could be heard. There were no voices of people talking or moving. It was earie, as he saw the first house, he could see scorched marks along the wooden walls.

The fire now ragingly close, it was clear that it was a building set alite.

There has been an attack on this town.

The blizzard ever so slightly let up and through the blasts of snow Somerled could see dead bodies scattered along the road. Men, women and children, all bloodied and beaten.

“Hello?!” Somerled shouted into the night, but there was no response.

The crashing of a building falling over from the fire echoed, startling Fleor who began to kick her legs.

“Woah, steady girl.” Somerled whispered, tightly gripping onto the reigns.

As he slowly made his way deeper into the town, the massacre grew more obvious. He lost count of the number of lifeless bodies on the ground, simply trying his best to not let the horse step onto any.

“HELP!!!”

A woman’s scream came from the distance.

Quickly looking in the direction of the scream, Somerled kicked the horse and galloped towards the voice.

Riding through the town, there was the occasional sound of the hooves crashing down onto the deceased, but Somerled was undeterred.

“Please don’t!” The woman’s voice screamed out again.

He was closer now, the screaming coming from inside a battered wooden house.

Jumping off his hare and landing onto the frozen muddy ground, Somerled pulled out his Flyssa that gleamed in the dim moonlight as he slowly approached the building. The door had been destroyed and he slowly made his way inside, being sure to not make a sound.

“Stop! Please!” The woman’s screams were close, in a room only covered by a single wooden wall.

Suddenly her screams were muffled.

“Shut up bitch!” This time a man’s voice called out.

Turning the corner, Somerled stood with his weapon in hand. He made eye contact with a woman that was being held down onto a wooden table, only a small cloth fabric covering her body. Her eyes were swollen and filled with tears as her screams couldn’t get passed the cloth forced into her mouth.

There were two men in armour holding her down and another standing in front of her.

The woman, staring at Somerled began to scream into the rag causing the other men to turn and see the knight standing witness.

“What the fuck do you want?” The man standing shouted.

Taking two, slow steps forward, Somerled calmy said.

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“I don’t think this lady wants you in her house. You should leave.”

Laughing, the standing man shouted.

“I don’t care too much what she wants, and if you know what’s good for you, piss off!”

Another step closer, only a few yards were between Somerled and the standing man in armour.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. I do not wish for a fight, so you should leave now. Or die.” Somerled threatened.

The standing man laughed, looked back at his two colleagues and shouted.

“You hear that boys. This guy wants to play hero!”

He grabbed a longsword that was resting on the table next to the woman, her screams had now turned into crying muffles as she watched the two men.

“Last chance, leave now and live.” Somerled warned.

A large grin appeared on the man’s face, showing his rotten and missing teeth.

He lunged forward slicing his sword harshly through the air.

With ease, Somerled stepped to his left, raising his own blade in the air and through the man’s throat. A gush of blood flying into the air coming from his sword as the man fell to the ground, only gargled sounds coming from him now.

The two other men in their armour jumped, releasing the woman and grabbing onto their own swords and pointing them at the knight.

“Seriously?” Somerled moaned.

“Aahh!” One of the men screamed charging at the knight and bring his sword down from above his head, the wind screaming in its movement.

Once again Somerled stepped to the side and dodged the attack forcing him to carry on falling forward from the force of his attack. This time Somerled left his own weapon by his side

The second man grunted and thrust his sword at the knight who now brought his Flyssa up and batted the attack away with ease.

“You really shouldn’t make so much noise before you attack.” Somerled said.

“Fucker!!” The first man shouted and sliced his sword through the air.

Somerled ducked down under the attack and gripping his own sword landed a punch into his stomach, the handle of the sword giving a painful strike into his abdomen and forcing him to fall the ground panting for air.

“See what I mean?” Somerled asked.

The second man stared at him, his sword in his hand. His eyes locked onto the knights; they were filled with fear.

“Come on then.” Somerled moaned whilst holding his blade up beside him ready for the attack.

“Fuck this!” The man shouted, turning and running away out of the wooden house.

That was easy. Somerled chuckled to himself.

The sound of the man on the floor gasping for air grabbed the knight’s attention, kneeling beside him, Somerled gripped his jaw and pulling his gaze to his own.

“Are you finished?” He asked the man panting on the ground.

Still unable to speak, whether through fear or from the punch he has taken, the man just nodded his head quickly.

“Get out of here.” Somerled said pushing his face away.

The man managed to pick himself up off of the ground and stumbled out of the house.

Turning around, the room was dark but he could see the silhouette of the woman curled into a ball onto the ground, a quiet sound of her crying coming from her.

“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you.” Somerled tried to ease her, stepping closer.

“You…. You should have killed them!” She whispered.

“They won’t be back.” Somerled said with a laugh, “Here, let me help you up.”

Extending a hand, the woman grabbed onto him and pulled herself to her feet. She had bruises over her face and tears still streaming down her face.

“What’s happened here?” Somerled asked.

“They came yesterday, they have slaughtered everyone, only keeping a few of us women alive to force themselves upon on.” She whimpered out.

Somerled had sympathy for this women, he could see that he was too late to fully be able to save her. Only the gods know how many men she has had attack her in the last day.

“My daughter,” She stuttered bringing her eyes to meet Somerled’s once more, “They forced me to watch, and then they killed her.”

What savage monsters could do such terrible deeds on innocent people? Somerled thought.

“Who are they?” He asked the mourning woman.

“They are soldiers from Jarl Kitchner, he was here himself when they first came. But he left and the soldiers remained to destroy the town.”

Jarl Kitchner? That is who the peasant at the inn was telling me about. Maybe I should have taken him more seriously.

“Why would they do this? To their own towns?” Somerled asked, it made no sense for a Jarl to butcher his own people.

“Jarl Kitchner is an animal! He is a child of incest that murdered his elder true born siblings so that he could be Jarl! I have heard that he murdered his own mother and father!” She shouted.

Looking at the woman, she was desperate, afraid and weak. Somerled placed his hand onto her shoulder which initially made her jump.

“Come with me. I will get you to safety.” He told her.

She nodded back and Somerled slowly help guide her to Fleor who had remained waiting outside of the house. Helping her onto the back of the saddle, Somerled mounted his horse and made his way back to the town he was at the night before.

It would be a long trip on an empty stomach, but Somerled did not want to try and sleep in the blizzard, the movement being the only thinking giving them any form of warmth.