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Antiope
Author of 9 Stories |
Disclaimer: I own and claim no rights to Touchstone Pictures' "The 13th Warrior." All non-original characters are beings of my own creation, and similarities to other fics are unintended.
The light from the numerous torches hanging around the large cave room shone brightly on the scene of blood and gore. Inhuman screams and roars mingled with the wails of terror coming from the three young girls in the center of a circle of onlookers. Woman and men covered in dirt, blood and animal skins pushed the girls back and forth around the circle, delighting in their fear and the crazed look that contorted their faces into masks of agony and the knowledge that death was near.
High above them, on a ledge surrounded with large boulders to create a makeshift cage, seven girls stared down at the atrocity with resigned expressions of defeat. The sounds below grew in volume, and several of the girls clutched each other, whimpering.
Suddenly, no sound but the wails from the three could be heard, and the circle of bear-skin clad creatures expanded until the three terrified girls stood at the center of the large arena. Two large men, on opposites sides of the room from each other pushed through the crowd, barely acknowledging the grunts of difference those around them gave. When they reached the girls, they had men from the crowd hold their arms and with a claw from around their neck cut a gash into their arm. With twin roars , the two warriors returned to their places outside the circle, on several rocks that gave them a view of the battle about to begin.
Three female creatures from the crowd slunk forward on bent legs, their faces and bodies colored with paint and blood. Circling the three girls, they hissed and swiped at them, their wails adding to the rapture on their tormentors' faces.
The seven girls above it all could only look as their friend's screams filled the cavern, only to change several moments later into gurgles of blood and gasps of pain. Then, all that followed was silence. With a look at the two warriors that watched the carnage above them, those in the circle roared in triumph and flew onto the near lifeless girls with abandon.
Unna, one of the remaining captured endured the grip of Sefa, the youngest of them and watched the death of Theoun, Soma, and Asborg until her eyes could not withstand it. The huddled girls all moved away from the edge and moved to the center of their prison, whimpers of fear and despair joining the noise of ecstasy from below. Unna's stomach rolled, and if she had anything more than her own bile to spew, she knew she would have. They had all been captured four days earlier, most from the last raid of Venden's walls, some from the outlying farms and homesteads that were no match for the monsters that came in the night. Out of thirteen, only they seven remained. Unna squeezed young Sefa's arms soothingly, and hummed quietly to them all.
One of the girls, Yrsa stood up and began to walk toward the lower level of the ledge that lead into the common area. Two guards flanked the opening, each holding a large spear. Unna released Sefa and followed after her, stopping the girl just before she could attempt to step outside their cage and into certain death.
"Yrsa, what are you doing?" Unna demanded, pulling the girl around. Her friend's eyes were glassy and seemed to look straight through her. Unna shook her lightly to force the girl out of her madness.
"If they are to kill us, what is the point in trying to live? I would rather die now then endure this waiting," Yrsa panted franticly. She tried to jerk her arms out of Unna's hold, but the older girl held on tightly. The others wept even louder at Yrsa's comment and Unna shushed them quietly.
"We are not going to die, do you hear me," she said loudly. "Do not make them get crazed with fear, we must be strong," Unna whispered fiercely to Yrsa.
"I want this to be over," Yrsa screamed.
The resounding slap that followed made all the girls silent. Yrsa stared at Unna with disbelief, her hands covering her cheek protectively while Unna tried to control her angry breathing. "If," Unna began, "we are to survive this, we must stick together. We can not give in to our fears. Do you understand?"
Staring at each girl in turn, she waited until all agreed. A sound at the entrance of their prison had the girls flying to the far edge of the ledge. A large beast of a man stomped into their holding area, with a female not far behind him. The female threw two large chunks of meat at their feet, while the male tossed an animal skin at them, that they recognized as a water skin. In one beefy hand he held a torch that he thrust into the ground and then he and the female left as quickly as they had come.
Cautiously the girls moved away from the edge and approached their captures' offering. With sighs of relief several of them grabbed for the water skin first, while Unna and Sefa stood beside the bloody meat.
"They are feeding us, finally after all this time," Sefa whispered.
Unna turned away from the offering and began tearing into her underskirt. "We have to get a fire going to cook this meat," she said quietly, keeping her back to the group so they couldn't see her revulsion.
Yrsa was the first to notice Unna's behavior. Slowly she walked toward the girl, her mind reeling at the knowledge she didn't want to believe. "This food they give us…it is not-"
"It is food," Unna replied sharply, "that is all we need to know." She grabbed the torch and turned to the girls. "Now we need to get this fire started."
She started at her work, while the other girls stared at the two pieces of meat in horror.
The group pushed forward from the forest and Ahmed gazed in wonder at the difference of sixteen years on the budding kingdom. Many more homes dotted the hillside, and people stood outside tending their homes. As they passed the people stopped what they were doing to stare, uneasy whispers following them up the large hill that at the top stood the fortified structure of King Wigliff's castle. It had undergone many repairs and additions over the years which turned the hall of Ahmed's memory into a shadow of what it had become. The wooden spikes that surround it were a deadly and poignant reminder of the mission they were all on, as several men were still pulling the bodies of their dead and a few enemy carcasses from the wall.
They passed through a tall gate and entered the courtyard where they were greeted by several armor clad warriors. Weath motioned the others to be still and urged his horse forward. An older man moved away from the ranks of men surrounding them and approached Weath, his expression grim.
"Welcome home my friends," he greeted amiably, though his face was less than welcoming.
"Ulfied, old friend, it is good to see you again," Weath greeted back, his eyes following the line of men, a grin on his face. "Are you going to tell me what your grand king has ordered now?"
Ulfied grimaced before his face returned to its seemingly normal expression of unhappiness. "I am to escort you to see the King," he replied gruffly. "He insists that he meet with all of you as soon as you arrive."
"And of course the King must never be kept waiting," a new voice called out mockingly.
The men on the ground parted as a boy strode toward the men on horseback. The armored men bowed as he walked passed, but he ignored them all and joined Ulfied. Weath dismounted and motioned the others to do so as well. The northmen in Ahmed's party all bowed to him, while he, Hassan, Talib and Tazeem watched in silence.
"Prince Munolfr," Weath greeted.
"You have returned finally," Prince Munolfr replied. "Much has happened while you were gone."
"Who is this Prince Munolfr?" Ahmed asked quietly to Egtho.
"He is…King Wigliff's…son," Egtho answered back stiltedly.
Ahmed looked at the boy with a critical eye. The boy had long black hair tied back by a leather strap. He appeared lean, but strong, his arms and thighs bunched with muscle and hiding the agility of a jungle cat, Ahmed had no doubt. The respect the men gave the young prince was enough to convince Ahmed that whatever sins his father was guilty of, this boy was honorable and worthy. Dark blue eyes met his curious brown gaze and hardened into a cold stare.
"Many more of our women have been taken the past two months. We have ordered that the remaining farm and homesteads be abandoned and many are traveling here now for the safety of the castle," Munolfr informed them, his icy gaze never leaving Ahmed. It made the older man nervous.
"The King waited to long," Weath said angrily, "he should have called for the people to come here when we left."
One of the men that surrounded them stepped forward, the blade at his side pulled from it's sheath. He pointed it at Weath and made to charge, but a sharp word from Prince Munolfr stopped the man in his tracks. The prince pulled his own sword out and brandished it in the soldier's direction. "Save your anger for the next battle, we need all the warriors we can get," he told him with icy fury that had the other man scrambling back into ranks in fear.
Prince Munolfr replaced his blade and bide Weath and the others to follow him. "Come, Ulfied and I will take you to greet the King."
They all followed as the Prince led the way into the Great Hall. The people that littered the room ceased their conversations the moment they appeared, all but one man who seemed oblivious to their entrance.
"We know where their new lair is, all we need is a few men to go forward and attack. There is still a chance that we can save some of the women taken, if only you would agree-" the blonde northman who's face was normally jovial and excited was now twisted with frustration.
"If you wish to pull men into a mission of death, that is your problem, but I refuse to use perfectly good soldiers that are needed here to help you die," interrupted the sandy haired man seated at the throne. "Besides Herger, we all know you only wish to do this because your beloved daughter is among the women captured. Feeling guilty that you left her alone to fend for herself are we?" the King taunted.
"I left my daughter in the care of your men here at the castle because I believed she would be safe. It was my mistake to trust a cowa-" Herger fired back angrily.
"What is that? How dare you!" King Wigliff yelled at Herger as he shot up from his throne, his face turning a deep purple.
"Sire," Prince Munolfr called loudly.
"What?" the King roared, turning to the entrance.
"Here stands the hero Weath, son of Weagunnr returned from across the sea to join us in honorable battle," Ulfied announced.
"So," King Wigliff began, his pointed face breaking out in a sneer, "you finally returned to us, have you? Well there now Herger, your little group of misfits is back. Maybe you will get them to agree to your little plan. After the work on the outlying defenses is completed, of course."
Wigliff laughed happily at this. Glancing over the group standing at the entrance, he noticed Ahmed and his party for the first time. "Well is this not a pleasant surprise? The Arab has returned. Come to fight with your great friends again? How kind. Munolfr," the King called.
"Yes sire?" Munolfr answered grudgingly.
"See to it that the Arab and his three friends are given accommodations, and have all these men fed. Call your mother to see to their meal. We must not let them go into battle without a last meal," Wigliff chuckled. Still laughing to himself the King left the room, three guards trailing behind him.
"Ulfied call my mother and grandmother to the Hall to see to our guests," Munolfr ordered.
"But the Queen-" Ulfied protested quietly.
"I am aware of the problem, but the King has ordered her to see to their meal. Call my mother and grandmother to the hall," Munolfr interrupted impatiently.
"Little Brother!" a shout broke through the hushed conversations, and even Munolfr could only shake his head as Herger rushed forward and engulfed Ahmed in a rough embrace that pulled the man off his feet. Both laughed together before Herger replaced his friend on his feet and thumped him on the shoulder with one hand. "It has been a long time my friend," he grinned.
"Far too long," Ahmed agreed. "It is good to see you."
"And I to see you. There is much that we need to discuss Little Brother. Much has happened," Herger told him.
"I can see that," Ahmed nodded toward the hallway the King had just entered. "How did you survive the rule of such a devious man?"
"Very carefully," Herger replied.
A loud commotion erupted in the Hall as two women entered from a hallway directly in from of them. A woman in a faded white dress walked proudly into the hall, her blue eyes twinkling in challenge, a woman in black following closely behind. The first's blonde hair was long and flowed freely down her back and partially covered her face, but nothing could hide the large purple bruises that covered most of the left side of her face. Her lip was swollen and cut, yet none of this took away from the obvious beauty of her small heart shaped face. The second woman was more demurely dressed, her dark brown tresses were tamed back in a severe braid, and her form was covered in black. Wise brown eyes surveyed the room guardedly, taking in those that remained.
Ahmed could feel his heart stop for several beats before it speed up. "Olga," he whispered softly.
Prince Munolfr moved over to greet Olga, his hands taking both of hers carefully, before he brought them both to his forehead. "Mother, the king has ordered you see to the meal for our men returned from a long voyage."
"Mother!" Ahmed exclaimed in surprise. "Then that would make her…"
"Like I said Little Brother, we have much to discuss," Herger answered, as all eyes centered on Olga, Venden's Queen.
