She sat next to the fireplace to warm up a bit, patiently waiting for the water to heat up to a comfortable temperature while looking at her surroundings. This village was considerably larger than the previous one, yet it had so few inhabitants, many of the buildings were in fact shelters for the bulls they used as mounts. It was strange and funny at the same time; these people had more luxuries for their animals than for themselves. Nina spotted a stout villager holding an oil lantern at the other side of the square who promptly waved at her; it was Garf. She smiled and waved back at him who began walking towards her, she thought it would be nice to have some small chat with anyone to try and vent out some steam after the humiliation Verkan deservedly put her through.

  Before he could reach her, however, a suspicious sound behind one of the buildings caught his attention. What could have got his attention? she thought. Could it be our elusive thief?

-“Raiders!” the man yelled at the top of his lungs, making her jump from the sudden thrill and fall flat on her butt at the sudden outburst. Nina tried to stand again when she witnessed Garf now struggling with an unknown man. He took a step back and hit his assailant with the oil lantern he was holding with such violence that it broke, spilling its flammable contents over the man and setting him on fire.

  Her mind was blank, in a daze, and her legs refusing to respond to her commands, she could only gape in shock as she watched other men appearing behind the buildings one after the other. Even though it was pitch black, she could still clearly see some of them clad in leather and furs, others clad in rudimentary armor, and wielding an assortment of weapons and wooden rounded shields. Some of them threw torches at the buildings, setting their thatch roofs on fire, Garf frantically yelled something that she couldn’t understand and then grabbed a large axe sitting next to the chopping block, and charged at the unknown raiders, launching broad swings at them, trying to hold them at bay.

  The rest of the villagers jumped at the call, rushing from inside their huts already armed with whatever they had at hand to fight back. Nina watched in horror as the villagers joined the fray, fighting for their very lives. Everything was transpiring so fast that she was unable to tell exactly what the hell was going on, Nina could barely discern a thing between the ear-piercing shouts and taunts, desperate battle orders, and cries for help. Along with the metallic clashing from their weapons and the cracking noise of the flames, all of them combined in a terrific choir of insane chaos.

  One of these so-called raiders singled her out from the rest of the villagers. Suddenly, everything went from happening way too fast to a disturbingly slow motion. She froze. Her heart pounding harder and harder against her chest when the man began walking towards her in the middle of the battlefield, she could see in horrific detail the hulking man closing in. He sported long fair hair, some of it obscuring his face, piercing blue eyes, a youthful face, and his expression was one of complete seriousness. If she wasn’t shaking in fear, she would dare to say he was rather handsome. The man grabbed her by the hair and dragged her away, making Nina cry in pain. She tried in vain to free herself, but the man’s grip on her was too strong.

  Suddenly, she was relieved from the pain and the raider’s grasp when Verkan came to the rescue, tackling the man down from behind with a strength she didn’t imagine he was capable of. Verkan quickly stood and grabbed her by the hand, pulling her from the ground and helping her to stand. A pair of raiders quickly closed in, but Verkan cut them off when he kicked the cauldron hanging at the fireplace, knocking it down and making its contents pour out onto the fire, which created an enormous cloud of steam and smoke.

-“Are you hurt?” Verkan asked with a concerned tone.

-“No! Thanks to you!”

-“Good! Now follow me!” he commanded, dragging her by the hand towards the hallways, away from the square where the battle was taking place.

-“Who are they, Verkan?”

-“Northmen” the priest replied coldly.

  Nina froze in her tracks after hearing his response. He had to pull her arm, practically dragging her to keep her running behind him, she had read about the Northmen and their terrifying raids. But what were they doing here this far inland?

-“Listen! I won't let them take you, okay!?” Verkan reassured her.

-“Okay”

  She was still trying to figure out what the hell was going on, she had read that Northmen raids were commonplace in the coastal zones in the lowlands. Their attacks were brutal; they killed, pillaged, and raped their way across shore towns and fishing camps, barely leaving any survivors. What could they possibly want this far inland, several hundred miles away from the sea? For Verkan, however, the answer was very clear; they were after either him or her.

  She looked over her shoulder, and although just briefly, she saw clearly Garf landing a killing blow against the raider he was battling against. His victory was short-lived, however; when his chopping axe got stuck between the north man’s ribs and she watched in horror how another raider ran him through from behind with a sword. The poor girl began giving in to despair. Verkan had to pull her again to keep her moving, but a pair of raiders intercepted them, suddenly popped up in their way. Verkan then turned, hurriedly looking for another way, but another pair trapped them in the hallway.

  They quickly cornered them and one of them grabbed Verkan by the neck and held him fast against the building’s stone walls, pointing his sword at his stomach, while another one grabbed Nina by her hair, making her cry in pain again. They were talking in a language she could not understand, but Verkan did. He tried to communicate with them in their language, but the only response he got was a fist blow at his face. She could only cry when the north man holding her licked her face to her utter disgust, making the others laugh in mockery. She tried to look away but turned her head again to look at Verkan, who was still being restrained. He returned the look, sporting a concerned expression and tears running down his face. He closed his eyes for an instant; already feeling remorseful about what he was about to do, but knowing there was no other choice. His expression then turned into one she has never seen on him before. But she recognized that look.

  It was the look of a warrior.

  Verkan took a grip of the north man’s sword by its edge with one hand, shielded by his leather gloves, and produced a small knife from his boots with the other. He stabbed the north man straight in the neck with an incredibly fast attack, the resulting squirt of blood reaching several feet away, splashing against Nina’s face and garbs. The dying raider tried desperately to cover the wound put with his hands before collapsing on his knees; Verkan then took the sword away from him and quickly finished him off slashing his throat with another powerful blow with the raider's own sword.

  The remaining raiders stared dumbfounded as the old priest killed one of their own, reacting only after a few seconds of disbelief. While one held Nina fast, the other two charged at him with avenging fury. Verkan changed his grip on the small knife, stepping out of the way of the charging raider in one swift step. The young north raider missed his neck just by a few inches, Verkan, however, cut the north man’s stomach open with a powerful counterattack, making the raider fall on the ground, crying in agony, Verkan then deflected the second raider’s attack with the small knife, and ran him through his padded jacket and his belly behind it with the sword, putting him down.

  Nina tried to free herself, to no avail; the north man effectively held her against his body with an iron grip, trying to shield himself from the rampaging old priest. He yelled at the top of his lungs in the north language to reach out to the others, and then pointed his sword at Verkan, fearfully yelling at him.

-“One step closer, old man, and the girl dies!” he threatened.

  Verkan wiped the blood from his face, looking at the remaining raider straight in the eyes with a defiant look. The north man put his sword against Nina’s throat in response. As tough the raider was, she could feel him shaking, and rightfully so, although she wasn’t exactly in the best position to speak about valor as she herself just soaked her pants just moments ago, but watching Verkan mow down foe after foe almost effortlessly made her feel renewed hope.

-“Nina” Verkan reached out to her, his voice immediately calming her nerves down as if reassuring her that everything would be okay.

-“Hold still” he commanded with a firm tone. Nina knew immediately that something was about to happen, putting her complete trust in him. She held her breath and shut her eyes, signaling her submission to her mentor’s command.

  Verkan tossed the sword to the ground, then flipped the knife in the air, grabbing it when it was in the correct position. Suddenly, he threw it in the blink of an eye with such accuracy that Nina could feel it passing right next to her head, hitting the raider squarely in the throat. The raider grunted loudly, gargling violently with a sickening noise, releasing his hold of her to take both hands to his throat, immediately finding breathing impossible. Nina wasted no time pulling the raider’s sword away from her neck with her gloved hands.

  Nina felt immensely relieved after escaping from the north man’s grasp, rushing to hug her mentor, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, but Verkan gently pushed her aside, much to her confusion. He walked towards the remaining raider that fell on his knees and she realized, to her horror, what was going to happen next. Verkan pulled the knife out from the raider’s throat violently, and then stabbed him in the eye with that same knife, piercing his skull and killing him instantly.