((These stories are based upon the years of a Skellige raiders life before he became a Witcher))
Einar the raider
Ship pulled alongside ship. Einar Bjornson bellowed his commands to the men and women of his ship.
"Up, you fucking dogs! Time to become rich! Shields! Axes! Spears behind! You know what to do!" His voice carried across the deck.
With a solid thud and loud crash the ships came together. Without hesitation Einar's crew jumped from ship to ship, hacking, slashing and stabbing their way aboard.
Shields locked with shields, making an impenetrable wall of wood and iron. Long spears reached over the men and women of the wall, stabbing into exposed flesh and causing screams of pain from the victims. Blood sprayed, cries of the wounded and dying pierced the day.
"Kill them quickly!" Einar shouted "And find me their fucking captain!"
He need not have shouted the last as one of the biggest, scarred Skelligan to ever grace the seas stepped forward. He stood a clear foot taller than Einar and seemed made of nothing but muscle and fury. In his hands he held an axe to suit his size. A thrill of fear raced through Einar, quickly turning to adrenaline. Einar spun his own axe in his hand, hitting it loudly off the rim of his shield.
"You!" The giant bellowed, pointing at Einar. "You and me, now! We settle this the old way."
Einar smiled a lunatics grin. He nodded, his people taking defensive steps back. Einar stepped forward, rolling his shoulders. He must end this quickly. The giant matched his movements.
"I am Einar Bjornson, captain of the Sea Serpent. When you die your people will lay down their weapons and what you owned will become ours." He set his terms
"I am Radavid son of Skorpa and I accept these terms. When you die my men will take what you owned and your men will swear to serve me." The giant grumbled, a voice like thunder.
"I accept these terms" Einar nodded.
The men and women of the boarded ship started to shout words of encouragement to their captain and insults to Einar's crew.
A wall of shields and iron stood behind Einar. Not one of his crew spoke. Then as one, weapons hit shields. Thud. Einar smiled. Thud. He looked to the sky, Freya's name on his lips.
Thud.
The giant screamed and charged, a foolish move. He swung down with his massive axe as Einar side stepped, his bronze axe becoming a glinting blur as he whipped in a back swing. With a solid, wet thud the blade buried itself into the base of the giants skull, severing his spine and killing him instantly. A quick fight indeed. All brawn and no brains.
Silence of the now captured crew became a wall of its own as the men and women stood open mouthed. The body hit the deck like a sack of rocks. Einar wrenched his axe free, sending a spray of blood across the deck. He wiped the blade clean on the clothing of his now dead foe.
Nobody moved. Time seemed to have frozen in this moment. Slowly, one by one, the weapons of the crew hit the wood with clangs and rattles. Defeated men and women stood aside as Einar's crew collected what they wished from the ship, near clearing it if anything valuable.
Einar stood watching for a moment. Today was a good day, he thought as he stepped back into his own ship.