Chapter I: The Capture.
A scream breaks out in the night sky. Footsteps can be heard running over grass and leaves and twigs. A woman, holding a bundle wrapped in cloth, is running as if being chased. She keeps looking back at something. She is beautiful in her own right. Her skin is pale and flawless. Her clothes ragged, torn and dirty. Every so often the bundle would squirm and a small, weak whimper could be heard.
The woman ran and ran through the forest until she came up to a large and old ash tree. She decides to rest at the tree until she could catch her breath. As she sits and leans onto the tree the bundle begins to squirm and whimper again. She shushes the bundle and whispers to it "Don't worry, my child, we are almost free from him. Soon we will be out of these woods and back to my clan, I mean our clan." She smiles at the child in the bundle. A massive howl can be heard from a mountain off in the distance. The ground shakes and the wind blows from the force of this howl. The woman looks towards the source of the howl with a terrified expression on her face. She jumps up to run but as soon as she grabs the bundle again, she hears a caw from above. She looks and see two ravens perched on the tree's lowest branch.
One of the ravens takes off and flies away from the mountain as the other caws again. The remaining raven stares at the woman for some time before cawing again. The woman stares back, almost as if she was translating what the bird was saying. "Do you want me to follow?" The raven caws quickly, nods and flies off. She chases the birds through the forest, looking towards the mountain every so often. After what felt like hours chasing the two ravens the stopped and perched into a tree at the end of the forest. As she left the trees, she collapsed in the freedom from the forest. The only lights visible came from the moon and a village burning nearby.
The woman gazes at the fires with a worried expression upon her face. She sees a group of people leaving the village. It is now clear that this was a raid. Many of the people in the group had their hands tied and ropes around their necks. One of the raiders turn towards the forest, as if sensing that he was being watched. He notices the woman and points and yells something that is barely audible to her. "Look over there! We missed one!" As soon as he finished shouting several men ran to his side to see. When they saw the woman they began running towards her. She begins to run back into the woods.
She can hear the men chasing her. She stumbles and falls over. As she rolls on the ground, she hits a tree, cracking the bark and revealing a hollow space inside it. She gets up, looks around, searching for the men chasing her. She can barely hear some shouting in the distance. She looks down at the bundle in her arms, kisses it and whispers, "Don't fuss child, I'll come back soon for you. Just please stay quiet." She places the child in the hollow and finds some branches to cover it up. When she finishes, she quickly looks at the direction of the shouting, picks a different way and runs.
As she runs, she hears the men yelling that they see her. She feels a rush of panic as she worries that they saw her place the bundle in the tree. She runs as fast as she can, fearing what would happen if they caught her. She weaves through the trees, trying to make a trail that would be harder for the men to track. Her legs begin to burn with every new step. Her every breath gets harder and harder. She trips again and falls face first into the grass. Her limbs are numb, yet full of pain and throbbing. Her lungs feel as if they are on fire. She becomes immediately aware that she cannot get back up and run again. She breathes hard on the grass, making it sway. The sounds of the men can be heard louder and louder. She begins to cry as she feels them almost upon her. A man grabs her by the neck and pulls her up. "Look at her! She is crying about us getting her! Ha! I bet she'll stop after I fuck the bitch!" He was larger than the others with a great strength. The woman doesn't even squirm, she just sobs and whimpers out something barely audible. "What you saying, you little bitch?" the big man spoke into her ear.
"My baby. Don't hurt my baby." She mumbles over and over as she dangles from the man's large hand. "Baby? You have a baby? Who'd fuck you enough to get you pregnant? Hey Konal! You see her carrying a baby?" Another man walks up to the two. He is more slender and lean than the others. He is also not as tall as the others. "I do seem to recall her holding something when we first spotted her," his voice calm and even as if he didn't chase her for almost a couple miles through the woods. "Where is your baby now? You must have hid it somewhere. It would be a shame if something happened to you and your baby becomes lost forever. So please tell us, where is your baby?" The man continues, voice ever so calm and steady. She turns to him and whispers, "Only if you'll keep him safe. He is all I have." He nods and speaks softly to her, "What is your name? Mine is Konal, I am the son of Jarl Ulfic of Hakonarhella." She looks at him, her face softens a small amount at his kindness and replies, "My name is Turid, Turid Sigvidottir. And he is in a hollow tree, covered in branches and leaves. Let me down and I'll walk you to him." When Konal hears her name, his face changes, as if he knows that name from somewhere that he can't quite remember. He nods again and signals with his hand so the large man sets her down. She almost collapses, but she manages to stand. She begins to walk towards the tree and begins to stumble and fall. Before she hits the ground, Konal rushes to her and grabs her, helping her up. "Are you ok?" he asks. She nods and begins to walk again with his help.
After a few hours of walking, they come up to an old ash tree. They all notice a raven perched upon one of the branches, staring at them without making any sounds. Turid points to the tree. Konal helps her walk over to the hollow in the tree. She begins pulling off the branches to reveal the bundle. The child in the blanket has wriggled itself out into the open. Konal stares in amazement and horror at the site of this "child." It is not a human child, it was a wolf pup, but wasn't so for long. The pup slowly begins to shed and change its shape. Konal now knows where he knows the woman's name. The pup slowly becomes a human looking child, a male child.
