Chapter 3

76 views for 2 chapters? Wow! Thank all of you so much for the ongoing interest in my story, and a big thank you to the guest reviewer Zero fullbuster for his/her words of encouragement and to movielover48 for the follow and the favourite.

I awoke on a firm surface feeling warm and comfortable, the blanket feeling heavy on my limbs. Upon opening my eyes I immediately noticed the wooden beams and the thatched roofs above, when I moved my limbs I noticed that the blanket I was covered with was actually a thick fur hide.

'What happened…' I thought to myself before it all came flooding back, the beach, a monster, running, falling, the village…

My head throbbed as I tried to recall the details, sitting up; I placed a hand on my temple to try and alleviate some of the pain as the hide fell down. I was in nothing but my boxer shorts, my compass still around my neck.

"What happened to my clothes?" I asked the empty room, all the while searching for my missing garments and footwear. As I did, I took note of the strange things in this hut, it was very small but had a high roof, old leather bound books were stacked haphazardly around the room; a shelf lined one wall full of unlabelled jars that seemed to be made from clay. A large wooden chest sat in one corner with my clothes hung over the top with my shoes on the floor beside them. Quickly climbing out of bed I retrieved my possessions, whoever took care of me while I was out had dried them out for me, once dressed I ventured outside.

The crisp cold air and overcast skies, and an empty village are what greeted me as I stepped out of the hut. Wonderful, looking around it looked like something out of those old medieval stories; wooden huts that looked either very well kept or were brand new lined what appeared to be some sort of square. Stone and gravel covered ground that created a path between these huts as the village went on.

'Where is everyone' I thought to myself as I started walking uphill, as I reached even ground again I saw a hut off to one side on its own further up the grassy hill, and a long staircase that lead up to some impressive statues with massive twin wooden doors that led into the mountain.

'Maybe it's like a town hall' I thought to myself as I started the long trek up the stairs; as I began to reach the top, my bruised and sore legs were already starting to voice their protest to such strenuous activity. Coming up to the door I could hear loud voices behind the thick wood so at least I knew I was in the right place, looking up at the massive doors I couldn't help but notice the beautiful patterns hand carved into the weathered wood, the doors look like they have been here for centuries and were not giving out any time soon. There were no obvious door handles so I placed my hands flat on the right door and pushed. The door creaked open with surprising ease, opening it enough to poke my head through I glanced inside, and was speechless.

Vikings, actual Vikings, from the horned helmets to the braids in their beards, right down to the armour they wore. I couldn't believe it, I was never a fan of history but I was definitely sure that Vikings don't exist in the modern age; before I could think anymore on the subject an axe slammed into the door, just left of my head. My heart stopped, looking in the direction the axe came from I saw I had the whole hall's attention; my eyes identified the thrower as a girl about my age in a teal sleeveless shirt with metal pauldrons, red leather skirt and dark leggings. Her blond hair was pulled back into a braided ponytail with a few bangs over her left eye.

"Don't move!" she ordered as she glared daggers at me, my legs deemed this moment to decided to work again as I turned and sprinted down the stairs.

"STOP!" I herd the crazy Viking teen shout as she started her pursuit of me. As I reached the bottom I made for the buildings on the left, dodging between the huts and quickly vaulted a small fence.

"He went this way!" I heard someone shout, I wasn't focusing on them; only on my escape from this crazy place. I rounded a corner, racing past an open house with some kind of weird chimney when something hard smacked me in the chest, effectively clotheslining me. I gasped to hopefully regain the oxygen that was ripped unceremoniously from my lungs, in my confusion I kicked out hoping to at least land a hit on my attacker; but my foot was grabbed and twisted painfully while a fur-lined boot landed on my chest, pinning me.

"And where are you going lad?" A voice asked me, once the stars had cleared from my vision; I was met by a large barrel-chested Viking with a blond moustache, blue eyes overshadowed by a very bushy monobrow; a nose even more crooked than his jaw. To top it all off his left arm just below the elbow was missing as well as his right leg; one was replaced by a peg leg and the other a metal dome covering the stump that had a extremely sharp looking hook attached to it.

"I wont ask again lad" he said while staring me down. Before I could even think of an excuse to get me out of this, the crazy Viking and what appeared to be her friends rounded the corner.

"THERE HE IS!" she declared coming to a halt next to us, and if looks could kill…

"What has he done?" asked the semi-crippled man.

"He was sneaking into the great hall, I threw my axe at him but I missed and he took off." The aggressive teen explained.

"I just woke u-" I begun but the bigger Viking beat me to it.

"Hang on a second, ya mean to tell me that this kid;" he lifted me up by my ankle effortlessly till I was just hanging off the ground for emphasis. "Out ran all of you, he's as small as Hiccup."

I didn't know what Hiccup was but I got a feeling it wasn't a good thing.

"What's going on here?" Boomed a voice I recognised when I passed out; it belonged to a huge man with fiery-red hair and beard, and both full of braids. With a face that held a stern expression that could make anyone tremble with fear. Unfortunately even while upside-down, I could see those eyes were locked on me.

"You have a lot of explaining to do."

Woohoo another one done. I was wondering do you guys want short chapters and faster updates? Or longer chapters with longer updates? Please let me know so I have something to work by, otherwise I'll just do a mix of both. Reviews and constructive criticism always welcome, have a great day.