Namitha's eyes looked to and fro from her husband and friends to the same man she tried desperately to save.

She grew more and more terrified with each clink of their weapons. Her heart stilled. Her breathing came to a halt.

"What are you-" she began but was rendered silent when she caught Lufner's eye. It beckoned her close but Namitha stood her ground. She was not a child. She deserved an explanation.

When she took her stance, she saw her husband's face morph into fear and soon came the protests of those with him.

"Get behind us, Nami!" cried Usoff.

"I suggest you move before you wind up getting yourself killed," said Zollo but Namitha could only scoff. For a man who just moments ago almost died at her hand, she did not want his advice.

"No."

The stranger stopped his coughing and the air in the room turned cold. Namitha gave him one glance and stood in front of him.

Her husband was far from pleased.

"Nami, please. Come here." Lufner motioned behind him. "Now."

His tone was stern and meshed with concern, but did little to move her.

"Tell me first why? Why must this man die?"

"I'll explain later."

Just then, their guest raised his arm again to stifle his coughing but Usoff mistook it for an attack and Namitha standing so close made him lose all composure to fear. Alas, he released his strained bow and it went flying.

Namitha had regarded him seconds before when she heard him gasp and seeing all his actions, stood in the arrow's way and how Usoff's eyes widened in horror when this exact thing took place.

The next events happened all too fast. One moment Namitha's life was in danger and then came more.

But alas, the man who stood behind her was quick to take action. He pushed her aside and had the consequence of an arrow lodged deep in his arm. It pierced through meaty flesh, tendons, and veins. From the depths came a rush of blood. He cried out little and Usoff was sure his breeches were soaked in piss.

In that instance, all Hel broke loose.

Sangard gave Usoff the eye and took it upon himself to retrieve Namitha since Lufner stood still and sallow as if all life had left him. Although the sudden push was gentle enough to avoid any stumbling, Namitha spun on her heel to resume her position as barricade and lost her footing to uneven ground. She hit her head hard, snapping Lufner out of his stupor. Soon he was at her side worried since she made no sound. She was still conscious and thankfully there was no blood.

"Nami..."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

Lufner watched her eyes dim in and out of consciousness. The dead man was less than a stone throw away.

He met eyes with him but there was no threat. Namitha must have sensed the same but they could not be so sure of hidden intentions. He carried no weapon and to be surrounded with no place to run, how could he defend himself? With just his size and whatever meagre strength left in him, it was all a dead end.

Namitha tugged at Lufner's collar. Her other hand applied pressure over his which held where she received the blow. Lufner reckoned that the pain was now soaking in. He humoured himself with the thought that the gods had given him a headstrong, presumptuous wife.

"Do not hurt him."

"You must understand, Nami-"

"I do not have to understand a thing."

"You behave as if you know the man."

"I do not and the same can be said about you. Why should a man whom you have never seen in all your life be met so suddenly with irrational death?"

The couple stared hard at each other.

Without their knowing, Zollo stepped forward to approach the kneeling man. His head was bowed and he held tight to his wounded bleeding arm. A cold sword sliding from his shoulder to his neck rendered him fully alert.

Zollo locked eyes with the creature. That is what he deemed him since it was common knowledge that men who bore such marks were far from human. It would not surprise him if he gorged his chest out that in place of a heart, he would be met by an empty hollow of nothing.

Namitha screamed but it did little to stir him. The last time he checked, he did not take orders from women.

Lufner ignored his wife's vicious grip on his coat and her pleading eyes. He along with the others only looked on on the man's impending fate.

Zollo took pleasure in the lack of fear in the man's eyes. He had a defeated look about him as if he had long given up on life. But Zollo knew a warrior when he saw one. This man was strong. His life's path was of his choosing and this is where it was going to end.

The man waited in expectation, in want and in need. How much he wanted to taste his sword, disgusted Zollo in a sick twisted way. Death was almost too good for him. It was only right to make him suffer.

Despite the pain, Namitha tried to stand, but Lufner bound her limbs with his arms. How she feared for the man and worried for him but she could no longer do anything to protect him. Her head hurt as if it was pierced with 100 arrows and her frustration gave way to tears.

"Stop, Zollo."

With no fight and no question, Zollo fell back. He took orders from no one, but Lufner. Not only was he stronger but he had respect for him that developed both on and off the battlefield.

Zollo mourned the opportunity to give his swords their drink of blood but trusted Lufner's judgement.

Then the man spoke for the first time. His voice was deep and forlorn and bounced off the many corners of the cave.

"Once again, this life has denied me a chance to die."

"Your name? Mine's Lufner."

"My name is Jimbjörn."

Lufner continued his interrogation. Namitha had calmed down at this point but not completely. His stopping Zollo meant nothing. Lufner could take it upon himself to finish him off just as well. As she was now, she was powerless but hoped for the best.

"Well Jimbe, you possess strength yet you do not move a muscle to defend yourself. Death is the last thing any mortal man would want happening to them yet you lust for it like a starving man who wants for food. Are you not afraid to die or are you confident the gods would protect you?"

"I believe the gods themselves have turned their backs on me so I do not have their backing. Once you saw this mark, you knew my fate was sealed so why hesitate? Kill me now and be done with it. My sins have been too heavy to bear."

"Sins? You talk of Christian faith. Are you a Christian?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Is that why you have not killed yourself?"

Jimbjörn twitched. He had been figured out.

"All the more reason to kill me."

Jimbjörn was beginning to bud with hope but the bored look of the man who addressed him crumpled it all away.

He observed the men strapping with youth and possibility.

"Are you Vikings?"

"We are adventurers. And will be setting sail in the upcoming spring."

"That is not any of his concern, Luffy," said Sangard but Lufner ignored him.

"We're building this nice boat that could take us anywhere. Even to the very ends of the earth if we want to."

Lufner then introduced them all. He ended with Namitha.

His wife moved to stand but Lufner, still knelt beside her, held her down. He still did not trust the man and he did not trust Namitha enough to not interfere.

She was now back in her right mind. When Jimbjörn stated his name, she sifted through her memories. This man to her knowledge, if she was correct, was vastly known.

"You said your name was Jimbjörn- as in Earl Jimbjörn? How did you end up here?"

Those in her party looked at her in question.

"Surely you have heard of him."

The collective shrugs and bewilderment were enough to knot both her brows.

"He was known to be a kind Earl who cared for his people and positioned himself at the forefront of any battle to defend his lands."

As Namitha spoke, Jimbjörn regarded her curiously and Lufner who was well aware of his attentions decided to make him wait. Who his wife was now was not important? What was more important was:

"That mark."

Jimbjörn ran a hand over his scars. Once upon a time, this was a mark of salvation, liberation. Now it was tainted with bloodshed and every manner of cruelty to ever be done on the face of the earth.

"The lot of Arlock and his men had that same mark."

"Arlock... I knew that man well. Have you met him?"

Sangard answered, "If he'd ever met him? The man speaking to you now is the one who ended his despicable life. Arlock along with his men did horrible, unforgivable things to women and children. Seeing that you bear the same mark, your fate will be likewise."

Ashamed, Jimbjörn dropped his head low.

Namitha again moved to stand. Again, Lufner held her down.

"Wait-wait! Do not kill him. Hear him out first, please."

She looked to her husband.

"I was told that every last one of Arlock's men was hunted after and killed. There were no survivors. Unless..."

"Unless our friend here never took part in those senseless killings, to begin with."

Namitha felt her glimmer of hope glow brighter. Surely, Lufner was open to reason. His kindness she knew preceded him.

"Do you know who I am?"

"You're Lufner Modig. I'll be a fool to not know your name. I had been distanced from civilization for so long, I have not been able to receive any recent news. But your name I know. I know it well."

"I'm used to being a merciful man. Many have I spared from death but your relation to such a criminal means that your days are numbered."

"That I know."

Lufner's silence probed Jimbjörn to continue.

Namitha interrupted.

"Earl Jimbjörn would not dare lift a finger against anyone innocent. What he has done cannot be kin to those monsters. Why-"

Lufner at once closed a hand over her mouth and gave a nod to Jimbjörn to go on.

"We were boys together. Got our first arm rings together and ventured out to sea for the first time together. We used to Viking together. But that was so long ago. It is hard to believe that a dear friend of mine could turn into such a vicious monster.

"When out at sea, we were captured by the Franks and sold as slaves. We slaved for nearly a decade as well as many other men who bear this same mark. It was a branding to show exactly who we belonged to. We were slaves so we had a master. Our master was a Christian and had us all baptized by will or by force. That is how I became a Christian. It was Arlock who struck our master dead thus we were freed from our shackles and made our way back home. Many of us had families, wives and children to return to so many were indebted to Arlock for what he had done... I considered those men my brothers."

"But you are different. At least my wife thinks you are."

Lufner looked down at his glaring wife but that did not prompt him to remove his hand.

Not yet.

"Am I? Your wife is very kind."

"Enough about her. You have a story. We're willing to hear to it."

"I'm not."

Lufner paid no mind to his green-haired companion.

"The door is that way."

Lufner pointed to the exit and at the same time, a mighty tree fell and shook the earth. The snowfall was still thick in the air and blew in all directions. If it could bring such a tree to its knees, imagine what it would do to a mortal man?

Defeated, Zollo settled in a corner and closed his eyes. The others sat around the fire. It was evident at this point that Jimbjörn was no longer a threat.

Usoff inched jerkily to Lufner's side.

"So you're an Earl?"

"Was."

"And you knew Arlock? It is crazy to believe that any friend of his was sane. He was a madman."

Luffy quipped in, "His strength was his only merit but something tells me you are a lot stronger."

"During our travels, I was second in command."

"And the first?"

"He fought a brave fight..."

"So where is he?"

Sangard sweat-dropped.

"Dead, Luffy. He's dead."

"Oh."

Usoff continued his questioning. At this point, Namitha was made to sit between them. Ready to listen as the rest of them.

"How did you become an Earl? You must have been well respected by the people."

"I was an Earl's son. A title not gained by victory but inheritance."

The audience's mouths turned into O-shapes. They reminded Jimbjörn very much of children.

"That I was but I did not crave power- only the sea."

Namitha turned to Lufner just in time to see his eyes widen ever so slightly.

It was now Usoff who went forward on steady feet to remove and salvage the arrow with goose feather and balm. Namitha offered him her torn skirt from her bag to bandage the wound.

"I left my homeland along with Arlock against the wishes of my father and headed to sea. We left as few but soon grew to be a fleet of many men. Raged havoc on both English and French soil. We had it all. Treasure, food, drink. All the fine things in life. The lot of us thought no one could stand in our way. At the time, we were in the prime of our youth. That is until we were captured and were made to be thralls for 7 years."

"Did you regret your decision to set sail?"

Jimbjörn regarded the leader of the pack. His brow twisted in confusion.

Lufner continued, "Abandoning your birthright only to be locked up and treated as a slave. Did you regret it?"

"Regret was far from my mind. Apart from the arms of a doting woman, adventure is man's greatest romance. I will never forget that time in my life. It shaped me into a good man who was able to lead his people. I may have given up and lost much but I gained plenty."

"Then what happened?"

Everyone turned their heads. Zollo presumed asleep and to everyone's surprise and annoyance was wide awake and in all manner fully alert and eager to learn more.

"What?"

To be continued...

A/N

I'm still here. I will not apologize but thank you to those who have waited patiently for me to update. I work in education and free time has been eaten up since things are going back to normal slowly but surely. I have however been writing throughout the month of November and every little chance I get. Just know that if I don't update in a 3 month period that something is amiss or I've gone mad. For I do terribly love writing these stories and my determination is to write them all to completion.

So thanks again and please do look forward to my next update. All the best in the upcoming year. Let us live through the rest of 2021 with smiles, firmly living in the present and set on our goals.

Thanks for reading.