The village stood frozen.<\/p>\n
No one breathed.<\/p>\n
No one moved.<\/p>\n
Snow swirled between wooden huts as the gigantic white wolf stepped deeper into the square.<\/p>\n
Its massive paws crushed frozen mud beneath impossible weight.<\/p>\n
Golden eyes glowed through the storm.<\/p>\n
Watching.<\/p>\n
Waiting.<\/p>\n
The chains across its chest groaned softly.<\/p>\n
Ancient.<\/p>\n
Heavy.<\/p>\n
Like they had once restrained something no village could control.<\/p>\n
Atop the beast\u2014<\/p>\n
the Viking king remained perfectly still.<\/p>\n
Dark cloak moving with the wind.<\/p>\n
One scar stretched across his weathered face.<\/p>\n
Old.<\/p>\n
Familiar.<\/p>\n
Dangerous.<\/p>\n
The Viking leader near the center tightened his jaw.<\/p>\n
Hand slowly drifting toward the axe at his belt.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou trespass on my land,\u201d he growled.<\/p>\n
The rider said nothing.<\/p>\n
Only looked toward the kneeling woman.<\/p>\n
Toward the frightened child in her arms.<\/p>\n
And finally\u2014<\/p>\n
toward the small blonde girl holding the glowing tablet.<\/p>\n
The wolf lowered its giant head.<\/p>\n
Not to the warriors.<\/p>\n
Not to the leader.<\/p>\n
To the girl.<\/p>\n
The crowd gasped.<\/p>\n
Several stepped backward instantly.<\/p>\n
One old warrior whispered shakily,<\/p>\n
\u201cNo\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
The blonde girl raised the carved tablet slightly.<\/p>\n
The runes pulsed faint blue beneath falling snow.<\/p>\n
And softly\u2014<\/p>\n
without fear\u2014<\/p>\n
she spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe belongs to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence crashed through the square.<\/p>\n
The kneeling woman looked up.<\/p>\n
Confused.<\/p>\n
Terrified.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Viking leader laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough games.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stepped forward.<\/p>\n
Heavy boots crunching through snow.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat woman was cast out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The wolf suddenly growled.<\/p>\n
Deep.<\/p>\n
Violent.<\/p>\n
The sound shook shields hanging across nearby walls.<\/p>\n
Men froze.<\/p>\n
Fear spreading.<\/p>\n
The Viking king finally moved.<\/p>\n
Slowly climbing down from the beast.<\/p>\n
Boots landing heavily in slush.<\/p>\n
The storm seemed quieter around him.<\/p>\n
Like even winter listened.<\/p>\n
He walked toward the woman.<\/p>\n
Slow.<\/p>\n
Certain.<\/p>\n
The child peeked nervously from the woman\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n
Then\u2014<\/p>\n
unexpectedly\u2014<\/p>\n
the king stopped.<\/p>\n
Dropped to one knee.<\/p>\n
The village froze.<\/p>\n
Because kings did not kneel.<\/p>\n
Not for anyone.<\/p>\n
The woman stared.<\/p>\n
Shaking.<\/p>\n
Unable to understand.<\/p>\n
The man reached toward the child carefully.<\/p>\n
Eyes softening for the first time.<\/p>\n
Then quietly\u2014<\/p>\n
voice almost breaking\u2014<\/p>\n
he whispered,<\/p>\n
\u201cMy son.\u201d<\/p>\n
The world stopped.<\/p>\n
The woman\u2019s breath caught instantly.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
The Viking leader stepped forward sharply.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat madness is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
The king stood again.<\/p>\n
Eyes turning cold now.<\/p>\n
Dangerously cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree winters ago,\u201d he said quietly,<\/p>\n
\u201cyou told me they died crossing the northern sea.\u201d<\/p>\n
The leader\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n
Only slightly.<\/p>\n
But enough.<\/p>\n
Fear.<\/p>\n
The blonde girl holding the glowing tablet stepped closer.<\/p>\n
Voice calm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe runes showed the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tablet pulsed brighter.<\/p>\n
Ancient symbols shifting across the wood.<\/p>\n
Images forming in faint blue light.<\/p>\n
A burning ship.<\/p>\n
Screaming.<\/p>\n
Men fighting.<\/p>\n
And one face\u2014<\/p>\n
the village leader.<\/p>\n
Ordering soldiers to leave the woman behind.<\/p>\n
Gasps spread through the crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Several warriors stepped back.<\/p>\n
The leader\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
The king moved closer.<\/p>\n
Slowly drawing a heavy sword.<\/p>\n
Snow hissing against steel.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh,\u201d he said quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The gigantic wolf bared its teeth.<\/p>\n
Golden eyes locked onto the village leader.<\/p>\n
Then suddenly\u2014<\/p>\n
war horns echoed from beyond the mountains.<\/p>\n
Once.<\/p>\n
Twice.<\/p>\n
Then again.<\/p>\n
Urgent.<\/p>\n
Wrong.<\/p>\n
A terrified warrior burst through the gates.<\/p>\n
Face pale.<\/p>\n
Breathing hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cRaiders!\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed toward the snowy hills.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re carrying the black serpent banner!\u201d<\/p>\n
The king froze instantly.<\/p>\n
Because only one clan carried that symbol.<\/p>\n
A clan thought destroyed.<\/p>\n
The same clan that once hunted royal blood.<\/p>\n
Slowly\u2014<\/p>\n
the king looked down at the child again.<\/p>\n
And for the first time\u2014<\/p>\n
fear touched his face.<\/p>\n
Because they had come for the boy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The village stood frozen. No one breathed. No one moved. Snow swirled between wooden huts as the gigantic white wolf stepped deeper into the square. Its massive paws crushed frozen mud beneath impossible weight. Golden eyes glowed through the storm. Watching. Waiting. The chains across its chest groaned softly. Ancient. Heavy. Like they had once […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}