Historical+Fiction

Haldor scrambled up the stone stairwell that led to the top of the northern defensive wall, the damp rock slick and frigid beneath his clawing hands. He scanned the span of flats and low hills that spread before the fjord as he sprinted down the length of the wall, darting through the throngs of men loosing arrows to the invading tribes below. He jumped over bodies and broken weapons as he heard his name being shouted from the other side of the wall.

"Haldor!" The word resounded above the metallic sound of clashing blades that filled the air, but the boy did not skip a beat as he dashed across the parapet. He had to stop Thora before she got herself killed. The frigid Nordic wind that swept across the fjord whipped at his hair and clothes as he ducked around a defending archer. His eyes briefly moved skyward, toward a billowing banner of their viking house, and he sent a pleading prayer to Odin that there was something, anything, that he could do to get Thora away from the fighting line.

Without warning, Haldor is choked by his shirt as a rough hand grabs him by the scruff of his tunic. He was whirled fluidly about to face an angry stare.

"Haldor!" His father barked, shaking him as he still held him fast by the tunic. "What in Thor's name are you doing, lad!" His hard eyes were ablaze, and the veins on his thick neck were very prominent as he let Haldor stand on his feet. His large hands moved to fasten vice-like on Haldor's shoulders. Blood was spattered over his father's face, speckled in his blond beard.

"Thora isn't with the women and children in the hold," Haldor started, his voice strained with desperation, "She is near the front gates, prepared to fight!" His father's stare does not soften.

"She may throw her life away, but you will not! You will go back to the inner gate, and help reinforce it!" Haldor cringed with despair, clawing at his father's burly arm.

"I will not lose you, son. Not like that."

"Father, I must try to save her. I'm begging you..." A brief flash of pain flickered in his father's gaze.

"Haldor..." From the look in his eyes, Haldor knew his father could not keep him from doing what he so desperately needed to try. He clasped his son quickly to him in an embrace, before taking his sword from him. Before Haldor could protest, his father placed his own