Taken by the Berserkers

Chapter 1-3

Night was falling when Maddox returned. I’d spent the day in the sun, as far away from the dark cave as I could. My chain wouldn’t let me reach the fire, but I’d found a rock and beaten the chain with it, trying to find a weak point that would break my bonds. After midday, I’d become frantic, scratching at the rock that fixed the chain with my fingernails until they bled.

Finally, I sat on the rock, forcing myself to breathe deeply. I was a prisoner, but my captor didn’t seem to have any malice against me. He even spoke to me. Perhaps I could reason with him.

With the rest of the water, I washed the blood from my hands and wiped my face. I combed my hair with my fingers and spent a long time braiding and rebraiding it. I would not panic. I was Sabine, considered the loveliest woman in the village, and a healer of ever increasing power. My herbs were sought after by noblemen and peasants alike. I could survive this.

That did not keep my heart from tripping wildly when Maddox walked out of the woods with his silent prowl. This time he carried a large buck slung over his shoulders. A beast of that size would be difficult for an ordinary man to carry, but Maddox walked without effort to the fire.

Throat dry, I watched the tattooed warrior gut the carcass and build a spit. His long knife tore through the flesh. The violence on top of my predicament sickened me, and I looked away.

“Do not fear, Sabine.” I started at the sound of his voice. “I will not hurt you.”

My hand went to my throat, sore from his bruising fingers. “You already have.”

“It was necessary.”

I walked to the end of my chain towards him to prove I wasn’t afraid. “You could’ve left me alone.”

His golden eyes pinned me suddenly. “I need you. “

“Why?”

“I need a healer.”

I took a deep breath. “Then I will examine you.”

“I’m not sick. Not yet.” He speared a piece of meat with his knife and held it out to me. “Hungry?”

I was, but I didn’t think I could swallow anything. My hands fought not to close into fists at his glib answer. “Why don’t you just let me go?”

He didn’t answer, but kept slicing off bits of meat and catching them in a bowl. Finally he approached me and held it out. “Eat, little witch. You need your strength.”

The scent of food made me even more hungry. And he was right. I needed fuel to plan my escape, but the victory in his expression when I took the bowl from him made me want to fling it back in his face. He’d given me the choicest parts of the meat, and because of my hunger, it seemed the best meal of my life. Maddox grinned, watching me devour the food.

“Good?” he grunted.

“Yes.” I scowled. If he expected my thanks, he’d die waiting for it.

Forcing myself to eat slower, I took small sips from the bucket in between bites. My throat felt less sore. I almost wished it still hurt, as a reminder to me to hate my captor, instead of being intrigued by him. He’d choked me to unconsciousness. I should fear this warrior, but his deep voice and clear speech made him sound like a ruler, much more civilized than the rude surroundings.

Even his movements around the campfire were graceful, efficient. He’d set more wood nearby, where he could reach it and feed the fire into a roaring blaze that kept away the chill and the flies. For a rugged warrior, he seemed too smart by half, even if his speech was slow, stilted, as guttural as the growl of a wild creature.

The small pity I had for him made me angry. He wasn’t the victim. I was. “What sort of man makes his home in a cave like a animal?”

I flinched when his shadow fell across me. But he only reached for my water bucket. “I think you know, Sabine.” A tremor went through me at the sound of my name I still did not dare ask how he knew it.

“A barbarian?”

“An outcast.”

When he returned with more water, my full stomach lent me courage.

“There must be a mistake. You cannot possibly mean to keep me here. What can I give you?”

He studied me as if working out what to tell me. “You are gift enough.”

I tugged the bear pelt tighter around me. “What are you going to do with me?”

“Keep you safe, warm, fed.”

“And chained.” I shook my ankle.

“For now.”

I quieted at this. No chain meant I could escape. I wondered what behavior would earn my freedom. Maddox smiled as if he knew my thoughts.

“So I am your pet,” I snapped.

He didn’t answer, just kept that cool smile as he built up the fire. I envisioned beating it from his face while I thought of a question that would not give him another chance to toy with me.

“I don’t understand. I am but a simple village girl. I have nothing. I am nothing.”

“You have magic.”

“I do not--”

“Do not lie to me.” His smile vanished. “I will not allow it.”

“I am not lying. I grow herbs and make healing tonics. Whether they work or not is up to the goddess.”

“You do not know your own power.”

“You’ve made a mistake.”

“Time will tell.” Bending, he picked up the boulder securing my chain as if it were a mere pebble and carried it further into the cave.

“No.” I grabbed the chain and pulled to no effect. “Please. Please do not make me go in there. I want to stay in the light.”

Ignoring my pleas, Maddox carried the rock into the dry cavern, dragging me with it even though I struggled with all my might. In the end, I sat on the ground in the gloom, close to allowing myself to cry. This is what defying my captor bought me. He’d moved me only a few yards into the rocky shelter, but I would’ve rather remained outside in the elements. Without the sun on my face, my hope drained away.

“Do not be afraid, little witch. You are safe, for now.” He started for the mouth of the cave.

“Wait,” I rose to my feet, voice ringing in the enclosed space. “You’re leaving?” My enemy was the closest friend I had in this place.

“It’s safer for you if I am not here.”

After he left, I sat mute near the fire, wringing my hands. My captor had not really hurt me, even though he seemed more a beast than man. Maybe I could survive this. I had to, not just for myself, then for Muriel and Fleur. They would be wondering what had happened to me, perhaps worrying over my fate, and their own. They were only two years younger, but I had always cared for them, kept them fed, kept them safe. What would happen to them if I was long gone? If--goddess forbid--I died in this place?

“I will not die,” I muttered to myself. I would live to escape, and have my revenge on the smirking warrior who dragged me to this godforsaken place.

As the sun sank behind the trees, I explored as far as the chain would allow. Deeper in the cave there was a sandy floor, leading to a pallet covered with a mound of old and reeking fur pelts. The musty stench filled the cave, lessened by the smoke of the fire. I went back to huddle as close as I could to the blaze, grateful for the fur robe Maddox had given me. That, at least, was clean.

As the moon rose, I prayed to the goddess to keep me and my sisters safe. The sounds of the forest filled my ears, including a call from the hills faraway, wild and lovely and achingly lonely.

I fell asleep to the howling of the wolves.

I woke during sunrise and stretched from my spot curled against the rock that kept me chained. Maddox had set the bucket near me, filled with fresh water. It wasn’t until after I drank and washed my face that I realized I’d had another visitor in the night. Beside the rock, near the place where I’d slept, was a giant footprint, its span bigger than my head. Not man. Wolf.