The Thrall (The Viking Hero Series Book 1) (14 page)

The room quietened when they seen him stand up so
fast.

Jarl Erling looked at Rowan and then turned his
gaze to the other men in the hall and announced, "The beast has
been slain!"

The Jarl's confirmation caused the room to erupt
in cheers.

He then sat back down and looked at Rowan and
asked, "the head is still alive?"

Rowan nodded. "Yes my Lord, the body died
when I chopped its head off, but the head somehow remained alive."

There was gasping by the men who peered over and
looked at the head in the bucket. Rowan could hear the talk behind
him as many of the men in the room debated whether it was the
creature's head or not. There were many men trying to step forward
and look over each other to see the head to verify this for
themselves.

The Jarl called over to one of his guards and told
him to fetch the lawspeaker. The guard nodded and immediately turned,
making his way through the crowd before disappearing out the Hall's
door.

Seeing how the men inside of the Hall were
crowding each other, trying to see the creature's head inside of the
bucket, the Jarl stood up and said, "Calm down men. There is no
need to crowd each other."

The Jark reached down while being careful not to
let the thing bite him and pulled the head up out of the bucket.
Unfortunately, as soon as he picked it up, it slipped from his grip
and fell back into the bucket making a barely audible thud sound when
it landed.

The nasty rotting thing repulsed him, but again he
kept it hidden from his men. Rowan, however, was able to see the
Jarl's distaste at touching it and offered to take it out of the
bucket.

"My Lord, there is no need for you to touch
such a repulsive and vile thing. Please allow me."

The Jarl nodded. "Place it on the floor so
all may see it."

Rowan nodded and carefully reached into the bucket
and picked up the creature's head. He held onto its ears so it
wouldn't slip out of his hands as it did when the Jarl tried to pick
it up. Rowan lifted the head up and turned to face the men in the
hall. He held the head up high above his head for a moment so
everyone in the Hall could get a good look at it before setting the
head down on the ground.

Rowan made sure the head was upright and facing
the hall, so everyone could examine it as they pleased. He then wiped
his hands on his tunic and stepped back, away from the head on the
ground. Rowan k
nelt to the side so
he would still be facing the Jarl, but also so he could see the head
and the men in the hall.

Rowan was permitted to
quietly just kneel there and began getting barraged by questions from
the men in the Hall about how he managed to kill the dead walker and
why was the head still alive.

The Jarl interrupted
their inquiries and announced, "be patient until the lawspeaker
arrives and everyone shall have their questions answered. Leave the
thrall be for the moment."

The creature's
head was still looking around with its dead eyes and occasionally
emitted a growl. Although the muffled growls could barely be heard
now over the noise in the Hall. Everyone looking at it could st
ill
see its mouth move as it was trying to growl and roar.

Another man pushed his way through to get a
glimpse of the dead walker's head and angrily asked, "How did
you possibly kill it. There is no way a mere thrall could have done
such a thing. Especially after it slayed so many seasoned warriors."

As Rowan was about to answer the man's question,
Jarl Erling calmly lifted his hand signaling Rowan to not answer.

"I sent for the Lawspeaker. We shall wait to
hear what happened when the Lawspeaker arrives and only then. I want
him to hear the details as well so we can get his take on all of
this."

Seeing how many of the men were growing impatient,
the Jarl said in a louder voice, "Please men, just be patient
and enjoy the mead I have provided. Your wait for answers and to
hear the thrall's story should not be very much longer. I sent for
Alvis the Lawspeaker. He should be here any moment."

The Jarl had his own thralls bring more mead to be
distributed in the Hall. Many of the men settled down and took in
the mead, compliments of the Jarl's hospitality.

The wait for the Lawspeaker wasn't much longer as
he finally arrived, assisted by the Housekarl that was sent to fetch
him. The elderly man was seated in a chair provided for him in front
of the Jarl, so he could see the head on the floor.

The old wise man examined the gruesome head for a
few minutes from his chair without saying a word as the Jarl and
everyone else looked on. The men in the Hall were discussing it among
themselves and coming up with their own conclusions. After a few
moments, the old man stopped looking at it and relaxed in his chair.
He looked up at the Jarl and nodded, indicating that he ready to
speak.

The Jarl stood up and
raised his hands up and said, "Quiet! Men, I need the Hall to
quieten."

The Hall began to
quieten with the help of a few men telling the other men, relaying
the Jarl's command.

When the Hall fell
silent and with everyone's attention, Jarl Erling announced, "Now
Alvis the wise, bearer of our laws, is ready to hear the thrall
Rowan's testimony. The thrall named Rowan will now speak."

The Jarl sat
down and motioned the now wide eyed Rowan to speak.

"Tell us Rowan, how you've come to possess
the head of the very cr
eature that
has slayed our men and become a plague to this village."

Feeling ever
uncertain, especially because the last time he was forced to speak
before the Hall he was accused and was nearly executed for murder,
Rowan obediently stood up and began to tell his story.

"The first two
times that we confronted the creature, it was noticed that iron hurt
it. In fact, it appeared to have burned it. I knew something had to
be done about this creature because I knew it wasn't going to leave
the folk of this village alone."

"What makes you
think that?" blurted out a man. "Perhaps if we left it be,
it would leave us be."

A few other men in the
Hall agreed with him.

"Because we
didn't even know it existed until it came to kill one of us in the
night. It preying upon some of our livestock permitted us to track
it to its lair." Rowan stressed. "Whatever drove this
creature, wasn't going to stop. It came after us and you can bet it
was going to come back, again and again."

"Okay let's say
that it was going to keep coming back. What was your idea?"
asked one man.

"I noticed the
iron hurt the creature, so I thought I would be able to use iron to
trap and kill it."

Many men listening
were nodding in agreement to Rowan's rationalization.

"So I gathered up
a net, some rope, and lots of scrap iron. I made a trap to lure the
creature into. I figured if I found a way to cover the beast in
iron, it would weaken and I'd have the opportunity to slay it.

"Did this work?"

"Yes." Rowan
motioned towards the beast's head on the floor. "I was able to
lure it into a trap and get the iron wrapped around it. Once it was
subdued, I tried to kill it.

"Tried to kill
it? Didn't it die easily once it was subdued with the iron?"

"No, as you can
see on its head. I tried to bury my ax in its head but it did not
kill the creature. So I chopped its head off instead. It was then
that its body died, when Its head was severed off. But strangely, its
head remained alive. Even now, the head lives without its body."

"Where is the
dead walker's body now?"

"I stacked wood
over its body in a sort of funeral pyre and burnt it. It was the
only way I could be sure it would not come back to life."

"What made you
think it would come back to life and needed to be burned?"

"Because the head
was still alive, I didn't want to chance the body coming back alive."

"It was a wise
move." Jarl Erling said. "To burn the body. That way there
would be no way the creature could come back or its body searching
for its head."

After hearing
Rowan's story, the men in the hall began debating among thems
elves
and exchanging their own personal feelings on the matter. Some were
deciding whether or not they believed Rowan's story.

The head Rowan brought back was undeniable proof
that he'd accomplished killing the creature. The fact that the head
was still alive was also proof it was indeed the creature. It was
undeniably something unnatural.

After a few moments of discussion, the Jarl
finally stood up and said, "Quiet men, we have heard the
thrall's account and he indeed has brought proof of the creature's
death....well, mostly dead, as the head remains alive. We must now
hear what the lawspeaker has to say after hearing all of this."

Jarl Erling turned towards the Alvis the
lawspeaker and said, "Tell us wise one, what do you know of such
things. Would he have been able to end this creature and why is the
head still alive. Tell us what black magic this is that keeps the
abomination's head alive?"

The lawspeaker spoke as loud as his frail elderly
voice would allow.

"I have not seen a dead walker personally,
but I do remember an incident with one when I was a young boy. Our
village was under attack much like this one was and men had been
dispatched to kill it. After a several failed attempts and the loss
of lives to several brave men, they did finally manage to kill it.
It was said that they burned the remains of the monster. They had rid
it permanently by burning it. I do not know why this creature's head
is still alive, that is something of knowledge that perhaps the Völva
would be able to tell us. The creature that plagued us, they never
separated the head and burned all of it when they finally managed to
slay it"

The Jarl nodded, acknowledging what the Lawspeaker
was saying. "We will have to send for the Völva from the
neighboring village and see what knowledge she has of this creature,
if any."

The old man nodded his head agreeing with the Jarl
and said, "She may or may not know why, but she may know of some
lore as to why we were plagued by this creature in the first place.
Perhaps something we should have done straight away to rid ourselves
of it or prevent another one like it from coming in the future."

The Jarl raised his eyebrows and nodded his head.
"I agree."

The old man then turned to Rowan and said, "It
was a good thing you didn't just bury it. The creature probably would
have risen again, with or without its head."

There seemed to be much agreement in the Hall with
the wise lawspeaker's statement.

"Did you know there was a reward for killing
it?" The Jarl asked Rowan.

"No, my lord. I
am not aware of any reward for killing the creature." Answered
Rowan, shaking his head.

It was true, Rowan
wasn't aware of any kind award. This was new information to him and
was also somewhat puzzling to him. He wasn't sure what was to happen
now. He instantly grew worried, because the last time he'd come into
this Hall he'd been accused of murder and almost lost his life. He
remembered how he was chained to a pole as well. He wore a neck ring,
but it was always just symbolic of his status as a thrall. The
blacksmith never chained him to anything, not even once.

As these
thoughts of uncertainty raced a
round in his mind, the Jarl
called out to one of his guards.

"Someone fetch Gwenda Helgasdottir, the
blacksmith's widow. She is the one that owns this thrall. She needs
to be here. Get her at once!"

One of the guards in the back of the Hall called
out, "I shall get her, my Lord" and swiftly exited out the
door.

It wasn't very long until Gwenda arrived with the
guard. Although the wait seemed even longer to Rowan as his mind ran
through different scenarios as to what his fate was going to be. He
was now regretting ever going off into the forest and slaying the
creature at this point.

As Gwenda walked through the Hall to the Jarl's
throne, the men in Hall hushed as they pondered what was to happen
next. Rowan wasn't the only one curious as to what was going to
happen next.

The Jarl called for a chair to be brought for her
and was met with immediate compliance by one of the guards that set
down a chair on the other side of Rowan, opposite of the old
lawspeaker. When she got to where they were seated, she noticed the
head on the floor and immediately cowered from it, openly repulsed.

"My pardons lady for not having that put up
before you entered." the Jarl said apologetically.

Without needing the Jarl's instruction to do so,
Rowan stepped up and put the head back in the bucket. A guard
appeared with a cloth and used it to cover the bucket so she wouldn't
be forced to look upon it.

She thanked the guard and the Jarl for their
consideration. Secretly, the Jarl was glad for her arrival and for
having an excuse to cover the repulsive thing.

"That head belongs to the beast that is
responsible for slaying your son and husband." Jarl Erling
explained.

"Thank you, my lord, for reaping vengeance on
behalf of my family." she replied.

Standing up and facing the men within the Hall,
she graciously announced to them all.

"My greatest gratitude to the Hero of our
Folk who has slayed this beast and rid our people of any further harm
from it."

She looked around the Hall to see who would come
forward to state they were the one that slayed the creature, but
nobody did.

"Please hero, show yourself. My family owes
you the greatest of our gratitude." she plead.

Jarl Erling stood up and approached Gwenda and put
his hands on her shoulders. "My fair lady, your hero is your
very own thrall." he said as he pointed to Rowan, whom was still
knelling and looking down upon the ground, not sure what to do or
say.