"Let your arrows fall on them like rain! Kill them!" Bjorn dropped his arm. "Loose!"

Moments later a legion of arrows blackened the heavens. As they descended upon Ivar they parted. Not a single barb pierced his skin. His responding laughter spoke of him not fearing an end. Did he truly believe himself so favored by the gods?

"Thank you, My Love," Ivar's sneer echoed across the battlefield.

Bjorn's gaze slitted. Bonnie! His glare darted about the battlefield and collided with the woman in question just as she slumped to the ground...

"I'm aware, Halfdan," Bjorn uttered in return. "I'm very much aware."

"Well allow me to confess a truth of which you may not be very much aware," Halfdan said, dropping his gaze as he resumed the sharpening of his weapons. "I'm the reason you entered into matrimony with Princess Snaefrid in favor of meeting Bonnie at the cabin by the inlet."

"I'm sorr—Wha—How?!" Uncertainty forced his wooden cup of mead back down to the table.

"You told me you no longer held any affections for Bonnie, but the instance I witnessed you sight her I knew Naya once again had the right of it. You'd misled yourself into believing you didn't have a care for her. Yet all with seeing eyes witnessed how your heart dwelled in your gaze upon first glimpse of her and from that moment forth saw no other." Halfdan's hands stilled in their task. Though his eyes remained fixed on his blade. "That eve I followed Bonnie and you to your mother's private quarters. I overheard the two of you plot plans. Plans which would upset my much more foolish ones." A laugh lacking in humor burst from his mouth. "So I plotted new designs which involved keeping your cup filled for the remainder of the eve." He shook his head and raised his gaze to meet his glare. "Never did I believe my plots would lead you into matrimony with the Sami princess, but I'd be deceitful in my apology if I say I'm sorry it did."

His hands clenched. He wanted nothing more than to bludgeon his so called friend's face with his two hands. Attempting to overcome the urge he stood and walked to the edge of the covering to watch his wife's and father-in-law's departure from camp. "Why speak of this to me now?"

"You love her almost as much as I-," Halfdan began.

"More!" He spun around to jab a finger at him. "Make no mistake. My love for that woman knows no end!"

The Black dipped his head, but his gaze burned with many doubts. "I'll not have leave of the battlefield this rising. For this rising shall be my last on Midgard." He opened his mouth to remind him of the faultiness of Naya's foresight, but Halfdan raised a hand. "Of this I am more than certain. Though I've no right to demand anything of you, I must request this..." Suspicion slitted Bjorn's eyes. "Vow to me you'll watch over Bonnie after I enter the gates of Valhalla. Vow you'll hold her dear until it's your time to do the same."

"I do not have to! For it is a vow I've already sworn several solstice cycles before the gods saw fit to place her upon my ship," he spit from the slits of his teeth, and then spun on his heel to seek his leave of the covering.

^^^^

The war seized to rage for him as he tore a path across the battlefield. Once he made it to her, he pulled her into his arms. She barely breathed but she breathed. He sliced open his wrist and forced it to her mouth. After moments of drinking from him, her breaths deepened and her eyes fluttered. She pulled her mouth away from his wrist and healed his wound.

"Bjorn?" Her verdant stare darted about the battlefield.

Liquid agony flooded her beautiful eyes. Every sight which met their gaze presented their failure in a bold and bloody show. They'd lost and done so gloriously. The gods had shown their favor and it lay not with them. His gaze hurtled back to Bonnie.

"There is no time to die this rising, Mystical One." He stroked her cheek with the pad of his thumb. "Now is the time we flee and hope your back up plan as you refer to it is all you claim." He lifted her onto her feet and gripped her waist to keep her steady. He cast his gaze to a laughing Ivar who still stood upon the same hill glaring down at them. With a lift and drop of his dagger another legion of Frankish soldiers hurried pass him onto the battlefield.

"Unholy shit!" Bonnie shrieked as her eyes bulged several finger widths from her head.

"Go! Retreat!" He half carried and dragged Bonnie from the battlefield.

****

"Send up the signal for Ayanna," Bonnie ordered to one of the warriors jogging at her side. "Torvi, you meet them at the south side of the gate." Torvi's head bobbed before she trotted toward the south gate. "Don't forget to signal when you have them so I can raise the barriers," she yelled after her, before turning to resume her march towards the watch tower.

"Can you do this...without hurting you or the babe?" Ubbe grabbed her arm, yanking her to another stop. His questioning heaven blue stare bore into hers.

She shook her head as she peeped their surroundings. People ran about as if they'd loss their heads. "I don't have a choice, Ubbe. Look around," she waved a hand at the pandemonium being wrought by the scared shitless Kattegat citizens, "we're all that stands between them and my pissed dry exes. Fucking up is not an option!"

"I witnessed what happened with Halfdan," he reached up and palmed the nape of her neck. He rested his forehead on hers.

The memory of her husband bleeding out in her arms while she helplessly watched clenched her heart. Tears she had no time to shed, swallowed her gaze. She allowed herself a moment to soak in Ubbe's comfort, and then shrugged him off. "There's no time to mourn," a sob fractured her voice as she backed away from him. "Please, get me Sigurd and Guthrum. I'll need them if this is gonna work!"

"Bonsie! Bonsie!"

Hali's dulcet tone greeted her ears. She turned in time to see the back of him running into the long house. When did the children get there? Why the hell didn't Torvi send up the signal? Shit! They didn't plot plans for suggestive purposes! She ran into the great hall in pursuit of Hali. Yet the inside of the place was abandoned save one. An old lady with white hair huddled near the throne. She hurried over to the woman to usher her to somewhere safe when she noticed the woman's young familiar face.

"Lagertha?"

"How nice to sight you again, Supreme," The squeaky sound of Margrethe's voice met her ears.

Annoyance twisted Bonnie's face. She didn't have the grains of sand in the hour glass to deal with Mr. Ed's jump off! Bonnie whirled about to kick Margrethe's deranged ass back to the stables and a blade slid into her breast to the hilt. Immediately, her remaining magic converged on her womb to incubate her baby even as her heart struggled to pound its next beat.

Margrethe's hands flew to her mouth. "Oh my Goddess I did it! I did it! I cannot believe I managed to do so." She began to jump up and down as if she'd won a lifetime supply of prime horse flesh and piping hot manure.

"What did you do?" The bellowing bass of Bjorn's voice moved Margrethe to cower in the far corner. When he saw her bleeding a river in the middle of the great hall, he hurried to her side. "Bonnie...no, no, no!"

"You have to take everyone and go, Bjorn. I can no longer help you," she rasped. This time her clock would stop, no matter if she had time to die or not.

"What? No, that is senseless!" He shook his head as his face crumpled. "We will not seek our leave without you! No...you'll resurrect, and then-,"

"No, you have to leave me or Ivar and Hvits will never stop hunting you. And if they should catch you," she wheezed, while lifting her hand to touch his cheek, "they'll kill you...and your death will truly be the end of me," her chest grew heavier. He turned his face into her touch to kiss her palm as tears pooled in his eyes. "I-It's okay to go, B-Bjorn. Our v-vow is b-broken rem-member?"

"No, Mystical One! No!" He bellowed. His tears fell on her face and mingled with her own. "Our vow still remains intact. This will always be so for me."

Tears trickled from her tired eyes even as a smile crested upon her lips. He was right. He'd always be her protector. Their vow was nothing more than an elaborate excuse to do what she always wanted and that was...remain at his side.

"Don't let Sigurd be stupid. He's gonna try to come for me...d-don't l-let him. T-Tell Guthrum it's okay. W-we'll f-figure this out." She pulled him close so prying ears wouldn't hear. "Trust Heahmund, you'll be safe in England. Tell King Alfred I sent you and-," Death took her before she was ready.

****

Bjorn's flooding stare remained locked on Bonnie. The loss of her ached his chest though her form still lingered in his sight. She'd reminded him of their severed vow. Though he no longer felt the obsessive need to protect her, the love for her which consumed him demanded he do so just the same. As he traced the length of her cheek with his thumb drops of water dotted her blood stained gilded bronze skin. Confusion drove his gaze upwards to locate the source of the dripping water only to realize the liquid leaked from his eyes. A silent sob shook his body as he cradled her stiffening frame to his chest. He'd failed her this day.

"Bjorn, we must do as Bonnie ordered," The quiet unemotional tone of his stepson met his ears. "Ivar, Hvitserk, and Harald will be here soon. Gather your mother so we may flee." He attempted to ignore the boy. He only wanted peace to mourn the woman who'd been his kindred friend, undeniable love, and sole possessor of his heart. A hand comforting in nature gripped his shoulder. "If Ivar captures and puts us all to death, then you will have killed Bonnie a thousand times over. Please, father. Place your faith in her. You must trust she'll prepare the path which will lead us back to her."

"The boy is precise in his assumption. My lord walks with the Intercessor and aides her in all things," the Christian Bishop's hissing tone drifted to him from near the thrones. "Now, come assist me in gathering your mother. For this battle has stricken her heart and addled her mind."

Bjorn raised his gaze in time to see the Bishop lift his mother in his arms. Her once golden hair fell down her shoulders and back in silvery white twisted tangles. Emptiness hollowed her eyes. She too had seen much and lost even more this rising. His gaze moved from his mother to his stepson who'd just dragged the mad slave girl from the corner she cowered in. His gaze dropped to Bonnie. Even in death, she remained the most beautiful sight he'd ever cast his gaze upon. She'd given so much of herself over the passing new moons. Now she even meant to relinquish her freedom to ensure they remained protected during their retreat. Her sacrifice would not be in vain. He kissed her lips, and then lay her back on the planked floor of the Great Hall.

"Don't be afraid, Mystical One," he whispered next to her ear. He removed the once symbol of their vow from his arm and replaced the gilded ring on her wrist. "For I will return for you. This I vow."

****

Sigurd planted his ax in the head of a Frankish soldier, while hurling his dagger at another. His blade met its mark in the enemy's gullet. As he knelt to retrieve his weapon from the throat of the soldier a massive golden wolf charged him head on. An instance before impact the beast leapt over him to rip out the neck of a warrior who thought to take him unawares from behind.

"Obliged, Ansel," Sigurd muttered, while cleaning the gore from his blade on the dead soldier's tunic.

An answering growl met his ears along with a rustling in some underbrush a few paces away. Standing, he crept over to the crackling shrubberies. His ax raised and at the ready. After a beat or so, he ripped back the bushes. Ayanna glared up at him with Hali and Asa clutched close to her breasts.

"Ayanna? By the gods, woman! What are you doing about in the midst of a blood drenched battle?" Sigurd lowered his ax to reach down and assist her out of the crawl space.

She bestowed upon him a rare smile which spoke sagas of the origins of Bonnie's beauty. "Did you not know I favored blood and gore under the dimming sun, Witless Sigurd?!" Her face twisted into its normal expression of disdain. "I'm about because someone within the walls of Kattegat signaled for me to bring the children."

"Ayanna, you shouldn't wander about at a time such as this! The forest is teeming with Frankish soldiers and enemy warriors," Ansel said, now back in human form.

Her glare further slitted when they darted to him, before swiftly rolling away. "If they've signaled me to bring the children then this battle is already loss to you all." Ayanna kneeled to whisper something to Hali, and then stood. She placed Asa in his arms and Hali at his side. "Here, take the babes and yourself back to Kattegat-,"

"You're not coming?" He demanded.

She shook her head. "No, I'll be returning to my keep, while you and yours attend Fate." With that she spun on her heel to trek back into the forest.

Sigurd growled. If anything happened to her then it placed Bonnie's very existence at risk. "Ayanna!"

"Get the babes back to Kattegat, I'll follow her to make sure she arrives at her keep unmolested," Ansel thumped him on the shoulder, and then moved to hurry after Ayanna.

Sigurd started back for Kattegat with the babes. Several paces later he approached the clearing which offered a rearward glimpse of Kattegat. A grief stricken Bjorn met his sight. Along with a distraught Ubbe who held an inconsolable Torvi. The Christian Bishop led what appeared to be an addled Lagertha. While Guthrum dragged along a bedraggled...Margrethe? His searching stare swept them once more as Torvi hurried towards him and snatched Asa from his arms. Hali released his hand to run to his father.

"Where's Bonnie?" He demanded.

Agony rippled through Ubbe's gaze as his face folded in on itself. Unable to manage words, he only shook his head in response. A sob tore through Torvi as she buried her face in the babes neck.

"That mad heathen there ran her through with a dagger," The Christian volunteered gesturing his head in Margrethe's locus.

"What?!" His glare hurtled to Margrethe who placed herself behind Guthrum. "Where is she? Where is her form?"

"She ordered we seek our leave without her," Guthrum said, his tone as empty as his face.

Rage burned his sight red. "And you abandoned her?!" His glare discovered Bjorn. "Again?"

"We had no other choice," Torvi sobbed. "Ivar is almost upon us. In not even a half of a turn of the hour glass he'll be here! If we would've taken Bonnie then he'd never stop pursuing us."

His eyes flared so wide they nigh rolled from his head. "So you abandon her to save yourselves?"

"It is the will of our Supreme," Guthrum said, holding his glare with his steady undisturbed stare. "I heard her speak it as such with my own ears."

"After all she's sacrificed for us?" He ignored Guthrum's words as a sneer took his lips very much aware. "Faithless! The lot of you!" He spat at the ground they thought to tread on. "Go on save yourselves, and I shall save her."

He shoved his way through the defeated throng. A swift blow to the base of his skull blanketed his Midgard in darkness.

****

"Thank you, My Love!" Ivar laughed.

The mockery which flowed between he and his former love inspired the darkest of amusements within him. For she betrayed his heart and her show of protectiveness spoke of him still possessing hers. Oh how he intended to force her to pay for her treachery. He'd not sever her in pieces and bury her around Midgard as Margrethe stated this supposed true Supreme demand he do. To do so would deny himself of witnessing her torture with his own eyes. No he had plans for Bonnie Bennett of Mystic Falls. In order to see them through she'd have to remain at his side. Just as fate had intended.

"Go! Retreat!" Bjorn roared as he nigh dragged Bonnie out of harm's way.

"Forward!" Ivar laughed harder. "Slaughter them all!"

As he watched his remaining warriors and Frankish soldiers give chase to the retreating Kattegat warriors he sat upon the hill and allowed his thoughts to drift back to a time when Midgard still held reason and his path purpose...

"You know in this life you'll never be normal, right?"

"Of this, I am well aware," his stare travelled over her face as he attempted to understand her abrupt change in topics, "yes."

"Yet extraordinary is what you are, and in time the things you'll do will come to reflect that." Her stare imprisoned him. What was it about her that moved him so? "I've sworn my allegiance and loyalty to Bjorn. I vowed to never stand opposite of him on a battlefield and to always remain at his side." Before the objection could leave his mouth, it wrinkled his brow and crumpled his face. She raised a hand. "In return, he granted me my freedom and placed me under his protection. Which is ideal considering the alternative."

"I don't understand," he propped himself up on an elbow, "Why are you speaking of this to me?"

"There's gonna be a day when you show the world just who in the hell Ivar the Boneless is and I need you to understand the reason why I won't be standing with you," she dropped her gaze for a moment before retraining it back on him. "The operative words being...standing...with...you."

"What..." Comprehension slanted his head sideways. "Are you saying, My Love..."

"Ivar, there's something within me that is inexplicably yours." Her shoulders rose and dropped, "I'm not sure what it is, but it reaches for you whenever you're near and longs for you when you're not."

^^^^

"I love you too, Ivar," she pecked his lips and peppered several more kisses along his jawline. "Take care in England, learn what you must, and then come back to me. We'll figure out the rest together, alright?"

"Alright, my love, but you have to vow to do the same," he said, while running his nose along the side of her neck. "You must come back to me."

She kissed him once more before breaking away. "You have my sacred vow, Ivar Conqueror of my Heart."

^^^^

"This moment is perfect. If only we could stay locked within this moment indefinitely. Then we won't have to live through the shit storm cresting the horizon."

"Shit storm?" He'd never heard of such a storm spoken.

She exhaled a slight chortle. "It means we're not always gonna be good. Truth is things are gonna go so wrong between us left will be our default setting because we'll never again be right together."

His hands paused mid-stroke. "You've seen this?"

"No, but your mother did," she rolled over on her side to stare up at him. "It was one of the many visions she saw before I took her sight."

The tension in his face relaxed as the corner of his mouth lifted. "Then we shall not worry over what my mother claimed will come to pass. Her visions weren't always accurate." He rested a hand on her hip as he reached out to tweak one of her nipples. "Before I departed with my father for England, she said there'd be a terrible storm during the voyage, and I'd drown. Yet, here I sit very much alive."