My Sheep!!

The sun was a blazing orange ball, hanging low in the blue, cloudless sky. The slight, chilly breeze reminded me of the upcoming Autumn. The leaves were already starting to turn yellow and red in the trees far away in the distance, and I could smell the wood smoke from the raging fire. The taste of iron in my mouth made me stab my sword in the soil as I kicked the corpse responsible for it one last time.

I laughed madly in the middle of it all, as huts crumbled and houses were set ablaze, while corpses were scattered, painting the land red with blood.

"ODIN OWN YE ALL!" I yelled maniacally while my arms were stretched wide, looking at the blue sky. I finally understood "I'm also a lunatic" , hearing my warriors shout victoriously behind me: "FOR TYR!" Goosebumps spread on my skin, and adrenaline rushed through my veins as I also shouted back "FOR TYR!"

Hours earlier...

In this age, people have settled close to a body of water for trade and defense, and of course for water. And following the river we settled on, you will find more settlements further north - not even hours of a walk north of our settlement, you will find the tribe known as Suardones. The Suardones are a series of tribes held by the family of the war king. They call themselves Suardons for a simple matter - because they are swordsmen. The problem is, if I attacked this tribe, then I must leave no survivors since they can bring hundreds of Suards here.

My plan is relatively simple and straightforward: kill them all off and put the blame on the other tribe that was a day's journey away, and that will start a chain reaction of war between two Middle tribes, Suardones and Lemovii that are in the same Confederation.

War is always bloody, and of course the goal of this all is simply for more men and women, since for now I don't care about land..

Our tiny village of only fifty people, half of whom are warriors, is boxed in the middle of a vast land. It is blocked in the four directions by four big tribes: to the north, the wide-ranging confederation of tribes that are all known individually (The Suardones, Warini, Eudoses, Nuitones, and Lemovii); to the south, the big tribe known as Semnones; to the east, Burgundionnes; and to the west, the Langobards.

I made the calculated decision to bring all of the men to battle, leaving only two for defense. Their job is only to stall the enemy if they somehow come, but I don't think we will be attacked yet. The closest village is the one we are attacking while the village after it is one day away. I already sent Hans to the furthest tribe the day after He killed Yadrick, in case they somehow attacked us. Hans will run back here to warn me.

As I was thinking of a way for our small, under-equipped, and under-trained numbers to win without any casualties, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching .

I muttered a curse under my breath when I noticed who was leading tmy warriors towards me. His smug, punchable face irked me, and I knew he would grumble about the preparations for the fight taking too long. So, I quickly thought of a way to get a distraction and give us the advantage.

"Harald!" I called out softly, my eyes wandering among the silent warriors behind him as I spoke, looking at the top of their heads for the Loyalty meter while trying to get the attention of the close-to-deaf giant who towered over me by at least two heads. I felt a little apprehensive, as I was surrounded by people who could probably kill me with their pinky fingers. .

Harald The Men Slayer is what they call him. His long braided blonde hair was shaved from one side, and his wide jaw that could easily swallow a chicken leg whole, along with his almond-shaped sky-blue eyes, gave his face a diamond shape. Harald's wide shoulders and polished muscles made him one of the strongest and skilled warriors of the tribe.

His story is anything but simple. Orphaned and without any parents or kin, he was born into a cold, dark world. Mother Bear found him, fed him, and kept him warm through the long, dark nights. One day, Harald got lost and was forced to fend for himself in the wild. He hunted and scavenged, living day to day until Erik, my grandfather, found him and took him in. He was blessed with the strength of a bear. Alas, he was cursed with the intelligence of a small child.... maybe smaller than that.

"I WANT TO FIGHT!" He tried to shout through the gag, his eyes bulging and red with anger. Thankfully, as I instructed, he had a piece of clothing in his mouth muffling his voice. I could see the veins in his neck pulsing as he writhed against the gag. Of course, all he has to do is take it off with his two hands, since no one is forcing him... Well, no one is able to force him.

I've been looking at him with a suspicious and confused gaze since this morning. While we were marching, his loyalty to me rose steadily. But when we stopped far away from our target location to devise a new plan, his loyalty fell just as steadily. "I'll not bother with this simpleton, I'll use him" I thought to myself in silence.

"Herald! Do you see that black sheep over by the other entry point of the enemy village?" I said as I pointed in its direction, while taking the gag out of his mouth.

" black sheep? food? feast" he said quietly; yet his voice seemed to carry for miles, as he squinted his eyes hard to make out the sheep in the distance.

"Fuck," I cursed under my breath as I turned to see if they had heard him while frantically signaling to Ivar to gag the giant.

Thankfully, no disasters happened. Letting out a troubling sigh, I thought to myself, "Why am I even bothering to explain the plan to him? He's never going to understand it." Turning towards him, I said, "Harald... Black Sheep... Kill everything."

"Fight? Kill?" He said through the muffled cloth gaging his mouth. Yet, I understood him. Looking into his questioning gaze, I nodded repeatedly. "Go and kill!"

Silence prevailed, but not for long. The standing giant looked around for a minute, looking at the warriors behind him who were slowly marching to the edge of the dense, forest.

He lifted his double-handed ax and a wicked smile formed on his face, so wide that the gag dropped to the ground. Then... there is no then. He just ran. No shouting, thanks to my lesson of no food if you shout. In just minutes, he was standing beside the black sheep, grinning like he'd just won the lottery.

From a distance, I heard him yell "SHEEP MY SHEEP." I also saw a guard running towards him while shouting something unintelligible. I couldn't make out what the guard was saying, but it sounded like he was trying to stop the man.

"Split into two halves! I bet one of my sheep" I shouted, betting one of my sheep that Harald would split that guard into two halves.

"Beheading!!" Alfverin's voice was unnervingly calm; it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as one of the smartest men of the tribe, and me being a sore loser, I feared the worst. I glanced at him as I mumbled 'I won enough already, it doesn't matter if I lose.'

Looking around, I saw different expressions from the warriors behind me. Some were mourning the death of the guard. Some were trying to restrain themselves from betting since I had won all of their cattle thanks to betting, while some looked like they were about to bet. But they were too late. I shouted as I saw the guard's head fall from his shoulders, "Who taught him that?! Who did that behind my back?!"

"heheh!! Herald, are you going to cry for mommy now? ?" The always-smiling man said in a mocking voice that was trying to hide his shame of losing all his bets with me. The man had a smug look on his face.

"For odin!" I heard a thunderous roar come from afar, and, when I turned, I saw Harald sprint towards the incoming guards.

Seeing no guards in our vicinity, I nodded my head and thought, "Good distraction, you Beast!!" I couldn't help but smile wickedly as I silently signaled for a silent march.

In no time, we found ourselves already inside the tribe, waving my hand. We walked towards where the guards were while setting the huts and houses on fire and killing anyone we met. We saw them from afar, encircling Harald, who was swinging his ax and shouting "My sheep!!"

"Good, they are gathered and will be trapped like the rats they are!" I thought triumphantly as I made a hand gesture for an easy formation we practiced, signaling the warriors to hurry and arm themselves with bows and arrows. Since the smoke would soon alert the enemy, I said sternly to the warriors who were lining up just loud enough for them to hear me alone: "If a single one of you misses, I'll kill you dead!"

Taking my bow and arrow, I aimed and shouted for everyone to hear me, including the enemy: "AIM!" And when they did, and turned around, I saw their eyes widen and their faces pale as they shouted, "Goddess of Earth, help us survive!" as they drew their long swords Alas, it seems she didn't hear them, because when I commanded, "Shoot!" The sound of arrows cutting the air and stabbing flesh followed by the thuds and cries for help made me jump in delight as I continued, "DRAW AND KILL, FOR ODIN IS WATCHING!"

"For Tyr!" Ivar shouted as he was the first to charge, his face twisted in a feral battle rage with his sword drawn, seeking to exact revenge upon his enemies.

"My sheep!" Someone shouted frantically from the other side of the battle.