Vikings: Nordic women

Chapter 11: Shadow Approaches
"If I want to defeat someone who is stronger than me head-on, is there any way?"

Ounnie looked up at the oak tree and pushed it gently, but the leaves remained as still as before, as if even the wind had not disturbed them.

"There's no way. The power gap is too big, unless the opponent stands still and has no weapons in his hands."

She curled her lips. Wisdom would indeed compress muscle strength and repeatedly deny exercise behavior. You can't have both.

Letting go of the hand that was supporting the oak tree, Ouni and Harold walked forward together, towards the warm embrace of the settlement at the foot of the mountain.

"Then do you have any powerful fighting skills you can teach me?" She was a little unconvinced.

"No, the art of fighting is to be faster than the enemy and kill him before he can hurt you. Wear better armor than the enemy, so that the enemy's weapon against you can kill you as easily as smashing a shield with bare hands. That way you can attack the enemy at the same time as he attacks you, or even break the enemy's sword with your armor."

"Is that so?" Ounnie was stunned. She had learned a lot about war examples in her previous life, but she didn't know much about these basic things.

She thought of the "Maiden of Orleans", who was a knight in heavy plate armor who had charged into battle many times but was rarely injured.

"Yes, but in unarmored combat, you can use the sword as armor for defense, and use your strength and speed to block the enemy's weapons and counterattack the enemy."

Harold broke off two branches, made them into sticks, put one of them in her hand, and hooked his finger, signaling her to attack.

Of course, Ounnie was not polite. She was also curious, and her intuition told her that these things were very useful and might save her life at a critical moment.

She was like a dancer who had completely lost her direction, waving her stick towards Harold as if she were performing an absurd show.

Turtle stick technique!

But before she could react, she found that the branch in her hand was pulled out of her hand and flew several meters away.

Harold placed the branch in his hand against her neck, smiled complacently, and put the stick away.

what happened?
Ouni's eyes lit up, and she looked Harold up and down, as if she had just met him for the first time: "Can you teach me?"

"Your strength is too weak, so weak that you can't even hold the weapon, which is not enough to do what I just did. And your strength is too small to cause any harm to the enemy. I don't recommend you to do it. With your strength and skills, you will definitely die once you get involved in the battle!" Harold frowned, as if he was thinking of something.

"Forget it!" Eunnie sighed.

Thinking of her donkey, she suddenly asked, "Can you ride?"

She thought that the rider shouldn't need to rely on the control of strength, right?

After all, with the bonus of horse speed, speed or inertia can help her turn soft attacks into deadly ones.

"Yes! I have a Finnish horse that my father taught Robert and I to ride, but I don't usually ride it. We spend most of our time on the boat." Harold looked at her in confusion, "You want to be a rider?"

Ouni nodded: "I have this plan, I paid for it... Yeah!"

She suddenly thought of something and asked, "If there were no riders, how did you manage to avoid the enemy's pursuit during the Viking times?"

"Avoid?" Harold was puzzled. "Why should we avoid them? By the time they found us and chased us, we would have already returned with a full load."

Ok……

It suddenly occurred to her that the Vikings would not flee from battle but would actively engage in the fight, so naturally they did not need riders to act as eyes and ears to conduct reconnaissance of the enemy.

A few minutes later, Harold stared blankly at the donkey in the barn that made a sound similar to "Just Turned Eighteen This Year" and the donkey that comforted it, Eunice: "Is this your warhorse?"

"Laugh if you want to, I don't mind!" Ou Ni's face darkened, and she recalled bad memories, and her buttocks ached slightly.

Harold suppressed his laughter and said, "I'll give you a Finnish horse, but it's a one-year-old foal. It will be ready for use next year. Do you want it?"

Ouni, who didn't want to owe anyone a favor, was about to veto when she suddenly caught a glimpse of two warriors from Yar walking towards her. She quickly stood up straight, held her right wrist with her left hand, and crossed them in front of her abdomen.

"Eunnie Feld, Lord Holger, Jarl's steward, wants to see you. Please come with us!"

"Did he say what it was?"

"Don't ask!" The Viking warrior was not polite and seemed very unhappy with Ouni. He seemed to be treating someone who betrayed him with a broken heart, "Just come if I tell you to!"

"I will go with you!"

"Prince Harold (referring to the previous lord, leader, and son of the king), the butler said that she can only go alone. Harold, please don't bother us and cause trouble for us!" They obviously did not take Harold, who had no power and was not liked by Jarl, seriously.

"You guys..." Harold's temper flared up and he stepped forward. "No need!" O'Neal pulled Harold to help him out and shook her head, "Wait for me here!"

Two Viking warriors were walking in front. Ounnie had just walked for a while and was a little tired, so she could hardly keep up with the pace.

"You have to be careful of Mr. Butler!"

She suspected she had misheard, a warrior in front of her spoke, but did not turn his head.

What do you mean?
Ouni was taken to a house near the lord's house. To the right was the lord's hall and the polytheistic temple.

"Sir Holger, the person you are looking for is here!" a warrior shouted into the house.

"Bring her in and guard outside the door. No one is allowed to come in!"

The voice came from inside, and Ouni was pushed, her pupils shrank slightly. Combined with what the warrior behind her had just said, she felt an indescribable sense of uneasiness as she stepped into the shadows.

When she looked back, she saw two warriors standing behind her, one on each side, with their backs to her. She wanted to ask something but didn't know how to start.

"Why haven't you come in yet?"

The voice was like a death warrant, and Ouni stepped into the room. There were several slaves with collars around their necks in the room, and when they saw her come in, they all looked at her.

"Eunice Field, we meet again!" Holger had a fake smile on his face. Under the slight effect of rosemary, he stared at her shamelessly and extended his hand to invite her to sit across the table.

Ouni walked forward and sat down. A female slave handed her a glass of ale: "Thank you!"

The female slave lowered her head in fear, not daring to look her in the eye.

"Have a glass of malt bar first. I need to discuss with you something about perfume formula and ship delivery."

Ouni took a sip; she was thirsty. She didn't know why, but it seemed to her that Holger was smiling even more.

"I have already discussed the matter with Yaer, and I think we should follow Yaer's wishes!" Ounnie felt that there was nothing to talk about, and she was afraid of unexpected changes.

"No, no, no, you can deceive Yael, but you can't deceive me. We need to renegotiate the agreement. For example, you should give the profits from the perfume to Yael for free, instead of trying to seize the wealth that does not belong to you!"

"What do you mean?" Ounnie frowned and stared at him. Suddenly, she felt her heart beating faster, her face flushed and hot under the headscarf, her breathing became rapid, and she felt an embarrassing discomfort in her chest and squeezed her legs together.

Her face changed, which was a reaction to the sexual stimulant. She suddenly stood up and planned to run out directly. This was the only way to save herself.

Suddenly, when she stood up, she felt her hands go weak and her body was losing feeling. Fortunately, she held on to the table.

Her palms began to sweat, and every breath was like breathing in fire, the heat from her body making it almost impossible to think.

"What did you put in the wine? What do you want to do?" Ou Ni turned around, supported her hands on the table, trying to stay awake and not be knocked down by the poison, while questioning the other party.

"Nothing much, just some grass!"

"Is it Mandrake?" She saw Holger stand up and the effects of the medicine took effect so quickly, and she instantly understood what she had eaten.

Mandrake is a strong sexual stimulant. In Norse culture, mandrake is often described as a plant with human-shaped roots. Its collection process requires special rituals to avoid its screams causing madness or death to the listener.

Ounnie's heart was beating like a drum, and fear was like an invisible hand tightly grasping her throat. She felt like a wild beast trapped in a trap, struggling but unable to escape.

The other person stood up with a smug smile, rubbing his hands, and walked towards her: "Oh, my beauty, you finally belong to me. Don't worry, although Madam Yaer wants to kill you, I can't bear to do it. I will hide you and love you well! You have to thank me for saving your life!"

"Don't come over here, help, help!" Ounnie was very anxious and her words were unclear. The anesthetic effect of the mandrake took effect.

She grabbed the sheep horn cup and threw it at Holger, but found that she couldn't lift her hand at all. She felt sleepy and her vision became darker and darker.

Holger's footsteps echoed in the quiet house, and every step was like a death knell in Ouni's heart.

"No...no...I will definitely kill you...definitely..." Her body completely lost consciousness and she fell down.

"Master, she fell!" The female slave held her, held her in her arms, and looked at Holger inquiringly.

"Send her to my room and you stand guard outside the door!"

(End of this chapter)