I apologize for my bad Danish. There will be translations in all future chapters. I purposely left them out here.

Start the song. It's Heimta Thurs by Wardruna.

The raid happened so quickly that Tyler wasn't even sure if it had really happened. Surely this was all some elaborate hallucination. It was a fever dream, or the result of listening to one too many of his father's scary stories. Tales of the Norsemen coming across the sea to overtake and decimate villages were widespread, but Tyler had thought they were just stories. He was clearly wrong.

Screams filled his small village as homes burnt to the ground. Large men and women with dangerous eyes and expertly crafted weapons were everywhere, enveloping the small town in a toxic cloud of horror. This was Hell on Earth, and God had given Tyler's village no hope of Passover.

His mother and father had collected his younger siblings, hiding them away in trunks and under beds. He was nineteen though. There was no hope of stuffing him into a footlocker or under a small bed with three other children.

When the door caved in, there was nowhere for Tyler to hide. When the men who entered his home began speaking loudly in a language he didn't understand, he couldn't run. All he could do was stumble backwards, praying in his heart that this evil would pass over his family home. God wasn't listening though.

The backs of his legs hit one of the trunks, causing him to fall over it. He landed on the ground hard, creating a loud thump that even the chaos outside couldn't swallow. It was that fall that drew the attention of the intruders to him.

"Up," one of the men commanded of him.

Tyler was trembling as he hurried to his feet. His mother sobbed, moving to protect him, but the flat edge of a sword was pressed against her chest to keep her from moving. The men observed Tyler carefully.

One had hair so dark it was nearly black and a thick beard. Another had light brown hair and a weak chin, much too baby-faced for a beard, but still threatening. Then there was the third. The third had thick, dark curls upon his head and a beard to match. His nose was large and wide, and his dark eyes were curious. He was the one who had spoken to Tyler just moments before.

"Han er lille," the man muttered, his words sounding garbled and unfamiliar. "Jeg vil beholde ham." He observed Tyler for a moment before commanding, "Come."

Tyler's feet couldn't move. He trembled as he watched the strange men with wide eyes. The man chuckled confidently, stepping forward and approaching Tyler. He grabbed his arms roughly, holding them behind his back. Fear overcame Tyler as the man barked more foreign orders to the other men, one of whom tossed him a rope. Tyler's mother sobbed and his father pleaded as he was tied up.

"Please, please no," Tyler begged, panic rising in his chest.

Although he knew this man was much stronger than him, he tried to yank himself out of the man's grip. The intruder laughed as he finished tying the impossibly tight knot that kept him from using his arms.

"Kom nu, Josva," the man with the beard said. "Skynde sig."

"Ja ja," the man behind Tyler mumbled. Then Tyler was being pushed forward, forced to stumble along as the men walked to the door.

Tyler was trying his hardest not to cry. He looked at his parents with wide, fearful eyes. "Please," he begged them, well aware that they couldn't help him at all.

The man now forcing him through the doorway while his parents sobbed let out a laugh. "Please please please. Alt hvad han siger er 'please.'"

"Please let me go," Tyler sobbed out finally as he was led through the village.

It wasn't until he heard the scream that he realized the other two men hadn't followed them out of the house. They were still inside. He sobbed, trying to break free, but the man pulled Tyler closer, shushing him quietly.

"Shhhh. I keep you," he told Tyler, making him sob even harder. The man laughed. "Lille Please."

Tyler was still sobbing when they reached the boat. It was a monstrous thing unlike anything Tyler had ever seen before. The helm looked like some sort of creature, a terrifying beast that stared blankly out at the open waves of the ocean. Tyler tried to fight as his captors lifted him into the boat, but it was to no avail.

Each of the bulky Norsemen laughed at Tyler's panic, especially when his captor tied him to the mast of the ship. He tried to kick at the man while he tied his feet together, but he was nowhere near as strong as the man.

"Who are you?" Tyler sobbed out, glaring at the man who planned to 'keep him.'

The man smiled proudly. "Josva."

"Joshua?" Tyler asked, making the man laugh.

"Ja. Joshua," the man confirmed. "Sleep, Please."

"Please?" Asked one of the other men.

Joshua smiled that same confident smile. "Hans navn er Please." He looked to Tyler. "Ja?"

"I don't...I don't know that you're saying," he whimpered out.

The man chuckled. "Lille Please. Sleep."

Tyler didn't know how he was expected to sleep after all of this, but after several hours, he cried himself to sleep. By the time his dreams overtook him, he knew. He knew that there was nothing he wouldn't do to escape Josva.