SHE WOLF
— 9. Sword of Kings

In the woods, Ylva and Bjorn walked together until they found the right spot. They placed their weapons on the ground and Bjorn began to walk toward Ylva, extending him arms out.

"Are we to do this or not?" Bjorn asked impatiently as he stopped walking and watched Ylva circle him.

Just then, Ylva swung at Bjorn, who was quick to lift his arm to block her before her fist could collide with his face. She ended up punching him on the torso and then kicked him, causing Bjorn to yell out in surprise, clearly not expecting her to do such a thing.

"What was that?" Bjorn complained and stared at her in disbelief as she began to swing at him once more.

Bjorn blocked most of them until finally, Ylva had punched him directly in the nose, which caused him to bleed.

"Stop going easy on me!" Ylva growled at him as she continued to try to punch him, "Fight back!"

She swung at him and Bjorn ducked, just before punching her in the stomach. Ylva stumbled back and coughed as she clutched her stomach. She gradually began to smile, happy that Bjorn was finally fighting back.

"Took you long enough," She muttered under her breath and as Bjorn went to swing at her again, she ducked.

However, as she stood back up, Bjorn delivered a hard punch to her face. She nearly fell back, but was quick to steady herself as blood streamed from her nose.

She quickly wiped it and Bjorn felt uneasy when he saw the blood. He moved closer to her and grabbed her by the arms, a fearful look on her face. "Ylva! Please, stop. I don't want you to get hurt," He pleaded and Ylva gave him an annoyed look.

"I am not some little girl you need to protect, Bjorn," She snapped at him coldly as she grabbed him by his shirt, "Stop treating me like it! I am a shieldmaiden. I have been fighting men twice my size long before you even picked up your first ax."

Ylva kneed him in the groin area and grabbed him by the arm. Bjorn tried to fight back, but much to his surprise, she had tossed him right to the ground.

She was right when she said she knew better than anyone how to defeat someone twice her size.

Instead of falling to the ground alone, Bjorn grabbed ahold of Ylva and brought her down with him.

Ylva laid on the ground for a short moment as she panted for breath. She looked up, seeing that Bjorn had gotten back to his feet. She extended her arm out and grabbed ahold of his ankle, knocking him to the ground a second time.

Ylva pushed herself off the ground and stood back up. Bjorn did the same and when Ylva tried to grab ahold of him, he punched her in the stomach.

However, she seemed barely affected and took him to the ground with her once more. She laid on her back, panting for breath.

Bjorn climbed on top of her, kneeling between her parted legs with his arms on both sides of her to hold himself up.

Ylva reached up and grabbed his head, causing him to grunt. She grabbed a fist full of his hair and wrapped her legs around him. She growled and Bjorn groaned in pain as he tried to get out of her grip. "Gods, woman, do you ever give up?" He complained to her loudly.

Ylva yelled out and flipped the position, making it so that she was on top. She punched him in the face and Bjorn groaned in pain.

Ylva was on the verge of striking him again, only to freeze when she heard branches crack nearby. Someone was watching them.

Seeing that she was distracted, Bjorn reached up and grabbed her by the shoulder. He flipped the position and punched her, only to have Ylva lift up her foot and kick him in the groin. He groaned in pain and Ylva shoved him off.

She stood back up and Bjorn expected her to attack him again, only to watch as she ran away. He frowned in confusion, not understanding what she was doing.

"Ylva?" He called out as he pushed himself up and off the ground, "Ylva!"

Bjorn quickly rushed to pick up the belt the carried his weapons and the one that carried Ylva's before he followed after her. "Ylva, I'm sorry!" He called after her, despite not knowing what he did, "Ylva, where are you!"

Bjorn ran all around, searching for Ylva. He suddenly stopped, his eyes widening as he found her sitting on a fallen tree. He dropped his weapons to the ground before he made his way over to her.

Her lip was split and her nose was bleeding, but if it came to who was bruised and bloodied the most, it was most definitely Bjorn.

She looked calm, not angry as Bjorn expected her to be after she ran off the same she did.

"Why did you run?" He asked her in concern.

Ylva smiled softly and shook her head. "No reason. I just wanted to see if you'd chase after me," She lied, but Bjorn immediately believed it, not knowing the reason was because she knew someone had been watching them.

Bjorn lifted his hand and placed it on the side of her face.

Ylva's lips parted and she stared up at him. She grabbed his hand, guiding it down to her breast. As Bjorn gave her a questioning look, she nodded at him, which led to Bjorn knowing what she was getting at.

He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the jaw before moving downwards to her neck.

Ylva lightly pushed him back, causing him to give her a questioning look. However, he watched as she stood up and moved closer to him.

She smiled at him. Her lips parted slightly and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She smashed her lips against his, causing Bjorn to smile as well as they began to passionately kiss.

Ylva placed her hands on his lower back, untying the belt he wore before throwing it to the ground.

Slowly, she pulled away and began to untie the belt she wore. She tossed it to the ground and within seconds, she had removed her shirt.

Bjorn glanced downwards before grabbing her by the waist. He pulled her closer to her, her chest colliding with his as they kissed.

Ylva slowly sat down on the ground and Bjorn knelt in front of her. Ylva removed Bjorn's shirt and Bjorn began to untie the strings to her pants as Ylva began to kiss down his chest.

The couple's moans echoed through the woods and from afar, a person unbeknownst to them stood in the woods, spying on them.

____

Hours later, Bjorn and Ylva were still in the woods. Ylva was lying on the ground on her stomach, moaning softly. Bjorn was running his hands along her body as he kissed her back.

"You have lost so much," Bjorn spoke up softly as he referred to all that way going on.

"I have you," Ylva reminded Bjorn as she turned to smile at him, "I have a brother I love very much. And a niece, who believe it or not, I have begun to love as well."

"Will you raise her as your own?" Bjorn asked and Ylva's smile faded as she thought about the prophecy.

"I am only eight years older than her, Bjorn. She's practically the same age as your brother Ubbe. It would not make sense," Ylva told Bjorn, but it was obvious that she was only trying to convince herself.

"She needs a mother, though," He pointed out to her and Ylva sighed in defeat.

"I grew up without a mother. I was fine," Ylva replied, only to have her eyes widen in realization, "She has no one."

Ylva sighed in defeat and Bjorn moved closer to her, looking down at her as she laid on her back. "She needs you, Ylva," He whispered to her and Ylva remained silent for a long moment

"You're right," She admitted softly and slowly shook her head, "But I do not want to talk about it anymore."

Ylva turned and sat up, placing her hands on Bjorn's chest. "I want to do something else," She began to smirk at him, causing Bjorn to look amused as she lightly pushed down on the ground before she climbed on top of him.

"You would think you'd be tired by now," He commented, smiling as he stared up at her.

"Not a chance," Ylva replied and before Bjorn could respond, he was cut off by a groan of pleasure escaping his lips as he felt himself inside her.

___

    It was nightfall by the time Bjorn and Ylva arrived back in Kattegat. However, the moment they arrived, they found the place to be filled with chaos. They learned that Horik's men were attacking Kattegat with the intention of killing Ragnar's family.

They agreed to separate and while Bjorn went to find his father and mother, Ylva went to find her brother.

Soon after, with five warriors loyal to her and her brother, Ylva made her way through, walking side by side with Sihtric. They killed any of Horik's men in their path as they traveled to where Horik's wife and children were staying.

The doors opened and immediately after, Ylva swung at the person in front of her. She killed him and immediately drove her sword in the direction of Gunnhild, who was wearing battle attire.

Gunnhild yelled out as she swung her sword at Ylva, who was quick to duck and slash her ax at her. Gunnhild quickly avoided her form of attack though by jolting back.

Gunnhild swung at Ylva again and her sword deadlocked with Ylva's sword before the younger girl punched Gunnhild in the face.

Gunnhild punched back before Ylva kicked her and tackled her to the ground. While on top of the woman, Ylva punched her twice but before she could do anymore, Gunnhild shoved her off.

Ylva fell straight to the ground and Gunnhild at her, on the verge of killing. However, as she reached Ylva, the younger girl pointed her sword upwards and thrust her blade into the queen without hesitation.

Gunnhild's eyes widened and she fell into a kneel with Ylva's sword sticking out of her.

Ylva stood up and picked up an ax off the ground. She lifted it up and without a second thought, she chopped Gunnhild's head off with one clean swing.

"So much for being a great shieldmaiden," Ylva muttered under her breath as she stared down at the woman's decapitated head.

Ylva turned to Sihtric and the rest of the men, seeing they had been victorious as well. She took a deep breath and walked over to the doorway. She looked inside the room, finding Horik and Gunnhild's younger children inside, looking terrified.

She glanced around and sighed, knowing she didn't have what it took to kill mere children, even if one day they could grow up and try to claim vengeance for their mother that Ylva had killed.

"Ylva," Sihtric called out, causing Ylva to turn to look at her brother, "You should leave now. Earl Ragnar sends for you."

Ylva turned away from the children and sighed, nodding her head in understanding.

____

It wasn't long before Horik entered the Great Hall with his eldest son and some men. He looked ahead, finding a man wearing a hooded cloak to be sitting in the middle of the room with his back facing Horik. "Ragnar Lothbrok," He called out calmly, only to watch as men loyal to Ragnar entered from each doorway.

The hooded man suddenly stood up and turned to face Horik. He removed his cloak and revealed himself to be Torstein, despite Horik believing he was dead.

While the men were distracted, they were attacked from the back and killed almost instantly.

Bjorn, Ylva, Lagertha, and Sihtric entered together, killing most of the men themselves.

Just then, Floki entered and Horik tried to hide his uneasiness. "Floki, you have betrayed the Gods."

"No, King Horik, I only betrayed you," Floki replied calmly as Ragnar entered and walked to stand beside him, "I was always true to the Gods. And Ragnar."

"Ragnar, if you can find it in your heart, spare my son," Horik repleaded in a calm tone and after a moment of silence, Horik threw his shield on the ground.

He began to walk forward and Erlendur tried to follow after him, only to have Sihtric grab ahold of him and placed his knife to the boy's throat.

As Horik began to walk toward Ragnar, Ylva was the first to slash him on the back, following by Lagertha and Bjorn, who stabbed him on the other parts of his body.

Erlendur struggled in Sihtric's grip, wanting nothing more than to help his father.

Torstein stabbed Horik next and by the time he was in front of Ragnar, he had dropped to a kneel.

Floki walked closer to him, placing a hand on the side of Horik's face for a short moment before he walked away.

Just then, Siggy entered and walked to stand beside Ragnar, causing Horik's eyes to widen in shock since he thought Siggy to be on his side, just as he did with Floki.

Siggy lifted up the dagger she held in her hand and held it out to Ragnar. It was the same dagger Horik had tried to convince her to kill Ragnar's sons with that same day.

Ragnar slowly took ahold of it and stared down at Horik with a calm expression.

The group all glanced around before walking out, leaving Ragnar alone with King Horik.

_____

    Upon leaving the Great Hall, Ylva returned to the room where she had killed Gunnhild. She and Bjorn walked into the bedroom that she left the child in. However, the moment she entered, the became shocked by the sight of all of them lying dead on the ground.

She gasped loudly in horror, finding only the servants to be left alive.

"Go," Bjorn insisted and the servants immediately fled while he placed a comforting hand on Ylva's shoulders.

They turned to each other, exchanging an uneasy look. Ylva quickly walked out of the room, only to stop when she locked eyes on a familiar object.

She walked over to it, looking down at the swords of Kings. She took a deep breath and grabbed ahold of the handle. She turned to Bjorn, an uneasy look on her face. "The sword of Kings," She informed him in a soft tone, "It would seem it belongs to your father now."

Bjorn walked closer to Ylva, the two of them looking down at the swords intently. Ragnar was now king. It meant everything around them was about to change.