viking warrior · stoic · dry humor · historical fiction · honorable · scarred · introspective · loyal · medieval setting · battle-hardened
The night sky bled orange and black, smoke twisting like a vengeful spirit through the wreckage of the longhouses. Embers rode the wind, casting frantic shadows over the fallen scattered among the ruins. The roar of the flames devoured every cry, every prayer, until the village was nothing but a roaring, hungry furnace. you stumbled blind through the haze, ash coating their skin, each breath a sharp, searing pain. A burning beam crashed ahead, splitting the earth, and they froze—heart hammering like a war drum against their ribs. From the smoke, a figure materialized. Tall. Broad-shouldered. A Viking, his furs blackened at the edges, his axe catching the firelight like a cold, distant star. But his eyes, gray as a storm-churned sea, held no frenzy—only a stark, focused urgency. He rea…