In the Year of the Snake, by the sixth moon, I was captured by Akung raiders carried by Viking ships to raid our coasts. I don't know why, but it was said that the Akung ate its prisoners. It is said that the Akung, a terrible, fierce horde from the East, raped and pillaged across the known lands - the Ottoman Empire fell, as did the Turkestani, Germania, Europa, Frankland, and Scotia. It is said that the Akung laid siege to Filistia for 2 years until that great city fell. It is said that the entire population was enslaved and eaten, that the Akung did terrible things to them.
I had a lot to think about, trapped in a cart lined with hay, pulled by a team of donkeys. I was hungry, scared and exhausted. I had just turned 18 and like most boys from Briton, I was thin and pale. The Akung were dark and muscular and towered over us. They had long dark hair like horses' manes. They were all tattooed on their arms and chests. They wore armor of metal and chains. They carried giant bloodstained axes and also these wood and metal firesticks that made their enemies explode in pieces of blood and bone. The Viking who captured us had blonde hair and stood like mythical, Thor.
In the cart, there was my friend, Aaron. He too was 18 but Aaron was an athlete so he had a sturdy, muscular body. A girl from the Hestlands sat in the hay, crying quietly. A man from Eire with bright red hair also sat silently, his lips trembling. I worried that I was the skinny person in the cart. Maybe the Akung would spare me, maybe I'd be the first to die.
After what must have been three days travel, we arrived at a huge city of tents. The cart was pulled toward a blue and gold tent, larger than most. We were pulled out of the cart and made to kneel in our chained ankles and our wrists bound behind our backs.
Suddenly, emerging from the tent was a giant, fearsome Akung lord. He stood 7 feet tall and had the body of Hercules with tattoos of dragons across his chest. He wore a loincloth of chain metal made of gold and silver. Walking with him was a woman who's race I had never seen before. She had long black hair and wore shiny blue robes decorated with gold snakes and birds. She was an older woman, maybe in her late 30s, and probably stood only 5 feet tall. And unlike the Akung men standing around us wearing warrior's sandals, she wore slippers of blue and gold. She was a witch, I thought. A beautiful exotic witch from another realm.
The Viking warrior who captured us walked over to the Akung lord and they shook hands and laughed. They spoke in a language alien to me but they pointed at us and laughed.
The woman surprised me by speaking in Latin, translating for us, "You unfortunates, you prisoners of the Khan. Bow your head in respect."
We all bowed.
The Akung lord laughed and pointed to the Hestlands girl. He said a few words and a couple of his warriors dragged her away, crying and screaming.
"She is too young," the woman said, "she has been sent to the stockades to grow. In a couple months, she may yet served our Khan."
The Akung lord then pointed to the boy from Eire. One of his warriors ran up to him, and in the blink of an eye, the warrior had pulled a dagger and cut off the boy's clothes. He knelt there naked and trembling. The warrior squeezed his arms and poked his belly. The Akung lord spoke and pointed to his right.
"That man shall be fed to the Opal platoon. Take him away!" the woman translated.
He screamed as they dragged him off.
My legs were trembling. I tried to control my bowels as I felt I was going to pee myself. It was just Aaron and I now kneeling in front of the Akung warriors.
The Akung Lord asked the Viking warrior some questions. Then they looked at the woman who addressed us, "Are you two both from Briton?"
"Yes, my queen," Aaron said. He pointed to me, "My friend, Nico, and I are both Britons from the village of Tember."