Taft grabbed the axe he had placed by his side before going to sleep. This was a moment he had been waiting for all his life. It was time to take back what had been stolen from him.
"I have always admired you, Halvar. You're strong and brave. If I didn't hate you so much, I'd have said you are noble too.” Taft swung his axe as he talked, advancing menacingly towards Halvar who turned sideways. "Between you and the wench’s mother, you took everything from me. So now I’m going to kill you and have my revenge.”
In one swift movement, Taft raised his axe and swung wildly at Halvar. But Halvar was experienced in battle and had seen that move too many times to be caught by it. He ducked and swung with his free hand, landing a glancing blow on Taft’s jaw. It only served to enrage Taft, who roared with fury and flew at Halvar. Again, Halvar ducked out of the way.
The men began to gather around, each taking sides. The older women had seen this before and knew that it was likely to turn into full-blown bloodshed.
“We need to stop them,” Olga muttered to Solvi. The two women hurried off, joined by others who were also determined to stop the madness before it robbed them of husbands and fathers.
Quickly gathering hay and animal dung, the women surrounded the men who had by now joined in at the edges of the fight. As Taft raised his axe to swing at Halvar, a woman hurled an armful of hay. It landed on top of him, blinding him and causing him to stop. Another woman did the same to Halvar. The other men found themselves facing an avalanche of hay and animal dung as the women threw it with deadly accuracy.
The fight soon descended into a farce. Each time one of the men tried to wield his axe, he found himself buried beneath a shower of hay and dung. Fighting with weapons became impossible under these circumstances but Taft and Halvar were unwilling to back down. Soon they were wrestling in the mud and the women allowed them to release their anger against each other. Some of the other men were also wrestling as years of personal grievances came boiling out.
Halvar fought like a wounded lion. He wanted to right the wrongs that Taft had caused his beloved. He thought of how the slave raiders had almost taken her from him forever. He shuddered as he thought about how close she had come to being raped. That alone was enough to make his fury boil over. What Eira had suffered was all because of this man and his unreasonable anger towards her!
Taft wanted revenge. He had played second fiddle to other people all his life and he’d had enough. He was tired of having his rights stolen from him by those less deserving. He was tired of living in the shadows of another who was only half the man he was. He was tired of people disagreeing with him at village meetings because he was less important than the clan leader. He would show them.
But finally, Taft was exhausted. He couldn’t move a muscle. Halvar sat on top of him and raised his arms in victory.
“You haven’t heard the end of this matter,” Taft said bitterly, gasping for breath. “You’ll pay for this, Halvar.”
“You’ll never forgive, will you, Taft?” Halvar said, standing up.
“Never,” Taft said vehemently.
Eira watched the fight with horror. This wasn't what she wanted. Despite everything that had happened, she had no desire to see Taft killed or injured. She was dismayed when the other men began to join the fight. She ran to Pallavi. "Stop them!" she begged.
Pallavi looked at her. "We cannot stop them,” she said. “Their anger fuels their resolve. We can only hope that our interference will prevent bloodshed and that their anger dissolves quickly."
Hella was behind the old woman and overheard their conversation. "First, you come into this village as a fugitive, accused of being an evil witch,” she said. “And now, because of you, two men are about to kill each other. Because of you, the peace we have enjoyed for a very long time is about to go crashing down the drain!"
"Stop that at once!" Pallavi shouted, slapping Hella on the shoulder. "It is not the girl's fault!"
"But it is," Eira argued. "It is my fault all of this is happening, and I know how to stop it." She ran off without looking back.
Halvar wanted to show Eira his victory over Taft. He wanted her to see that the man who had betrayed her into slavery was defeated. He had won justice for her. He looked around but she was nowhere to be seen. The fight over, the villagers dispersed to their homes, but Eira was not among them.
Halvar was getting worried. “Eira!" he shouted. The men spread out and looked all over the village but she had vanished.
Two men helped Taft to his feet. His eyes were bloodshot. His rage had dissipated but his pride hadn't. He shrugged off the men and limped away, cursing Halvar as he went.
Halvar was more concerned about Eira's whereabouts. He told his men to keep searching for her but they came back empty-handed. Pallavi limped towards him.
"I saw her leave. I know not where but she left,” she told him.
Halvar was confused. "Why did she leave?"
"Hella told her she was to blame for the trouble. She agreed and then she said she was going to fix the problem. Find her, Halvar, find her."
Halvar nodded and walked back to the longhouse to clean up. In a few minutes, he
