“You all fought valiantly and once again thanks to your efforts; our village remains safe. But yet I fear this new peril is far from over.” Elder Griff’s words whilst short, clearly portrayed his warning well. Not that any of the five present in the meeting hall needed any convincing of the danger they were in.

Before the blood of the dead had even begun to cool, the village elders had rushed to assemble and discuss the recent slaughter. A fact Ragnall greatly appreciated. Given the bodies that lay sprawled across Dunfield's land, now was not the time for inaction.

“They made it clear that they sort our destruction, if a great army has been formed, we are truly in great danger. Perhaps it would be best to send the children away.” The usually silent Elder Tamworth spoke as she tightened her cloak further around her shivering body.

Despite her words being spoken out of concern for the residents and not as an insult, Ragnall couldn’t help but be angered at what those words implied.

That I can no longer protect them.

Even with the blood of his enemies still fresh on his skin, Ragnall couldn’t create any counter to her words, no matter how much he wanted to.

“It is no insult of your abilities Ragnall, you have defended this village for generations, and your oath has never been broken, but you are only one man and one man, cannot defend a settlement alone.”

The words made sense but that didn’t lessen the sting they carried, he could slaughter hundreds of raiders and defend a point until his sword became dull, but he couldn’t be everywhere at once. They could bury him in bodies, drag him away from the boundaries or simply assault the village from all sides.

“You will not be alone here Ragnall, Rich can see my daughter and grandchildren to safety and once the peril is over, they shall return to us.”

“I understand.”

With Ragnall’s agreement made, the remaining elder, Silcar, finally brought himself up from his seat and moved to address the group.

“Arrangements must be made for the children, but first we must discuss our next move, do we fortify the village, make terms with the raiders or send for aid from our king, we need a plan.” With his words spoken, the elder did attempt to slam a jug onto the table before them in some attempt to create a lively discussion but given the state of all present, it did little more than create a quiet thud and chip away at the table's already degrading wood.

“We lack the strength to fortify the village,” Ragnall added first.

What would be the point of fortifying the village if we lack the men to guard it? It was a thought that came easily to Ragnall as did his fear that adding any more wooden defences would just make it easier for the raiders to simply burn them out.

“The King may already be marshalling his forces, but he would not risk his strength on us. Dunstead holds no military significance,” Elder Griff interceded next as his words brought solemn nods of agreement from all who remained at the table.

“Seems our choice is obvious.” With Elder Tamworth’s words left hanging in the air, it seemed the village's decision had been made.

Diplomacy but to what end? Servitude, tribute, perhaps show it would be too costly to conquer us.

It was clear from the silence that Ragnall wasn’t the only one dwelling on their options, but he was the first to rise from his seat and gaze out of the cracked window on the hall's left.

“It is my duty to go, but in doing so, I may simply be dooming us all. But yet I can see no reason why they would accept a meeting within the villager's boundaries.”

“Your absence from the village is a risk we cannot afford, but I still see a way to lure them here. We offer them their dead, for proper burial. Perhaps from there, a truce can be made and if not, you shall be at your strongest.” The elder's words immediately drew the attention of his fellow village leaders and even Ragnall couldn’t think of any plan better than Griff’s.

“It is settled then. We shall write them a message with our offer, perhaps Rich will be kind enough to leave it near where he saw the fires. In the meantime, we must prepare the dead.”

“I shall handle preparing the bodies.” With that, it seemed the meeting was finally over and Ragnall could once again return to his duties. Whilst his new task was of the utmost importance, it was not so urgent that Ragnall couldn’t take the time to wash the blood off his skin and once again lay his weapons to rest.

I wouldn’t be doing my duty if I didn’t check.

Despite having already fought one battle and vanquished his enemies, Ragnall couldn’t prevent the gnawing itch that forced him to turn away from his home and instead walk towards the far wall.

He could resist the urge to do a full search of the village and instead, simply sated himself with scouring the edge of the village and making sure no one had breached the wall during the battle. Despite the muddy condition, Ragnall’s own exhaustion and his body still being on edge from the battle. Ragnall made quick progress towards the wall.

Whilst he had disregarded his usual slow pace, his eyes still managed to scourge every piece of timber that aligned the wall, he would not miss any gaps, he could not afford to.

I am the village’s protector; I will not fail my oath again.

After a handful of tense minutes, Ragnall’s patrol finally brought him to the now completely lifeless sections of Dunstead, the section of village where the plague had been most devastating. It would be an easy place to hide for any intruders and yet Ragnall didn’t search it. He simply did not have the time to search every house, inn and workshop that littered these haunted grounds. And even if he did, the terrible memories that lingered here would be more than enough to quicken any search Ragnall conducted.

Instead, Ragnall simply let his eyes examine the ground for any possible new disturbances and upon finding none, the old warrior simply continued with his patrol.

Thanks to the adrenaline lessening any aching from his joints, Ragnall finished his patrol in much greater time than usual and in accordance with his routine, Ragnall ended his search at the Warsop residence.

After the morning’s events, they must be shaken, has anyone told them yet?

If the task had been neglected, Ragnall was sure they would be scared and on edge. And so Ragnall slowed his steps and made sure to ram the hilt of his sword into his armour as he did so. Its loud clinking was surely a sound the villagers were well accustomed to, and with his added movements, he was confident the villagers would notice his presence and hopefully settle down.

Just to make certain, Ragnall made sure to clearly announce his presence as his gauntlets rattled upon the Warsop’s wooden door.

“It is Ragnall, the raiders have been taken care of, and the elders are working on a plan. How is everything here?”

Just as expected an old frail voice answered him. “We are fine, a little shaken perhaps but fine thank you. How are the others fairing?”

“No injuries on our side but to be safe, it would be best, that we all continue to sleep in the hall tonight. Caution should not be so easily disregarded.”

After receiving a confirmation from those within, Ragnall turned away from the residence, quickly passed the empty houses that still lingered in the centre and moved to enter his own abode.

His armour would need repairing, weapons maintained, and clothes cleaned, but that could wait till another time. He had more urgent tasks to care of first.

If he was going to be preparing the bodies, he would need the freedom of movement being without his armour provided, and so after placing his shield back against the wall, laying his sword down and preparing a set of clean clothes. Ragnall quickly got to work removing his armour and getting changed gear more suited to the task at hand.

It didn’t take him too long to get ready, put on thicker clothes to keep out the worst of the chilly morning air and reattach his sheathed sword, but even so the quicker he got this done and returned to his guard, the better he would feel.

With one last glance at his bloodied shield, Ragnall left his small house and once again rushed to the gate. Thankfully Rich had waited for his return and only once Ragnall had left through the gate, did the archer finally leave his post and likely continue with whatever tasks he had planned for the day.

As much as I need help, the village needs food and firewood more.

The task would be easier with three, but manpower was not a luxury they'd had for a long time.

Thinking on resources they had long lost wasn’t going to help with the task ahead and so after one last glance at the forest in the distance, Ragnall stared at the bodies scattered around him and sighed.