Chapter Seventeen

     The first thing Candy decided she should do in her plan of escape
was to find out what was at her disposal that could be used as a weapon. 
She carefully climbed from the bed, thankful that her clothes had not been
taken while she was unconscious.  She figured Vierig would want the
pleasure of doing that while she was awake to suffer through it.  She
shivered with the notion, then quickly kicked her thoughts back to her
imminent escape.  Boy, was Vierig going to get a surprise!
     Opening his war-chest, Candy first spied a square of colored silk. 
Vierig's ships.  Pulling them out, she counted five, as Kirk has said.  Not
willing to waste any time at the moment, Candy was still not going to miss
this opportunity to take a little revenge on Vierig.  She stuffed the flags into
her pocket for later mutilation.  On the top shelf of the war-chest was a
dagger, its sheath a heavily jeweled masterpiece of overdone, if you asked
Candy.  Still, the knife was sharp.  In an escape, sharp was useful.  She was
about to shove the dagger into another pocket when Dolph's words from the
past came to her loud and clear:  "You must never pull steel on a Viking
warrior."
     Candy dropped the dagger as if it had bitten her.  However, her
stubborn pride recovered quickly and, retrieving the blade from the floor,
she put it into her pocket.
     "I don't consider Vierig much of a warrior.  And even if I did,  I'm
not about to take on a whole camp of Vikings unarmed.  Besides..."
     Candy gave a little giggle as she realized she was arguing with
herself.  Her decision made about the dagger, she turned her attention to the
bottom of the war-chest.  There she found what she had hoped to find -
Vierig's shield.  It took nearly all her strength just to pull it out of the deep
chest.  As heavy as it was, she wondered how she was ever going to pull off
her plan.  Remembering Vierig's face as he slapped her - the anger, the
promise of worse to come - she decided she would find a way.
     Candy wore an expression of fear mixed exactly fifty-fifty with
determination.
     "I can do this."
     She didn't sound convinced even to herself.  She remembered how
Dolph looked when he went into battle, his eyes on fire with the sure
knowledge that he would return triumphant.  Candy raised her head, her
jaw set with stubborn pride.  Her voice growing stronger with each word,
she repeated, "I can do this!  I'm a Viking's woman.  Dolph's woman.  I'm
Star!"
     With that, Candy fell back onto the bed with a heavy sigh.
     "I'm gonna die!"
                       ***
     The six warriors crept stealthily across the dark countryside, seeking
the cover of the sparse trees and bushes whenever possible.  Dolph was at
his most alert and lethal, focusing his acute senses on any sound or
movement, identifying the source, then quietly moving on.  As they neared
the perimeter of Vierig's camp, they dropped to the ground and, using their
knees and elbows, began crawling toward the tents.
     When a sentry neared their position, they all stopped as if of one
mind.  Dolph moved ever so slowly toward the man.  He never knew his
fate was so near at hand until Dolph's fist crashed into the back of his knee,
knocking him to the ground.  Instantly, Felix pounced on him from the
other side, slicing his throat from ear to ear before the man could make a
sound.  Felix rolled the man face down on the ground and they all waited
the few tense seconds that seemed an eternity to see if anyone in the camp
had heard or seen anything.  No alarm was raised.
      With a slight move of his hand, Dolph signaled the others to fan out
and continue the plan which he had outlined earlier in the day while waiting
for sundown:  Vierig's camp was in a prime location, the north boundary
being a mountain and thus pretty much impregnable from that direction. 
Garth the Strong and Ulrich would move to the west end of the enemy
camp.  Once there, they would cause a distraction.  Dolph and Felix would
come into the camp from the south and spirit Star away to the east, as that
was where Vierig's tent was located.  Victor and Rain would take up
positions on the east side of the camp, to guard their backs as they retreated. 
They would regroup at a spot about 2 miles south of Vierig's camp, a small
pond, partially hidden by bushes, that Dolph had chosen as their
rendezvous point.  From there they would return to their own camp.
     Once they had given the others enough time to find their position,
Dolph and Felix stood, threw their arms around each other's shoulders and
let their heads droop together.  Singing, loudly and off-key, a bawdy
drinking song any Viking warrior would recognize, they boldly walked right
into the camp of Vierig the Merciless.
                       ***
     Candy had been listening in disgust to the Vikings outside the tent. 
They were getting very drunk.  She recognized Vierig's voice among them. 
His words were not quite as slurred as the others.  She hoped he's keep
drinking, like the Viking pig he was, so he wouldn't be too together when he
decided to come to bed.  She had heard him boasting about what he
intended to do to her when he retired for the evening.
     "I'll have that white-haired beauty howling before the night ends, on
that you can bet your lives.  She looks well ready to be ridden miles without
rest, don't you think?"
     This was met with guffaws and encouragement that let Candy know
she wouldn't find any help in this camp, not that she had held any delusions
that she might.  Fine!  She could handle this on her own.  As she sat on the
bed, willing herself to relax so that she would be ready when the time came,
she thought about Dolph, hoping he wasn't too worried about her.  Candy
tossed her beautiful mane and snorted, reminding herself of a horse.
     "Poppycock!  I hope he's worried sick about me.  You only worry
about people you really care about.  I'm worried sick about him, and he isn't
even in trouble.  Oh, how much can one man, even a Viking, drink?!"
     Candy sat up suddenly as she heard footsteps near the front of the
tent.  This was it, she was on!  She stood beside the tent door.  Using every
ounce of strength she possessed, she lifted Vierig's battle-shield above her
head.  As that loathsome man stepped foot inside the darkened tent, she
brought the heavy metal weapon down on his head as hard as she could. 
The large black-clad body slumped to the ground at her feet.  Candy let out
a soft squeal of delight.  She hoped she had broken his rotten skull, she
really did!
     She wasted no time waiting for Vierig to come around.  She
planned to sneak out of the tent by crawling out the front door and around
to the back where she hoped no one would see her, or pay any attention if
they did.  Then she could get out of this camp and head back to Dolph's. 
She wasn't exactly positive in which direction Dolph's camp lay, but she'd
cross that bridge when she came to it.  'Or drowned under it,' Candy
thought with a worried frown.
     She was just about out the door when the big lump on the floor
groaned.  She cursed herself, wishing she were meaner, more ruthless.  But
she wasn't.  She was just certain that she was a failure as a Viking's woman. 
Sighing, Candy tried to comfort herself.
     "Ok, so I happen to be a nice person.  This is a sin?  I just have to
be sure the big oaf isn't going to bleed to death before somebody finds him. 
Then, I'm outta here."
     She knelt by his side and rolled the heavy man over from his
stomach onto his back, no small task.
     "I mean, it's not like I hate the guy or anything.  He and Dolph just
have this little disa...Oh, no!"
     She was sure the sight that met her eyes would haunt her for the rest
of her life - which was not a big threat considering the fact that she figured
at this point if she didn't die in Vierig's camp, she would certainly be
murdered when she got back to Dolph's.
     She recognized the face before her, even though it was covered in
some kind of black stuff - not to mention a small trickle of blood on the
forehead - as not that of Vierig the Merciless, her vicious enemy, but that of
her beloved Viking warrior, Dolph.
                       ***
     Dolph woke to find his enemy rolling him onto his back, no doubt
to expose his heart or throat  for a killing blow.  He reacted with his
warrior's training even as his berserker instincts took over.  He brought his
knee up into the enemy's midsection and lifted, throwing him over his head. 
With a roar of near-animal rage, he raised his back off the ground, kicked
out his legs and sprang into the air, drawing his sword as he landed on the
balls of his feet ready to battle the Hounds of Hell.
     Candy wasn't quite sure what had just happened.  One minute she
had been leaning over Dolph's prone, and unconscious, she  thought, body;
the next, she was gasping for breath and playing flying nun over the floor of
the tent, landing face down on the field-bed.  She whispered a quick
"Thank you, Lord!" for the placement of the bed, then turned onto her back
just in time to be scared out of her wits.  Not only was Dolph roaring like a
wounded bear, but he was standing in the middle of the tent with his sword
drawn, looking at her as though he had just discovered she was pregnant by
his best friend and was determined to remedy that situation with a quick
slice and dice.  His eyes were wide open, blazing with some inner hatred,
his beautiful lips pulled back in a snarl.
     Candy gasped at the sudden realization that he wasn't seeing her at
all, that he was doing his Viking berserker thing.  She knew she had to do
something.  She clearly remembered that it had taken several strong men to
pull Dolph off of Belan the last time she'd seen him like this.  As Dolph
bore down on her, his sword arm rising, Candy used the only weapon at her
disposal.
     "Dolph, it's me, Can...I mean, Star."
     'It isn't working, he's still coming.'  Candy was not happy to hear her
mind's voice becoming distressed.  Panic was not good.  'Try again, louder
this time.'
     "Dolph, please don't kill me!"
     Through the haze of rage brought on by the throbbing pain in his
head, Dolph heard his enemy pleading for his worthless life.  The demon
warrior coursing through his blood reveled in the destruction of the enemy. 
And yet...Dolph shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts.
     Candy took heart at that motion.  She must be getting through.  Still,
he hadn't lowered that razor-sharp weapon of his yet.  She better keep
talking.  Not that shutting up was much of an option, as scared as she was. 
She lowered her voice, trying to sooth him.
     "Dolph, I'm sorry I hit you, I thought you were Vierig.  You have to
admit, you didn't give me any warning.  How was I supposed to know it
was you?"
     The big blonde warrior tilted his head from side to side, calmed by
her soft tone.  His lovely emerald eyes closed in a long, slow blink.  When
he opened them again, Candy saw loving recognition glowing in their
depths.  Dolph stepped forward, sheathing his sword at his hip, and swept
her into his arms.  His lips descended onto hers, gently at first.  Then he
released all of the pent-up anger and fear that had gathered in his heart and
soul since he first discovered his Star had been captured.  His mouth
ground against her tender lips, though he maintained enough control to keep
from hurting her...barely.
     Candy had never felt so completely possessed and - Damn the
feminists! - fulfilled in her life.  She had just been rescued from certain
death and her Viking warrior, her warrior, was crushing her ribs and
bruising her lips with his passionate kisses.  This had to be Heaven.  She
returned Dolph's ardor with equal intensity, trying to tell him with her body
what she was feeling.  When he raised his head to look deeply into her eyes,
his voice was rough with emotion.
     "Thank the gods you are safe!  My life would surely have ended if
you had been taken from me."
     "You life, old friend, is most surely near its end."