The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Gyda
by Elaine Pascale

It was after she had beaten up every boy in her village that Bridgette learned she was descended from Harald Brunoson, the most powerful chieftain in their history. 

The boys had earned their pummels. They had been hurtful, as they were with all the girls, as their fathers were with all the women. This bad treatment had been the norm for as long as Bridgette could remember. 

When not treating the women poorly, the men recounted sagas of Harald. They told of his mighty axe that was lined with razor sharp teeth that pulled the skin off anyone it met. Harald had been buried with his axe and Bridgette vowed to retrieve it.

They told her quests were not for females. They tried to lock her inside her home, to pin her with responsibilities.

“I will enact my revenge,” she thought as she fought everyone off and started her trek.

At the top of the mountain, she shouted at Harald’s grave. A light spun from the ground. Twisting, it turned into a woman who was cloaked in armor but had a face that would melt the heart of any man. 

“I thought you were my forefather, Harald,” Bridgette said.

“I am Gyda; there is no Harald.” The woman flashed her razor-sharp teeth. “And I am the axe.” She pointed to the other graves. “We are all weapons. These legends the men tell are lies.” She clapped and tall, strong women rose from the dirt. 

“Let us enact our revenge,” Gyda ordered. She and the other women turned back into lights that pounced on the village as it slept.

The men who had been so hurtful were now hurt themselves in ways that were both indescribable and too horrible to be told in the sagas.

Fiction © Copyright Elaine Pascale
Image courtesy of Pixaby.com

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