I call out to Gunhild, who has a shotgun with a bayonet and her own musket on her back, to swap places with Hillevi, and for Hillevi and Raneigh to come with us so that Alith and I can sweep the wing and check that the staff are okay and gather them here. I'll leave sambos with their weapons behind the protection on the mezzanine, but have Ciara and Alith switch weapons. Hillevi leaves one of the handheld modular spotlights on the floor of the mezzanine for my sambos, and she has taken another as a backpack, but she has snapped the headband onto the spotlight and attached it to her helmet so that it lights up in front of her, even though it is currently turned off. It looks so silly, but it will provide a lot of light! I probably should have made a helmet solution for my Midgård headlamp, but I didn't think of doing it, but I have a pump-action rifle with a flashlight. Caecilia rushes up the stairs, half shouting that she's going to fetch bows and arrows from the bodyguards' room, while Kari is busy removing the swords from the wall. Kari and Ciara look very determined, while Jane and Iselin look scared, so I quickly take everyones hand before ordering Bodil, Gunhild and Agnes to stay and guard the entrance and here while we secure the wing and the staff.

We sweep down the corridor as we practised; I'm going to shine my rifles flashlight around the corners and over their heads, but it's hardly necessary with the strong light from Hillevi's helmet lamp, but she'll check some of the rooms. Raneigh and Hillevi go first, and Raneigh, with sword and shield, sweeps into the room while Hillevi blocks the door with her shield and sword and lights the way for Raneigh, while Alith and I check and light the way down the corridor, and Ryla is ready if we are rushed. We first check the alcove under the stairs, which is empty. The large guest room is empty, the window is intact and closed. The small guest room has broken window glass, but no enemies. Jane's room is empty, the window is closed and undamaged. The dark room is, as expected, empty but now secured. Hillevi looks out through the small window in the security door to the wing. In a low voice, she says that someone has lit the oil lamp in the corridor, so someone in the staff was probably awake before the attack. Hillevi looks in the small mirror and say that it looks empty and that the raven's eye above the pavilion door is not lit. We open the door and I, together with Alith and Hillevi, secure and sweep the northern corridor with our firearms. Elvira and Shakini peek out through the door crack from their room. No light shines from the raven above the wing's outer door facing the courtyard.

"This is Robert with bodyguards! Stay where you are while we secure the area! We're coming to you! Wait where you are! We're coming to you!"

Raneigh and Alith rush in and sweep the workshop and its attic. Frida shouts from the attic that they are okay, no windows are broken, and they are waiting for us. Raneigh and Alith come out and say that it is safe with no signs of intrusion. Alith has taken the second pump-action rifle and the bag with its tanks, and dumps the bag with extra pressure tanks by the door before verifying that the pump-action rifle is loaded and ready. I take a full tank and replace the used one in my bag. The bands that show full-used was an excellent idea! Shakini and Elvira, who are still watching us, come right over when I gesture to them, and Elvira hugs me tightly while she cries. Neither Shakini nor Elvira wants to leave the bodyguards' vicinity, but I tell them there is a heavy hammer, sledgehammer, an axe and other tools-weapons in my workshop that they can arm themselves with. The siren in the village clock tower has probably stopped sounding, so we should probably activate it again, but it might be a good idea to save it in case there is another attack. We don't know where the fleeing enemy has gone or if they are still waiting in the darkness outside. There may be more of them than we saw who have regrouped. There could be a major attack coming.

We gather at the intersection of the corridors. The pavilion door is verified as locked. So we sweep room by room. Jalida and Skirlaug are in the maids' bedroom, and they are guided to the others behind us. Ida and Hrappr are hiding in the staff room. Undamaged window. Hrappr has a knife and a saucepan lid as an improvised shield, while Ida has a frying pan in one hand and a fireplace poker in the other. Why didn't they take knives and other things from the kitchen? We send them to the others behind us, and even though Hrappr wants to help, I order him to protect the female staff. I can see enemies hiding against the walls facing the day room and the entrance on the other side of the small patio, but it would be foolish to try to shoot through the window, which is intact. And it's a security window that can't be opened.

Rikvi rushes towards us when we open the kitchen door, but Raneigh just pushes her against the wall with her shield while Alith sweeps around. I pull Rikvi around us and back to the other staff standing by the wing door who are waving at her to come to them, and she rushes over. They hold each other and check that they are okay. The small courtyard lantern in the kitchen window seems to have been hit by something, the window is damaged and the glass is broken, and the lantern has been knocked away from the window. The enemy probably didn't even suspect that the arc lamps would suddenly turn on and be much stronger. Alith points the courtyard lantern back with the tip of her bayonet. She quickly looks out around the window frame and gestures that she sees many enemies, while Raneigh checks the kitchen pantry and signals that the window is undamaged. Alith leans out and pushes the double-barrelled shotgun barrels out through the broken window, aims and fires two shots, and the shouting outside intensifies. She gets a good shooting angle towards the front door and the patio from there. She puts down the shotgun and pulls out the pump-action rifle, firing shot after shot after shot as the screaming outside grows louder. She pumps between shots because I haven't installed a semi-automatic mechanism in this prototype. The smell of black powder from the flintlock begins to fill the room. Firing such weapons indoors is not a pleasant experience, and most of the noise and smoke has been outside. Pump-action rifles have definite advantages in close quarters combat, and even more so with their suppressors!

We return to the corridor and Alith has already changed the magazine in the pump-action rifle and comments on how much she loves the pump-action rifle, especially in semi-automatic mode, and she removes the flashlight from the double shotgun and leaves it with the staff. Apparently, she was shooting in Power 3 mode because she was afraid of over-penetrating into the house, which is surprisingly clear thinking on her part, and she was also shooting lighter 15 gram bullets. I don't think it made much difference to the enemy she was shooting at, and those bastards deserve to have a bad morning. Rikvi stands with a meat cleaver, Shakini has a lighter sledgehammer and Hrappr has the axe, and Elvira is loading the crossbow. I remind Elvira to point the crossbow downwards and keep the safety on until just before firing. We methodically verify that the bathrooms, sauna, laundry room, toilet, and wings main door are secure. Raneigh goes upstairs and secures the attic. Hillevi guards the basement stairs and the window facing the courtyard while Alith and I stand ready with our rifles.

Frida, Soma, Birna and Gisela comes hurrying down, and I calm them down, give each of them a hug and point to the others further away, whom they quickly join. Soma rushes towards the improvised weapon that Shakini offers them. Gisela stops, takes a few steps back and gives me a kiss on the lips as she says something in Frigonese, and she looks embarrassed as she runs after the others. I have no idea what she said, and I wasn't expecting that! It completely takes me out of the seriousness of the situation, and Alith, who has seen it, snorts and says with a smile:

"Sixth. The question is: shield maiden, sambo, or both?"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I just shake my head; it feels good that we can joke a bit amid the seriousness and chaos. It bothers me that I don't even have a clue what she said. So much for the lessons in East Frigonese. Maybe it was High Frigonese? Whatever. Raneigh returns from the attic and continues down to the basement with Hillevi, and I follow behind as backup lighting from the door below the stairs while Alith keeps watch out the courtyard window above the stairs. Hillevi's headlamp really lights up! Raneigh and Hillevi return after a couple of minutes and inform me that everything is secured. No enemies. The basement door is secured. The boiler room is secured. All exterior doors are secured. Thrymheim is secured. I ask Raneigh to take rope, and she also takes two axes.

We take the better outdoor shoes and clothing for the staff that is hanging by the door to them, then pull back and gather everyone in the large hall, on the mezzanine and on the second-floor balcony. I just take a quick look around Jane's room and bring her the most suitable shoes and clothes, and I discreetly send Hillevi and Alith to quickly check the secret rooms, both under the stairs and from the library. I feel better now that I know everyone is okay and we have gathered in a more defensible place. More weapons have been fetched from the bodyguards' bedrooms. Everyone is scared, but the enemies haven't gotten in. However, the screams of pain from outside hardly makes the situation feel secure. I'm still running on adrenaline and anger, and I'm not alone. I want to go out and hunt enemies, check out how things are outside and gather survivors. Secure enemies for interrogation. Someone is responsible! Someone needs to learn that actions have consequences!

I check Bodil's injury, and it was an arrow that bounced off the iron bars on the window and hit Bodil, but the arrow didn't penetrate deep or get stuck. She is bleeding, but it's not too deep, and the others say she will be okay. Iselin has put some white moss over the wound and tied a bandage to hold it in place. White moss is antiseptic and can absorb large amounts of fluid and blood, and the first aid kit has proven useful. Nicely applied bandage too.

My sambos and I stay on the mezzanine and keep watch. The others are completely behind cover, but I'm just sitting there on the steps waiting, half in cover with the barrel pointed down at the floor so I can quickly aim and shoot, with Ciara beside me. Ciara seems calm and focused, even though she is sitting completely exposed with the shotgun in her hands. She is sitting completely exposed because if someone rushes towards us, she wants to be able to protect me with her body as a last resort. Ryla is sitting diagonally below me and Ciara, with her sai ready to protect us all. All weapons are ready, but firearms are aimed at the floor or ceiling, and all sambos except Jane are armed in some way with something larger than a knife, although Jane have my bow beside her. Jane crawls up to my side and holds me, well protected behind the mounted wooden panels. She wants to hold my hand, but say to keep both hands on my rifle - ready to shoot.

I ask Elvira to fetch my work lamp from the office and place it here on the stairs, shining towards the entrance – so that it dazzles a little and illuminates any enemy without us having to drain the battery in the handheld modular spotlight. I ask Caecilia to fetch more clothes for us, and ask her to fetch my hiking boots as well. Shakini and Agnes hurry up to the attic to reset the siren in case we need it again, because Thrymheim's siren cannot be triggered several times in a row.

The last wooden panel has been taken from the bodyguards' bedroom and placed against the windows closest to the greenhouse to reduce the threat from there, and similar with a shield. I haven't done the renovation to add the planned wooden panels here under the floor, so we don't have any more. Frida has a box with caltrops on the balcony, which she is ready to throw down here in front of the stairs if the bodyguards or I shout 'caltrops'. Hillevi, Gunhild, Raneigh and Alith are ready to sweep the courtyard. Gunhild has a double-barrelled shotgun with a bayonet and a flashlight attached. Alith has a pump-action rifles with a flashlight, and Hrappr joins them with an axe and rope. Raneigh now also has a helmet spotlight, just like Hillevi. Hillevi really loves the spotlight.

Bodil stands by the inner doors between the entrance and the great hall, ready to protect us with spear and shield. We have loaded the bronze cannon, but it is far too dangerous to have someone standing ready to pull the trigger. The cannon's pan isn't loaded and the hammer is not properly cocked. It can be done quickly if necessary, and only if the inner doors are attacked.

Bodil signals to Alith that the inner doors are locked. So the bodyguards open the outer door, whose raven light no longer glows red, and conduct a methodical search outside. Two search while two stay by the door ready to support or retreat. They shout to each other. Many enemies are dead. Some are very close to death. Those who refuse to give up or are not worth capturing as they will not survive their injuries are stabbed to death. Some who are more or less injured - or in shock - give up or are successfully disarmed. They are tied up and left lying on the cold, frozen ground.

Through the windows behind us, we can see that it is starting to get light outside. It is also starting to get really cold in here with so many windows broken and the wind whistling in. I tell everyone to put on more clothes and close the doors to the rooms with broken windows. Shakini and Elvira fetch more warm clothes for the maids after I send Agnes with them for safety. I tell Ida to fetch pieces of cloth to blindfold the prisoners so they cannot see, and gag them so they cannot speak, and she rushes after Agnes and the others. Gisela joins Jalida and takes a broom and begins to carefully sweep away the worst of the broken glass in the entrance hall and the guards day room. We will collect the glass so I can melt it down and reuse it, because that's the best way to dispose of glass. Everyone has put on more outer clothing and proper outdoor shoes.

There are shouts outside as a large group of workers led by Pedr and Heimir come along the road from the village, and the sailors led by Asta appear from the east with weapons and lanterns. Both groups are fine and have not seen any enemies coming their way, or on the way here. They were awakened by gunshots and heard sirens. They heard shouting and screams. Gunhild shouts that we are safe in the manor, but the enemies fled towards the strait. Hillevi reports that they have five wounded prisoners and nine dead. Alith saw at least three fled towards their ship, and a prisoner said their ship is moored at the jetty in the strait between the islands. Asta comes running in and checks that we are okay. A group of workers appears with Elin from the guest house, and she hurries to join us.

On Alith's orders, the workers stay in three large groups, one of which thoroughly search around Thrymheim and protects us, while two groups accompany the sailors to help and inform residents and check for other enemies, and Gunhild accompanies the sailors with a double shotgun and a spotlight.

Ida comes in with another armful of weapons and armour from the enemy and places them here in the empty fireplace, and we hear shots echoing and faint cries from outside. I guess they've found someone. Raneigh and Bodil make sure the prisoners don't try anything, and they have help from the workers. The prisoners are left lying on the cold ground, and Hrappr has tied their mouths and blindfolded them. Ida kicked a couple of them in the crotch before Bodil made her stop.

Lifa comes running with two others, and out of breath shouts that the enemy is trying to escape with a longship in the strait, but they can't row properly and the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, so the longship is stuck in the strait, bobbing around. The ship has slowly begun to drift towards the other island. At least two people on board are shooting arrows. We can't let them reach land and try to take prisoners, kill people or escape. I quickly talk to Alith and, as the best marksmen, we take our hunting rifles on our backs and pump action rifles in our hands. Ryla and Raneigh come with us, and Raneigh has her shield, sword and spear. Both are my close protection, ordered by Alith to protect me with their lives, and that my life is more important than anything else. Lifa says that she too will give her life in my defence, and takes one of the enemy's swords and borrows a shield. We follow her out into the dawn darkness and hear the front door lock behind us.

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