Chapter 161: Putting out the flames
Chapter 161: Putting out the flames
Seren, who was looking in horror as her house was on fire, felt at that moment great helplessness because she could do absolutely nothing because, like her house, others were being set on fire by the fire stones that had fallen after that great explosion.
“I guess we were lucky that at least it was something material and it won’t take the lives of us, don’t you think so, Viggo?”
Seren’s husband Viggo who was hugging his two children just gave his wife a smile and looked with some sadness at his house that was burning up flames.
“We are very lucky that we were able to get out on time, I think because of the sad sobs that can be heard and the cries for help, we were one of the lucky families who did not suffer too much.
Besides, we don’t have to worry about anything because I’m sure the herald will do something to build a house for us or even rebuild the town … “
Viggo interrupted his words when he could hear Peder scream.
“Let women and children rush to the Great Room while men need to cover their faces and wear ski goggles as ash is extremely dangerous as it accumulates in the lungs and can cause respiratory problems.
And tried not to enter your houses that are on fire because we cannot take care of you because the volcano did a lot of damage in the tribe so keep waiting for orders from the herald and the Jarl outside the great hall.
Let women and children … “
Hearing that the same indications were being repeated, Seren and Viggo cut part of their clothes using a dagger and carefully covered the faces of their two children because they feared that they could suffer some disease due to the ash.
“Seren, I will accompany you to the great hall and await the orders of the herald, therefore I will take the only ski goggles that we have available and that we were able to save.”
Seren nodded and taking one of her children, she prepared to follow her husband who was carrying her other son, while they advanced through the busy streets of the tribe they could see some corpses that had the bad luck of being killed due to the stones of fire that had fallen.
Also in some cases, they could see that on the ground there were corpses of some people which were in such bad condition because most of their bodies were burned, they could suppose that they belonged to the people who had died in their homes and that of somehow their relatives had moved their bodies.
“In all the years we have lived here this is the only time we have suffered so many casualties, fortunately, I can see that the northern part of the tribe does not seem to have a fire, only we and perhaps some parts of the western part of the city were affected.
I suppose that is a blessing among all the misfortune that is happening, I just hope that the losses have not been too much for our tribe the last thing it needs is to lose numerous members due to this disaster.
When they finally reached the great hall, they could see Felipa who was coordinating with Aila a large number of slaves who were carrying some seriously injured people or with foot injuries that prevented them from walking.
Seren without wasting time took her son from her husband’s hands and entered the great hall because she was thinking of helping herself in whatever way she could because she was not thinking of letting her people die without her doing something to prevent it.
Upon entering, she was surprised to see a large number of injured people, but the person who most made her feel a bit of anguish was when she saw her was Elin, who was lying on a wooden table while Juni looked after her by her side.
Approaching with some curiosity, she looked at Juni seriously and she can see that one of her arms was completely bandaged and supported with some boards “Juni, what happened, is there someone who can help me, I’m worried about seeing Elin in that condition.”
Juni thanked Seren’s words of concern and shook her head “Elin suffered an accident when one of the shields that Sven had hanging from the wall fell from the wall, Fortunately, thanks to Odin my arm was close to Elin’s head.
So she did not suffer any damage beyond what Einar called a small trauma, according to what she said it will only take a few hours, perhaps to regain consciousness or even a few days.
Whatever the case, the important thing is that she is still alive and for my part, I only suffered a wound on my shoulder, so Einar decided to put some boards on me to prevent me from moving it.
Well, due to time, I couldn’t completely check myself, so I only put these splints on temporarily to prevent me from moving it and hurting my arm more. “
Seren upon hearing Juni’s words felt calmer “I know you are taking care of Elin, but you would do me a great favor if you can supervise my children a bit because I will go with Felipe to help as much as I can.
I can’t just stand here waiting like a useless woman. If I don’t help, I’ll feel very bad about myself. “
Juni sighed and from one of the bags of her clothes she took out some ski goggles, which she ended up handing to Seren “Take them to me, they will not serve me at the moment since I would be more of a hindrance, also do not worry about I will supervise your children.
That’s the only thing I can do at the moment, by the way, if you see Einar tells him that his mother moved an arm after he left, I think that would bring some peace of mind to the poor man. “
Seren nodded, and she started running outside so she could help Felipa.
While this was happening in the Great Hall, in some houses near the outside of the tribe, Viggo was helping put out a house fire along with other warriors who had been chosen by the herald and the Jarl.
“We have to hurry guys, we still have a lot of houses to shut down the fire in this area before we start for the ones in the interior, and I don’t think you want to be under Goi’s group achievements.
Due to the rumors of some slaves, that Goi has already managed to put out the flames for four houses together with his group, so we have to hurry because we only have two houses with this one. “
Shouted Floki who was carrying some buckets of well water because somehow he did not want to be left behind than his friend.
All the men who were working were throwing water or snow to put out those fires, which, although they were few, could have serious consequences if not controlled quickly.
As they worked longer and the night grew darker due to a large gray cloud covering most of the sky, everyone could see the beautiful but terrifying spectacle that was unfolding on the volcano that had erupted.
Because lightning was formed in that gray cloud while a large amount of magma came out of the volcano that ran along with the entire silhouette of the volcano.
Einar who was seeing all that he can only sigh in silence because somehow he knew that the worst had already happened and that fortunately because they were quite far away they will not become a Pompeii.
Due to the pyroclastic cloud that surely came out of the volcano during the first explosions.
Einar also understood that Iceland was a place of volcanoes and that volcanoes erupted every so often, but he never thought that he could be so close to one of those eruptions.
But somehow he understood that it was not all bad because it already erupted once, it is unlikely that it will be another eruption in the short or medium term.
‘I guess I’ll have to create some protocol so that in these cases there is a safe haven and a protocol that everyone can follow.
But if I am going to be a protocol on how to react to volcanic eruptions, I must also do one against earthquakes and one against tsunamis.
Although it is unlikely that one could occur, this wake-up call cannot be ignored, it only takes an earthquake to strike at sea to create a true disaster.
But now is not the time to regret it, I have to continue helping and coordinating the rescue efforts. ‘
After this, he raised a piece of wood with the help of his father and Eskol, so that one of the warriors who accompanied him would remove the corpse of a woman.
All this was repeated throughout the tribe during the night until at dawn they managed to put out all the fires.
Seeing the death toll piled up in front of him, Einar felt a pain in his chest as 39 people had died and more than 129 were injured.
With visible sadness, he took a torch from his father-in-law Asgot and walked over to the corpses piled up on a wooden bed.
To later light a flame that ended up consuming their bodies, during the small ceremony no one said anything because they felt that their throats could not produce any words.