The sun had long set, replaced by the glow of the moon and the leaves of the great tree. And, of course—fire.
It all lit this small village at the edge of the mountain cliff, located above the Iron-wood forest. Right now, it was filled with screams, shouts, cries, blood, sweat, steel, and so many other types of War's chattels.
Inside the walls, the settlement was split east and west by the main path. Stalls and small buildings lined that road, but the true centrepiece was the main hall standing in the village's heart.
Said longhouse, obviously, belonged to the village chief; Halfdan—and by extension, Ragnar as well. It was destroyed now…
Anyway, on both sides of the village, there were a multitude of houses, but very little space in between, so battle instead took place near the walls.
The walls themselves were interestingly placed; there was the main wall, which faced away from the edge of the snowy cliff and was by far the largest and sturdiest. It was semi-circular, going from one end of the cliff to the other with the main gates in the middle.
The other three walls were drastically smaller, their purpose more to keep people in than anyone out. After all, they followed the very edges of the aforementioned cliff, well, east and west wall did, the north wall, the one facing the great tree and the very edge of the cliff; stopped a bit earlier, it is more of a straight line connecting east and west walls.
Two dungeons came through the main wall, but how… don't tell me there was a breach on the north too. Considering all the fighting going on there, it's hard to deny it—but how?
Halfdan pondered while hanging from the mouth of the gigantic black wolf.
Hmm, there is no use in thinking about that now. He concluded.
He fought the great skoll-wolf, punching it again and again as he swung back and forth. The wolf itself couldn't take any more; it stopped, swung as hard as possible and sent the man flying hundreds of meters, all the way from the south wall to the north.
Halfdan landed with some power, sending snow into the air, but he was completely fine; the ground took more damage than he did.
Right away, six fox beasts surrounded him, each up to his hips. But he had no time for them; he raised his hammer, tiny sparks appearing on it, and slammed it into the ground, the impact followed by the lightning crashing from the sky.
All the beasts lay dead after a single strike, and he rushed for the south wall.
Halfway there, he was ready to leap, but the six-eyed fox sneaked up on him, trying to bite into him. He simply raised his left arm and pushed his forearm into its jaws. The beast tried to bite through, but it couldn't even leave a scratch.
Then an electric shock went through the man, and the beast bounced off him, but before it could land, he grabbed it by the fur on its belly, put it on the ground and pushed its snout into its skull.
He then launched himself into the air, across half the village and slammed his massive hammer into the base of Skoll-Wolf's skull. The thunderous hit brought the beast to the ground with little trouble, but the fight was not over.
As soon as the black beast stirred, it snapped at him, trying to swallow him whole, but Halfdan twisted aside and gave it a good fist.
"Ahahahahaha". His deep laugh echoed through the mountains. "Come on, beast, don't tell me that's all."
The wolf shook its head and started growling at the man, but clearly kept its distance for now, circling around slowly.
Then—
An arrow!
It cut out of nowhere and struck his shoulder as he twisted, avoiding what would've been a fatal shot.
The beast pounced at the chance. It tried to bite the huge man again—
—but the hammer fell faster.
The strike cracked, split, and flattened its skull.
"Don't even dare." He growled at the corpse.
He broke the arrow sticking out of his shoulder in half with a grunt. "Damn it… where did this come from?"
His eyes widened.
Footsteps.
Dozens.
And hungry growls rising from the swirling snow.
"Hmmm, so it's you— why?"
"Sorry, Halfdan, we are just trying to survive." A voice came from the white mist.
"I see—" He nodded slowly. "—I don't know who orchestrated this, but their offer must've been damn good for all of you to do this."
"It wasn't so much good as it was the only one we had; we would all be dead otherwise…"
The chief sighed. "I understand—"
"Thank you, chief."
"—however…"
He lifted his leg.
"—your choice was the wrong one."
His foot slammed into the earth.
The snowy mist burst outward.
"—as you will still die today."
No one said another word.
The villagers charged along with the beasts.
And Halfdan did not hesitate to defend his life.
—ᛖᚡᛖᚱᛚᚨᛋᛏᛁᚾᚷ ᚹᚨᚱ× ᚨ ᛋᚨᚷᚨ ᚠᚱᛟᛗ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚾᛟᚱᛏᚺ—
'Crunch. Crunch. Crunch'
The footsteps kept breaking the surface of the frozen snow.
"So this is where you've been, Halfdan?" the man in a green tunic said. He wore a silver helmet shaped like a snake's head. The snake looked angry, and the two stones set for its eyes, though unbelievably beautiful, didn't soften its expression.
His frame was frail, and his hands were big and incredibly smooth. His clothes were patterned and vibrant—untouched by battle.
'A Weakling.'
Many would think. But the aura he carried said otherwise. Worthy of someone who led all the warriors who were walking behind him.
"Kekekeke! So, he is here, you say? Come on, let's jump in; I want a shot at him already," yelled a red-haired warrior behind him.
"Calm down." The royalty spoke. "Give it—" He glanced at the sky, as if looking for a sign. "Five more minutes."
The red-haired man looked at him, bored, but said nothing.
—ᛖᚡᛖᚱᛚᚨᛋᛏᛁᚾᚷ ᚹᚨᚱ× ᚨ ᛋᚨᚷᚨ ᚠᚱᛟᛗ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚾᛟᚱᛏᚺ—
"Hmmm." Egil stared at Ragnar's fallen body. "Don't pretend to be unconscious, scumbag."
Ragnar coughed up a bit of blood and opened his eyes.
"Who are you calling a scumbag? You backstabbing bastard!"
"You," Egil said simply. "Obviously. Who else?"
"Shut it, traitor!" Ragnar leapt up despite the hole in his chest and thrust his spear. "You will die here!"
Egil parried with no issues and kicked him in the stomach.
Ragnar folded with a gasp.
"Pfft. 'I'll die.' How? Who will kill me, Ragnar? You? You can't even fight for more than thirty seconds, you spoiled slob."
He kicked him again.
"Come on, do something."
Ragnar swept Egil's legs and tackled him.
"Yes— me!"
He slammed his fist into Egil's face. Again. And again.
Egil, however, only laughed.
His face got bloody.
His nose broke.
But he continued to laugh.
Then he grew bored.
He reversed their positions and drove an elbow into Ragnar's temple, and Ragnar went limp.
Egil got up, spat on Ragnar's bleeding, unconscious body.
"Bright-born heir with hollow pride,
First to boast, but last to stride.
Two gifts of gods, yet none you bear—
A little piggy, dying unaware."
He sighed deeply, then walked away.
—ᛖᚡᛖᚱᛚᚨᛋᛏᛁᚾᚷ ᚹᚨᚱ× ᚨ ᛋᚨᚷᚨ ᚠᚱᛟᛗ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚾᛟᚱᛏᚺ—
The warriors pushed through the snowy fog.
"There is a body here!" One called out, jumping up and down for others to notice him.
"One here too!" yelled another one kneeling over it.
One more found a body but looked away and placed a hand over his mouth. "There is a… mush of human remains here."
The man with a snake-shaped helmet walked through, hands behinf his back, sword sheeted on his waist. "Hmph. Well, they actually did better than I expected," he said with mild intrigue.
He stopped as soon as he spotted the large man in the middle of it all and waved casually.
"Long time no see!"
Halfdan took a deep breath and turned his head slightly, shaking.
His pupils widened.
"—Sigurd?!"