Chapter 2: In a strange time
Chapter 2: In a strange time
Max woke up in a completely unknown place; he could not distinguish the site due to the almost absolute darkness since the only source of light he could perceive was like a torch that he could see in the distance.
When he tried to approach, a significant barrier stopped him, and he could see how a blue light appeared from the sky, and in it, he could see an old man with a beard carrying Armando in his hands; the fantasy scene made Max wonder if something was wrong with he.
But it was then that he remembered the accident and wondered where his daughter was, with fear; he looked around looking for Erika.
“Erika!
Baby, if you can hear me scream as loud as you can or get closer to my voice.”
For a while, Max screamed in that darkness, but no matter how hard he looked, he could not find any sign of life or any noise; as he walked further, some tears ran down his cheeks.
Due to the darkness and not being able to know how long he had been walking or screaming, there came a time when Max broke completely, opened his hands, and screamed with all his might into the darkness.
“WHAT IS THIS DAMN PLACE? I WANT TO BE WITH MY DAUGHTER.”
After saying these words, the whole place began to shake, and Max could see how the darkness in the distance was being torn apart as if a gigantic transparent creature was biting it, and all it left in its path was grayish darkness.
Seeing the destruction, Max gathered all his courage and began to run until he ended up crashing with the barrier; on the ground, he could clearly see that what was destroying the darkness were largely invisible teeth which he could see because The darkness that they devoured made them have a more visible outline the closer they got to it.
“What the hell!!!”
With no time to lose, he got up and began to hit the barrier with his fists, trying to break it or get into it, but no matter how hard he hit, they seemed to do no damage; fortunately for him, one of his blows caused his hand to begin to bleed causing a strange force pulls inside the barrier.
When he crossed the barrier, the force that had sucked him up made him float towards the sky where he could see the light very similar to the one that had taken Armando; as he rose higher in the sky, he could not contain his tears and cry like a child small while remembering Margaret and Erika.
On the outskirts of a small Nordic village, the screams and noises of weapons clashing could be heard; dozens of warriors were fighting against some Vikings on the beach.
Sven Hermansen, the Jarl, and leader of the defenders of Hagebak, gave a cry as he used his two-handed ax to decapitate the enemy raider in front of him, the headless body then fell to the ground where his blood was washed by the seawater.
A smile formed on Sven’s face as when he killed the enemy in front of him, he realized that his warriors were taking the raiders to a place on the beach away from their Drakkars, so the only option for the Vikings was to surrender or To die.
The battle on the beach continued for a few more minutes until the enemy was cornered in the cold waters of the Atlantic.
Einar Hermansen, the son of Sven, stood in front of the Vikings in front of them and pointed his ax at them.
“Vikings have come to our lands trying to bring destruction, but now as the son of Jarl Sven Hermansen, I offer you two options.
Be slaves of our people or die at sea “
Niels, the leader of the Vikings, looked angrily at the young man who was threatening him “Since you are so sure of your victory, I would like to challenge you to an Einvigi in this place; if you win, my people will be slaves if I win your people will let us out.”
Einar looked at his father, who only nodded his head, so a smile formed on his face. “I accept your duel; Asgot, our Godi, will witness our duel but remember that if your people do not accept defeat, they will be punished to Blodorn.
It is also necessary that your people surrender their weapons. “
Niels observed his companions, and they accepted Einar’s conditions.
After accepting the duel conditions, the Viking survivors gave their weapons to Godi Asgot; they could be sure that they would not be attacked because a duel is something that cannot be violated or they will be disgraced.
Asgot prepared a small spot near the beach for the duel to take place while Sven handed his son a shield and sword.
“Einar remembers that in a duel, there are only two possible outcomes, die or kill.”
After hearing his father’s words, Einar clutched the sword in his hand and walked to his designated place to start the duel.
Asgot, once he looked at Einar and Niels in their places, said the rules of the duel “The duel will end with the death or surrender of any of you, you can only fight in the area designated by the stakes.
If someone leaves the area, they will lose the duel, and a Nidingr will be considered a being worse than a slave; I start the duel “
With Asgot’s words, Einar ran towards Niels and, using his shield as protection, tried to bury his sword in Niels’s neck.
On the other hand, Niels, who had more experience in combat but was tired, used his own shield to resist Einar’s blow and managed to kick him in the left leg; this caused Einar to lose his balance and remain kneeling.
Niels took advantage of this situation to try to cut Einar, before the danger that Einar could feel, he raised his shield and, taking advantage of the uncomfortable position, he buried his sword in Niels’s foot while he could feel how his shield cracked and his hand became numb from the blow by Niels.
Niels, for his part, contained the pain in his foot and tried to re-bury his sword in Einar’s shoulder; this situation was used by Einar to be able to stand up and hit Niels’s chest with his shield.
This movement caused Niels to be pushed back so that Einar had the necessary space to bury his sword in Niels’s chest.
Niels could feel the cold of the metal entering his chest and later the embrace of death, so with his last strength, he took Einar’s shoulder and pushed him where he was, to be able to give him a headbutt.
Einar, confident that his sword had pierced Niels’s heart, was surprised by Niels’ hand who pulled him to get a headbutt, the blow caused Einar to take a few steps back, and he began to lose consciousness.
For a few seconds, the two stood in awkward silence; it wasn’t until Niels fell back that Einar raised his hand, declaring his victory and then fell unconscious on the ground.
Sven showed a severe face, but inside he was happy for his son’s victory; he approached the duel area and carried his son in his arms while looking at his new slaves.
“The duel was completed, and because their leader died with the honor, you can bury him while Eskol will be in charge of supervising them and recovering the loot of their Drakkars.”
The captives were only able to get close to Niels’s body to carry it and take it to the place designated by Eskol to bury it.
After this, Sven proudly brought his son to the home of the herbalist Kassia so that he could tend the wound on his head; along the way, a red-haired woman ran towards Sven while looking at Einar.
“Sven, our son won the Einvigi.”
Sven nodded. “Our son assassinated the Viking leader only that before he died, he hit him on the head, so I plan to take him to Kassia.
Although she is a strange woman, there is no one better in the town who can treat our wounded; she was a great addition to our community that your father made before he died.
Don’t you think so, Elin? “
Elin could only sigh when she remembered her father “The treatment that my father and Kassia made was too extreme, but despite everything, she is a pillar of our community and was the only person with knowledge in healing wounds who decided to accompany us in our exile to this Land of Ice and hot springs. “
When Elin and Sven finished talking, they stood in front of a small log hut that smelled strongly of plants and other substances.