Standing upon the ridge that overlooked the battle plain, Herleif watched as his warriors gathered to stand against the high walls of the volcano fortress, ready to begin their first assault against the city. Perhaps it was to be their last as well. Every one of them was a true drengr, a fighter to the end. There was no doubt in his mind that whatever happened today, the Valkyries of Odin would usher a full army of the slain to Valhalla to fight and drink until the twilight of the gods. Standing with him were Skuld and Helge, both grim and silent as they watched on, yet enduring in their resilience before such a dangerous task.
Enemies in front, brave warriors at his back, and Bilrost banners flying high in the morning breeze. What more could a Warlord ask for at the dawn of battle?
Only not everything was as glorious as it appeared. At the word of his new king, the fate of him and all his warriors might come to a swift and disastrous end. It was like an unseen chain weighing heavy upon all their necks. They had been commanded to succeed where others had failed or die trying themselves. It was not the sort of heroic death worthy of entering Valhalla.
Right now, Herleif's only hope, his only option, was to overcome the enemy defenses by any means necessary. Silently he prayed to the gods that whatever offense he had given to lose his position as jarl, that today he would find their favor once again through acts of cunning, guile, and sheer boldness.
If there was ever a time to be bold, leading his warriors on a near suicide mission was it.
The sound of beating drums and the crunching of heavy wheels on dirt caught his attention, and Herleif looked to see the new battering ram being pushed up through the camp. It was a large, cumbersome machine of war, the simplicity in its design matched only by how shoddy it looked after being constructed so quickly. The thick trunk of a felled tree hung suspended from the mobile frame, hammered through with spokes that acted as handholds on each side. The roof of tanned hide and strong shields from the first ram had been replaced with the makeshift woodwork of whatever could be grabbed the quickest. Discarded crates and chests torn apart for their planks, shattered shields taken from the fallen in the days prior, and there were even old helmets flattened out and hammered into the patchwork defense to fill in the gaps.
All in all, it was a far cry from the mighty siege engine used at Svengard by the Blackstone Legion years ago during Apollyon's war. Herleif could only shake his head in disappointment, but there was one thing about the sight of that second-rate door opener that still sparked a feeling of pride in his heart. Twelve warriors pushed the ram along, six on each side. His warriors, the Berserkers under his command, grizzled and filled with the Allfather's fury even after a night of digging. Ragna and Ragnar pushed the ram from the front, muscles straining, and teeth gritted from the effort, but their fierce eyes were fixed on the city gates that remained closed to them across the plain. The destroyed and charred remains of the last ram still lay scattered before the gate, a stark reminder of the terrible weapon that awaited them once they got in close. Still the Berserkers pushed the ram forward with Herleif's army gathered around it, ready to do whatever they must to gain entrance to the city. Marching boots stamped down the dry earth as metal chainmail clinked, and gleaming spears and polished helmets shone in the crisp light ushering in the dawn. It was as mighty a host as ever raised from the hold of Bilrost, and for the trepidation in Herleif's heart of the inferno they were about to step into, he was undoubtedly proud to lead them.
Unsheathing his sword, Herleif held it aloft so that it shined in the morning sun, signaling to all who looked to him. Horns sounded the call, bringing the ram and the following horde to a halt, the air falling silent as they stood at the edge of the plain across from the Walled City. No sooner had they stopped, then the preaching of Osric Ead began.
"Thou shall not suffer the heathen to live!" called the high priest from the city's tallest tower. His voice was like booming thunder in the sky, a sound made even more imposing by a sudden rumble from the volcano itself. Dark smoke billowed from the mountain's peak, casting the city in shadow against the rising sun, as if to lay claim to its worshipers within. "By the power of God on Earth, thou shall smite thine enemies with the flames of righteousness! Thou shall fight! Fight! Fight, for the punishment of non-believers shall be dealt to them in Hellfire and damnation!"
"Speak your hollow words while you still have a tongue, snake," Helge hissed quietly, glaring up at the distant tower.
Herleif set his jaw and ground his teeth as he listened. By the time this day was over, he would be feasting with his ancestors in the halls of Valhalla, or that dammed priest's head would be thrown from the balcony, with his body falling shortly after. Dozens of dark helmets poked above the wall ramparts, an army of volcano worshipers ready to rain death upon them with arrows and the smaller fire weapons. Going against them was madness, but there were no other options left. He needed the enemy's attention for the plan to work.
"It must work," he muttered to himself. Trapped at the cusp of an attack he wasn't sure he could win, he almost hoped that the walls would simply burst into pieces just from the sheer tension he felt in the air. "Odin, hear me. Even if you curse me as a coward, even if you leave me with no lands to call my own... give me this fight. If this is the day on which the Norns have set my fate to end, then let it be an end worthy of remembrance. Hear me Allfather, and I shall sow such death among my enemies as no other Einherjar among your hall has ever done before. Give me this battle or go hang yourself again until the great wolf comes to swallow you whole."
High overhead the flash of quick movement made him look up, catching sight of two black feathered ravens flying overhead. They each let out a sharp cry, wings beating as they flew away from the dark smoke of the volcano and towards the golden rays of dawn. Herleif watched as they went, turning as the ravens flew over the camp behind him and off into the distance. They disappeared first into two little black dots in the sky, and then into nothing at all. It was then that he spotted Erik's great tent towering among the camp, and the man himself watching from afar. It didn't surprise him to see Erik placed well away and safe from where the fighting would be, or by the fact that he was sitting on his golden thrown under guard of his son, champion and húskarl. Drinking from an ornate horn, the jarl turned king waited patiently for the attack to begin, simply watching in judgment from his position of total authority.
"Ignore him," came Skuld's hard voice, shaking Herleif from his trance simply with the rarity of that sound. How she seemed to know his inner thoughts was a mystery, but he was not about to question the ways of a Valkyrie when this could very well be the day where he met his death. Her eyes shifted over to meet him, cold and blue like sea spray on a gray morning, piercing into him like the wind. "We follow you."
"The promise of blood has been made," Helge said next, head turned up to the sky and eyes closed as if listening to something no one else could hear. She drew forth her curved knife and hatchet from her belt, squeezing them tight as she opened her gaze off towards the Walled City again, and let a grim smile spread across her lips. "Now it will be a promise fulfilled."
"No," Herleif said quickly, voice stern to hold back the rolling wave of fury building around him. "We hold. Right now, we hold, for as long as we need to."
He knew that his warriors were ready. He knew that the gods were watching. He knew that Erik was ready to sacrifice him at any point for his own personal gain. None of that mattered. For now, King Erik Golden-Shield would have to wait a little while longer to claim his prize. Everything depended on the Lion Flame now, and Herleif would give them all the time he could spare. He just hoped they pulled through before they all discovered the true limits of Erik's patience.
Glancing around at the warriors with him, he looked past Skuld and Helge for the one person he expected at his side but was nowhere to be found. "Where in the nine realms is Gunnar?"
Priscilla moved quickly beside Coal through the camp, following behind the rest of their legion towards the tent covering the tunnel to the city. Judith led them, the crippled eagle perched upon her helmet turning this way and that as she kept an eye out for any unwanted attention. The Bilrost warriors were more or less fine with the presence of armed Knights walking among them by now, but things with the Headhunter and Sea Eagle clans were still less than friendly. However, most of everyone's attention was on the impending attack, so the only northmen left in this area were the wounded or the slaves left to tend to them.
It was with a bit of a shock that Priscilla felt a strong hand fall on her shoulder as she walked, making her jump and grab for her weapons. She had nearly gotten her sword from its sheath before she turned and saw Gunnar smiling down at her. "What are you doing here?"
Gunnar kept his hand on her shoulder as he spoke. "I'm here to help. And keep you on your toes, it seems. I would have thought it much harder to sneak up on a Peacekeeper, but you make it look easy."
"I guess you caught me on an off day," Priscilla grumbled, slipping from his grasp, and heading after the other Knights. "Why are you here? You should be with your brother at the walls."
Gunnar quickly followed her, slapping a hand on Coal's back in greeting as the Conqueror did the same to him. "I told you, I'm my own man. Herleif and I agreed on that a long time ago. So long as I never stand on the field of battle against any warriors of Bilrost then I am free to fight where I wish. He will be fine."
"Well, good for him," Priscilla grumbled, wondering how that little arrangement factored into Gunnar keeping life threatening secrets from his brother, but she didn't press the issue as they came upon the tent at the edge of the camp.
Marcelo stood there holding the tent flap open, saluting Judith, and handing her a torch from a small brazier before she dipped her head and entered. He greeted the Knights that followed and handed out a few more torches, but when he saw Gunnar among the group, he seemed less than enthused, taking a quick look about as if fearful of any sight of a certain pair of Berserkers and a mischievous Shaman that may be lurking nearby. Gunnar simply smiled and thumped Marcelo as he stepped inside, making the young Warden flinch and rattle in his armor.
Everyone was quiet as they entered the tent, and no one took any pause before climbing down into the darkness of the tunnel. They all knew what they had to do, and what was at stake if they failed. The wrath of Erik Golden-shield hung over them like the headsman's axe, but there was a very good chance that none of them would even survive to face him if the battle went poorly. Things began to feel even more tense as the remnants of the once great legion made their way down below the earth, metal armor clinking in the gloom. Coal and Gunnar both had to walk stooped over and shoulders hunched, grumbling each time their helmets knocked the tunnel ceiling to shower them in dirt. Priscilla suffered no such issue as she went.
It could be a strange feeling, traveling in secrecy while armies gathered to face each other just nearby. Priscilla could see in the way her fellow Knights moved that they were rather uncomfortable with the task that they had been given, sneaking when they should have been fighting. They were far more used to the feeling of standing on the front line of a battlefield, with the power of entire legions at their backs. No one said anything, no one complained, but she could tell they would rather be under the open sky right now where their battle cries could be carried up to the Lord and all his angels in Heaven above. She was much more suited to sneaking behind enemy lines herself, acting as a well-aimed knife in warfare rather than a wildly swung axe or brutal mace. Slipping underneath enemy lines while an entire other army stood over her head though, that was a new experience even for her.
"Halt," came Judith's order from on ahead, bringing the clanking and rattling of armor to an end. "Take positions." Immediately everyone moved into the alcoves that had been dug along each side of the tunnel, climbing up onto the piles of displaced dirt and hunkering down behind shields or against the roughly carved walls. Only Judith and two other soldiers remained in the tunnel which stopped abruptly not too far ahead. The soldiers pulled out the crate of Wu Lin bombs from the nearest alcove, picking out one each and carefully taking it to the end of the tunnel. Instead of placing the bombs at the last place Herleif's Berserkers had been digging, they put the fire weapons into small holes dug into the ceiling and laid out lines for the fuse as they made their way back. Judith now stood alone with torch in hand, looking like a demonic statue of metal skin and red cloth in the flickering light. Then she turned to address them all.
"I will be the first to admit, this was not how I imagined things would go. None of it," she said, voice strong and brave beneath her helmet. "When I thought of us coming back from the brink of defeat, coming back to rescue our people and our homeland while our own leaders were too weak to do so, I imagined a battle of glorious victory under the shining sun and the very eyes of God. Yet as it so often seems of late, the will of God does not deem it so."
"Typical," Priscilla muttered, if only to herself than anyone else.
Judith began to walk back up the tunnel, holding up her torch to light up the Knights clustered in each alcove as she went. "It is not our place to question what designs God has for all of our lives, but what we can do is give the best of ourselves towards whatever purpose he has set us towards. Today, whether it is up on the battlefield or below in this tunnel, we can still give all we have for our one true purpose, our one true goal. Whether under the watchful eyes of Heaven, or dwelling within the very darkness of Hell, we can still fight." Several Knights and soldiers beat their fists upon their armor and shields, giving encouraging nods of approval as Judith passed by with her glowing torch, illuminating the darkness as a beacon of hope and pride. "We fight! We breach the walls from beneath, fight our way to the gatehouse and destroy that Devil-spawned weapon once and for all!" Cheers rang up this time, and as Judith made it to the alcove with Priscilla and Coal crouched inside, she paused a moment to find Gunnar there as well. "Then our northern friends above will have a clear shot at breaking down the gate without fear of feeling Hell's fire scorching their hairy hides before it is their time."
Gunnar scowled at her from the shadows but said nothing as he gripped his great axe tight with both hands and squeezed, until Judith finally turned and headed back down the tunnel. "I will pray to the Spear God on this day," he growled softly. "I hold no faith in a god that turns his back on war."
"It is more often than not the absolution that comes afterward that people care about," Priscilla said.
"I don't care if you pray to a hundred gods or your own damn hands," grumbled Coal, "just make sure you put that axe to good use when we get up there."
Judith approached the two fuses with her torch, holding it away from her for one last remark. "We rise from below like demons to slay those traitors that have taken everything from us. Then let us fight like demons and turn fire against those who would claim to be its master." Lowering the torch, she held it to the ends of each fuse until they became lit and began to spark. She turned on the spot, throwing down her light and ducking into the nearest alcove further down the tunnel. Everyone took cover, hiding the best they could while the sound of sparks flying towards each bomb echoed through the tunnel.
Priscilla ducked in next to Coal, both huddled behind his shield as Gunnar hugged his great arms around them both. "This better work," she said.
Coal stiffened, head shifting ever so slightly to look at her. "Wait, you mean it might not?" he asked her.
Then the bombs ignited like the blasting trumpets of the angels ushering in judgment day.
"Did you hear that?" Herleif asked as the faint boom faded into nothing. Looking up to the city ramparts he feared that the noise would have alerted the enemy into action, but from what he could see there was no movement other than a few patrolling officers.
Helge took a step forward, head turning quickly between Herleif and the city. "Is it done? Do we go?"
Herleif continued to watch the walls, waiting, hoping. If there was any sign that Judith and her Knights had made it inside the city, he couldn't see it. "No, not yet." Helge spat out a curse, turning on her heel and starting to pace back and forth like a stalking predator. There was nothing else to do but to wait. The gathered army shifted in uncertainty at their lack of purpose, but Herleif could not commit them to the attack until he knew the gate house was dealt with. Until then there was no hope of success.
Everything went still until a knock from Skuld's shield stole back his attention. She nodded behind them, and Herleif's heart sunk like a stone as he saw Ivar coming towards him with the skull-capped Raider called Njal in toe. Herleif growled low in his throat, scowling at the rival jarl. "I asked for a battle," he said privately to the Allfather, "not some pissing contest."
"What's the fucking hold up?" Ivar called out as he approached, yellow teeth bared as he came up the ridge. "Eh? What's the matter? Your britches too heavy from shitting yourself to move? You stand here, watching the walls like an idiot child and now Erik has me coming down here to knock some sense into you. Show you how a real man fights a war."
Behind Herleif's warriors stood Ivar's horde of rabid dogs. They were dressed and armed for battle, covered in their skulls and red painted leather as if they were already splattered with the enemy's blood, but they held no formation or position to join the attack. In fact, many of them were milling about their tents, or still fixing breakfast over their campfires, prepared to simply spectate the attack rather than take part in it. Ivar had been true to his word, it seemed. His warriors would have no part in this suicidal charge. After days of getting nowhere against those high walls and being devastated by the Pyre's fire weapon, Ivar had finally grown enough sense to finally know when not to run headlong into the fight. Although Herleif had a sneaking suspicion that if he did succeed then Ivar and his Headhunters would show no such delay in taking part in the looting.
"Ivar, I have neither the patience nor the desire to trade insults with you!" Herleif exclaimed. "Go back and sit on your ass with Erik. Drink his wine and gorge yourself on his food. I hold you to no oath that would place you at my side today."
Ivar came to stand next to him, squinting across at the city walls. "You say that, but evidently you are confused on what exactly is supposed to occur here. Now, you have all of your shit-brained warriors gathered here, gawking like open mouthed babes just waiting for their mother's tit as they stare at the enemy fortress way over there." He pointed as if Herleif might miss the sprawling city set into the mountain side before them. "Your job, as a man who supposedly has a pair of fucking balls between his legs, is to take your warriors over her and march them all the way the fuck over there, then you start attacking until you get us inside. Is any of this making sense to you?"
Setting his jaw, Herleif squeezed his fingers around the grip of his sword, willing himself to stay focused at the task at hand rather than let Ivar get under his skin. "We will attack on my order. That is my final word."
A small chuckled came from Ivar's lips, shoulders jumping as he crossed his arms across his chest. "If you say so, Herleif. If you say so. Just stand here growing roots in the ground, too fucking scared to move. I won't stop you. Guess I just couldn't resist coming here to see if you really had it in you to pull off this farce after all. Be a real hero with a saga worth telling and get us inside that damned fortress." His dark eyes shifted over to Herleif and gave only the barest hint of a grim smile in his dark beard. "But I suppose you're still just the nithing piss-drinker I always knew you to be."
Herleif looked at Ivar sideways. Of all the people to test his patience, it was always a struggle when dealing with Ivar. How could he ever consider this man to be his brother? Every moment that passed waiting on this ridge was like a knife being twisted in Herleif's side, and having Ivar here as well was just adding insult to injury. There was a limit to how much of this he could take, surely there was; but for the sake of the plan, for the sake of Judith and her Knights, he needed to hold out a little longer.
He was ready to see the world burn for all Erik and Ivar had put him through, but for now there was no other choice but to wait.
Everything was dark and there was dust choking her lungs, but at least that meant Priscilla was still alive. Without really thinking she rushed forward from the alcove, feeling Coal and Gunnar moving next to her in the tunnel. There was a high-pitched ringing in her ears from the blast, but through it she heard the faint call of Judith shouting at them all with a valiant cry.
"Forward!"
Priscilla rushed ahead and immediately tripped over some rubble. Strong hands caught her arms and kept her upright, and through the hazy gloom she began to see the veiled shapes of helmets and armor in the lingering dust. That only meant one thing, light. It was becoming clearer now, the hole blasted into the fortress above, and the aftermath of broken stone clogging the tunnel as the legion moved forward as one towards the newly made entrance. It was like the gates of Heaven itself had opened above them, or perhaps more aptly the gates of Hell to let them escape from below.
A ladder had been brought forward to provide access up through the hole, propping it against the fallen rubble and up through the opening overhead. It was a miracle that it hadn't been destroyed in the blast. The first of many miracles hopefully.
Coal hit the ladder before her, scrambling upward after the Knight before him. Priscilla went next, hearing Gunnar's panting breaths come after as they each pulled themselves up one rung at a time. There was no telling what lay above, how many Pyre Knights might be waiting to cut them down as they appeared out of the ground. She heard shouting in the space above, but it was still muffled as her ears rang. Coal was up and out, sliding his shield onto his arm and pulling his flail from his belt, then he was out of sight and Priscilla was next to go up.
She held her breath, ready to duck or to run, to get to a place of safety and free her blades from their scabbards and get into the fight. Gripping the last rung of the ladder she pulled herself up, moving into the storeroom within the cities outer wall…and that was it.
"Go! Go! Up the ladder!" cried Judith from across the room.
Priscilla looked to see the commander ushering everyone up yet another ladder to a room above. They had come up just one level short of the fight it seemed, but at least there was less dust to choke on here. The room was a mess after the blast, with broken stone and shattered crates and weapons scattered all around.
"Dammit, dammit, dammit." Willing herself forward, Priscilla took one step and slid off something hard and slippery. Looking down she saw what she first took for broken stone was a dented helmet dripping with blood from the head crushed within. Another glance around revealed more bodies under the rubble, Pyre Knights caught unaware by the explosion from below.
Gunnar came up behind her, with more still coming after him. "Let's go!" he urged, seeing no enemies around and therefore no reason to stay put. He was already holding his axe, a hard frown cut clear into his dusty beard, no doubt displeased from the lack of bloodshed so far. Together they moved for the next ladder, following Coal, and leading the way for the Knights who followed them, passing by Judith as she continued to shout her commands, and then up, up the next ladder, up into the room above, and it was there she heard the clashing of steel and yells of violence coming clear as day from above.
Up the second ladder she went, now into chaos and death unbound.
Ivar looked up into the sky and squinted towards the sun as it slipped behind the dark cloud plumes of the volcano. "What a waste of a fucking day." he sighed.
Herleif scowled as he looked over the restless horde of his warriors. They had suffered much already without ever having a chance at participating in the siege, but at least they were alive. He could see their impatience in the way they shuffled and looked around. On more than one occasion he caught a warrior looking his way, seeking guidance. It pained him to know that he was the cause of their misfortune, their inability to fight as they wanted. He was the one holding them back, robbing them of their chance to fight for honor and glory, to fight for a death worthy of entering Valhalla.
Even here, so far away from the homeland, it was just more of the same. The jarl who was too weak to take his warriors raiding. The Warlord who was too much of a coward to find his death in battle. There was no end to it.
Back home his family was waiting for him. A wife who he had made a promise to, his sons and his daughter waving from the docks as his ship sailed into the sound. They called to him, called him to come home.
But was it a call he could ever truly answer?
"What happens here today, it has nothing to do with you. You have chosen to remain behind with your warriors. I was never given the choice," he said to Ivar over his shoulder.
Ivar shrugged. "It's one thing to have a good death in battle. Quite another to go out screaming like a little girl in a puff of smoke and flame. One way or another though, that's exactly what will happen when you go against that gate."
It angered Herleif to think that his warriors might die at the whims of a tyrant while bastards like Ivar got to live on. There was no glory in a death like this, and it certainly wasn't fair, but it was the fate they had been dealt. "My warriors have lost enough already. I will not rob them of the glorious death they are owed as well by marching them to a pitiful end."
"Are you so sure?" Ivar asked smoothly, glancing back at the camp with a little nod of his head. "A pitiful end might just be all you get out of this fucking deal with your new king."
Herleif followed his gaze, and felt his stomach drop as he spotted Old Wolf marching up the ridge with claymore in hand and the bulk of Erik's warriors gathering behind him. The Old Highlander had a deeply creased frown set into his white beard, but his aggravation didn't seem directed towards the well-fortified walls across the battle plain. No, those grim eyes were looking at only Herleif. Further back at the extravagant tent, Erik had risen up from his seat, glaring with a burning anger that could still be felt over the entire breadth of the camp.
Like a ship sailing home across the sea, it seemed that Herleif was finally nearing the limits of Erik's patience by stalling, and time was not on his side.
Ivar grinned. "Right now, I'd say your greatest concern is not having Erik's lap dog come up here and march over your corpses to the gates. You made a promise to Erik, and now he will see it delivered."
"A promise of blood," Herleif said softly, feeling his stomach twist into knots. "The enemy's, or mine."
Ivar took a step closer, head bowed slightly as if they were sharing some sort of precious secret. "I don't know what you were thinking by offering yourself up like a lamb for the slaughter, but it seems either way you turn there is still a blade at your back." Herleif stiffened, glancing over to Helge, and from the suspicion in the Shaman's eyes the words of her prophecy just spoken again had not been missed. He turned back to look at Old Wolf, the army of glittering spears and helmets behind him, and the smug-looking Golden Jarl sitting easily in his high seat beyond. "It would seem that you're out of options," Ivar continued, "I must say, I'm a bit surprised. I always did think you were a fool, Herleif, but never this much of a fool. Unless…" His dark eyes narrowed beneath the brow of his tri-horned helmet, "...you aren't acting so foolish as you fucking look. What have you got planned here, eh? Don't forget, I know you. I know what a home sick bastard you truly are, and you're not one to just leap feet first into the jaws of death just because some coward sitting on his polished ass told you to. What fucking game are you playing at?"
Herleif closed his eyes and took in a breath, nodding gently as he gripped his sword and shield and turned to look back towards the Walled City. It seemed that all his planning had been for nothing. He would lead his warriors to their doom against the cursed fire of the enemy, or he would hold them back only to be cut down by their own heartless kin. Perhaps the gods truly had abandoned him now.
"You are right, Ivar, I have always been a fool, thinking I could trust men as vicious as dogs and as greedy as a slithering dragon. The road of our fate is no longer in our hands, it seems, and now we will march and die at the whims of a mad man. I can only guess that this is what I get for listening to my goat-brained brother. This is the fate I have been dealt." Stalking away towards the ram, he beat his sword against his shield boss and called out in a triumphant voice as if he were the true king of this army and not its puppet leader. "Warriors of Bilrost! Prepare for battle!"
The echo of his voice was drowned beneath the sound of horns splitting the air, and Herleif's warriors quickly readied themselves for the march. They stamped the butt of their spears against the ground or knocked their swords and axes against their shields to draw up the thunderous sound of Thor's hammer. A bestial cry of adulation rang up from the Berserkers at the ram, having stayed motionless far too long for their liking. With deep laboring grunts they set their shoulders and pushed with their bestial strength, the great wheels turning with a dull groan. As one they began to move, the horde marching in tightly packed ranks along either side of the lumbering ram, with Herleif, Skuld and Helge following just behind the war machine.
"What are you doing? Attacking that gate is certain death!" came Ivar's hoarse shout over the growing clamor. "You're mad, Herleif! You're fucking mad!"
Herleif ignored him, keeping his gaze fixed upon the Walled City looming ahead. He knew that if he looked back, he would only see Erik's army waiting to move in if he tried to stall. There was no turning back now, but strangely that realization didn't bother him as much as it should have. He had made his choices, as foolish or as well meaning as they were, and now he would live with the consequences. To be a Warlord meant living in service to his people for life, and so if he must die fighting with them side by side not as a Jarl or a King, but as a warrior proud and true, he would consider it a life well spent. In the end his family would simply have to keep the memory of the man he had been close to their hearts and be content.
The ram moved quickly pushed on by Ragnar, Ragna and the rest of the Berserkers. Soon dark feathered arrows began to fall from above, loosed from the ramparts to rain death upon the attacking northmen. Shields were raised to block the incoming fire, but the screams of those hit soon rang out into the air as Pyre arrows found the gaps. Still, they marched on knowing that a few falling arrows was nothing compared the true power of the Divine Pyre that still awaited them. Even now the doors high above the gate were being pushed open, revealing the wicked bronze eagle within. It slowly rolled outward under the shadow of Mount Ignis, like a beast emerging from its dark lair, ready to lay waste to yet another ram as it got closer.
A small part of Herleif still held out hope that such a terrible fate would not come to pass. Looking up towards the ramparts again he could see some of the dark armored Pyre Knights rushing towards the gatehouse now, making his heart skip a beat. Something was happening up there, high above their heads, but he could not be sure of what.
The hissing sound of the inner workings of the fire weapon quickly rose over the marching feet, and suddenly flames erupted from the eagle's mouth, scorching the ground before the gate, faster than ever. The approaching horde quickly stopped in surprise, only to realize that the flames had landed far in front of their line, striking nothing but dirt and open ground. Herleif had never seen the weapon fired so quickly before. It had missed the ram entirely, spouting fire before its advance rather than waiting until it was just below the eagle's open beak.
Flames danced upon dirt, catching where normal fire would have never burned. The Pyre's magic was as strong as ever it seemed, creating a wall of fire now to protect the gate along with the weapon itself above. But still, it was odd for the Pyre not to go for the kill as they usually did, and the ram pushed by the Berserkers was only getting closer while the weapon surely needed time to be fired again.
"They panicked," he said to himself in amazement. The gatehouse was under attack and the Pyre fired before they were ready. The plan was working.
Gripping his sword and knocking the blade against his trusty shield, Herleif let out a mighty roar of challenge as he led his warriors closer to the gates. "Onward, drengir of the north! For glory! For the gods! For Bilrost! Onward!"
Priscilla ducked and deflected the Pyre Warden's sword as it slashed down at her, coming up again clear of the blade and thrusting her dagger into the woman's side. The Warden let out a cry of pain as she stumbled forward. Her misery was quickly ended however, as Gunnar slammed down his axe and split both the woman's helmet and head clean in two. There was no time to rest though, as they fought to eliminate what Pyre Knights remained in the gatehouse as quickly as possible.
"Keep fighting!" came Judith's voice over the clamor of clashing blades and screeching armor. The floor was slick with blood and cluttered with more than a few bodies already. While the Vikings outside took their time marching outside the walls, the Lion Flame were in a fight for their lives.
"They are trying to fire the weapon again!" called Judith again, striking one assailant with the haft of her sword, and shoving another with her shoulder before cutting them down. The Pyre Knights were trying to create a defensive barrier between the the Lion Flame and the engineers manning the fire weapon. Even over all the screams and shouts, the telltale hissing of the weapon could be heard slowly rising in the room.
Priscilla did her best to try and push her way forward, but only met shields and armor blocking her advance. She cut at someone's legs and stabbed at their gut, hearing their scream as they fell, but as soon as enough space to slip by was made, another Pyre Knight stepped in to cut her off. "Coal! Clear us a path!" she shouted in frustration.
"On it!" said Coal. Pressing himself back against his companions, Coal left just enough room to entice one of the Pyre Knights to come after him. Their reward was a swift punch of Coal's shield and being soundly shoved backwards to create a gap in the enemy line. Coal didn't hesitate to press forward, blocking with his shield and bludgeoning with his flail, Priscilla and Gunnar following at his heels. A quick swipe of Gunnar's axe saw an enemy soldier brought to their knees with their jaw cut open and another nearly beheaded with one powerful strike, giving room for more of the Lion Flame soldiers to move in and turn the tide against the Pyre forces in the gatehouse.
Priscilla kept low, slashing at legs and feet where she could, but through the pressing crowd she saw the gray light of the sky through the weapon's gatehouse portal and new that she was close. Stabbing her dagger between the dark armored plates of a Pyre soldier, she tried to push him aside and take another step forward but gasped as a gauntleted hand grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her backwards. Her breath left her as she tried to turn and stab at her assailant's arm, but only scraped against black metal. She caught the glimpse of merciless eyes through the soldier's helmet, just before Coal's flail was skillfully wrapped around his neck, spiked head smacking him in the face. The soldier was yanked off his feet, with the crack of Coal's shield to their neck going almost unheard beneath the clashing of weapons and armor. Priscilla didn't stop to count her blessings once she was free, as experience had taught her that there was never time for that. Launching herself towards the weapon, she slammed into the one figure who had both of their hands on a polished wooden lever. She didn't know what that lever did, whether it would fire the weapon, or simply adjust its trajectory, or perhaps if it was the lever that would shoot nicely scented flowers from the eagle's mouth instead of all consuming fire, but none of that mattered right now. All that mattered was stopping the weapon and securing the gatehouse for Herleif and the others below.
Her sword slid easily into the soldier's side as she came at him, eliciting a pained grunt that caused his entire body to stiffen. A stab of her dagger to the neck and a slam of the head down upon the sturdy metal tube of the weapon's body ensured that the lever would never be pulled again, whatever function it served. "Secure the weapon!" she cried as the rest of her legion handled the few remaining Pyre Knights in the room.
At one end of the gatehouse Marcelo was valiantly defending the entrance along with several Lion Flame soldiers. "There are more trying to get in from the walls!" he called out, narrowly sidestepping the thrust of a spear, and stabbing his assailant over their shield.
"Good! My axe has only begun to feast on Ashfeld blood!" smiled Gunnar as he quickly stepped forward to reinforce the defenders and keep the encroaching Pyre Knights at bay, pushing his way right to the front of the fight.
"Normally I would harbor a strong resentment towards that statement," Marcelo said, grabbing hold of another spear and hauling the person on the other end into the fray, just for Gunnar to split them open shoulder to belly with his axe, "but given the circumstances, I'm willing to look past it!" He thrust his longsword at another Pyre soldier, but a tall black armored Lawbringer appeared above the enemy ranks and stabbed downward with the pike of his poleaxe, striking the sharpened point against Marcelo's helmet.
Gunnar let out a roar of fury as he jumped and stabbed back at the Pyre Lawbringer with the end of his axe, giving no thought and showing no fear towards the dozens of spears and swords cutting at his un-armored form. Blood began to run freely from the cuts and wounds that bit into him, but there was only the black-armored giant as his Raider's fury took hold. In a wild frenzy Gunnar struck at the Lawbringer's helmet again and again, forcing them back before swinging his great axe around and taking his foe's head clean from their shoulders. "Marcelo!" he roared, grabbing the young Warden, and taking him back from the fighting. "You'll not see your damned paradise today! Get up boy!"
Marcelo gave a groan as he shook his head but was able to stand on his own two feet as Gunnar supported him. "I'm alright," he said, tracing his gloved fingers along the long gash struck across his helmet. "I'm not out of this fight yet, God willing. We need to get this entrance closed off."
"The doors, you fools!" cried Judith from across the room, pointing at the heavy doors tied back on their hinges on each side of the entrance to the outer wall. Nearby Coal and a few other soldiers were already working on closing the doors on their side while Lion Flame Lawbringers kept the Pyre at bay with their deadly poleaxes. "Save the glory for later and get those doors shut!"
"Yes Commander!" Marcelo shouted back, stumbling once on shaky legs as he moved to carry out his orders.
Gunnar didn't bother to acknowledge Judith's authority as he rushed back towards the fighting. "I'll hold them off!" he snarled, throwing himself forward and devastating the Pyre line with one great sweep of his axe. Blood flowed off the edge of the blade as the enemy screamed and fell, only for more to fall on top of them as Gunnar fought with all the brutality and strength of a mighty bear.
"The Commander said to get the doors, you crazy bastard!" Marcelo called after the bloodthirsty Raider. He and the other soldiers had the large doors unbound and were pushing them closed, slowly working them forward on old hinges as Gunnar continued to hold the attacking Pyre Knights at bay, and with no one to stop them the gap between the doors was closing fast. "Get in! We've almost got it!" Marcelo called again, but there was no answer from Gunnar as he hacked and chopped at one foe after another. He was lost to his battle fury, howling like a beast, stepping over bodies and bloody stones as he began to push the enemy back from the closing doors. "Gunnar!"
"I got him!" Coal swiftly leapt through the shrinking gap and out after Gunnar, grabbing him by a leather pauldron and pulling him backwards. "Come on big man! This is no time to die like an animal!" Gunnar tried to shove away and strike at yet another black armored figure that came at them, but Coal held firm as he bodily forced his northern companion back into the gatehouse, just as Marcelo and the others slammed the doors closed.
"Lock them up!" Judith ordered. A solid heavy crossbar was set across the door to keep it from opening again, and a moment later the Pyre Knights outside on the walls began to hack and bang their weapons against them to try and break their way in.
Priscilla drew her dagger across the throat of the last Pyre soldier to be guarding the weapon, spilling his life's blood before he fell with the rest and clearing the gatehouse completely. The marching and shouting outside became a dull, muffled drone as everything went quiet within. The air was filled with a haze of dust and the smell of blood, and Priscilla felt like she could finally take a breath as she stood before the great weapon that had been the sum of all their fears. It was much larger than the ones used on the Pyre triremes at Eitrivatnen, but it had multiple smaller tanks for its foul alchemical solution instead of just one large vat. On closer inspection it seemed that it could be rotated and elevated to varying degrees within its housing inside the gatehouse, giving it a greater range for attack. Priscilla shuddered at the idea that the Divine Pyre might have ever been able to create a mobile version of this weapon, carting it around from one battlefield or siege to another, devastating all in their path with their terrible fire. There may not have been any stopping them at that point, which made her ultimate goal here all the more troubling to bear.
"We have little time," said Judith as she moved through the room, stepping carefully over the fallen bodies. "How many did we lose?"
Marcelo knelt over a Lion Flame soldier that had been speared through the gut, gently placing their sword over their chest. "Six. There will be nothing left of us by the end of this," he said bitterly.
"It could have been seven," Priscilla added, glaring at Gunnar from under her hood and helmet as he approached covered head to toe in bloody cuts. "What were you thinking going out there like that? Without armor no less. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Gunnar frowned down at her as he leaned with both hands against his axe for support, panting hard but still not clear of the battle frenzy just yet. "Valhalla calls to me, woman, whether I owe you my life or not. When the Valkyries come for me, try not to chase them away with your tiny little knives."
Priscilla felt a hot spark of anger flash up inside her. "You have no idea what you owe me, you fucking barbarian," she snarled angrily. She had spared his life once already under some poor delusion that he was actually worth having around, and she would not watch him throw his life away now just to fall prey to some sense of pain over a longing that wasn't even real. It could never be real.
Coal glanced between them, feeling the tension grow hotter than the Pyre's uncanny fire, and quickly gave Gunnar a brotherly shove on his shoulder to try and break the mood. "I'd say you owe me a drink after that little stunt. How's that for a debt?" For a moment Gunnar looked as if he wouldn't relent, but he soon relaxed and gave Coal an appreciative nod and a smirk. Priscilla hardly felt any better for it though.
"Enough," snapped Judith stepping past them as the crate of Wu Lin explosives was just being brought up the ladder from the floor below. "Focus. Get these bombs set before the Pyre break down the doors and kill us all. We must finish this before the Vikings reach the gate."
They worked as quickly as they could, placing bombs around the weapon. There were only five bombs left in total, but each had enough power to blow a small hole into a mountain. Each was set with a firing line stretching out over the floor as close as possible to the ladder, tied into a fist sized knot at the end to connect them. "Isn't this a lot of fire power to blow up even more fire power?" Coal asked as he tied a line to the last bomb.
"We take no chances," Priscilla said. "As long as this weapon is operable then Herleif stands no chance down below." Her gaze shifted over towards Gunnar who stood facing the besieged doors, but the way his shoulders stiffened at the mention of his brother did not go unmissed.
Marcelo gave a dutiful look over the firing lines, then a much more frightful turn towards the shaking doors as another hard slam rattled the hinges. "Everything is set Commander," he said, saluting.
Judith gave an affirming nod, then began waving her legion back towards the ladder. "Pull back. I want everyone out of the room before we light this thing." The soldiers moved quickly, leaving their dead and scrambling back down the ladder to the lower level. Marcelo and Coal did as commanded without a look back, but Gunnar seemed to regard the pounding against the doors with some sense of regretful longing before heading down, no doubt wishing to stay and fight within a room full of undying fire like some mythic figure out of a song.
Priscilla lingered however, stepping up to Judith just as she was retrieving some flint stones from her pocket. "With respect Commander, I would like to request the honor."
Judith paused, cupping the flint in her hand as if weighing them against Priscilla's request. "Feel like you have something to prove?" she asked.
Silence lingered between them, despite the incessant pounding of the Divine Pyre trying to break inside. There was a sharp splintering of wood, with shards clattering to the floor as an axe put a slim hole in the door. Priscilla regarded the way that the dust hung in the light for a moment before speaking. "No. More a sense of absolution that I am after."
Judith looked back at her, fingers closing around the flint. "As are we all," she said, then handed over the pieces before turning and heading down the ladder.
Priscilla didn't wait to watch her go before she knelt and began striking the two pieces together to make a spark. She supposed in the grand scheme of things it didn't matter who struck the flame, as everything would burn in the end, and unless the Pyre suddenly had weapons that dispensed water, there was nothing they could do to stop it. She just wanted the satisfaction of destroying one of these weapons herself before handing the formula over to Beaufort. Surely that would help her sleep a bit better at night, assuming she survived this whole thing.
Another strike and a spark lit up on the knot of tangled firing lines, the dazzling lights racing their way up to each bomb like rabbits running from a hawk. Priscilla dropped the flint and ran, sliding her legs down the opening to the lower level just as the doors to the gatehouse began to crack and break. The last thing she saw before nearly falling her way down the ladder were dark armored figures tripping over themselves to get in, and the spark of the lines nearly reaching the bombs.
She hoped the Divine Pyre enjoyed the feeling of being blown into a hundred burning bits. It seemed like something they deserved to enjoy.
"Priscilla, let's go!"
The shout from Gunnar still standing in the lower room nearly sent Priscilla's heart jumping into her throat. "What the fuck are you still doing here?" she hissed at him as soon as her feet hit the broken stone beneath her.
"I wasn't going to leave you behind," he said, that familiar frown set into his beard, only this time it didn't seem angry or upset. Everything from his wide set shoulders and puffed out chest to the stern way he looked at her from within that horned helmet, seemed utterly determined to see her safely from the fortress before the bombs went off. That, or he would die trying.
It was that exact thought that ran swiftly through her mind as she looked back at him. Here, alone in this small broken room. It could just be as she said, a warrior lost in battle, just like so many others before him. "You waited?" she asked in disbelief as she tottered on a loose stone. "Why?"
He could be just another dead body on another bloody battlefield, lost among a sea of corpses. No one would ever know. The palm of her hand slid against the pommel of her dagger ever so slightly
Gunnar blinked, all his hard bravado and grim determination melting away as his frown changed into an awkward smile right before her eyes. "You know why."
She knew, and that scared her more than ever. He knew too much, it had to be done. It would be utterly stupid of her to leave him alive. Strangely though, despite every part of her screaming to just get it done, the idea of going through all this without him scared her even more.
Priscilla moved her hand away from her dagger and reached out for him instead as she took a step closer. "You big idiot," she chided, his own hand held out for her to take, fingers almost touching as she stepped carefully over the rubble. "Come on, we need to- Ah!" Her scream was cut short when she hit the ground hard, knocked forward by something heavy landing on top of her. She heard Gunnar cry out in rage even through the pain in her head, followed swiftly by the clash of weapons just above her. Pushing herself up off the ground, she was already drawing her dagger when she saw a small dark figure ducking and sliding within the swings of Gunnar's axe, slicing at his bare chest with their own dagger and sword of black steel.
Another Peacekeeper, a sister turned traitor, come down the ladder to bring them both to a swift end before they could flee. In that tight space Gunnar's great axe was next to useless, and the Peacekeeper used that to her full advantage as she first slashed at his forearm and then cut at his side. Gunnar stumbled back with an angry roar, fighting through the pain, and swiping at the woman with the barbed end of his axe. She ducked before it could hit, springing forward on her toes with her sword outstretched to take Gunnar in the gut.
"No!" Priscilla screamed, jumping up and hurling herself at the other Peacekeeper with all strength. Their bodies collided, Priscilla bringing one arm up and around the woman's neck, the other driving her dagger into their side. There was a sharp breath, a pained cry of metal piercing flesh.
Then the world exploded for the second time that day.
Priscilla lost sight of the woman right in front of her. She lost sight of Gunnar just at her side. She had lost sight of everything, along with all sound and any sense of what was real and what was a nightmare. She was just lost.
The ground hit her hard again, knocking the wind from her lungs. She could feel her dagger still gripped in her hands, and then immediately after the rain of sharp rock and cutting dust scraping over her armor. The roar in her head was deafening, terrible and unrelenting. Next came the heat. She couldn't see the fire, but she could feel it. She could feel everything, every stone, every cut, every cold wave of nauseating numbness that washed over her in that moment. She felt the one strong hand that gripped her by her arm and moved her away, somewhere. Somewhere that wasn't the avalanche of rock and fire falling around her like a tomb. Somewhere down, down, down, where the rumble of beasts and demons chased after her like vicious hounds after the scent of blood.
"Priscilla!" Gunnar's voice was faint and far away, but the urgency in its tone was clear. "Priscilla! Wake up!"
Her senses returned with the rush of surfacing from deep water, and the sharp ringing in her head became separate from the rumbling roar in her ears. "Gu-nnar?" They were moving but she couldn't feel her feet against the ground, and she quickly realized that he was carrying her through the tunnel. It took an effort, but she got her legs moving and pulled free of his grasp. There was a weak light ahead of them from the tunnel exit far away, but from the shaking crash still rumbling at their heels it was clear that they weren't free from danger yet. Dirt and rock flew up around them, lashing at their running feet as the tunnel caved in behind them.
"Come on! We can make it!" Priscilla cried desperately, trying not to choke on the dust as she panted for breath. She kept her head low of the fracturing ceiling, but behind her Gunnar had more trouble running with bent legs and hunched back to fit through the low passage. "Keep going!"
Gunnar tried to keep up with her, but a large chunk of falling earth hit him like a punch, making him stumble and waste precious time as he fell to a knee. "Go!" he cried, nearly disappearing into the dark even as he tried to run. "Just go!"
The defeat in his faint voice turned Priscilla's heart to ice. She turned on the spot, fully intent on grabbing him and hauling his heavy northern hide straight out of the tunnel if she had to, only to receive a hard slam of Gunnar's hand to her chest sending her tumbling backwards. The last she saw of him was the shine of his eyes falling into blackness as the tunnel swallowed him whole. Priscilla fell back onto her ass barely clear of the heavy layer of dirt that crashed down before her, letting out a shriek as she scrambled backwards, her legs covered in a slide of earth before it finally came to a halt. The shaking stopped, the catastrophe of the explosion reduced to just a few tumbling pebbles as the tunnel went still and closed just before her, amplifying one horrifying truth as Priscilla dumb where she lay.
Gunnar was gone.
His hulking form, his warm smile, his stupid booming laugh, gone. Swallowed up by the earth and buried where no one could see how hard he had fought. How he had fought for her. Suddenly the very thought that he might never appear at her side again just to drive her up a wall made the world seem like an unbearably lonely place. It was all too terrible to be true, he was just gone.
The tunnel was unbearably quiet now, the rumble of the explosion above a distant echo like a battle happening far away. Everything was far away now. Time stood still, and nothing else but the silence mattered.
"No." The small word shuddered in her voice as she said it, fingers digging into the dirt as she pushed herself up. "No, no, no, no, no, no..." The dirt was heavy on her legs, but she worked to get free anyway, kicking and thrashing until she got up and threw herself at the wall of dirt, clawing and digging with increasing frenzy as she cried. "No! Gunnar! Gunnar!" More dirt rolled down each time she dug it away, rendering her efforts useless, not that it stopped her in the slightest. "Help! Please! Someone, help!"
She had to get him out. She had to get him free or die trying, left in this tunnel while the world burned above her head. This was not his Valhalla. This was not his warrior's death that he knew always awaited him, that she knew he deserved. She had to fight for him. He would have absolutely done the same for her.
"Please! Please, please, please God show mercy. God in heaven show your mercy. Please, God!" Her tears flowed unrestrained as she cried. All her defenses, all her training simply crumbled away in one heartbreaking instant. There was no Sisterhood of Peace, there was no Lion Flame Legion or Divine Pyre. She did not belong to Ashfeld, to Valkenheim or even Heathmoor. There was no care for the oaths of Knights, no thought spared for the traditions of Vikings.
She was alone in the dark, digging in the dirt for something that had been real.
Coal fell beside her so suddenly that she nearly screamed at his arrival, digging away dirt with the bottom of his shield. "Keep digging!" he shouted at her, working his arms as if he were trying to tread water in all that armor. Taking hold of her senses, Priscilla set back to work alongside him, working beside the one man she could count on when she was all alone. Then Judith appeared next to her and quickly joined in. Marcelo was at her shoulder, clearing away the rubble the best he could. Together they all dug, four Ashfeld Knights trying their damnedest to save one Valkenheim heathen from certain death.
"Watch the ceiling," Judith panted, scooping great handfuls of dirt away with her gauntlets.
"Do you see him?" questioned Marcelo.
Coal grunted as he pulled a chunk of earth away and set aside his shield. "There's a hand! We got him!"
"Gunnar! Gunnar can you hear me?" Priscilla exclaimed, pulling at him with all that remained of her strength.
Judith dug frantically until she had his other hand, pulling until Gunnar's big arm came free, shifting dirt revealing the gleam of his metal helmet. "Pull! As one, pull!"
They all took hold, gripping Gunnar tight as they slowly began to free him from the fallen dirt. There was a low rumble as the earth began to shift, but Priscilla couldn't bring herself to care. She held onto Gunnar and didn't let go, feeling him come free bit by bit, until she suddenly pitched backwards with his full weight falling on top of her. She still didn't let go.
"We got him," Coal cried triumphantly as he slumped back against the tunnel wall. "We got him!
"Is he alive?" Judith asked. Gunnar lay unmoving and heavy on top of them, as still as the solid earth around them.
Priscilla clung onto Gunnar's limp form, the top of his helmet pressed just beneath her chin, his head cradled against her chest. "Please, please God," she whispered to herself, staring up at the tunnel ceiling in the gloom. "Please God..." Taking a small breath, she closed her eyes and let the next name slipped forth from her lips without a single shred of guilt "Odin. You will not take him from me like this. Not like this."
Each quick heartbeat stretched on into an unbearable eternity. Priscilla felt new tears stinging hotly at the corners of her eyes, but she refused to cry out. There was no more use in crying. There was only silence in that dark tunnel. He was gone
Still, she would not let him go.
Gunnar sucked in a life affirming breath and shuddered as he coughed dust and dirt from his lungs. His fingers clawed at the ground, back arching as he tried to rise, unsure of where he was or what was going on. Priscilla let her tears fall free now as she squeezed him with all her might.
"Oh, God be praised," Marcelo sighed with delight, giving no care for what Gunnar might have felt about it. Judith and Coal both laughed and clapped, shaking their heads at the clear miracle before them.
Priscilla didn't move. She didn't try to get up, or care about Gunnar's horned helmet pressing into her side. She just held him until he settled. She held him and thanked his gods along with her own for finally giving a damn for once in her pitiful life. Her arms squeezed tight around him, perhaps a bit too tight for how he groaned against her, but he would just have to deal with it.
"You owe me," she said quietly enough just for him to hear, holding him with no intention of letting go. "You still owe me."
Gunnar took in a breath until his body settled, making no move to pull himself away from her embrace as they lay together in the dirt. He took in another deep breath and sighed into her chest. "I know."