Chapter 22: A Contest of Strength and Pride.
Walking into the center of the clearing, Astrid got the eerie feeling that this round clearing, with its ten pillars regularly spaced around and the small rocky overhead where the Messenger resided was carved with the intent of being arena in the first place. Joining her in the center, where the Messenger was waiting, was Magnus. The towering Headless wiled a particular weapon: It was a metal chain coiled around his arm, with one end fixed on his armguards, and on the other, a single axeblade.
Gauging her opponent, Astrid decided to not make any assumption about Magnus himself. Past encounters with Headless and Hiccup's experience warned her to not judge the Headless himself. Rather, she focused on the weapon and tried to deduce the Magnus' style. With the chain wrapping around his arms, she couldn't muster how long it was, but the axe blade did look heavy.
I have an advantage close-up. She thought. But closing in will be tricky.
" Remember" The Messenger, standing between them spoke coldly. " First to yield or first to die." Confirming both sides knew the rules, " Positions" he ordered. Both Astrid and Magnus walked backward towards their own camp, and stopped midway.
"Begin." The Messenger shouted before swiftly clearing out of the way.
Slamming down her visor, Astrid, in two three light steps, halved the distance between her and the Headless. Lowering herself to gauge her next pounce. In front of her, Magnus was already untwined a section of the chain, and the axe blade was resting flat on the ground.
Change her grip on her battle axe, she pounced on Magnus. As she shifted her weight, she felt a subtle change in the airflow and every strand of hair on her back rose up. Correcting her stance in extremis, courtesy of the experience she gained while fighting the Messenger and her subsequent, day-round training, she managed to bend backward, as the axe blade swung over her. Despite already gauging Magnus 'strength being way above anything she knew, it still exceeded her judgment. Never had she taught anyone could wield an axeblade that heavy without any wind-up. Eyeing closely the path that blade continues to take, trying closely to see how Magnus fought with that weapon.
The axe blade continued on his arc, and Magnus promptly raised an arm With a muffled sound, the blade crashed against the Headless soft armor before landly softly in Magnus' hand. The blow could have broken bones, but Magnus didn't even flinch at the shock.
Clicking her tongue, Astrid prepared to strike once again. Feinting forward, she managed to bait Magnus into launching his weapon once again. Doding underneath the blade, before raising her axe to strike, but was promptly blocked by a section of the chain that Magnus untwined. Retrieving her weapon before it could get intertwined, She swiftly chained up with a left slash and a right kick. Tanking her kick, which didn't even manage to draw a grunt, Magnus sidestepped the slash, right into the knee that drove deep into his abdomen. Despite not eliciting a reaction from the Headless, Astrid knew that her blows were taking effect when she spotted a flaw in the Headless recovery footing. Capitalizing on the mistake, she lunged forward, axe held high. Magnus fell backward voluntarily, bringing Astrid along with him. The familiar sensation of danger prompted her to roll to the side, barely dodging the blade returning to his owner. Rolling over his shoulder backward, Magnus immediately launched his blade again, trying to catch Astrid. Barely evading the hit, the sharp blade still nicked her shoulder plate. Dusting the shattered dragon scale off. The blonde Viking readied her axe again as Magnus reeled the blade back in.
Circling each other, the Berkian and the Headless both seek the slightest mistake in each other. As both were season warriors, making a mistake in footing or creating an opening during a simple standoff like this was beneath both of them.
Tssk Magnus clicked his tongue. Growing bored of going around like beats in a cage, he charged some momentum into the blade before throwing it in an arc.
Eyeing the blade coming towards her, she pondered her different options.
I could dodge below and close up, but I already did that. Parrying it will be risky. A slitch twitch in Magnus's shoulder caught her acute eyes. Nothing it is.
Indeed, Magnus suddenly pulled back on the chain, making the blade change its arc. If she were to duck below, likely she would be cut by the blade.
I need to do something about that chain. Let's first try to find out his range.
Quickly, she started moving in a circle around Magnus, who was still flaring the blade around.
She caught on quickly Magnus thought And is she trying to gauge the length of my chain.
Running around and forcing Magnus to uncoil more and more of the chain around him by constantly stepping in and out of the radius, she fully capitalized that Magnus was now bound to the momentum of his blade.
As if it was Fate trying to be entertaining. Astrid's light jog brought her to the limit of the arena, on the Headless side.
"Are you lost?" Tyrad asked. "Or perhaps the lingering taste of my dagger was so great that you couldn't resist refreshing it?" He coyly added, toying with a dagger in his hand.
Mere words were light up the fuse within her. Memories of the Lures resurfaced, but she quickly pushed them back down. Her past was so riddled with encounters that mere provocation like this didn't shift her focus.
Not even turning back, she of course missed the pensive look on Tyrad's face and the small scribble he did.
Once again, the duel had come to a stalemate. Magnus, in the center, whirling his axe-blade in a circle at dazzling speed, yet can't reach the blue armored Viking, just outside his range. Astrid couldn't close up the gap, and she didn't need to. Since no time was set for the duel, she just had to wait for the Headless to tire himself up.
Behind her, Another Headless, a woman clad in brown leather armor, discretely extended her hand past the metaphorical line that separated those who fought to their death and those waiting for their turn, trying to push her forward. Sensing the hand, Astrid was quick to turn around, but the Messenger was quicker.
"Do not interfere with the duel under any circumstances otherwise, it will be counted as the group yielded for the chosen fighter." The one presiding over the duel shouted.
Trading stealth for speed, the adventurous hand joined his symmetric behind its owner's back.
This is getting boring. Magnus thought, his mind not even registering the strain in his shoulder. Let's bait her close.
Slowing down his movements, he did his best to appear tired. Of course, such obvious bait didn't work on Astrid, but she still decided to buy into it, thinking she had the advantage up close.
Quickly yet carefully, Astrid closed the distance between her and the Headless. Steeping swiftly within striking distance, and swung her axe from left to right. Rather than dodging back, Magnus dipped under the blade and stepped in, arming a punch. Unable to change to a block, Astrid flinched back from the punch that bruised even through her armor. Falling back, barely enough to block a second swing aiming at the face, before changing her grip on her weapon to block a low kick. Using the momentum of the kick, which she was pretty sure was more powerful than a dragon ramming into her, Astrid rolled away. Smoothly getting back up on her feet, she activated the mechanism embedded in her weapon. The weapon split in the middle of the shaft, revealing a thin, smooth blade. Dual wielding the short axe and the dagger, she allowed a thought to go the expert craftmanship of the weapon. Even when split, the balance of both weapons was tailored for her.
Didn't anticipate that. Magnus thought bitterly. Unlike his opponent, his saving grace was the Headless soft armor, but counting on it to prevent him from being cut would be delusional. Yet, he still stepped into the fury of blades that was barreling towards him. Twinning the chain around his forearm to provide a whisper of protection, Magnus raised one arm to parry the axe, forcing the blade down, only for the dagger to come out from below and drive the blade into the underside of his arm.
Forcing on the blade, Astrid stepped into her opponent and managed to drive her dagger up the Magnus' forearm, drawing blood and rendering the vambrace useless. Ducking to dodge the other arm that came from behind her, she tried to sweep his legs. Yet, Magnus was quicker and raised his foot, which came mashing down her ankle.
The sound of armor cracking was barely enough to distract her from the feat of equilibrium that Magnus displayed. Putting all his weight on his foot, he managed to drive his knee right into Astrid's facemask, shattering it as well. The force blew her away, allowing both opponents room for breathing.
Wearily, Astrid put weight on her crushed foot. A sharp jolt of pain shot up her leg.
Well. She thought. There goes my ankle. She removed the armored joint that connected her leg braces to her shoes, exposing a purple ankle that already started to swell. The cracks in her facemask hindered her vision so she dropped her helmet. As Magnus was busy removing his broken bracers, Astrid tucked her blonde braid into the nook of her backplate. Readying her weapons once again, she lunged at Magnus.
Lacking proper defensive options, the Headless managed to let the dagger catch on the coiled chain around his arm. Not even paying attention to the blade digging into his skin. He hooked his other arm under the axe handle. Astrid took the moment to change her grip and managed to drive her dagger deep into Magnus' arm.
Perfect Magnus though. Jerking away with all his strength, he stepped away from his opponent and with it, the dagger still planted into his arm.
Pulling the dagger out and throwing it outside of the arena, before unrolling nearly the whole chain, Magnus started to spin the chain. Yet, Astrid was faster, already stepping in, she combined a downward slash with a punch aimed for the abdomen, a blink later. Leaning back to dodge the blade, Magnus moved into the trajectory of the punch, landing on his liver. The force, barely attenuated by the soft armor, translated into roaring pain that would render the hardest of Vikings dizzy, and Magnus wasn't immune to biology. However, he was able to maintain the integrality of his focus, because he was a Headless
Biting down hard on his tongue to the point of drawing blood to counter the diziness The Headless summoned every single drop of his inner psyche to not crumble under the pain. Just because you feel it doesn't mean you have to acknowledge it. Magnus though. This mantra that helped him before, during training and missions, and now, will help him retain focus on the fierce Viking in front of him.
A few steps back allowed Magnus to gain some space, which was promptly closed by Astrid. She knew the power of her punches, and took, what she thought, was the upper hand. Pressing forward, she didn't expect the feint thrown by Magus. The Headless raised his left knee to intercept her path, which she read as the feint and prepared to block, the other knee coming for her left flank. However, in a perfect display of body coordination, Magnus didn't put any weight into his right knee, allowing him to push through with the first hit and bashing Astrid dead on in the chest.
Stumbling back into a roll, Astrid quickly replenished her lungs with air that was forced out by the blow.
How? Anyone would have at least fallen from that punch to the side. Yet, she didn't have time to ponder as Magnus already picked up the end of the chain. Luckily, the bladed end of the chain was within reach.
Odin above, this better work. In a dash of insanity, Astrid wrapped the chain around herself and hooked the axe blade on the chain coming around her waist, before charging right at Magnus
"What?" Magnus, shocked, hesitated for a blink of an eye. That blink allowed Astrid to leap off the ground and come down pummeling, her axe raised high up. In extremis, Magnus lowered himself on one knee, which gave him the time to block the blade aimed at his head.
It was now a contest of strength. On top was Astrid, fury carved on her face. Grunting, she quickly changed her grip, placing her forearm in the nook of the axe, allowing her to push down even more. Below was Magnus, the chain digging into his palm, blood from the wounds on his forearm tracing a crimson mosaic before tainting the soil, holding to his life by the thread within in his hands. However, in terms of strength, Magnus feared none.
Channeling strength throughout his entire body. Magnus contracted his back muscles to push forward. Forcing on his calves and thighs, the headless tried to get up.
The two Vikings were locked in a contest of pure strength: Magnus couldn't afford to shift his weight, as it meant having an axe struck down on his face. Astrid, despite having the perfect opening to strike a well-placed kick, couldn't afford to lose balance, as it would end with her being pushed down.
Wait, What is this strength? Astrid grunted. It felt like she was trying to push an enraged dragon down. Contracting her shoulders, she push as well, this time down, using all her weight. Yet, it wasn't enough. Magnus, ignoring the pain of having the metal chain dug into his palm, slowly managed to stand up.
Promptly admitting defeat on the contest of strength. Astrid tried to unhook her axe from the chain, to not avail. Sensing the opening slipping away from her, she promptly let go of the handle and spun into a sidekick. Leaning back, Magnus prevented the kick from striking his head, yet, his neck took the full force of the blow. With blood flow momentarily disrupted, Magnus lost focus for a split of time. Yet that was all she needed. Grabbing her weapon, Astrid leaped towards the Headless, and with two swift strikes, managed to draw two gashes on his chest.
Once again, Magnus ignored the wounds. Trying to land a punch, only to have the axe coming for his extended arm. Promptly pulling back, Magnus leaned left to right, jumped back, and crouched to dodge the fury of swings coming toward him, but no matter how good his dodges were, Astrid's mastery of the weapon allowed her chain cut into slashes with minimal gap. Rapidly, the wounds multiplied.
I'm going to lose like this. Not even counting how many times he has been cut, Magnus carefully analyzed the pattern of attacks, to no avail. Whatever. Choosing the best opportunity, the Headless stepped forward into the incoming myriads of blades. Slightly bending his knee and leaning back, Magnus dodge the slash coming down and let it strike between his shoulder and chest. The blade forced it's way through the soft armor, split the skin and muscle underneath it open, and embedded itself into the Headless' collarbone. Astrid blinked, as her axe was slightly stuck into her opponent's collarbone. That was enough for Magnus to catch on the broken rhythms. Reaching out and grabbing Astrid's wrist, Magnus twisted with all his strength, forcing Astrid to let go of the weapon that she just managed to pull free. Swinging his arm around, he forced Astrid to spin into her back facing him, or he would break her shoulder and closed his other arm around on her neck.
Trapped in what will set the standard of a chokehold, Astrid felt like an entire dragon decided to sit on her throat. Normally, anyone will pass out from the blood flow being cut off from the head. Her only saving grace was the armor padding her neck, lessening the force of the grip a little. Yet, Astrid knew she had little time. Knowing the weight difference wouldn't allow her to shake him off.
Quick Astrid though, stars already danced in her vision. Wiggling around, she managed to break an arm free, which she mercilessly rammed into the Headless chin, face, and jaw. The armor padding strengthened the blow and soon managed to draw blood. Yet, Magnus held on firmly.
Does he not feel pain For the first time, Astrid's thoughts wavered. Doubling her strength, she struck again, the skin shattered, and drops of blood flew around. The second strike bristled the flesh underneath, destroying the muscles. and the third strike dislocated the joint with a subtle sound. Can someone not feel their jaw being broken? Thoughts creep into Astrid'mind. The fourth strike dented the bone, sending a coating of daunting white dust into the blood-filled scent.
"Yield Astrid!" Hiccup shouted. He, despite every fiber of his being believing in Astrid, knew that she lost the fight when the Headless ignored his broken jaw.
"Yield Astrid!"Shouted Heather as well, "If you pass out, you'll get killed."
Pleads reached Astrid's ears but were promptly ignored. Yield? Admit defeat towards the Headless' on this first match between us? She pulled her arm back and struck Magnus again.
"Yield, Astrid, please! Hiccup begged,
"Listen to us, Astrid! "Fishleg shouted as well, keeping his rationale. "If you die right now, we will lose more than this fight. Berk can't lose you. We can lose you."
"One more word Fishleg and I'm coming for you after I beat him." Astrid threatened.
A shiver ran down Fishleg's spine at the words of the blond Viking.
"Wait !" Fishleg suddenly remembered. "Hiccup, you said that the Headless followed a weird custom that if you found out about a special something about them, they just kill themselves?"
"Yes, yes !" Hiccup yelled. "The point of differentiation."
"Then what is it exactly?"
"I didn't find out what it exactly is, Eir said that it's just something that sets them apart. Not necessarily something about them, but it can also be something that they do."
"So we just need to shout out every unique thing about that Headless?" Heather chimed in, "And if we are right, he just kills himself?"
"Yes, but when I got it wrong, I was forced into a duel."Hiccup added. "And that was when I was supposedly a clan member. So we better just focus on the one fighting."
"A duel? Brother, did you win?" For some reason, Dagur reacted only to the words that interested him. "Did you win?"
"No." Hiccup answered bitterly. Rubbing his chest, where the faded mark used to be. "But nothing happened, apart from that Headless beating the last breath out of me."
"So any idea about what Magnus' magical point would be?" Heather cut in.
"Let's try" Fishleg answered. "Magnus" he shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. "Your point is your strength, unrivaled across the whole Archipelago." However, the only answer that the husky Viking received was deadpan silent and Astrid groan as the grip around her neck tightened.
"Stamina, speed! " Heather shouted as well.
No, it's too obvious, Hiccup though. What sets Magnus apart. His size, his strength
"Brother, I don't want to ruin the fun, but isn't it a bit unhonorable?" Dagur chimed in.
"We don't have time for that. As if they are good and honorable Vikings themselves." Hiccup replied without even looking back.
Really? What did they really do to you after you lost, brother? Dagur though.
"Due to the nature of the Headless customs, I am going to rule any further attempt this as interfering with the duel." Before the Berkian group got to shout another volley of possible traits, the Messenger cut in.
"That troll born." Fishleg gritted between his teeth.
"But giving advice to our side doesn't count as interfering right?" Hiccup asked the Messenger. Receiving a nod Hiccup shouted, "Astrid Try to find his point, just say anything odd you noticed about him."
Why do they think I will lose? That I need to use this underhanded method to win? Do they have this little faith in me? A train of thought rushed through Astrid's mind. Her pride as a Viking and as warrior took over rationality. I just need to hold a bit longer.
"Haddock, don't make spend strength replying to you." Astrid spat back, before doubling her effort to pry Magnus' arm off. Yet, the Headless just kept applying the pressure on her neck, forcing a growl out of Astrid.
"Don't make me use our only chance to call the yield!" Hiccup threatened, yet, worry slipped through his voice.
"Don't you dare" is what Astrid wished to say, but with her windpipe, carotid crushed, what came out was more of a guttural cry. Her pride didn't allow her to yield, and not allow anyone else to yield at her place. She shot a death glare at Hiccup, triggering almost automatic shivers in the auburn haired Viking. Redirecting her frustration into her arm, she armed her elbow once again, and swung her elbow with all her strengh. An almost satisfying cracking sound reached her ear.
The padded elbow was comparable to a mace, and shattered Magnus' already fragile jaw, causing the Headless to spit a mixture of blood, saliva, and teeth into Astrid hair. Despite that, Magnus held on well, funneled by his pride, as a Headless.
One more Astrid though.
Crack. Yet the vice on her throat didn't ease. Despite all her effort, Magnus didn't even yell, or grunt. The Headless was like a statue, ignoring the strikes of the chisel.
One more. She swung her elbow back
Crack. Followed by utter silence.
What's wrong with him? One more
Crack. The chock on her neck strengthen, pressing her windpipe back into her spine, and thinning out her blood vessels.
One..mor…
Strengh suddenly left her, as a black spot gradually filled her vision.
Oh no. She thought as an unintelligible shout reached her ears.
"The victor is the Headless" a presence beside her spoke, and the pressure on her neck suddenly vanished.
Stumbling forward, Astrid landed in a pair of arms belonging to both Hiccup and Heather, but, barely finding her footing, rejected the warm embrace.
"I can walk," she said in a coarse voice while massaging her throat. Reaching the rest of Berk's group, Astrid turned around and landed a forceful jab at Hiccup.
"Why?" Astrid Shouted. "Why did you use the yield?"
"He had you in a neck hold." Heather chimed in. " And why didn't you try to find his point, or whatever it's called?"
"My armor acted as padding. He was just choking me out, I could have held on longer" Astrid replied, " Because that's dishonorable, and I would rather die than use some underhanded method to win! " Staring intently at her friend, Astrid, "Would you Heather? Relinquish your pride as Berserker and beat your opponent by shouting some mere words?" Seeing the Silence from the Berserker sister, left pensive at her answer. Tapping Heather's shoulder, Astrid turned back to Hiccup. "Now answer me, Hiccup Haddock."
"Because you lost, and we can lose you." Hiccup replied earnestly. "Face it, Astrid, you lost, one of our best just lost because she cling to some stupid pride, and you didn't even manage to cripple him."
"Watch it." Heather spat.
But Hiccup just pointed behind, he gestured at Magnus, who was already chitchatting and drinking with other Headless. His broken jaw and chin had already stopped bleeding and were covered with a green past, and yet, the Headless acted like the ointment didn't exist, chewing and drinking to his heart count.
Reality sunk in, as Astrid finally accepted that, she lost to Magnus. In strength, she was completely dominated, but in pride, she did not. Was it worth it though? Astrid thought as she watched Hiccup turn around and discuss with Fishleg what order they should be going next.