Ragnar dragged himself forward, one arm after the other, nails scraping blood-soaked snow as he crawled toward the sound of battle.
That's where Father is.
He has to be.
If he could reach him, maybe—just maybe—he would live. Or at least, that was what Ragnar believed in that moment.
Fate, however, seemed to have been quite a bit bored that day and decided to have a little laugh.
For that battlefield was the most dangerous place he would walk into in his short life.
—ᛖᚡᛖᚱᛚᚨᛋᛏᛁᚾᚷ ᚹᚨᚱ× ᚨ ᛋᚨᚷᚨ ᚠᚱᛟᛗ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚾᛟᚱᛏᚺ—
Surrounded by mist and crimson snow, Halfdan stood in the centre of the massacre.
His left arm hung uselessly at his side, mangled beyond use, and his chest rose heavy and uneven with every breath. Yet none of those troubled him as much as the man standing across from him. Shock and sadness on his face made that very clear, and there was something more… regret… perhaps.
"Sigurd?"
The man took off his helmet with a slight chuckle while walking forward.
His face was paler than the snow, like that of a man long-dead. Blond hair swept straight back from his forehead, two tight braids running along the sides of his head to gather into a knot at the nape. Eyes, golden and calm.
The noble-looking man standing some twenty steps away smiled gently—so gently, in fact, it looked like true, absolute kindness.
"Hello there, my old friend," he said, waving lightly. "Has fate treated you well since then?"
Halfdan's hairs rose. "Sigurd… what—what are you doing here?"
Before Sigurd could answer, the mad-looking red-haired man stepped forward, eyes gleaming.
"So, this is Halfdan!" He licked his lips eagerly.
"Hmm. Yes, Eric," Sigurd replied calmly. "This is him. Halfdan the Mild. In all his…" He leaned his head a little and looked the injured man over. "…glory."
"Are you behind this?! Answer me, Sigurd!"
Eric didn't wait; he lunged forward, swinging both his axes at once.
Halfdan blocked one completely. The second scraped past his guard, biting into flesh before he shoved the man away.
Snow crunched as Halfdan slid one foot back, steadying his stance.
Eric's grin stretched from ear to ear.
"Let me introduce you properly," Sigurd said, stepping forward. "This here is Eric Bloodexe. Perhaps you've heard of him."
Halfdan stared at the red-haired man, brows furrowing—then relaxed his stance slightly.
"Why?" he asked quietly. "Why are you doing this?"
Sigurd smiled even more. "Heh! I'm shocked you even have to ask, you dirty backstabber."
"I see." Halfdan nodded his head a bit. "You really haven't let go of that."
"Of course I haven't." Sigurd's words carried poison in them, but somehow he still looked calm. "I was humiliated. Imprisoned. Nearly killed. Simply because of your cowardice."
Halfdan exhaled and raised his guard again.
Eric rolled his eyes. "Is your bickering finally over? Can we start now?"
Sigurd took a measured breath… "Yes, go on."
As soon as he finished the sentence, Eric's axe clashed with Halfdan's hammer.
He swung his second axe from below—Halfdan twisted aside, but the blade still carved a shallow cut.
Halfdan closed in, smashing his fist into Eric's face, then swung his hammer. But Eric leapt clean over it.
The flames erupted from. His axes ignited, fire crawling along their edges as he began to spin.
Halfdan stomped the ground.
Lightning surged through his leg and exploded outward, blasting Eric away and electrifying him midair.
Eric crashed into the snow, spat blood, and burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha," He licked the blood from his face. "You are wonderful, just wonderful." He yelled into the sky for everyone to hear.
His pupils dilated.
[Fire screen]
A massive fire wall surged in front of him.
But the lightning bolt tore it apart, but went no further.
Halfdan used the distraction.
He was right there and swung again, his hammer now crackling violently. Eric dodged, but the lightning scorched his skin as it passed.
Halfdan did not stop: he tried to squash Eric, who was forced to block this time, yet he still got sent back five whole steps. The large man continued his attack; however, this time, Eric decided to meet it with equal force. He coated his axes with fire again and met the hammer straight on.
The ground cracked under them.
Fire and lightning flew in all directions, killing several nearby soldiers.
They strained against one another, neither yielding ground—until Halfdan finally overpowered him.
Eric was sent flying once more, coughing even more blood.
"His attacks are damaging my organs," Eric whispered to himself before he landed.
Halfdan was clearly far superior in terms of pure power. But the speed was slightly on Eric's side, not nearly enough to overwhelm Halfdan with it.
"You are genius!"He laughed.
Eric retreated, axes blazing, and swung wildly through the air.
[Flame brigade]
Flame projectiles flew out, growing bigger and bigger as they travelled. All of them kept coming at Halfdan.
He shattered as many as he could, but some slipped through.
They left burns on his arm and set his clothes on fire.
Halfdan tried to move forward, but it was easier said than done. Tens of fire projectiles continued to fly at him, and Eric wasn't dumb either; each one came with a different speed and weight behind it. There was no rhythm to those strikes. Some cuts were vertical, some horizontal, some big, some small, some extremely fast, some extremely slow.
"He is as deadly as the stories told. To think there wouldn't even be a hint of a pattern."Halfdan said to himself.
He then stopped fending off attacks.
Lightning surged around him, forming a crackling sphere as he raised his hammer and slammed it into the ground with as much force as he could muster.
The earth collapsed.
A massive crater formed as a lightning shock wave dispersed flame, bodies, and snow alike.
Silence followed.
Most of Sigurd's soldiers were already dead or gravely injured.
Eric lay sprawled in the snow, while Halfdan stood tall. It seemed like he might pull it off, but then he fell to his knees and coughed, spewing massive amounts of blood.
"Oh," came a calm voice from the mist. "It seems it's finally kicking in."
"Sigurd…?" Halfdan rasped. "What do you—uhh?"
Sigurd stepped forward, hands clasped neatly behind his back. "Didn't you notice? Try sensing the air."
Halfdan's eyes went wide. "You—"
"Yes," Sigurd said smoothly. "This entire battlefield is within my magic circle. This whole time, you were getting poisoned, little by little; anyone would collapse eventually."
He sighed, "I'm sorry this wasn't a duel between the two of us, my friend, but I can't risk any permanent injuries for something like this. I think you are well aware of that."
"Don't tell me, are you still going on about that?"
"OF COURSE—" Sigurd snapped—then corrected himself, smoothing his tone. "I mean… of course, I am. What could be more important than taking over the entire North, Halfdan? You know my—no. Our dream, all too well."
He gazed skyward… "Oh, just what we could've achieved together."
"Hmph," Halfdan spat. "I see, so all this; it was really just for that…"
"Well, I won't allow that, not to you."
Halfdan stood and roared.
He rushed toward Sigurd.
Bloodexe intervened—but Halfdan was not planning to be stopped. His body exploded, covered in lightning, even denser and stronger than before.
Eric fired flame projectiles at him, but they were all nullified by his lightning armour.
Halfdan broke through.
He was about to reach Sigurd, but Eric had another card up his sleeve.
Eric unleashed a massive ring of fire, pushing Halfdan back—only for Halfdan to smash through it and press forward again.
Eric expected this, though. He started doing a different hand gesture.
The flames twisted, compressing.
[Fire hurricane]
The ring erupted into a colossal fire tornado, trapping them both inside.
"Hahahaha, let's see how you deal with these temperatures. You won't be able to survive for long." Eric claimed in excitement.
They were ready to clash inside the inferno.
Halfdan jumped at him, but Eric avoided it easily before countering with multiple swings of his own, leaving a few cuts here and there along with the burn marks.
And finally, he managed to land a huge hit, cutting Halfdan from his left shoulder all the way to the bottom of his stomach.
Halfdan collapsed.
His lightning dispersed.
Eric stepped closer, breathing heavily. "Shame, truly."
"I wouldn't want it to end like this, but Sigurd's word is final." He spat onto the ground before taking another heavy breath.
Eric looked down at him; Halfdan was unresponsive.
He raised his axes—
"This was a glorious battle, Halfdan the Mild!"
He took another step to finish it.
Then a glow appeared beneath his foot, and lightning emerged.
A hidden magic circle flared, binding Eric in place and electrocuting him violently.
"Wha— when did you, argghhh… A TRAP!"
Halfdan rose, hammer blazing brighter than ever—
—lightning struck from the sky!
Power flooded his weapon.
He was ready to end it and take the entire cliff down along with them.
[Thor's—]
—a dagger… silent, with no warning or grand preparation. It pierced Halfdan through the back and came all the way to his heart.
"Calm down, you big idiot," Sigurd murmured behind him. "You're going to bring the mountain down."
Halfdan fell to his knees, coughing blood.
He looked back and saw a pale, blond noble standing behind him.
"You coward."
Sigurd smiled faintly. "Now, now, no need for insults; one must return what he has been given, does he not? Heh."
The fire tornado faded. And Eric fell back, rolling on the ground. "Man, hahahahaha— hahahahahahah. That was wonderful, glorious, simply…"
"…beautiful." He stared into the clouds, his pupils nearly covering his whole eye sockets.
Sigurd nodded, "Glad you enjoyed yourself."
"Oh, yes, yes, I did. Sooooo… What now?"
"Now we should confirm the death of his s—"
—A spear flew right past Sigurd's head.