“Don’t give in, keep pushing!”
Avitue and Osvif were both shaking, sweat pouring down their bodies as they attempted to keep the position he had learned a year ago.
Neither as always wanted to be the first one to give in, yet his eye detected that it would be less than a minute before someone crumbled to the ground.
The Vikings, who were training in the area, cheered. Having heard their pack leaders shout, they stopped their own duels and came to surround the pair.
Osvif closed his eyes, trying to keep his breathing under control. He almost started to hyperventilate from how quickly each breath was coming.
His competitor's red hair was sticking to her shoulder, sweat-drenched, yet her core was easily stronger than the shorter Viking's. Unlike Osvif, Avitue had her eyes open, locked on Einar.
“Two silver on the shield, maiden!” Samansa shouted.
“I’ll take that bet!” Skardi replied.
Laughter and applause came as their leader's wife and best friend began to shake like a branch in a windstorm.
Arms twitched, each time the movements becoming more pronounced.
Their breathing would be the downfall as each of them struggled to find the strength to stand.
Almost as one, Osvif fell first, and Avitue let herself go when she saw the shorter warrior falling.
Immediately, the noise in the crowd changed, and Osvif re-righted himself, standing back into position as the shield maiden let out a cry, unable to stop her descent.
“Mother of a goat!” Samansa cursed as Skardi danced beside her, holding out his hand.
“You… cheater…” Avitue stated between labored breaths, finally seeing Osvif fall to the ground as she had been. “You… tricked me.”
He could only nod, taking deep breaths as his body continued to spasm.
“He’s smart… never forget that,” Einar said.
Turning his attention to the men and women gathered around him, he whistled once, silencing them all.
“Let this be a lesson to all of us. Sometimes, our enemy may feign weakness, exhaustion or defeat. If we become lax and give in, we may find ourselves crushed beneath that moment. Now then, back to training! We have four days before we set out, and I want all of us ready to go!”
Grunts and head bobs were his only reply as the men and women sworn to him moved back to their section of the training grounds, redoubling the effort under which they labored.
“He got you,” Einar said with a chuckle, bringing a bucket of cold water to where she lay and tossed it on Avitue.
“You bastard!” she sputtered. “That’s not–”
When she saw Thorodd do the same to Osvif, she stopped complaining and chose instead to snort as the younger Viking coughed and spat out the water he had breathed in.
“You sure these two getting those runes were worth it?” Thorodd asked with a wink. “Seems they can barely stay upright for over an hour.”
“Screw you,” Osvif said as he rolled over to his hands and knees, rising upward like a toddler learning to stand for the first time. “This is beyond harder than anything I have ever had to train. Even worse than the first workouts Einar put me through as a teen.”
Grinning, their leader nodded.
“Tell me, Thorodd, what will you do when you realize the power those runes grant? Will you endure the pain of having one of your other ones removed and losing the blessing while waiting to have a new one slotted?”
“Bah, I’ll cross that bridge when the time comes. For now, the bonus is too nice to pass up, especially since we know this next mission will be much harder.”
Einar nodded as he held a hand out to Avitue.
The truth is, none of us knows what we are going to face. Even the reports Bior and Unnulf have acquired tell us mixed things, almost as if someone is intentionally lying about them.
His wife grinned as she stood up, using his assistance before throwing her water- and sweat-soaked arms around him, rubbing her face all over his chest and shoulders.
“Ughh… did you really have to do that?”
“Yes… yes I did,” she replied with a grin. “Now then, if we’re done here, I need to go wash up. Tonight is going to be a long night. You and I both know that.”
Giving her a quick kiss and then watching as she sauntered away, Einar couldn’t help but smile even though he was now covered in sweat.
A movement from his left caught his attention, and jumping sideways and raising a hand stopped Osvif from repeating the same act.
“He’s no fun, Thorodd.”
Laughter came from the second in command, who made a fist.
“Don’t even think about it, as I won’t hesitate to pound you.”
Pretending to look upset, Osvif shrugged and then headed toward the training grounds.
“I’ll go watch at least, even if I know there is nothing else I can physically do right now.”
As his friend began to walk away, Einar reached out and gave him a playful punch on the arm.
“The tattoo looks good on your face.”
Grinning as he ran a finger along the lines he knew were on his temple, Osvif nodded.
When only the two remained, Thorodd moved closer to his pack leader, crossing both arms as they watched the warriors sparring and training.
“You do realize what will happen tonight won’t be a bad thing.”
“I do… it’s just more people means fewer items for you all. Still, I’m fine with how this will work out.”
His second in command nodded, unable to disagree with that point.
“Still, at least perhaps it won't be our pack dying all the time.”
Both men chuckled and moved toward the training grounds, well aware that tonight had one of the most important meetings in store.
***
“Now then, let us toast this momentous occasion and may the best warband win.”
The four Hersirs all nodded, a smile on each man’s face but Einar could see that none of them were really excited about this next part.
As Bior took his seat and motioned to the men gathered on one side of the table, Einar, Avitue, and Thorodd on the other, the smallest one, Torrad, stood up first.
“We are all anxious to be part of what you are doing, Einar Sibbison, but the limit of only being allowed to send a single pack between all of us doesn’t feel fair.”
Bior frowned but Torrad motioned with a hand at the other men gathered.
“It makes sense, and we understand that. Since Jarl Bior has informed us that a pack shall also join you upon reaching Unnulf’s city, we see how limiting our numbers works better for you and us.”
Pulling three tokens from his pocket, the Hersir of the Sea riders put them on the table. Each one was metal and carved with a boat image.
Following suit, the other three all put down three tokens, each with the marking for their warband as well.
“Tell me, would you be open to drawing these tokens from a jar? Regardless of how they fall, we trust that Odin is guiding them.”
“What happens if one of you only gets one token drawn?”
Sighing, the shortest Hersir shrugged.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Then we would agree it was Odin’s will. This way prevents us from offering too much or selling our souls to Hel by trying to be the one to win at sending a full pack.”
“And none of us wants to miss out,” Hallfred shouted out.
The other two men grunted, each bobbing their head.
“I see no problem with this solution. Do you Bior?”
Clearing his throat, the Jarl smiled as he intertwined his fingers together, gazing upon the men who were sitting at his table.
“It would appear that the four of you have gotten much wiser since the last time this game was played. Tell me, Farmann, did you not enjoy sending the only pack with mine?”
The three-hundred-pound Viking chuckled, not hiding the grin as the other three scowled.
“While I must admit the cost was worth it, there was a moment I regretted that bid. Torrad is correct though, we would prefer to limit our costs and have a chance at some of the treasure similar to what you brought back from Alfheim.”
Seeing Bior looking at him and waiting for an answer, Einar stood and moved from the table, walking to where one of the suits of armor decorated the dining hall wall.
With a little effort and tug, he freed one of the helms with horns, moved back to the table, and extended it to the men.
“Put your tokens in there. We will draw two tokens. Those two will be the ones that are not coming with us.”
Each man nodded and as the helm was passed, they deposited the metal coins, the sound of them clinking in the metal helm calling out to the gods who might be allowed to join this warband.
Torrad put his three in last and grinned, spinning his hand around a few times and stirring up the tokens before passing it across the table.
“Avitue, would you like to do the honors?”
“Please, do not make me be the one someone might hate. Do this yourself,” she replied as she rolled her eyes.
Laughter came from the four Hersirs.
Sighing, Einar nodded and shrugged, lifting the helm above his eyesight and stirred the tokens a few more times.
After a few seconds and watching the men who eyed his hand like predators, waiting to see if they might pounce on prey, he pulled a token out.
On it was a wolf, and when he showed it, Hallfred groaned.
“Bah, I should have offered a larger sacrifice at the temple.”
None of the other men responded to his statement, and each looked slightly relieved as they waited for the next token.
Setting the first one down, Einar repeated the process and pulled it out.
“Thor’s hammer. Sorry, Mord.”
“I will take it. Two warriors is better than one or none.”
Each of the Hersirs seemed content with the way this had played out, none of them having lost two tokens.
“Now then, just remember they will be responsible for their own food and helpers. I also expect a healer from someone, preferably from either Torrad or Farmann, since you both have three Vikings coming.”
Holding his hand up as the larger one started to talk, Einar continued with his instructions.
“I’ll have some tactics that will be laid out later after we meet with Jarl Unnulf and pick up the pack from his warbands. Just know, while I plan on success, each man you send should come ready to die. Just ask Thorodd that while victory took place and the All-Father was kind to us, as was Freyr, no one who is near a rune breaking should be on this trip.”
“It’s true,” the giant said as he grimaced. “Some of those deaths were… painful. Though, while Einar might have the songs being sung by the skalds about flying across the sky on the back of a Leuca ango, no one likes to talk about what falling from a great height to your death is like.”
He shuddered upon finishing that statement.
“It is a long way down as you await death.”
Pounding the table, Bior shook his head.
“Let’s not get worked up about how bad things are and how they might be. Tonight we celebrate!”
Each of them grabbed the cup before them and lifted it high, mimicking Bior.
“Soon, our warriors shall travel to Nidavellir and help our dwarven allies, securing safety for them as well as other items we need for crafting!”
They all shouted skol and drained their cup dry.
***
“That tattoo is a wonderful thing,” Avitue said as her finger ran along the design that marked his right leg. “It is even nicer when put on such a wonderful piece of muscle like this.”
Laughing, Einar winked at her, his finger touching the one on the sides of her temple.
“Yours looks just as good. Who knew you would one day have the power to harness the wind.”
Laughing, she shook her head, biting down on his quad momentarily.
“Harness? No… I’m strong enough to summon a gust of wind right now that takes away the stench of you men as you sweat during training. Unlike you I cannot ride the back of a flying beast nor summon the lighting from Thor’s hammer.”
Grinning, he ignored her attempts at teasing him. Knowing already how much stronger he felt since adding the rune Arngrim had created for him.
*****
[ V.A.L.H.A.L.L.A ]
Magnus / Einar Sibbison
Age: 32/19
Strength - 28+27
Endurance - 27+18
Agility - 26+6
Perception - 22+9
Wisdom - 21+3
Mysticism - 25+11
Runes:
Gungnir’s Strength (Chest) Legendary (Hidden)
Max Training Stat for Strength, Endurance and Agility is racial limit plus 50. 2.5 x Growth Rate
25% Bonus to Perception - No Stat Limit
Max Training Stat for Wisdom and Mysticism is 50. 1.5 x Growth Rate
Rune Level Bonuses:
Lvl 1 + 10% Bonus to Strength and Endurance
Lvl 2 + 10% Bonus to Agility and Perception
Lvl 3 Divine Protection. 50% Damage Reduction for 1 Minute. Cooldown: 5 Days
Lvl 4 Healing of the Gods - 100x Healing and Wyrd Regeneration Rate for 5 minutes. Cooldown: 3 Day
Experience 0%
Warrior’s Defense (Back) Advanced
10% Bonus to Endurance
Rune Level Bonuses:
Lvl 1 + 5% Bonus to Endurance
Lvl 2 + 5% Bonus to Endurance
Lvl 3 + 5% Bonus to Endurance / Resist Damage
Lvl 4 + 10% Bonus to Resist Damage
Experience 18%
Warrior’s Blessing (Stomach) Advanced
10% Bonus to Strength and Endurance
5% Bonus to Damage
Rune Level Bonuses:
Lvl 1 + 4% Bonus to Strength and Endurance
Lvl 2 + 5% Bonus to Strength
Lvl 3 + 7% Bonus to Endurance
Lvl 4 + 5% Bonus to Damage
Lvl 5 + 10% Bonus to Strength and Endurance
Experience 100%
Might of the Viking (Right Arm) Advanced
10% Bonus to Strength
10% Bonus to Damage
Rune Level Bonuses:
Lvl 1 + 10% Bonus to Strength
Lvl 2 + 7% Bonus to Strength
Lvl 3 + 5% Bonus to Perception
Lvl 4 + 5% Bonus to Strength
Lvl 5 + 10% Bonus to Strength
Experience 100%
Forked Rune of Elements (Head) Advanced
15% Bonus to Wisdom and Mysticism
Advanced Lightning Affinity
Intermediate Fire Affinity
Basic Ice Affinity
Rune Level Bonuses:
Lvl 1 + 10% Bonus to Mysticism
Lvl 2 + 8% Bonus to Mysticism
Lvl 3 + 15% Bonus to Spell Damage
Lvl 4 + 25% Bonus to Wyrd Recovery
Lvl 5 + 10% Bonus to Mysticism
Experience 100%
Rune of Primal Body (Right Leg) Advanced
+7% Bonus to Strength and Agility
Rune Level Bonuses:
Lvl 1 + 6% Bonus to Strength and Agility
Experience 0%
Strength Milestone - Rank 1 - All damage done with melee weapons is increased by 25%. Muscle is denser, resulting in a 10% decrease in damage taken from all attacks.
Endurance Milestone - Rank 1 - Resists Attacks as if twice normal height and weight. Health increased by 25%. Body is naturally more resistant, resulting in a 10% decrease in damage taken from all attacks.
Agility Milestone - Rank 1 - Attacks are 30% Faster. The ability to see incoming strikes and dodge or parry them is increased by 25%.
Mysticism Milestone - Rank 1 - Spell damage is increased by 20%. Wyrd regeneration is increased by 20%. Casting time for spells is decreased by 10%.
Boon:
*****
Looking at his new stats, all he could do was wait for the chance to kill something.
I’m going to need a lot of experience.