The Son Of Ragnar

The gods watched as they saw the final preparations being finalized, they made their bets on who would get to see Valhalla but they also knew that not every warrior with a sword would see the great halls of Odin, the gods were anxious about the valkyries waiting on the souls of who may fall in battle.

Signy carried out the assignment of his father but that was his first time taking a life despite a war looming. King Asmund thought this was the best way to pop his son's cherry as he needed to get that first kill off his chest and there was no better way to do this than with the life of a man that would draw out the conscience of Signy.

Vestfold had assembled their forces with King Asmund's position where the first battle would inevitably occur, they had the advantage of preparations and King Asmund was going to use this time to its fullest effect.

The sons of Ragnar and the newly sworn warriors got accustomed to the individuals they would now be following. They swore their allegiance to these warriors but with these prominent warriors sworn to King Askild, this inevitably made them warriors of his.

In his absence, however, they were to follow the commands of the one to which they swore their allegiance.

They spent a night in the camp and everyone had a seemingly normal night, all except Tyr.

Erik's camp was vile and Tyr noticed he was the only kid there.

Whores and the stench of alcohol were prominent, they acted like bestial creatures that took the form of men but what was more amazing was how Erik managed to keep such wild men under his command despite bringing a madman himself.

"LISTEN UP EVERYONE!" Erik said and these undisciplined men got on their best behavior the moment they heard his voice. It was like a dog whistle that made them obey.

"We have a son of Ragnar in our ranks!" Erik boasted and the warriors cheered in excitement as most were just happy that someone finally joined their ranks and not because he was a son of Ragnar, which held no importance here.

"They see us as monsters because we kill to satisfy our hunger…" Erik said, and the warriors beat their shields with their swords. It felt like a chant but what was this atmosphere?

"They call us barbarians because we devour the children of our enemies!" Erik continued his extreme speech and even Tyr was uneasy with the words coming out of his mouth because they did not feel metaphoric.

"And they call us predators because we enjoy the spoils of our battles! We enjoy their mothers and daughters!" Erik said with a chuckle with the warriors matching his energy.

Tyr immediately understood why he was the only one to swear his arm ring to this man.

"We are much more than that! We are warriors that came to wash the rivers with the blood of our enemies!" Erik said and while Tyr did not support the message.

He was feeling the adrenaline pump through his veins with each word from Erik's lips.

"We do not need a reason to kill our enemies! We do not need a reason to kill anyone for we too shall be killed someday! What is our motto!?" Erik shouted, saliva spilling from his mouth as his passion resonated in the souls of everyone present there.

"Kill! Plunder! Conquer! Die!" They shouted and Erik smiled in satisfaction because he liked this thought very much. He was glad that he could call these men his people.

He noticed the look of amazement in Tyr's eyes, he knew Erik was bad news but you can't fault his ability to raise the spirit of his warriors.

Tyr then realized that he was in unfamiliar territory and noticed the gazes on him.

They were not friends, he could feel the murderous intent oozing from them and his fight-or-flight response kicked in.

"Relax son of Ragnar. You have not proven your strength to them or me. Tomorrow I will let you duel with a warrior of your choosing but it won't be like any normal duel." Erik reassured him with a calm tone. Tyr has never fought anyone that was not his brother or father so this was an experience for him but he knew that these men had no fear of death. Not only that, they had the battle experience to back it up.

Tyr could not sleep because he felt someone would try to take his life at any moment, he felt anything but safe here as he began to regret his choice but it dawned on him that fear was a constant feeling he has felt since coming to Kattegat.

He never once ran away, and he had no intentions of doing so now, he was ready to do anything to become a great warrior.

The morning came and Tyr was up, his eyes red from his lack of sleep but today was a big day for him as he was going up against one of the warriors.

He walked out of his tent and found that a circle was already waiting for him and in that circle, he met Erik's imposing figure in it.

He looked to his left and right, he was pre-selecting who looked to be the weakest here but most of these men were huge.

"Tyr Ragnarsson, welcome." Erik said in a casual yet polite tone, this was out of character for him as Tyr walked up to him.

"I am ready," Tyr responded with brimming confidence as his eyes darted around to pick a warrior. Erik was curious to see who he picked but the selection of Tyr surprised everyone as he pointed his finger to the left.

"You, I pick you," Tyr said with a smile, it was a humongous warrior a few inches short of the size of Erik. They thought he would pick the weakest-looking person but he picked one of the most prominent people. He was a bald warrior and Tyr gulped anxiously as he waited for further instruction.

"I forgot to mention the special condition I spoke about earlier… This duel is not a spar, it is a duel to the death." Erik said in the most causal tone as a broad smile creased his face. The expression on Tyr's face changed from eagerness to dread.