The Son Of Ragnar

Two and a half days passed ever since the march to Vestfold began and the war was officially underway.

"King Asmund! We have established visuals on the forces of King Askild! They hold the banner of Kattegat!" A man shouted to the heavy-armored Asmund.

The area was grassy and neatly cut. A dense forest surrounded its perimeters to act as encasement. This was the area King Asmund chose for the first battle but the scout did not report any sighting of King Askild. It was only natural for them to protect their King.

This was a careless move on the chessboard by Asmund but it could cause a very strong moral boost should things go well.

"You heard him!" King Asmund shouted with his sword raised.

"Our enemies are finally here! Like lambs to a slaughter!" King Asmund shouted but he knew the battle was not going to commence right away because they needed to rest in a camp they would need to set up.

Attacking the moment they arrive would be impossible because marching for two days would have depleted their energy reserves even if they were warriors, they would need to rest.

But Asmund had no intention of letting them rest and already assembled his warriors to engage.

"King Asmund, are you sure this is a good choice? We have gone through so much to alter this battlefield to our advantage," A man with a plaited beard asked, as he went by the name Gustav.

"I think we should wait for them, they might not be alone. There has been no sight of King Askild and an ambush is very likely." Gustav warned him about the possibility of a different scenario.

Asmund paused, he did entertain the idea of attacking them but Gustav made a very strong point.

"If my King wishes, I will take a unit to surround and monitor their camp overnight," Gustav suggested. This was a solid plan because it opened up another avenue for them to attack should the need for it presents itself.

"How many men are there?" King Asmund questioned the scout.

"I saw about 100-150 men, King Asmund," Asmund chuckled faintly when he heard this, the deduction of Gustav was spot on.

King Asmund greatly outnumbered them as he had more than a thousand soldiers ready for battle, but he thought about the intentions of King Askild because it looked like he sent these men to their deaths.

The Vikings from Kattegat moved towards gaining more territory in Vestfold.

"Sven, they are aware of our arrival." A shabby-looking warrior that simply went by the name Oskar said.

"Good, everything is going as planned," Sven said because this was the plan that he and Erik came up with en route. Sven was not scared of dying or sacrificing his men for his goal and they were not frightened of dying for him either.

"I cannot wait for this war to end," Sven muttered under his breath, riding his horse.

"Are you all ready to die for Sven!?" Oskar shouted and they all began beating their shields.

"For crying out loud, do we have to do this?" Sven questioned but Oskar nodded to confirm they had to do so because morale was important in war.

"We should find shelter, it would soon be nightfall," Oskar suggested and Sven concurred because the sun had already set but they were not so foolish as to keep wandering without proper rest.

The fact that they were not attacked while encroaching into Vestfold meant that King Asmund had no intentions of attacking them carelessly. Sven knew that it was because of their numbers, maybe they did not take them as an immediate threat or maybe they were onto their plan.

"We will set up camp here!" Oskar shouted after getting permission from Sven.

It did not take long for them to set up camp but the terrain was unfamiliar to them. Despite this, they managed to find high ground because they knew how important high grounds were.

Sven did not rule out the possibility of an attack nor did Erik but they knew they would have to buy as much time as possible for King Askild.

"I want you guys to keep watch, we will rotate every 2 hours so you guys too can get some rest," Oskar said. He was the spokesman in terms of dialogue with Sven taking a more passive role because his men already knew what he required from them but it was around this time Gustav made his move.

King Asmund granted him 150 warriors for the sole purpose of accomplishing the task he suggested and due to their preexisting knowledge of the terrain, it was quite easy to accomplish this task as the warriors from Kattegat found themselves surrounded.

This would be the perfect opportunity to ambush them BUT Gustav waited for more information as he also had warriors covering his 6 for a potential ambush on them.

"Something feels off," Gustav thought to himself as they continued to watch over the camp but there were no traces of Erik. There had been no signs ever since they arrived in Vestfold.

A hand over the mouth and a sword slitting the throat came to light, and the victims of this were the Vikings of Vestfold.

Gustav noticed the rustling of the leaves and the muffled sounds that came from it, he was a lot more cautious than the average warrior, and the perimeter he set up for a potential ambush paid off.

"Vikings! The enemy is here! Paint your sword in their blood!" Gustav shouted and the people that were in stealth engaged with the ambush party.

This ensuing battle alerted the troops of Sven but Sven had no intentions of fighting.

"That madman, it is as he predicted," Sven said, resting peacefully in his constructed tent despite the stray one or two arrows that made their way into his tent.

This did not affect Sven's peace of mind but Oskar was quite the opposite as the Vikings in their unit brandished their swords in preparation.

The first battle was important.

Gustav noticed that despite them knowing the terrain better, they were still being overpowered with relative ease.

"You are…!" Gustav muttered the moment a blood-covered enormous Viking showed up.

"Hi, I am Erik," Erik said with a blood-curdling grin.