The Son Of Ragnar

Tyr knew he had to get Kolbeinn down or Kolbeinn would die as he was already unconscious.

He was not at full strength and could barely use his sledgehammer yet a monster that could defeat Kolbeinn was rampaging.

Tyr realized at that moment that they had found the ax he had planted, and Gissur had responded in a way he could not have foreseen.

They had launched the first attack and this attack was in no way just a warning, he intended to crush them with this and judging by the number of men he allocated.

Gissur was in no way underestimating them.

Gudrun became a target eventually, the Mad Hound grabbed an enemy and crushed him between his hands before throwing him like a pebble in Gudrun's direction.

The speed and force with which he did allow Kolbeinn to slip between his hands, crashing into the snow beneath.

"Clumsy me! Here!" The giant joked as he tried to stomp Kolbeinn to death but his foot met no mass.

"Huh?" The giant muttered, taking away his foot, there was nothing beneath it.

He looked to the left and understood what had happened, Tyr had managed to get Kolbeinn out of harm's way.

"W-What is that monster!?" A man shouted, Tyr had seen this before.

The morale of the army had been broken, once that's done even the strongest of warriors would lose the will to fight, something that even Askild could not escape.

But there was nowhere to retreat, and they were surrounded. They had to make their stand here.

Gudrun had managed to bury herself in the snow completely, after dodging the throw, effectively masking her presence and leaving the watchful eyes of the giant.

In hindsight, it looked like the attack was a success, the Mad Hound had no reason to doubt it otherwise.

But where was Nora, Tyr's eyes darted left and right only to see a couple of men carrying her away as she fruitlessly struggled. Their eyes locked momentarily and the terror in them screamed despair but she met Tyr's cold gaze as he focuses on the Mad Hound, ignoring the fate that awaited her.

You did not need to be a genius to know what they intended to do, they had the upper hand but Tyr also knew if they lost too many men that they were as good as doomed.

The Mad Hound focused his gaze on Tyr, and Tyr braced for a fight he knew he could not win.

Every fiber in his body told him to run, this was his primal instinct talking to him but now was an opportunity for him to demonstrate his strength.

Tyr predicated that this giant's durability and endurance were greater than Erik's.

He was tall and extremely muscular, he looked like a contestant right out of the "World's strongest man"

Tyr knew the first thing he needed was a change of weapon but his eyes could not find his preferred weapon among the corpses littered around him.

This would put a lot less strain on his body than the sledgehammer.

But what happened next was something Tyr could not have predicted, the giant lunged at him suddenly.

Tyr had made a fatal miscalculation and that was thinking he was slow, but he had a spring in his step that put him in Tyr's proximity almost instantly.

Tyr could not even ready before the giant sent his foot crashing into Tyr's stomach, sending him flying a football into the burning building.

"Strange child…" The giant muttered with Tyr most likely out of commission with that hit.

-

Gudrun knew she had to be the one to save Nora, she saw her being taken and there was no way she was going to let someone do something so terrible to her.

Gudrun camouflaged herself in the snow, a man was already on Nora as he had ripped off her shirt but before he could go further, an arrow whistled through the air and right into his left eye, exiting through the back of his head.

He dropped dead on Nora and the remaining two men looked around but they could not see Gudrun.

This was her specialty, she was an archer that could use her environment to remain out of sight despite being present, like a modern-day sniper.

And before the men could register that their lives were in danger, the other man fell to the ground.

There was one more but this man had registered the direction the arrow was coming from so he was waiting but him being on high alert made it so that Nora was not deemed a threat.

She stabbed his ankle and simultaneously an arrow burrowed its way into his chest.

Nora was safe and it was all thanks to Gudrun.

Gudrun ran to Nora.

"This is bad! I don't think Father and Tyr can defeat that monster!" Gudrun shouted but Nora did not share this opinion as Gudrun wrapped a cloth around her.

"No…. You are wrong. I do not know who I saw but that man was not Tyr…"Nora said, drawing a confused look from Gudrun.

"What do you mean…" Gudrun said, she could see the unease on Nora's face.

"I am not worried about Tyr, I am worried about the men that raise their swords to oppose him. Right now, I do not know what will happen but I think we should stay out of his way…" Nora warned. Gudrun did not know what she meant by this but she agreed that they needed to stay away from confrontation.

-

The Mad Hound was untouchable but he was because no one seemed to be his equal.

He looked at Kolbeinn and decided to question him about the whereabouts of his "owners"

He squatted, but he was still taller than most on the battlefield.

"Hey! Wake up!" The Mad Hound barked but Kolbeinn was already out cold.

He was confused as the burning building collapsed in on itself but he could see a figure amidst the black.

Out of the fire, emerged Tyr but there was something strange about his appearance.

Tyr's eyes were rolled back yet he was 'conscious'

"You must die…. to be reborn…" Tyr muttered under his breath and his hands, was a pair of axes as he raised it towards the Mad Hound.

"Let the madness consume you… Kill…. Kill…. Kill…" Tyr blurted out and the battle around them momentarily stopped upon witnessing this.

Tyr was something straight out of a fairytale.

He had emerged from the flames…. unharmed.