Viking - Chapter 16 - Beta (Patreon)

Slowly Magnus backed up, knowing the path he needed to take to avoid the trap they had created.  Falling in while panicking wouldn’t do anything but get him killed.  Not that he was afraid of it, knowing he had a rune, yet the idea of being torn apart by these beasts did little to help alleviate that fear.

Growls and snarls came as saliva dripped from the wolves’ open mouths.  They didn’t pause, continuing their movements toward him, each step closing the distance.

His head was doing the math and time was up.  If he waited longer the large one would most likely catch him before he made it to the barrier.  If it leapt over the trap because of its size, he would die or at least suffer a gruesome injury.

Turning and bolting, Magnus ran, the goat in his hand dripping blood as he turned.

Reinn had wondered why he asked for a small one and this was the reason.  Carrying an adult goat while running wasn’t an option. 

Snarls and a yip came as his pursuers chased.  A line lay ahead on the dirt, marking the boundary and where he needed to reach no matter what.  The thin dirt bridge they had made looked so small now as he raced toward it.

Years of reading books on hunting in the jungle and wilderness survival played out through his mind as he ran.

Wolves in his world were dangerous and there wasn’t a doubt in Magnus’s mind that these were even more so.

His foot touched the ground at the beginning of the land bridge, the eighteen inches of dirt never seemed so thin and as he pressed off a small bit of dirt broke free, tumbling down the left side. A hint of panic rose as Magnus made certain the second step covered the gap, landing on the side across the pits.

He could see Osvif and Guat peering over the dirt piles, their eyes almost pinched shut as the concern of the creatures that chased him drew close.

Five steps remained to the barrier and the memory of the first time played out.  He had barely made it then and those were normal wolves, not one like the bigger one.

The sound of a few sticks breaking followed by yelps and howls of pain filled his ears but there was a sensation of death on his heals.  Letting the goat go, Magnus flung himself forward, diving with every ounce of power he had built up in those legs.

A loud snapping sound came from behind him, maybe a foot from where his head had been a moment before he lunged forward.

Both Guat and Osvif were coming up over the dirt and shouting.

His body hit the dirt, rolling over the barrier as he ignored the pain of his shoulder slamming into the ground or the rocks that raked across exposed skin.

The loud grunt and howl came just a few feet away and as Magnus stood up from his roll, the massive wolf snarled and howled at him.

Pained cries came from the two pits behind him.  One wolf was trying to pull itself up out of the pit, its front paws causing dirt on the edges to break off and fall down inside it.  

The other three were not visible but the sound that echoed off the walls inside their tomb told the story of their pain.

“Einar!”

Guat tossed him a wooden spear as he and Osvif arrived, pointing the weapons they had at the wolf that struggled against the barrier.  It moved slowly, teeth snarling and trying to snap shut but as if in slow motion.

“It’s fighting the barrier! Attack it!”

Arngrim had told Magnus many times about how warriors used to use the barrier as a kill zone.  Some creatures became so enraged they would ignore the pain and attempt to kill whatever was on the other side.  It might take five minutes, or it might take ten, but they would push through and then chase whatever their target was.

During that time though they were vulnerable.  Reactions were greatly slowed, and their power was diminished.  

The trolls were not dumb enough to stay there if attacked.  Only willing to endure the pain for an easy meal on the other side.

All three boys rushed forward.  Guat swung his axe while Osvif and Magnus thrust with their spears.

Osvif’s spear barely pierced the thick fur at the wolf’s shoulder.  Instead the impact caused the tip to shatter.

Magnus saw a tiny thread in the moment he struck at the wolf’s throat.  Driving with his hips he attacked that spot with the wooden weapon and watched as the wooden tip tore through the softer underside, piercing the hide.  Continuing to thrust he pressed the spear along its throat and between the muscles that surrounded the soft tube that carried food and air to its core.

Guat’s axe came down, the wolf now in an awkward position as the attack from Magnus made its head turn to the left, exposing its neck to his friend’s attack.

A squelching sound came as the blade bit deep, cutting through the fur and into the artery that runs along there.

“Again!” Magnus shouted as he tried to lift upward with the spear, forcing the wolf into a position where its front legs wouldn’t touch the ground.

The spear began to bend and splinter as the weight of the wolf pressed down on it.

Another slash of the axe came, followed by two more and then the spear broke as the weight of the wolf’s corpse was too much to bear.

[ Rune Experienced Gained ]

“It’s dead!” Magnus exclaimed as Guat continued to hack at the corpse.

Two more strikes fell before the teen stopped, panting heavily and looking at the dead wolf, its massive body not moving.

“Quickly! Two more spears and get the rope! Guat, pull your trophy to the other side! We need to move before more things come!”

The wolf that had been trying to claw its way out of the pit managed to finally get on top the dirt and was bleeding, a giant hole in its underside near the back leg.

It saw the death of the alpha wolf and turned, hobbling toward the woods on three legs, blood streaming from its wound.

Osvif dashed back toward the pile of dirt they had built and moved to retrieve what Magnus had called for.

Guat was still standing there, staring at the axe in his hand before glancing at the wolf.

Tapping the shield, Magnus shouted the boys name once more.

The teen turned and saw him and shook his head to clear the confusion inside.

“I killed it… I really–”

“Yes! Now celebrate later with your father! Get the trophy to safety so we can show it to him and your mother!”

Those words spurred the teen on who slid his axe into the loop on his belt and tossed the shield over the barrier.  Without hesitating he bent down and grabbed the beast by the front legs and began to heave, groaning from the weight of the wolf.

[ Rune Experienced Gained ]

A second one died…

Grinning, Magnus waited for the spear Osvif brought and motioned to the pit.

“Go slow, that one who ran away will hopefully buy us some time.  For now, don’t be stupid.”

Osvif coughed and said nothing, biting back whatever he was about to say as they approached the pit on the left.

Sounds of movement came and they saw that one wolf was laying on its back, two spikes buried inside it and not moving.

The other was crying out and wailing from the three that had pierced it.  None were vital hits but it was stuck, unable to move as it bled to death.

A growl came that didn’t last long as the movement caused the spikes inside its body to shift.

“Quickly!”

Both boys set to spearing over and over with their sticks, earning yelps and cries until finally it stopped moving.

[ Rune Experienced Gained ]

“Next pit!”

The last wolf was in worse shape and barely hanging on.  A spike had impaled its throat and blood was seeping down the wound as lay there barely breathing.

A few more strikes from both of them ended its suffering.

[ Rune Experienced Gained ]

Some howls and roars off in the direction the injured wolf had run rang out.

Turning to look behind him, Magnus saw Guat coming toward them, breathing heavily from the work it had taken to move the wolf.

“Ok, Osvif, get in the pit, tie the rope around one and be careful of the spikes.  We need to hurry!”

Neither boy seemed lost at the immediacy of quickly they needed to move.  Even their smaller friend said nothing as he let Magnus help him into the pit and tied the rope around the wolf they had just killed.  He pressed upward as Magnus and Guat pulled, moving the corpse quicker than any of them thought it would go.  Their combined strength made it much easier than expected.

“Cut the rope, don’t bother untying.”

Magnus helped Osvif out as Guat freed the rope from the wolf with a single chop.

Noises were getting closer from inside the forest and Magnus felt inside him the call for one more.

“One more, then we go. Get it out first then we pull them across.”

Guat tossed the rope to Osvif as the teen made it safely in the pit.  He was tying the rope around the corpse as the crashing of some trees not far into the forest rang out.

“Pull!”

The second wolf came out just as easily and Magnus immediately went to where Osvif was and held out his hand, grabbing his friend and hoisted him out of the pit.

“Troll!”

Guat’s shout caused both boys to spring toward the barrier as they turned and saw the brown troll standing at the edge of the forest, watching the three of them.

Is it smaller or am I just that much taller now?

Ignoring the thought, Magnus grabbed the rope and motioned to the wolf on the ground.

“You two pull that, I got this one!”

The pair sprang into action, grabbing the legs and dragging the corpse across the barrier right when Magnus got his trophy to safety.

A low growl came and even this far away, each of the boys knew the threat of death wasn’t worth the one they left in the pit.

“Get the cart Osvif.  We’ll stand guard here.”

The shorter teen ran without hesitating.

“Do you think it will come?” Guat asked, now holding his axe and the shield he had retrieved.

“It shouldn’t.  It knows about the barrier and what it would do, making it vulnerable. We need to collect our trophies and get out of here though.  The sun will be down in three hours and I don’t want to stick around at night and see if I’m wrong.”

A chuckle came from the teen next to him and both turned when they heard the sound of the cart bumping along the road.

“I’m not sure we can carry all this in that and pull it.  We’ll need to gut them and toss the stuff back over the barrier.”

Guat groaned once but nodded, moving to the closest wolf and starting the task.

“You keep a lookout,” the larger boy said as he plunged his knife into the underside of the creature.

For twenty minutes the troll didn’t move, its eyes locked on the three of them as they deposited the innards on the side of the barrier where the troll could come, close enough to the pits they didn’t have to worry about it wanting to come across.

The alpha and one other wolf fit in the cart, the wheels almost getting buried under the weight in the dirt.

“You two pull and push the cart, just help me get this one my shoulder.  Later we can swap off if need be.”

As the three of them started moving back toward town, Magnus turned and saw the troll starting to move to the fresh meat waiting to be eaten.  

Shuddering as he held the warm corpse on his shoulders, Magnus wished he was sixteen.  Even with his rune slots open, Arngrim had said that only when a boy or girl hit sixteen could they access more information about them and their stats and runes.

“You ok back there?” Guat called out.

Chuckling, Magnus smiled.

“Yeah, I’m just wondering what our parents are going to think.”

A trio of boys started laughing as they made the long journey back toward town.  No matter how hard it was going to be, the trophies they had would make the pain of it all worth it.