Battle Through the Nine Realms - Chapter 44 - A Constant New Threat (Patreon)

“Is this threat that serious?” Einar asked as he rode next to Thorodd.

Forty total warriors were riding to a section of the barrier a few days north of where they had just been for the mining camp.

“Five trolls over the last month have pushed through the barrier, and the Lendmann is struggling to handle the invasion. The number of deaths has been costly, and now we need to try and find out where they are coming from and how to stop it.  You’ve read the reports and know what we will most likely find.”

Einar nodded, wiping his nose from the dust of all the hooves along the dirt road.

“Portals… what are they like?”

“Bah!” Thorodd exclaimed, “Stop staring at me like some love-struck maiden wanting to hear tales of how I saved Midgard!”

A few warriors near them started laughing at the large man’s outburst, and Einar gave his friend a crude hand gesture.

“They are death… I’ve seen two and died at one of them.  The amount of creatures that continued to come through every few minutes seemed… unnatural.  If they stop streaming through, then things will most likely become worse.  Some things worse than your typical troll often guard the portal.  No one went through because doing so might leave you trapped on the other side.”

Frowning, Einar looked at how Thorodd’s eyes seemed distant.  

“How many men did you have when you went to those?”

“You are as bad as Skarf always complained,” the giant man groaned.  “Never as many as this.  Now stop asking me questions, or I’ll make you ride at the back with the others.  Trust me, the amount of dust back there is far worse.”

Nodding, Einar went silent, knowing that being only five horses back from the front was indeed much better than the tenth row.

***

“Each of your pack leaders knows their plans!” Vog shouted from the wagon he stood on.  Being short and stocky made it hard for the Viking tasked with leading four packs to be seen, but everyone knew the man’s reputation.  The ‘blond-haired destroyer’ was his nickname, having taken down a trio of trolls in a row all by himself years back.  Though he was slower now, no one doubted his talent or skill.

“We will use the horns only as a last resort! Every leader here knows the danger of what a single horn can do if the number of trolls we expect to be present is here.”

He paused and pointed to the group of men and women behind each pack, all laden down with different weapons.

“They are precious to you! When your spear breaks, they are the ones who will bring you another! Most of you know this already, but we have a few new warriors today, and this is their first time at a break like this! Defend your shield!”

With that said, the men let out a roar, and everyone moved to their packs, waiting for their leader to give them the final plan.

Skarf wasn’t excited at the news of facing down huge packs of trolls again, but since Einar was his shield mate, the man kept his complaints to a minimum.  

“Forty warriors… this isn’t good.”

Thorodd glanced at the red-haired and frowned.

“We don’t need negativity.  Odin called us for this task, and we answered.  Some of us might die, hopefully only the red-headed ones.”

A few chuckles came as everyone knew Skarf was the only one who met that description.

“Four of us in this group have been on this kind of hunt before.  Each of them is going to tell you the same thing.  Pace yourself, and don’t be stupid.  We may face group after group of trolls.  Often, the other creatures stay away, choosing to not provide a free meal to what is out there.”

With a stick, Thorodd began to draw a rough map in the dirt of where they were and their direction.

Each group had a set distance of about 100 yards between them, each one knowing it might shift slightly but were close enough if one needed to blow the horn.  Those moments were only if things were so bleak that death was obvious.

“We’ll go in the typical two-man sets, shields up.  I want each of you to use spears first, and then, if you desire a two-handed weapon, keep it on your back.”

One of the men, Luit, raised his hand, but Thorodd ignored him.

“No… this is my way.  We need distance.  There are extra spears behind us.”

Standing up all the way, their giant towered over them as everyone bent down to look at the map he had drawn.

“Einar and Skarf, you are our shield on the far north edge. Luit and Hallad, you two are our south shield. Do you have any questions?”

Everyone grunted and shook their heads as they studied Thorodd's plan. Each team was represented by a rune carved in the dirt, and they were the second team from the north.  

A shout came from where Vog was standing.  Each group rose up and got into position.

“How screwed are we?” Skarf asked as he and Einar went to retrieve a spear.

“Honestly, I have no idea, but unlike you, I can’t wait to get out there.”

“Dear Odin, why did I have to get partnered with a crazy one?” Skarf muttered before chuckling.

***

“Shielding!” 

As Skarf attempted to block the large club that the troll had, Einar dashed forward, sending his spear along the thread he saw like a seamstress with a needle.

The creature's massive arms moved with a speed a little faster than the other trolls they had faced, but Einar had gotten a lot faster as well.  He felt like with how much his Perception had gone up since his Gungnir's rune had reached level two, everything became smoother.  He could control his swings and strikes with far better precision than before, and now the thread appeared more often, it seemed.

As the club came down, Skarf angled his shield to deflect the attack.

At that moment, Einar’s spear pierced the troll's neck, driving with such power that the whole nine-inch metal head disappeared.

The creature’s head came down in a twitch, snapping the wooden shaft near the metal tip.  Tipping over from the swing’s momentum and the new metal object poking its brain, the troll fell forward after two clumsy steps, dead on the ground.

[ Rune Experienced Gained ]

“Another is coming!” Skarf shouted as he pointed at the troll weaving through the trees about forty yards away.

“Spear!” Einar shouted and turned, running with his broken one and tossing it down on the ground near the runner who chucked a replacement.

Snatching the weapon out of the air, Einar ran back to where his friend was waiting, preparing for another fight.

“Shield soon!” Skarf called out as he felt the wood of the shield shifting between the metal ribs. “One brace is gone, and another is probably on its last leg!”

Einar grunted in acknowledgment, but his eyes were watching the troll that was coming for them.

It moved differently like the others had, but this one’s skin was a darker brown than before.  He glanced at Thorodd and the other Vikings who were dealing with a pack of two, noticing that both were the darker shade of brown, rubbery skin.

“Are these a different kind of troll?”

Skarf shrugged as he held his shorter spear, ready and the spread out a little.  

“I know of five different varieties.  Each one is—”

The troll had reached them, but unlike others that came in, swiping with their claw or weapon, this one jumped from about ten yards, slamming its seven-foot-long tree trunk downward at Skarf.

The red-headed Viking rolled to the side, trying to get away from the attack, knowing if it connected, he would be nothing but a red mark on the ground and club.

Einar raced forward and set the spear in the ground, biding his time as the creature’s eyes changed to where he was and attempted to adjust its attack.

Gravity did its job; the speed at which it ran, its weight combined with the return to Earth, sent the spear as it pressed against the stomach to run straight through and out its lower back.

Einar let go of the spear as it started to puncture the brown skin and dove for safety.

Rocks and dirt sprayed both of them as the trunk hit the ground and then turned into a wood bomb, sending shrapnels of wood everywhere.

The spear snapped when the troll landed, a short bit of the shaft sticking out of its gut. Putrid blood and intestinal juices ran down the wood and out the hole that tore from its weight.

“Spear!”

Two steps are all it took for the troll to regain its balance and bring its club up to attack.

Einar was standing up, pulling his axe from the loop on his belt, when the wooden weapon came around toward him, moving faster with about a foot of it gone from the impact in the dirt.

Dropping straight down, he felt the massive breeze that was created when the blunt object barely missed his head by only a few inches.

Rising again and scrambling to move backward, Einar watched as Skarf came in from behind, thrusting his spear at the back of the creature.

His attack pierced the thick skin but bounced off the bones that protected its lungs and heart.

Whirling on its feet, the troll kept the momentum of the swing and turned, tearing the metal tip from its back. 

Skarf raised the shield, trying to adjust to the angle of the attack.  The corpse near his feet prevented him from dodging to the right, and going backward would put him closer to the support people.  If the troll got in their midst, it could easily take away something they desperately needed.

Moving with the attack, Skarf went left, holding the shield at an angle and lowering his body.

Like a ball struck by a stick, both Viking and shield were sent down into the ground with a force that created an awful sound.

Scarf let out a groan upon impact, and a piece of one of the metal bands on the shield flew off, almost hitting Einar in the face.

Both axes were now drawn, and with no time to lose, knowing his shield partner wasn’t getting up, Einar raced toward the troll that was working at regaining its balance.

Each axe sliced with power and strength that only came from his years of hard work and the blessings of the runes.

Gashes appeared on the troll’s leg, only an inch deep, as the flesh felt denser than the previous one they had killed.

It roared and swung with its left hand, trying to slash at Einar with those claws.

Predicting an attack like that, the new thegn used both axes and met the attack head-on, blades versus hand and fingers.

Blood showered him as the creature’s hand came off, the axe he had been gifted by Reinn doing exactly what it had been given for; killing threats.

It howled in pain, lifting the wooden weapon upward and preparing to slam it down on Einar’s head.

Dashing forward, the blood-covered Viking rolled through the creature's legs, slashing backward as he came up at the Achilles on the right leg, cutting deep enough to cause the leg to buckle before the tension of the tendon snapped.

Running the moment he made the cut, Einar escaped the falling body that slammed into the ground with a thud.

Not giving the monster a chance to recover, he sliced and hacked at the troll’s face and throat, dodging as the right arm came back and slicing off a few fingers.

Kicking the troll’s head had been a mistake as a noticeable pain radiated through his foot, his big toe finding out quickly that the skull it had hit was much harder than he had expected.

Finally, Einar managed a blow to the throat that cut the airway and an artery, sending blood gushing and the creature gasping for air that never made it to its lungs.

[ Rune Experienced Gained ]

[ Rune Level Increased ]

[ Rune Level Increased ]

[ Rune Level Increased ]

With the message showing up for a moment, Einar smiled as he felt his body react to whatever new stats were granted from this impact.  He turned and saw that Skarf was still down.

Near him was a young man who was in those training years, not ready to be on the field at this time, holding a spear.

“Troll!” the teen exclaimed, pointing behind where he was standing.

Spinning around, Einar cursed as he saw the same-colored troll coming to where two of its fallen brethren lay.

“HEALER!” Einar shouted as he stowed the axes and moved to where the boy was. He grabbed the spear from his hand and pointed at the group of three others waiting with weapons.

“Get shields and spears! All of you! It’s time to show Odin you’re worthy to be a warrior!”

Spinning around, Einar cursed as he saw this troll carrying two large wooden trunks.