Battle Through the Nine Realms - Chapter 46 - Chaos and Death (Patreon)

The sound of the horn drew their pack to the first two groups, trying to get there as quickly as possible.  

As they arrived, the number of roars and the sound of fighting left no doubt that the other group had found what everyone was searching for.

Through the trees, dozens of trolls could be seen closing in on the pack with Vog shouting orders.  The Vikings had created a circle, shields and spears out, trying to hold off against the barrage of trees that slammed into them and the clawed hands that grabbed and pulled shields away.

Thorodd blew their horn as the four packs of three charged, trying to buy their allies some breathing room.

“I'm on point!” Hallad shouted as he looked at Einar and Luit.  “Let me block them!”

Both Vikings nodded, each adjusting the long spear they ran with.

“Be safe!” Einar shouted at the pack of four behind him. 

The support team never replied, but even if they had, the odds of hearing them over the carnage were low.

It felt slow running behind Hallad a few steps. The large man moved with a good stride, but he had no real speed.  Once going, he was like a bull. However, dodging over tree roots and around trunks slowed the thick man down.

Thirty yards away, Einar saw a troll grab one of the Vikings by his arms, who had just speared another troll, and toss him into the air, crashing into the branches of a tree up above.

Some of the trolls had broken off their attack and turned on the new threat.

Their skin was an even darker brown, almost to the point they were going to soon be a brownish black.  

“Careful!” Luit yelled. “Those hit harder than the others!”

Einar had read about these.  

While Vikings used runes to gain Strength, Endurance, and other stats, trolls were often differentiated by their skin colors.  Magic worked differently for each realm and creature they were from.  

“I’ll be fine!” Hallad replied as he ran right at a charging troll.

Both man and beast collided, spear angling into the creature’s gut while the troll's hands came down together against Hallad’s shield.

The metal buckled and broke, with the wood cracking from the impact, yet the Viking managed to stay upright somehow.

Luit and Einar ran up as the troll tried to recover from the injury it had just taken from the spear thrust, each stabbing with their weapon, both connecting the metal tip with the thick dark skin of the beast’s throat.

The flesh tore off as each Viking ran past it, drenching the troll’s shoulders and chest with a pungent smell.  Only able to take a few steps, the monster went down on its knee as it grabbed the fountain of blood that sprayed everywhere.

“I NEED A SHIELD!” Hallad bellowed, discarding the bent metal and fractured wood item to the ground.  He pulled a good-sized chunk of wood from his arm and let it fall to the dirt by the dying troll, ignoring the pain he had to be feeling.

“I got left! You get that one on the right!” Luit called out as he turned to face one that was still attacking the Vikings from group one.

Einar kept his feet moving, racing toward the troll that had just knocked down one of the men it was attacking with a powerful backhand.

The fifteen yards between him and the troll were gone in a few seconds, and as he leveled his spear, two threads appeared, one aimed at the creature's spine near its hips and the other at a smaller point at the back of its neck, right next to a few thick pieces of skin.

Trusting himself, Einar slowed his stride slightly, guiding the tip of the spear along the thread like a doctor guiding a scalpel along a tiny area that needed to be cut while avoiding anything else.

His hand was steady, and his stride felt smooth. Einar moved across the packed, hardened dirt, avoiding stones and roots.

The metal tip slid right between the side of the creature's thicker skin, designed to protect the back part of its neck and head.  With an almost godlike precision, it struck, going deep, and, for not even a heartbeat, felt resistance until it melted away and pierced the spinal cord at the base of its neck.

The troll’s body jerked upward once but didn’t move again except for falling over and to the side.

[ Rune Experienced Gained ]

More trolls turned and recognized the threat behind them.  

Roars echoed through the woods as the trolls shifted from packs of two that faced one direction to one facing the original Vikings while the other responded to the new group.

Spears and axes pierced and sliced at the massive brutes who seemed to send a Viking flying outside of the few like Hallad.

“SPEAR!” Einar called out after his broke inside a troll’s chest, buried deep in one of its lungs.

Luit was struggling to move, having received a glancing blow when he got too close, and a troll’s counterattack caught his outward arm, shattering every bone inside it.

None of the healers could get close to do anything, having to stay back lest they get set upon by one of the beasts.

Pulling both axes out while waiting for another spear to be brought up, Einar set his eyes on the dark brown troll that was ripping out the spear Luit had just impaled its stomach with.

Hallad was shouting for its attention, but it disregarded the larger man and the shorter spear. Their defensive Viking was limping; the strain of having taken a massive attack from a tree trunk destroyed his shield and sent the man to his knees.

A female scream caught Einar’s attention as he saw the future shieldmaiden rushing at the troll that was moving toward Luit.  Its right hand held a small piece of tree trunk, half of it gone from the strike that Hallad had somehow managed to block.

Racing toward the troll that was focused on the incoming threat, Einar winced as he saw the monster move its arm back to throw the piece of wood in its hand.

“Dodge!” Einar shouted, but he knew the moment the wood left that troll’s hand it wasn’t going to be something she could manage.

An arrow came from the support area, burying itself in the creature’s eye, a shot that was about as impressive as Einar could imagine based on the distance it had been taken from.

The arm came forward, throwing the wooden projectile, and it was off track by a few yards, slamming into a tree trunk and shattering against it.  The sound of the wood pieces colliding thundered out over the noises of battle.

Still fifteen yards from the troll, Einar watched as the woman reached the injured beast and saw her throw the spear instead of getting in close.

Her aim wasn’t bad, and there was some power behind it, but the monster managed to block the spear with its arm, deflecting while barely leaving a scratch.

Right behind the throw of the spear, however, was the shield, coming in low and flying like a frisbee.  It smacked the troll in the crotch, unblocked as the left arm had blocked its view.

A high-pitched roar came as both hands reached for the tender section of flesh.

I guess it's sad that so many races have that same weak point.

Not feeling sorry for the beast, Einar reached the injured creature and attacked from the back, slicing along its exposed Achilles, never passing up a chance to cripple a troll.

As it fell, he ran toward a second troll slightly off to the right fighting a pair of Vikings in the center circle.

Racing along, he kept quiet, a rare thing among the Viking warriors, and delivered another well-aimed attack, thanks to a thread that appeared and sent the second troll to the ground, unable to stand after its leg was taken out from behind.

Moving a few yards to safety, Einar scanned the area, seeing the battle between all the Vikings.

Hallad and Luit were both safe and had help coming from the two younger warriors.

With them not in danger, he turned and saw there was a small area of open space between the trolls and his fellow Vikings.

Grinning, Einar raced forward, moving from behind like a shadow walker, cutting an unprotected ligament on every troll he ran behind, helping his fellow Vikings in their fight.

Cheers started to fill the air as the tide began to change.  With Einar doing his best to weave around trolls and simply hamstring or take out their ankles, the battle was shifting in their favor.

Multiple Vikings began to assist as their foes died, and the constant flood of notifications slowly trickled by.

[ Rune Experienced Gained ] 

Thirteen of those…

The knowledge that he had helped with so many made everything worthwhile.

A few groans came from the warriors that were getting treatment.

“You prove your title every battle,” Hallad said, stretching as he spoke. “Even though you’re not a housecarl, you fight like one.”

“You say that like I’m supposed to pretend I didn’t watch you block all those hits with barely a scratch,” Einar replied.  “I would have been flattened had I tried to block any of those attacks like you did.”

“Bah!” exclaimed the older Viking. “We both know you’re stronger than you let on.  Of course, I have seven tattoos, which, as you know, help.  Jarl Bior has been gracious to me for all my years of service.  One day, you’ll manage to—”

A horn sounded from a bit ahead in the forest, and every Viking immediately grabbed their shields and weapons, racing toward the sound.

“That’s the scout team!” Luit shouted as he came racing toward them.

Four more rapid blasts came, and then it was cut off halfway through the last one.

“Shit! They found the portal!”

Einar saw Hallad wince at Luit’s words.

“Mar! Aslaug! Stay close but don’t get close!” Einar shouted at the younger Viking with the bow and the new shieldmaiden.

Both were almost caught up, each carrying weapons as they ran toward them.

“Those two are following you like puppy dogs,” Hallad stated as they ran. “They're your responsibility.”

Grunting, Einar nodded and gave one last glance back at the pair before turning his attention to dodging trees and roots.

The sun above was still high in the sky and the fact they had fought as many trolls already left a bad taste in his mouth.

“What’s the number of Vikings who can still fight?”

Luit didn’t look back, just continued running next to Hallad, trying to will the larger man to go faster as other pairs and trios ran ahead.

“Eighteen.”

Shouting was coming from ahead and Einar strained to see through the sea of trees.  For some reason trolls were often found moving around clearings before diving into the thick forest.

Fighting in the trees was better for Vikings with the ability to use the trunks and sometimes lower branches to their advantage.  The trolls had figured that out, preferring the open space where they could charge, jump, and not have to worry about dancing around the natural defenses.

A blue glow started to appear ahead in their vision, and Hallad spat as he ran.

“It’s the portal!”

Other Vikings started calling out to them.

“An elite troll!”

The yells passed from ahead to behind and Einar couldn’t imagine what he was about to see.

Fifteen feet tall sometimes? Not a giant, but still… 

“I can’t take but maybe one hit if that!” Hallad shouted.  “I’ll need shields!”

Einar looked back at the two younger warriors and saw both of their faces.  Each knew this was well beyond their ability and even he was struggling to consider what they were about to face.

The tree line ahead began to thin and the blue glow got brighter.

As they took those last few dozen yards racing toward the clearing, he knew was out there, the sound of screams and shouting grew.

Coming through the thicket of trees for the first time in his life, Einar felt scared at the sight before him.