Battle Through the Nine Realms - Chapter 47 - Portals and Realms (Patreon)

Measuring height wasn’t always easy but there was no doubt the troll standing near the portal and roaring with enough force that it actually hurt his ears, had to be close to fifteen-foot-tall.

Massive legs that were taller than him and thicker than Hallad provided power, and the skin was gray. Huge foot-long claws ran off its massive hands, and the muscles that showed underneath the rubbery, textured skin left no doubt it was much tougher than the others they had faced.

In its large hand was a tree that it was swinging around like a stick.

No longer was a tree trunk from a small tree good enough; instead, this beast had ripped up a tree almost as tall as it from the ground, bashing it at anyone who got close.

The roots were still partially attached, and most of the branches had already been snapped off, leaving a spiked top area with parts of one Viking still impaled on it.

Men shouted and pointed, working to surround the creature as it lunged forward at a speed that seemed impossible for one its size.

The ground even vibrated as the thing walked. Each time the trunk slammed into the dirt, dust flew up, creating a layer of blue, glowing fog.

Einar’s eyes were locked on the portal.  It was two-thirds the height of the beast and about six feet wide.  Magic wasn’t something he had ever believed in; even here, it sometimes still startled him.

When one gazed through it, a world, no, a different realm, could be seen like looking through frosted blue glass. It was hard to see much as the troll blocked anyone from getting close, holding them at bay.

“Einar! Focus!”

Hallad’s voice snapped him out of the fog he felt while watching and trying to absorb what was really happening.

Another horn behind him blew, and Einar turned to see the rest of the Vikings coming through the trees.

“Hold till the mages get here!” Vog shouted as the leader pointed to the troll that continued to lunge in different directions, attacking anyone it felt was too close to the portal.

“What do we do? It’s too big to hurt with our stuff or get close!” Einar shouted as he and his two allies moved to the left side of the troll.

“Don’t die!” Luit replied. “Keep it busy, look for openings!  We have two mages with elemental runes.  They will do the damage and we will finish it!”

The sound of something coming through the forest to their left revealed another of the dark brown trolls, answering the call of either the roaring elite or the horns that continued to sound, directing the two men Einar knew everyone was waiting on.

The three of them dashed toward the incoming troll, no longer focused on the elite one.

It roared, tossing the tree trunk it had been holding at Einar, who jumped sideways, barely avoiding the trunk as it twisted in the air, missing by about a foot.

His spear went flying from his hand and it took him precious seconds to recover from his roll and turn to find it as Luit and Hallad charged the beast.

A sound of a tree cracking and a scream came from behind him, and Einar turned to see the elite troll lifting its weapon, the top section barely hanging on as the trunk was split.  In the spiked sections of the limbs was another Viking, impaled in a dozen spots.

Roaring and making a sound like laughter, the beast brought the makeshift club to its mouth and used its other hand, tearing off a leg and depositing it in its mouth.

The crunching sound seemed louder than it should be, and Einar realized he was frozen again.

Grabbing his spear, he turned to find Luit holding a broken spear shaft, the other end having pierced the left arm of the troll they were fighting.

Racing toward the creature, he moved around its right side, putting the beast in a position where it was surrounded on three fronts.  

When Hallad roared and came toward it with his spear and shield, Einar moved quietly from behind, thrust the spear forward with both hands, and pierced its back.

The tip sunk through and into the lung, almost getting the heart, but the beast had turned at the last moment, preventing the strike from hitting its mark.

As it spun, Einar held onto the spear shaft, letting the beast tear itself even more, causing blood to run down its back.

A roar turned into a gurgle as the blood began to choke the troll.  Reaching around, it grabbed the spear shaft and snapped it.

Waves of heat suddenly washed over the side of Einar’s body, and he backed up, spinning to see flames erupting on the elite's chest. A man and a woman in robes were sending fire attacks from across the clearing, and a row of four Vikings with shields and spears stood before them.

Dropping the broken shaft, Einar grabbed his axe and charged the troll they needed to put down quickly.  Whatever had taken place now was about to get far worse if that elite got angry enough to charge.

With the troll fading fast after Hallad’s spear pierced its other lung, Einar came up from behind, slicing a hamstring with ease, now really noticing the difference in Strength that he had.

Crashing to the ground, the troll found itself set upon by three warriors, all familiar with how to kill the wounded beast.

[ Rune Experienced Gained ]

[ Rune Level Increased ]

[ Divine Protection Ability Granted ]

[This ability has a five-day cooldown and will protect the user against 50% of damage received for one minute. ]

“Holy shit,” Einar mumbled.

“What? What’s holy?”

Shaking his head, he ignored Hallad’s question and pulled his axe from the troll’s throat, which he had just cut in half.  

The elite was roaring loudly, charging the Vikings, who stayed just out of its range.  A massive fire consumed its weapon, having been used to block the spell the mages had obviously sent at it.

“That smells awful,” Luit said as the three of them moved to where Mar and Aslaug were, preparing to acquire new spears. “Like someone is burning shite.”

“How do we close the portal?”

“We don’t!” Hallad snapped. “Somewhere near it on the other side is an item keeping it active.  Once destroyed, the portal will close, but whoever does that will be trapped in the other realm.  It’s a suicide mission!”

“So, then what?” Einar asked as the three of them finally got new spears that the other two raced over. “Does it stay open? Do more come through it? What if another one of those shows up?”

Luit frowned, and Hallad groaned.

“It’s foolish! Vog will say—”

“Screw Vog!” Einar shouted, cutting off the older man.  “We can’t face two of those, and look at how the mages are! They are almost out of wyrd, and then what? We’ll be forced to fight that thing which is still quite alive.”

Both men looked at Einar, who had taken off one axe and dropped it already on the ground.  As he pulled the second one out of its leather loop, Hallad put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

“You don’t want to do that, Einar… the cost…”

Nodding, Einar pointed at the corpse of the Viking burning in the troll’s weapon.

“He won’t enjoy the return.  All of us must die at some point.”

Luit grunted, shifting the spear in his hand.

“Let him do it.  The bastard is just trying to earn more renown.  You and I both know it.”

Smiling, Einar winked at the man and then dropped the belt he had on his waist. Grabbing the spear, he held his hand out.

“I need a shield, and then you two cover me.  I’ll get past the thing.  I just run through the portal, right?”

“Supposedly, but we’ve never been in one they summoned… it will take a moment, and once you’re over there, other enemies might be close. What are you going to do if you manage to seal the portal?”

The only risk is getting captured… Yet, getting to see another realm is too good to pass up. If things go sideways, I can always take my own life to get back here.

“I’ll kill myself.”

Both men frowned but nodded.  

“Fine,” Hallad replied.  “Mar, you shoot arrows and aim for the eyes.  Aslaug, give this boy an axe.  No Viking should ever need to go over there without one.”

The blond-headed shieldmaiden smiled and moved quickly, pulling the axe out of her loop and handing it to Einar.

“Remember to tell everyone you used my axe to seal that thing.”

Laughing, Einar leaned his spear against his shoulder and took the axe, slipping the slightly smaller one through his loop.

“Fine, but stay alive.  Don’t die.”

She nodded and moved back to the pile of weapons, grabbing another spear and nodding at Mar.

“Let’s go!” Luit exclaimed. “That thing is further away than it has been.  The fire is pissing it off.”

All three of them charged toward the back side of the portal.  Mar had an arrow ready to be sent when the moment came.  

“We just need a little luck!” Hallad shouted.

As if Odin himself heard them, a pair of fire spells came and struck the elite troll at the same time, sending a wave of flame washing over the creature and causing it to finally give in to the rage it had held back.

No longer was it just a dozen yards or so away from the portal, but now it moved with haste, charging the warriors standing in the way of the mages who were most likely out of wyrd.

“Go!” Luit shouted.

Einar raced toward the portal, feeling like he was about to jump from a plane and hoping the parachute wouldn’t fail. There was no clue what might wait on the other side, but through the frosted blue view was another area. It was barren of trees and looked almost swamp-like.

Shouts came from the Vikings who saw the trio headed toward the portal, and as one, the pack of men rushed the flaming beast, doing their best to dodge its attack with its weapon that was covered in flames.

Spears flew at it, and the troll roared as some pierced its burned skin.

Ten yards before he reached the portal, Einar saw the beast suddenly turn, and its eyes go wide. Somehow, it sensed his presence and was not happy about it.

Turning, it raced toward him, running with a weird gait.

It didn’t matter though.  With the Speed and power Einar now possessed, that last ten yards were gone in a second, and he hit the portal headfirst, spear and shield facing ahead.

A shock of cold, pain, and electrical energy overwhelmed every one of his senses, and then the speed at which he had run through the portal was gone, causing him to stumble as his feet slowed down, now a few inches set in muck and mud.

Able to catch himself, Einar spun, blinking and holding his shield and spear out, wondering if the troll was going to come through.

Instead, he saw on the other side a clearing filled with battle, but the troll didn’t appear to be coming through.

Not wanting to wait and see why it hadn’t, Einar turned and quickly scanned the bog-like area he was standing in.  

Water was pooling around his boots. The stench of it was like tepid water and mud that had been sitting in a bucket in the sun for weeks.  

Trees with large moss-like canopies hanging down from their seventy-foot or higher first branch left him in awe.  Most trees didn’t have a branch that high up, and the tops of the trees looked to be at least 150 feet in the air.  Thick trunks with a weird root and bark pattern twisted around and upon themselves, making a trunk that was at least ten or more feet wide.

A hum came from his left, and near the trees stood a mud pedestal, which was a black crystal that gave off an eerie glow.  All the light around it seemed to be sucked into the crystal, and water from around the mud pedestal ran up and into where the thing was resting.

Something flew by his ear, and Einar swatted at it, connecting with an insect the size of his palm, six almost invisible wings fluttering and a long tail with a huge stinger on the end of it.

More started to come toward him, and Einar moved, knowing there was no time to wait and take in the sites.

Running through the wet mud area was impossible, each step sinking a few inches, no matter how fast he tried to move.

More insects came at Einar, and he swung his shield around, the sound of wood banging into their bodies creating tiny thunks.

Forty yards away was the crystal, and it felt like a mile with how his body moved.

Hot, sweltering heat started to set in, originally having been ignored by the rush of something new, but now, as his body responded to the need to complete the task, he had chosen to partake. Einar couldn’t get over how much sweat was starting to run down his skin.

A roar came from around him, and the noise of the wings of what had to be fifty or more of those things made it hard to pinpoint. 

Loud sounds came from different directions, and his lower back suddenly ached.

Glancing backward, there was a pack of those mosquito-like insects all aimed at his unprotected skin.

Across the clearing behind him, four trolls suddenly burst into the area.  Sniffing the air, they turned and saw him. As they ran their feet didn’t struggle with the swamp ground like his did.

Twenty yards remained from the crystal, and about seventy yards away was a painful death.

Focusing on the crystal, Einar swung his shield to clear the area before him of the crowded insects.

More seemed to be appearing from thin air.  It was then that he noticed they were all around the water, simply resting on top of it, and as he ran, he stirred up dozens more.

The pounding of feet on wet, squishy ground was behind, and the buzzing of wings was everywhere.

His eyes were locked on the black crystal, and this was going to be a race to the very end.

Ten yards were left and maybe thirty if he was lucky from what was behind him.

One last sweep of his shield gave Einar a small, clear path, and a tiny thread appeared.  Planting his feet, he threw the spear, watching it fly through the air and collide with the black gem.  A crack appeared as the metal tip hit it, slowly starting to spread.

A wave of power erupted, and the entire thing exploded, sending out a shockwave that knocked him flat on the ground.

His ears stopped working as his head ached from whatever had just happened.  Rising to his feet, the area was littered with flopping insects that had been smashed or lost their wings, struggling to move.

The four trolls were getting up, each one shaking its head before snarling.

They were only fifteen or so yards away, and their eyes told him everything he needed to know.

Without hesitating, Einar made the one choice he never would have imagined doing in his entire life.  In either lives.

Pulling his dagger out from its sheath, ignoring the mud that was over it.  He put the tip over his rib cage where his heart was and placed both hands on the handle.

“Screw you!” he shouted as they raced forward, eyes screaming death at him.

With a thrust, his blade pierced the armor and his skin, slid in between his ribs, and pierced the lining of his heart.

Pain filled him and then even more when the creatures reached him.  One had beat the rest, and an uppercut sent him flying through the air, plunging the dagger completely through his smashed chest.

As he felt weightless for a moment, everything went dark.