"Who are you?" A voice called out to Tyr, he clutched a dagger he had stolen off one of the corpses, ready to jam it into the throat of this person.
"There you are darling! Forgive him, he is drunk!" A woman apologized, he could tell she was a woman by her voice as he did not turn around. Tyr was visibly relieved because he was about to kill an innocent man.
He also knew that even while disguised, it was dangerous for him to remain on the street and thus got off it, using more of the shadow rather than moving where light reflected from the fire.
The bodies had been burned, and Signy had not arrived yet within the walls during this timeframe.
Tyr managed to climb the walls, it was crowded because everyone scampering to see what was happening and how the exchange would go down.
Tyr noted that it was almost time to act but he was curious as to what Askild had in mind.
He wanted this to be bloodless, he made this promise to Hakon and intended to keep it but what Askild did next would determine it.
He let Signy go and Asmund walked towards him, Tyr heaved a loud sigh of relief as he returned to the bottom of the wall.
Tyr waited for the gate to lift and in came Signy and the Earls. Signy immediately assumed command of Vestfold with such purpose, but there was something strange.
It did not sound like he had any intentions of waiting for Asmund's execution.
"Vikings of Vestfold! Kattegat attempts to trample on our pride!" Kjell shouted, it was clear that he had spoken to Signy on their way back because Askel had a bitter look on his face.
He had opposed whatever they were about to do.
"But I say NO!" Kjell shouted, and the Vikings began beating their shield.
"WE WILL SAVE OUR KING! GET READY FOR BATTLE!" Kjell shouted and the moment Tyr heard this was the moment he knew that things had gone to shit.
Askild was supposed to retreat with Asmund as a captive yet he was not doing that.
It was almost as if he was taunting them, Tyr was furious because it became clear that he had no plans on following his plan and he had riled up Vestfold into attacking.
Signy was not going to take this lying down. Tyr would whisper to himself about the recent development.
"This is bad!"
It did not take long before the gate burst open, and it was not just part of it this time, but the entire gate, and out of it came an army amassing a massive 5,000 men, all in heavy armor and led by Kjell. Kjell was done playing a passive role in this war and he had no interest in watching his king being slaughtered like a dog.
He saw Erik standing in front of Asmund but he was not worried, Asmund should be able to handle the brute as they had one advantage and that was being familiar with the environment.
"It is tim-!" Tyr's train of thought was interrupted by what sounded like another gate being opened.
"What? They have two gates!?" Tyr thought as he watched Signy exit the walls with 3,000 men.
Tyr looked terrified, he had been tricked by Hakon because he made no mention of a second gate but the second gate should not have been a problem if Askild retreated with Asmund but why the fuck was he not retreating!?
Tyr was livid because he knew his brother and father would be in harm's way should they fight this battle. Tyr did not see them winning but he still had a job to do.
Tyr managed to jam the gate, preventing it from closing but something was strange. He was certain that he had ruined the gate's mechanics, but these men did not try to close it.
"Why the fuck were they not trying to close it?" Tyr thought because that meant they intended for it to be open.
-
Kjell advanced and he was within respectable distance from King Askild, Asmund looked angry that he was there. Looking past him, he saw that the gate was still open and he wondered why they were not lifting it.
"Kjell! Return to the walls!" Asmund commanded but Kjell completely ignored him.
"I am sorry, Asmund but you stopped being King the moment you fell into enemies hands, I follow the orders of King Signy!" Kjell said and Asmund's eyes widened, realizing that this plan was from his son.
"Signy?" Asmund thought but despite all this, Askild did not look bothered by this.
"King Askild of Kattegat! You are a threat that has been allowed to live for far too long and tonight is the night that you will meet your end." Kjell said.
"You do not care what happens to Asmund?" Askild asked in a belittling tone.
"Archers!" Kjell instructed his men to knot their bows and they did just that.
"This is not a negotiation! We are done with that." Kjell shouted, he was angry that Asmund had been so complacent with this war.
"Loose!" Kjell instructed and a rain of arrows was fired into the air and the darkness made it nearly impossible for them to even see what they were avoiding.
"Hahaha! If I could die, the gods would have taken me long before today!" Askild bragged, he sounded like he had lost his mind and did not even attempt to protect himself against the arrows. And something interesting happened, not a single arrow touched him.
"Kill Asmund," Askild instructed Erik and he was more than happy to comply, swinging his ax downward with absolutely no hesitation, he was like a robot awaiting command.
Erik could not believe it, he had managed to injure Asmund but that was partly due to Asmund being distracted momentarily. Erik had managed to knick his cheek slightly but it did not feel as satisfying as he thought it would be.
"Did you ever wonder why I waited a month, Asmund?" Askild asked as Asmund took a defensive stance against Erik. Askild had applied shit to his blade and managed to cut Asmund with that sword. This afflicted him with lockjaw, a disease that causes painful muscle contractions, particularly in the jaw and neck. It can interfere with the ability to breathe but this was not the only thing Asmund was afflicted with. Asmund was also affected by another disease known as gangrene, which is the death of body tissue due to a lack of blood flow or a serious bacterial infection. It commonly affects the arms and legs, including the toes and fingers. Blood had stopped flowing to particular parts of Asmund's body.
"You knew, did you not? That is why you offered up yourself…" Askild said. Asmund, panting like a dog on its last legs, looked at Askild with nothing but contempt.
".... Askild, you bastard!" Asmund cussed.
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