A month passed, the tension was still high and King Askild had lost a few men due to starvation, the hunting parties he sent to scavenge for food rarely returned.
And when they did, they were injured or near death, it was clear what Vestfold's strategy was.
Askild had to stop mutiny because with hunger, they slowly lost their sanity and with the little they did have to eat, the commanders were prioritized, followed by the workers helping Hagen build his inventions. Erik, however, strived in such an environment as he had no problems eating human flesh.
This was something that everyone frowned upon as they viewed it as dishonoring their fallen brothers but Erik did not care nor could anyone stop him so they could only murmur among themselves.
Tyr looked emancipated, he had lost weight not because he was not being fed but because the screams and cries of the people that died in that village still rang in his head.
He had vivid images of that day, this included a disturbing scene where Erik grabbed a baby by the head before imploding the skull of the baby with nothing but his firm grip.
Bjorn did not know how to snap his brother back and just watched him in silence because he knew that whatever Tyr saw, or did was something he would never know. It was a delicate case because he had no idea what to do.
The only positive thing was that Hagen's inventions were nearing completion, and that meant they could begin the second wave in the city of Vestfold.
"ARRRGGGHHH!" A scream rang out and everyone looked at the one responsible for it, it was Tyr. He was screaming as he rolled around on the ground while clutching his head.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Tyr kept repeating and Bjorn looked on in horror.
Ragnar's anger had reached a peak and he looked in the direction of Erik with murderous intent.
Erik was unbothered, he did not even spare Tyr a glance as he looked on into the distance.
Ragnar took a step but was abruptly stopped by Asger.
"Calm yourself, Ragnar…" Asger said, and Ragnar looked him right in the eyes.
"You are not the only one that wants someone here dead…" Asger said. This was him referring to Birger and Ragnar understood where he was coming from.
"But Kattegat comes first so calm yourself, Ragnar Lothbrok…" Asgre repeated as Ragnar took a deep breath as he walked to his son.
"Tyr, listen to my voice…" Ragnar said but his voice was not reaching Tyr. Bjorn tried to keep a brave face as a warrior but seeing Tyr in this state broke him.
He did not even know when tears escaped his eyes, he could not hold them back. Breaking down at the sight of his younger brother's pain.
This was a sad sight to see but it was the least of their problems.
"Erik, I think Ragnar wants to kill you," Sven said, sitting beside the man he did not get along with but now grew a certain respect for after seeing his rampage.
"He should be grateful I brought his son back, that little rascal nearly killed us too," Erik joked, remembering when he set the forest ablaze to blind and nearly suffocate them to death,
"Erik and Sven, I have been watching you both for a while…" There was no mistaking this voice, it was the voice of Birger who was seated behind them.
"Have you both noticed it? We are all going to die, what is left is to die a death worthy of Valhalla," Birger said and this brought about a chuckle from Erik.
But this conversation was cut short because of Tyr's erratic behavior, he had grabbed a sword and begun swinging it at imaginary enemies.
"Hahaha!" Erik could not help but laugh out loud at this sight.
"That little fucker has lost his mind," Erik said, standing and heading towards Tyr.
Sven knew this was a bad idea but he was more curious to see how it would play out.
"Tyr, have you gone insane?" Erik said callously, he had no sympathy for his current state and Ragnar gritted his teeth.
Erik was loving the sight, and he noticed the tension his presence brought.
"Should I put him down? I hate seeing wounded dogs," Erik teased, looking right at Ragnar.
"Y-You bastard… What did you do to my brother?!" Bjorn screamed and charged at Erik but a powerful open-palm slap sent him flying, knocking him out in one blow.
"Hahaha! Are all the children of Ragnar so energetic? It is a pity you do not have a daughter. I would have loved to see her energy in other ways." Erik continued his provocation.
"Ragnar…" Asger said in a low tone, this was a reminder of what he had said earlier.
"You all should rejoice! You are witnessing the birth of a Berserker!" Erik said, everyone was staying away from Tyr's erratic swings but Erik walked right into it.
Tyr turned and went straight for his neck but Erik did not bulge, nor did he defend himself.
But the blade somehow never made contact with his neck, stopping right before it did.
"I am not like these people, Tyr. I do not think you are broken…" Erik blurted out and this brought Tyr back to his senses.
"Welcome back, my little Berserker," Erik said with a grin, and Ragnar could not believe what he was seeing. Erik was the reason that Tyr came back to his senses or did he not trust his son enough that he would not hurt him?
Ragnar knew Erik was crazy but betting his life on a gamble as wild as this had to be above insanity, but it made Ragnar feel sick for some reason.
Did this mean Erik had more trust in Tyr than he did?
Tyr had been partaking in raids to hunt for food previously, and this episode was the first.
"They are watching us…" Tyr said, with his cold eyes looking to the skies.
"I will win this war," Tyr continued before looking at King Askild, who was seated and watching the mayhem.
"I will win this war in the name of my king," Tyr said.
"So he noticed…" King Askild thought to himself as his eyes darted to the left but nothing could be seen.
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