Sigmund - The Infernal Uprising

Chapter Seven - The Trials of the North

  They marched onward, leading an army through the broken mountain pass. The path was much more visible and clear, a mere matter of climbing over broken rocks and rubble toward the northern sector. Eventually they arrived, looking onward toward the Northern Reaches. Baldr attempted to look past the white shield of snow to the Valkyrie Stronghold which seemed to be far out of sight, swallowing hard at the thought of the events about to take place.

  He turned to face his men, “The Valkyrie Stronghold is far from this place, it’ll take a few days to pass through the Northern Reaches. We hope to engage with the enemy halfway at Wendigo’s Whiteout, onward!” Baldr explained, fuelling his allies with morale before turning to lead the charge.

  The army traversed through the treacherous atmosphere of the Northern Reaches, the thunderous onslaught of a blizzard fighting against them. This was a battle against nature itself for if they were to fall here it would all be over but the thought didn’t faze them. Pulling through the thick snow, the floor constricting their feet and numbing their bodies as the freezing temperatures tried its best to put an end to their journey.

  Before long they arrived at a clearing, the snow had seem to settle at this point but their sight still rendered vague and incomprehensible for the backdrop of the land was covered by the black veil of the night sky, slight droplets of snow seeped through the air and onto the floor. The atmosphere was very cold as the soldiers halted to a standstill upon hearing the distant howls of the wind. Baldr drew his blade before prompting Sigmund and Alistair to do the same, the soldiers followed soon after.

  Looking around apprehensively they prepared for the worst, not knowing what could emerge from the darkness. In that instant, three giant humanoids appeared from ahead covered in blue fur and boasting ferocious fangs. They were very tall in stature, muscular and fashioned a spiky mane which flowed in the wind. “The Trials of the North.” Baldr muttered before turning to his men, “We must defeat everything in our path if we are to make it past! Give no quarter, fight with everything you have!” He bellowed as his men roared in excitement before charging into battle.

  A group of soldiers encircled the three beasts, brandishing their weapons at them. The leftmost creature roared before smashing its giant arms down against the warriors, throwing them back and into deep snow. Their weapons proved to be little to no effect against them as the more they struck the angrier they became, thrashing around the battlefield knocking back the soldiers with ease.

  The central beast pounded its chest and darted forward, attempting to crash into Baldr. He threw his sword up to block the attack before Sigmund noticed, his eyes widening, “Dodge you fool! Its weight will break every bone in your body!” Shocked Baldr jumped out of the way in time, rolling into the snow before recovering to his feet, “Alistair let’s help him!” Sigmund barked and they both ran to his aid.

  The creature turned to face them before running forward and at that moment Alistair swung his axe into its arm, getting stuck in its thick skin. He looks up to notice their thin and fragile necks before abandoning his weapon to withdraw back. Sigmund looked around in hopes of finding help before his gaze landed on a frozen lake to the west, “Look over there! Lure them into that lake and they’ll freeze to death!”

                                                                                                ***

  Within the stronghold a few soldiers could be seen peering out from a watchtower, standing perplexed at the behaviour of the creatures around them. They could see various beasts rushing further and further down Wendigo’s Whiteout, “That’s strange, I’ve never seen the Snowmorphs act like this before.” Said a womanly voice as the person looked out of the window to watch the Snowmorphs rushing about the land below.