The Norse Of the North

The Valkyries' Call

The sound of the horn echoed in the ears of all the soldiers, reminding them of the terror of previous battles. The army leaders began to shake in their boots as their soldiers followed their orders faithfully. Leif made his way to the forest as he signaled to Arne, informing him of his departure. Arne pushed Torsten to the ships as they prepared the paddles. A few men were running on the ship, tightening the ropes and opening the sails. Torsten sat next to his friends, patting their shoulders and smiling, then turned his back and saw some movements in the rocks. He got up and stood at the end of the ship's rail, moving his hands against the sun that was blinding him. He peered deeper into the caves and realized the emblem of the brother of Lord Leif; then he realized those were his allies and returned to his shift.

Lord Olaf, brother of Lord Lief, was a very clever leader, and he enjoyed being in battle with his men. He walked across the big and sniping rocks, observing his men to make sure they were all well hidden. Some of the soldiers stood up and carefully placed sticks and leaves on the front part of the rocks before they gave away axes, shields, and hammers to each other.

"Get up, pretty boy. We have to go check on the situation in the forest. Edgar will take the ship's leadership; the king needs us with him." They both jumped off the ship and walked to the sand, finding their way to King Harald.

Leif nodded at Harald as their men started distributing the area to each other, creating formations. Some were building defense walls in separate corners and then coming together to build one big shield wall. This exercise was meant to test their speed, power, and cleverness. They had to be quick and agile, but also in good coordination. Arne was throwing his hammers against some shields to test their resistance, while Torsten was trying to find the most lightweight shield. He was really powerful and quick, so the shield was only going to slow him down if it was too heavy to carry. He picked up an ax and tested some of his throwing skills against a tree ahead of Arne; the blade landed a few meters away from Arnes face as his cheek had a small cut. Arne looked up at him in disbelief; he clenched his teeth, mumbled a few swear words, and pushed him to the ground with his shield as he walked along with the other soldiers, leaving Torsten bursting out laughing.

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"Sheildmaidens! Defense wall!" Estrid yelled at her women as she lifted her own shield and walked in front of them in circles. Most of them were courageous, but since they were few in number, they had to recruit young women who never had battle experience or knew how to hold their weapons properly.

"Hey you, why is your shield on the floor, and where is your weapon?" She stood in front of a blonde and pale girl; her hands were really thin and her legs were pretty weak, so lifting up her shield was torture for her. Estrid grabbed a spear and gave it to her as she helped her pick up her shield.

"Now you all want to convince me that this girl is ready for battle; how is she going to keep the formation, let alone protect her queen, when the enemy comes?" Her skills are the ticket to failure; put her on the back and don't leave her alone in a row," she commanded as she cast a critical glare on her assistant.

Her assistant approached Estrid and told her it was time for her speech. The queen took a chair and stood up, looking at her army, hoping they would manage to keep the defense long enough for Harald to get ready. She breathed in while fixing her hair before speaking.

"I suppose you all know the plan so far. Our work is vital, and we need to stand our ground. If we fall, everything falls. I want no heroic moves and no surprises. The goal is pretty simple: we stick together and defend the main hall. If things get difficult and I say retreat, you retreat, no questions asked. We need to delay them as much as we can with no casualties; Harald needs us in the main battle in the forest. Once we retreat, we will unite him and Lief there. Remember, we need to draw attention to us so they don't think where Olaf's army is."