A hail of arrows from the children flew at their enemies. At first, their volley appeared to hold the enemy at bay, but then they began to charge through, many with shields. It seemed as though their numbers were endless. As if for each man they killed, another replaced him.
As Eske fired, he saw Dunka fall down out of the corner of his eye, and another boy who seemed to be a little too far our the defensive circle had just gotten cut down by a sharp blade. Defeat seemed imminent and all hope was lost.
However, Eske realized that the soldiers' numbers were starting to thin out. Some began to retreat, but many still rushed. There was yelling everywhere and Eske seemed stunned. Just at that moment a man was about to bring his sword upon Eske. He looked up and flinched covering his face with his arms, only to realize he was perfectly fine moments later.
He peered up at his opponent to see him standing there with a suprised face and what looked like a spearhead poking through his chest. He dropped his weapon as the spear was whipped out of his chest. The man dropped, and behind him, Eske saw his brother shaking the blood off his spear.
"Enar?" Eske said with a dry voice
"No time, we have to go." Enar spun around and readied a stance at the opponents in the direction he came from.
"We weakened their numbers for you, now we have to break through and get back to the village." Enar said
Eske realized that Enar hadn't come alone. There was Gunther, slaightering many enemies in quick succession. Nearby another man, whom Eske did not recognize shred through the armored enemies with a battleaxe and a great deal of ease.
Enar rushed ahead, sliding and cutting enemies down through the weak points in their armor. Eventually they regrouped with Gunther and the other man, who fought off the soldiers as the children escaped. They fled into the forest until they were far from the clearing. After securing the area, they stopped and counted their numbers.
Two had died. The boy Eske had saw get cut down, and Dunka, who had fallen because he took 4 arrows to the chest. Dunka had apparently stood in front of the people around him when he saw the archers shooting at them. Eske was sad that he was so mean to him, and hoped his soul had been taken by a valkyrie to the great halls of Valhalla. The other boy Eske hadn't known well, but he hoped he was taken as well. Kiervas then ran up to Eske bearing even more bad news. Valya was missing.
Eske instantly stopped resting and got ready to search for her.
"Eske, hold on a moment." Said Enar in a cautioning voice. "You can't fight them alone. I'll send Gunther and Ford to take the children home, and then we can look for your friend together."
"And what if I don't need or want your help Enar? I can do this alone, I'm just as good as you! You always want to act so much better, but I can fight too!"
Enar looked down in sympathy at his brother
"Come on Eske, you're my brother. I'm not worried about proving myself."
He put his hand on Eske's shoulder
"I just want to help out my brother."
Eske lowered his guard and finally submitted. After all, they were brothers. Once the children had been grouped up, and heading to the village, Enar and Eske began to go back in the direction of the clearing. After a while of travelling, they came upon a group of the same type soldiers. They seemed to be patrolling.
"Any signs yet?" One of the soldiers said
"No, not yet."
Enar and Eske hid in the bushes as they heard this, wondering what they were looking for. Maybe they were searching for the rest of the kids. Then it struck in Eske's head, something he hadn't thought of before. Kiervas said that the group was looking for him. Eske gasped and his eyes opened wide.
Just as Enar was about to ask what was wrong, he was kicked to the ground by someone from behind. Enar rolled to the side just in time to avoid a large warhammer descending upon him. Eske quickly jumped up and stabbed the man in his leg. He fell to one knee and Enar slashed his throat.
The commotion alerted some nearby soldiers, and soon they were surrounded. The brothers went back to back, preparing to fight to the death, when suddenly a tall man with a bow dropped to the ground in front of them. His long red hair flowed around as he began to shoot the guards down one by one, slashing them with the end of the bow, which was sharpened, whenever they got close.
Within a matter of about a minute, nearly 20 dead bodies were sprawled across the ground. The man lowered his guard and turned to face Enar, smiling. Enar instantly had a feeling of nostalgia as he looked at the man in his face and realized who he was. It was Red.
After the years that had passed, he had grown so much hair he looked like a wild man who lived in a cave, which he might have been. Red approached and handed him a compass. However, this one pointed north with one needle, and had another that pointed north west, more west than north. Red pointed in the distance, where the second needle pointed
"There, you will learn all you need."
Enar had thought that seeing Red in the cave all those years ago had just been an illusion. That his ice spear had just been a coincidence, and that he was just slightly crazy.
Eske was extremely confused. He stared back and forth between them trying to figure out what was going on. Enar took the compass and walked past Red towards where the needle pointed. He stared off into the distance, then looked down at one of the dead bodies. Eske came next to him and they both got a rush of familiarity. Enar hesitated, then spoke
"...Eske, I know you're confused, but-"
"I understand." He said, cutting him off.
"But I'm going with you, right after I find Valya."
Red intervened "If it is the brown haired girl with the limped arm you seek, she is already safe and back home. I will alert everyone what is happening, and and that you must go. Trust me."
They wouldn't have trusted a man like this usually, but Red had a certain familiarity, almost like they'd known him for all their lives.
"Well then, I guess we head off?" Enar said quietly.
"This seems so sudden, and we don't even know where we are going." Eske responded.
"Yep, and that's the beauty of it."
The brothers looked at eachother briefly before they began walking through the forest towards their destination, whatever it may be. Red watched them walk off, knowing that the long awaited times are finally here.
YOU ARE READING
Blizzard
Viễn tưởngEnar is a boy eager to impress. Since a young age he had hoped to become greater than his father, the chief of his small village. He will soon learn however, that he may not just outdo his father, but maybe even the Aesir.
