The Defeat Of Egil

The shackles were taken off the child with the child now being one of Ragnar's possession but this was equivalent to selling your soul to the devil because of the kind of man King Askild was, and even Hagen did not like the idea because he knew what this meant, Ragnar carefree life had come to a stop.

"Ragnar Lothbrok, I King Askild, grant you this gift in exchange for your service. I look forward to working with you Ragnar." King Askild said with a broad smile, this was a rare sight and his wife's eyes widened upon this sight.

"Thank you, My King," Ragnar said as he got off his knees, with Hagen and Ulf following suit but Ulf wore a disdainful look on his face as he glared at the child, who was confused about what was going on.

"What the fuck is going on?" Ulf thought to himself.

"Ragnar, are you sure about this?" Hagen whispered in his ears as they headed out upon King's Askild dismissal but the look on Ragnar's face was one of intensity as a smirk soon followed.

"This child, Hagen… This child will change the world." Ragnar responded with a glint in his eyes as if he had gotten an epiphany from Odin himself.

The child walking without shackles was looking lost but for some reason, the atmosphere was not hostile, this didn't make him relax one bit until Ragnar put his arm around him and tapped his chest.

"You are safe now… Lagertha will love you!" Ragnar said as he was on his way, leaving both Hagen and Ulf together.

After a moment or two, Ulf started moving in a different direction but the voice of Hagen halted him in his tracks, looking over his shoulder in response.

"Ulf…" Called out Hagen.

"What do you want, Hagen?" Ulf said, sounding very irritated.

"Ragnar is a lot smarter than he looks, he knows much more than you think," Hagen warned which was bizarre as he had no business spilling this information and Ulf discarded this information with a scoff as he continued on his way.

"Crazy fucker." He muttered under his breath with his every step going further away.

-

The battle of Hillestad came to a conclusion with Asger securing a very unlikely victory as he had Egil and his men on their knees, for they had admitted defeat.

Arvid played a very crucial role in this because Asger was never interested in winning a meaningless duel, he was after the battle. Egil was honorable but with honor came naivety which Asger took full advantage of because, in a head-on battle, they had no chance.

"What are you going to do with us, Asger?" Egil asked.

"You fought well, Egil. If this was just you and I, I will be dead on this floor. I acknowledge you are the better warrior but a man as strong as you will always seek out battles to reestablish his strength and that's where we are different." Asger said with Arvid cutting in.

"We know about you, Egil Iversen, some call you the undead for the wounds you have survived, but you are feared for your overwhelming strength in duels, and you have a history of giving your enemies this exact option. You got arrogant, you believed yourself to be a god." Arvid said in a raspy voice.

"Hahaha! I have lived a good life but my men have not. Asger, grant me one wish as a warrior." Egil said, he was not scared of death, but he did not want to die this way.

"You fool! You do not know your pla-!" Arvid was cut off by Asger.

"I have acknowledged him as a worthy warrior, you dare not disrespect this man in my presence! Speak Egil Iversen, what is your last wish?" Asger said, walking up to him.

"Spare my men in exchange for my head, kill me with a sword in my hand so I may go to Valhalla and dine with my friends," Egil said with Arvid kissing his teeth in annoyance, how could he still be so calm with death staring him in the face?

"Egil… I have no intention of killing you but I can only let one of your men live to deliver what they just witnessed to your king, this is a more merciful proposal than what you offered me, don't you think?" Asger said in a stern yet compassionate tone.

"It's okay Earl Egil! We were prepared to die the moment we stepped out on this field with you. The Valkyries will take us home." A warrior said with the rest cheering so loud, it shook the very ground they kneeled on.

A small boy, no more than 15 years old stepped forward, he had bushy brown hair with light brown eyes. He wore an armor plate that consisted of a metal plate woven into a neat and he looked to be the youngest by far on the battlefield due to the expected 'easy' difficulty of this battle.

This was unanimous as no one was opposed to letting this child be the one to live.

"It is decided then," Asger muttered, instructing his men to place the swords that belonged to their enemies on their laps for he was granting them an honorable death.

"I will grant you Valhalla, for I shall not deny the gods of such great warriors," Asger said and with a gesture, his men lined up behind them.

"Farewell." The victorious warrior said with a downward gesture of his hand, and with this, the sword came down and beheaded every prisoner in one fell swoop.

"Scram kid before we change our mind," Arvid said but the child threw up upon witnessing the gory sight which was understandable seeing as this was his first battle experience.

"Congratulations on popping your cherry." A soldier teased with others laughing but what they got in response was a blood-curdling stare from the child, with vomit dripping down his chin.

"That's enough, go," Egil instructed as he was forced to his feet.

"Go.." He said again with tears flooding the eyes of the child as he ran.

Arvid looked at the back of the running child with his fingertips lingering on his bow but turned to find Asger already looking at him.

"I hope you know what you are doing Asger. Move it you!" Arvid, pushing Egil forward as they had claimed their spoils of war.

"He is worth more than you know," Asger responded.