LXXXIV. The Ego

Dag noticed it, but it was too late.

Brann didn't notice anything.

Immediately, without even turning around, he grabbed the arrow, which was now inches from his head.

He shook hands and broke it, in the general astonishment of all.

Looking at his face, Dag noticed that he was smiling sadistically.

They all turned in the direction of the arrow, pointing their weapons.

..."you shouldn't have done that"... said the ethereal voice, which began to speak again.

Soon after, dozens of arrows came from the other side, hitting all the warriors by surprise.

Those closest to the arrows were hit and died, while the other arrows crashed into a large green barrier, which enveloped everyone.

Egill had managed to save part of the troop.

In total, about 40 of them remained.

Dag, fortunately, found himself under the magic barrier but witnessed the simultaneous death of many warriors, including the two Shieldmaidens who were just beside him.

A sound of shrubs broke the silence.

From behind some bushes, not far from Asa and Egill, three men came out.

Two of them had their faces covered with wooden masks, pointed at their chins, with only two holes for the eyes.

He had his face uncovered.

He was a grown man, in his thirties, with blood-red eyes and hair. He had a peculiar hairstyle: his hair was shaved at the sides and a high crest divided his head.

The man kept looking at Brann angrily.

"Here you are. You and your men are going to die today. We will return the scum like you to mother earth. You will become fertilizer and food for wild beasts" Brann said, turning to the three men and pointing his axe at them, which began to emit the crimson glow.

The man with the red crest was Hakon. Despite being younger than Brann, he had to be very strong to lead the main army of Lies Of Loki into battle.

Hakon gestured with his hand and the two warriors next to him disappeared into thin air.

Brann charged towards him.

Hakon opened his hands down and two blades came out of metal supports he was wearing on his wrists.

Brann came to him at great speed, trying to hit him with his axe. Hakon crossed the two blades and parried the shot, that pushed him backwards for several yards.

Meanwhile, the two men disappeared a few moments earlier, reappeared behind the allied soldiers and stealthily began to kill them, one by one.

Dag tried to pinpoint the exact location of the enemy but failed: their movements were extremely fast and the shots were accurate.

Visibility in the forest was very limited, due to poor lighting.

Lies Of Loki had a home-court advantage.

As his men died, Brann continued to fight undaunted against his opponent, regardless of what was happening behind him.

Asa tried to intercept the movements of one of the two killers.

She pointed both of her hands in one direction, stretching out her arms: she created a long spear out of nothing, made entirely of light.

She swung it in front of her, generating a sharp shockwave, which hit one of the two enemies on one foot, severing it.

With his foot chopped, the man fell to the ground.

The warriors near him tried to punch him, trying to hit him to death, but he, after dodging the blows, was dragged away by a liana from a nearby tree.

The forest was trying to keep him alive!

He stood up and turned to the other side.

Asa followed him on the look and transformed her luminous spear into a bow.

She held out the bow rope, loading an arrow and aiming at the head of the enemy, who was running away.

Suddenly, the other rogue appeared behind her and kicked, destabilizing her.

The arrow was shot anyway and hit the fugitive on the shoulder, piercing it.

Soon after, the man vanished, disappearing and managing to escape.

The rogue who just hit Asa did the same.

Dag looked round.

Other allies had died, now there were about 30 left.

Asa began to run toward Brann. Egill followed her and Dag did the same, keeping his distance.

The two warriors were walking in a circle, catching their breath and studying each other.

"Don't interfere! That's a matter between me and him" Brann said.

Within minutes, a circle of warriors formed around Brann and Hakon, ready to defend themselves against the attacks of the only assassin left.

Brann attempted to hit Hakon, who dodged the blow and hit him with one of the hidden blades on his abdomen.

Dag noticed that a greenish fluid was pouring from the blades.

It was poison! The blades were poisoned!

Brann turned to his opponent and faked another axe blow. When Hakon tried to dodge, he was hit by a heavy punch to the face, which caused him to step back.

Soon after, Brann's axe began to emit red bolts, charging with energy.

That vision reminded Dag of the powers of his Master, Magni.

Brann pointed the axe at Hakon, flashing lightning that struck him, paralyzing him.

As Hakon stood still, Brann walked slowly toward him.

His movements became more clumsy, the poison was taking effect.

With the axe loaded with electricity, he hit Hakon mortally, cutting him in two.

The lifeless body of the enemy Warchief fell to the ground.

The Allied warriors breathed a sigh of relief. The other assassin also seemed to be gone.

Dag knew that victory was only apparent, something was about to happen.

Brann approached the body, staggering.

He laid down the rod of his weapon, to hold on as he bent over to Hakon.

He put his hand under his armor, to check if he had an emblem.

"Ah! I knew that!" he said, enthusiastically, as his body gradually weakened.

He pulled out a necklace from under Hakon's clothes.

He opened his hand, to look at his loot.

He looked at the pendant and stretched his eyes as if he had just been struck in the heart.

"It's... It's not possible... I can't believe this..." said in a low, hoarse voice.