THE KING IN THE NORTH

8

 

A bird flew to the general of the Easterners and landed on his shoulder. The general brought out the script from the bird and opened it. He reads the message. "The Vikings won't want to have a dispute with your people; we give you the next sunset to depart from the land you occupied; failing to do that, bring your warriors to the land of Zues; the battle will be decided there," he laughed. He then called his other warlords.

"Take a look at this script." The general gave it to his warlord.

He took it from the general and read the message. The warlord is not comfortable with the message; he remembers Berg. If the Vikings knew about the camping, that meant Berg had been captured. He thought about this all and decided to open up to the general.

"Sir, if the Vikings know about our camping, that means Berg has been captured," the warlord said.

The general stays calm as he thinks about it.

"Oh yeah, he should report to us tomorrow on the next movement, the general replies.

"The Vikings can't just find out about our camping and the attack if Berg isn't caught, or maybe get us here and sell us to the Vikings. Vikin6 remains a Viking "warlord

"I trust Berg; I have been working with him for so long. We just wait for him tomorrow; if he doesn't report tomorrow, then something is wrong with him," the general said confidently.

The warlord is not satisfied with the general decision; he hasn't trusted Berg since day one, and he believes the Vikings can never change; they will always be Vikings. He left the general in his camp and went to gather some of his trusted warriors. They will need to go to the land of Zeus to spy to know what the area looks like; they are not familiar with the land.

The following day, Ina was resting in her small hut house. Martin came looking for her, and he knocked on her door.

"Where did she go?" Martin asked.

Not knowing she was resting inside, Ina opened the door from inside.

"Come in here," she said.

Martin went inside Ina's house. He sat on the small chair, looking at her sexy body. She was wearing a transparent cloth.

"What are you looking at?" Ina asked.

"Uhhm, I haven't seen this dagger before; how did you get it?" Martin said, diverting his direction to another thing, and Ina picked up the dagger.

"This is my father's dagger; he never missed taking it to war until his last war, where he forgot to take it with him; he died on the battle field. I then took the dagger as a luck weapon; it is a beautiful dagger, well designed, right?" Ina asked  

"Yeah, I love the design. I haven't seen any such design ever. Who designed it??"Martin asked 

Ina put the dagger in its cover and wore her cloth.

"My father got the dagger from a treasure box of a village that they had gone to raid; ever since it's brought luck to him, I hope it keeps passing luck to me as well," Ina answered.

"You have a reason for putting up a war against the Easterners so soon; tell me what your plan is." martin asked

"I don't know, what plan do you have?" Ina asked back.

Martin bent down his head. He thought Ina had a plan for the battle, so he stood up to meet her where she was sitting.

"Are you honestly telling me you don't know?" Martin said 

"Ok, first I send them a warning through the king; if they don't send a message back, leaving the land, then we go to the second plan," Ina said.

"Ok, what happens if they don't leave the land? What is the second plan?" Martin asked.

Ina put her hand on the cheek, thinking of what might be the second plan. She smiled.

"Until we have a meeting, we shall know," Ina concluded.

Martin looked at Ina strangely. He didn't know Ina had this courage in her and this difficult behaviour; he didn't know what to say again.

"Ok, see you at the meeting point," Martin said as he left Ina's house.

Carl went to consult Arne again. He ran to Arne's house, and he bumped into Arne's standing at the front of his house.

"What is after you, Carl?" Arne asked.

"What? You're blind; how did you know it was me?" Carl asked.

Arne laughed and walked inside. Carl followed him. Arne sat on his seat, and Carl sat on the small chair.

"What brought you here, Carl?" Arne asked.

"You know why I am here, Arne; you just can't pretend to be blank," Carl said.

Arne smiled, stretched his hand, and took a bottle filled with some root and ethanol. He poured it into a small cup, drank from it, and gave Carl a drink.

"What is this?" Carl asked 

"Just drink, Carl; stop asking questions," Arne said.

Carl drank the concussion, and he squeezed his face because of its bitterness.

"This tastes bad; I can't imagine taking it again. What's it for?" Carl asked.

"Hahaha, you just drank camel pee" Arne joked.

Carl got shoked up. He tried to vomit the drink, but he couldn't.

"Don't vomit your lungs; you're safe, Carl," Arne said.

"Don't give me that again," Carl shouted.

Arne took another of the drinks from the bottle and drank it.

"What happened? You gave up your fight for Ina to win," Arne asked.

"I saw the eagle again; he looked through my eye. I don't know, I just had the feeling to quit," Carl narrated.

"Haha, you're a coward," Arne said.

Carl's mood changes immediately.

"You don't call me a coward; I can kill that girl in a few seconds," Carl sparks up.

"But you didn't; that's the difference," Arne said.

Arne is just having fun, teasing Carl, and it's getting into Carl's; he's running out of patients.

"Ina had been destined to be the war leader; if you didn't quit, you could have been dead," Arne said.

Carl, hearing he could have been dead, relaxed to hear more from Arne.

"The eagle saved your life; you have to follow the eagle; it will take you to your destiny," Arne continues.

"Wait!, wait!! What destiny? I did follow the eagle, and it flew above the sea. Am I expecting to go across the sea?" Carl interrupted.

"Everything is blank; I can't see further. Just follow the eagle, build a boat, and sail across the sea. That's your destiny; you will face it," Arne said.

Carl kept quiet for some time.

"What about the war with the Easterners?" Carl asks.

"Ina will handle it; she is the war leader; what the people of the Vikings need to do is follow her orders, "Arne replied.

Carl left Arne's place in anger. Arne screems out of his house, praising the gods.I

It's time for the meeting. Ina went to the war room, sat down, and waited for the others to arrive. Martin walked in a few minutes after her.

"Your late Martin, "Ina said.

"I arrived before everyone, "Martin replied.

Martin sat down and dropped his sword on the centre table.

Kristen walks in late, apologises for being late, and sits down.

"Have I missed anything? "Kristen asked.

"Maybe nothing yet; Carl is yet to come," Ina said.

They sat and looked at themselves as they awaited the archer leader, which was Carl. After some time, Carl walks in majestically with his archery.

"Sorry everyone, I had a little head ache, but am fine." Carl apologised for being late.

"Where are we? Have I missed something?" Carl asked 

"We have been waiting for you; now we can begin," Martin said.

Ina stood up and walked around the small room three times.

"I am not happy; we have a battle on our hands, we have no time to prepare, and you all have to arrive late for a meeting, "Ina shouted at everyone.

"But sire, you fixed the battle so close, I guess you should be the one to blame for not giving it time to prepare, "Kristen said.

"The Vikings are always ready for any battle; we don't need to prepare." Ina replies confidently.

She then sits on her seat and drops her leg on the table. Carl was boiling inside; he blames himself for letting her win. In second thought, he remembers what Arne had told him.

"We have a simple formation, "Ina said.

"What formation? We don't do a formation. Where do you get a formation from? "Carl asked.

The Vikings never use a fighting formation; they attack in groups. Nevertheless, Ina is bringing a new war format, which is odd for the Vikings.

"Can we just let her finish, Carl? "Martin countered Carl's question.

Carl looked at his brother and stayed calm.

Ina started plotting a formation on the table using some small wooden particles. She set a fight, showing it as the sword men, then at the back, horsemen, and finally at the back, archers. Everyone kept looking at her to understand what she was doing on the table.

"What is this trash?" Kristen asks himself.

Ina didn't hear him or anyone.

"This is the sword men, the set at the back is the horsemen, and these at the back are the archers. The sword men will be divided into two, same with the archers. The sword men will defend the first attack from the Easterners, then the horsemen will attack, and the archers will always be ready," Ina said, describing her formation.

"Hahaha, how is this going to work? This is trash; we just attack the Easterners and get them to pay for trespassing." Carl angrily speaks out.

"This is a good plan, but we can't buy it; it's too risky." Kristen adds his own opinion.

"Are you sure of this? You can't risk your first battle; the Easterners are way too big to divide our warriors," Martin added.

"I just need your trust on this; it will work; the Easterners know us by our attack system of battle, and trust me, they will wait for us; we get to bring in a new style; they will get confused at first, then the battle will be won," Ina said.

"Kristen, go arrange your men; we leave this night." Ina gave her orders to Kristen.

Kristen leaves to talk to his warriors and arrange the horses for battle.

Carl, Martin, and Ina are left sitting in the war room.

"Then about the division, Carl, you take twenty men of archers, Martin, you take hundred of swordmen; the land of Zues has some valleys, both north and west of the land; the Easterners will come through the east while we come through the south; while the battle is going on, if we need your assistance, a trumpet will be blown to indicate; that will be the signal for you two." Ina gives a directive.

Carl was a bit surprised by the idea; that would be perfect, he thought, but he still has doubt within him. The same is true of Martin, who is still thinking of the idea.

"There is another plan," Ina said.

"What plan? This sounds strange, and you want to bring up another one," Carl said.

"There is a chance the Easterners will attack you from that angle; you will wait for them; they will definitely send some spies to come check; you make sure none of them return alive; very important." Ina gives her final verdict.

Carl stood up to leave the room, and Martin called him back.

"Where are you going?" Martin asked.

"To prepare my men, theirs no time, the battle is tomorrow," Carl answered as he walked out.

Martin looked at Ina directly in the eye.

"How sure are you about this? "Martin asked.

"Just follow instructions and leave the consequences for me," Ina answered.