Pantheon Online

Harik frowned as he got to his feet, still spitting out blood that had gathered in his throat. \'Asking for names now?\' Harik cursed as he decided to play along. Every moment wasted talking bought them time anyway, so there was no reason to decline to answer.

"I am Jarl Harik Eraldsen! And this is Skovi! The great wolf who serves the God Exile!" Harik bellowed with as much force as he could muster.

Harik quickly rose his shield out of instinct as Randa\'s long, curved blade scraped against it. \'Damn! He has no intention of continuing to talk!\' Randa quickly disappeared from sight as Skovi flew through the air in front of Harik with a menacing growl. The latter quickly searched his surroundings for where his opponent had disappeared to. Only to find him several feet away to his left, casually tapping his blade against his shoulder.

"Well, this might be tougher than I thought." Randa laughed heartily as his eyes narrowed on Skovi. "You\'ll have to go first!"

Meanwhile, Ania danced out of reach of the weapons that aimed to take her life. Sweat glistened on her brow as she tried to keep track of all the enemies trying to surround her. A spear thrust towards her from the front, and she used her shield to trap it against the ground as she aimed her own thrust towards the warrior\'s heart.

"Ania! Dodge left now!" Exile shouted as she reacted without hesitation.

Another spear that aimed to impale her from behind found only air as its tip shot forward to strike Ania\'s first opponent in the chest. As the second assailant\'s eyes went wide in disbelief, Ania spun on her heels to slam the flat of her shield against the side of his head. Knocking him to the ground as he released his grip on his weapon.

Ania quickly finished him off with a quick thrust of her spear before spinning on the spot to check her surroundings. \'There are still ten left...\' A quick flash appeared from the tip of her spear, felling another three of them with a single bolt of lightning.

Exile nodded as he studied the remaining enemies around her. "Well done, but it\'s not over yet. They\'re hesitating for the moment, but sooner or later one of them will gather their courage."

\'Yes, Lord Exile!\' Ania exclaimed internally as she shifted her left foot backwards to give herself the footing needed to retreat or advance at a moments notice.

"Strike the one to the left of the warrior in front of you!" Exile commanded as she darted forward stunning the enemy.

The Sommerdan warrior failed to react as Ania\'s spear drove through his right thigh, causing him to fall to the ground as she tore it back out. She quickly retreated, kicking up snow as she did, before the man\'s companions could strike back at her.

"Someone help! My leg!" The man screamed in agony as the snow around him turned crimson. One of the other warriors looked from Ania towards the fallen warrior before edging towards his comrade.

"Don\'t!" The commander of this small squad yelled when he spotted the movement. "It\'s what she wants! If you carry him back to safety we lose two warriors instead of one! Just finish him off so his screams don\'t distract us!"

Silence descended on that part of the battlefield as a shocked look spread across Ania\'s face. The injured man tried to curse at the commander, but one of his comrades sliced his throat with their curved blade before he could get a word out. Ania began to tremble at the viciousness of that act. \'Don\'t they value each others lives at all?\'

"Don\'t think about it." Exile growled as he fixed his gaze on the commander. Speaking up like that had given his position amongst these troops away. "It was both a wise and foolish command. He was right in thinking they would lose more manpower in helping him. But ordering his execution will have dropped the morale of the others. Focus on him next and the rest may yet break."

Ania spun to face the commander before lunging towards him. At that same moment, the warrior she had just turned her back towards leapt after her! A look of savage glee spread across the Sommerdan commander\'s face as he saw that. There was no doubt in his mind that this witch would be struck down before she could reach him.

However, the heavens released a bright flash and the man moving against Ania was struck down by a lightning bolt directly from the sky! It was over so quickly that he did not even have a moment to scream. Smoke escaped from his charred flesh as he crumpled like an empty sack to the ground. The commander let out a brief gasp before Ania\'s spear found his eyeball. His confidence in the warrior reaching Ania first was the source of his downfall.

The other men yelped before scattering, screaming nonsense as they fled in all directions. Their minds had immediately told them that this was an enemy they could not defeat when even the weather was on her side. Ania stood silently amongst that chaos as she stared down at the lifeless face of the Sommerdan commander. Her cheeks wet from her own tears.

Exile sighed as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ania, you can grieve once the battle is over. There are others who need your help."

She silently nodded as she lifted her gaze to the battle that was still raging around her. Somewhere, at the edge of her vision she caught a flash of black darting across the battlefield towards her father\'s position. \'Isn\'t that....\'

Skovi yelped as Randa\'s blade left a nasty gash from the shoulder of his right foreleg all the way to his flank. His legs gave way beneath him as the blade sliced through his muscles on that side of his body. Harik roared as his own blade slashed at Randa, attempting to drive him away from the injured Skovi.

"Are you still with me, Skovi?" Harik wheezed as exhaustion was quickly overtaking his body.

A slight growl came in reply, making him feel slightly more at ease. "Good, if you go down I won\'t be long in following you to the afterlife."

Harik\'s dark gaze tried to study Randa, in an attempt to guess his next move. Every exchange that they had, Harik felt that he only survived it by a thread. Randa was simply too fast, and it was only the warrior\'s intuition that he had honed through many battles and Skovi\'s healing that was keeping him from knocking on death\'s door.

A slight blur appeared and Harik yelled as he twisted his body and raised his shield. A loud clang sounded as Randa\'s blade struck it. The Sommerdan hero smirked as he dashed for Harik\'s other, now exposed side. However, Harik raised his shield to cover the gap between his armour and helm. Forcing Randa to strike at a more heavily armoured area.

The blow felt like striking a wall to Randa as his blade bounced off the dwarven made steel. A grimace appeared on his face as the armour that Harik wore saved his life yet again. \'That damn armour! If he wasn\'t wearing it he would dead by now! I\'ll definitely have it melted down and made into something that suits me! Once I drag his dead body from it!\'

Randa suddenly felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. With a quick movement he raced to the side as he heard a heavy bang where he had been standing! A quick glance in that direction showed him something that looked like a small, black bear wielding a large hammer! \'No, that\'s not a bear! It\'s armour!\' His eyes narrowed as something in his mind warned him that this was no ordinary foe intruding in his battle.

"Who are you!" Randa screamed in frustration.

The great hammer lifted from the ground, and was palced across the broad shoulders of the man inside the strange armour. A deep laugh echoed out from within. Causing a shiver to run down Randa\'s spine.

"I\'m Bjorn! Bjorn Ironhide! Hero of the God Exile!"

"Bjorn? And you\'re a hero too, huh? Well that explains this feeling! I\'m..." Randa tried to sound confident but was suddenly cut off!

"There\'s no need for me to know the names of those who are soon to die!" Bjorn laughed as he charged Randa\'s position without fear...