The Son Of Ragnar

Chapter 106 Crossroads

?Raum The Old never had a very sick sense of humor and these men were about to be his punchline, the battle did not last long but the imprint it left in Asmund's mind was enough to break him. He was overcome with guilt and even Xenophanes could not bring himself to kill a single child. Askild had no problems cutting them as well as a few other Vikings.

"Asmund! Snap out of it brother!" Birger screamed, the battle was not over and Asmund's eyes showed horror because why did he recognize these children?

He should not be able to recognize a single one if they were Raum's warriors.

"What is going on?" Asmund muttered under his breath, Birger caught on too because he saw multiple kids he knew, cut down like dogs and they found this out too late.

"STOP!!!" Asmund screamed but his voice was drowned out by the clanking of swords, but he already knew it was too late.

He looked at Raum The Old with contempt, Xenophanes knew what he was about to do but before he could stop him Asmund charged towards Raum on horseback.

He was alone so this was the perfect opportunity to kill him, but Xenophanes knew that this was a trap because there was no way he would only come and fight with children.

This tactic was to trigger this exact reaction.

Xenophanes followed behind him in a bid to stop his friend, he screamed for him to stop but to no avail. What Asmund was seeing right now was red and the smile on the old man's face even made him angrier.

But before both men knew it, they found themselves on the floor, but how?

Asmund had dislocated his right arm during the fall as he noticed that the horse he was riding had been impaled from below and out of the sand, emerged Raum The Old's army.

They came out like zombies. Xenophanes and Asmund found themselves surrounded by thousands of Vikings.

"A man's emotion is his worst enemy…" The man on the horse said, the man known as Raum The Old looked as ugly as his reputation. He was a bald elderly man with an emasculated appearance, he had dark green eyes. He had typical clothing seen with Vikings of that era, nothing extravagant.

Asmund looked at Xenophanes because he knew no matter how strong they were, there was no way they would survive this because they were not nearly strong enough to take on these many people and their army could not charge carelessly because they did not know what consequences that that action would sow.

"I told you to wait…" Xenophanes said in a comical voice, Asmund was surprised by his tone because he might as well walked into his death all because he wanted to save Asmund.

Asmund was a lot calmer, Xenophanes had snapped him back to reality as they both focused their attention on the man that was responsible for this.

"I know you are wondering who those children are but I know you have figured it out by now but they are children of Vestfold and the surrounding villages. Who knew you could get kids to do anything if they thought it would save their parents… Of course, it did not but I do admire their determination." Raum said, he had abducted the children and told them they would spare their parents if they fought for them but this was a lie as their parents were long dead,

"Asmund, the famed strongest man. I admit you are strong but you are not capable of the stories I have heard…" Raum was a smart man as his eyes settled on Xenophanes.

"King Xenophanes of Kattegat, it is an honor to finally meet you but I am sure you are aware of your current situation so I have a game for you both to play…" Raum The Old said. He gave Xenophanes the respect he was due despite being enemies.

"How about a duel to the death among kings? Whoever wins gets to kill me…" Raum said, and this condition surprised both Xenophanes and Asmund because he had no reason to do this.

He could have easily killed them without offering such a condition.

The circle momentarily got distorted and this was because Birger had directed the army, alongside Askild, to break through the enemy lines.

Asmund knew they wouldn't break through in time and he did not want to test the patience of his enemy, he did not know what to do until he saw Xenophanes pick up the blade that had flown out of his hand during the crash.

"What are you doing?" Asmund asked Xenophanes and Xenophanes looked confused as to why he was asking this question.

"You wanted to give up? Do you not want to avenge your fallen?" Xenophanes asked, and Asmund realized that Xenophanes wanted to do a final stand or at least that was what he understood by this gesture.

He also picked up his sword despite one of his arms being useless for the time being.

"Are you ready Xeno-?!" Asmund stopped in horror as he watched Xenophanes align his sword to his torso, their eyes met and Asmund knew what he was about to do.

"Asmund, this is your fight, not mine. My chapter ends here… Goodbye friend!" Xenophanes said with a smile, holding the hilt of his blade with both hands as he raised it so he could generate enough force to impale himself.

"Xenophanes!" Asmund screamed, running to his friend. Raum had the most disgusting smirk on his face but Xenophanes did something clever.

He let the hilt of the sword slip from his hands, and this turned it into a throw as it impaled Raum right through his heart, sending him crashing off his horse.

"You disgusting piece of shit! Did you think I would let you have your way…" Xenophanes had done something Asmund had never seen him do.

"I am going to kill every single one of you..." Xenophanes muttered, looking at the stunned Vikings that had them surrounded. The look in his eyes told them he was not bluffing.

"...Xenophanes?" Asmund was puzzled, confused because he did not know who he was looking at.

The war ended on that day, and without their king, they could not survive the onslaught from both Kattegat and Vestfold but the psychological damage lingered in the mind of Xenophanes and Asmund, turning Asmund into a pacifist. Asmund cut ties with Xenophanes after it was revealed by an unknown person that he was working with Raum The Old, this was the beginning of the hostile relationship between Vestfold and Kattegat. Birger tried to defend Xenophanes but he was exiled by Asmund, and this was why he dropped Vestfold for Kattegat.

But this showed just how fragile trust was because Xenophanes motives were never known or stated nor did Asmund offer him a listening ear despite all they had been through in the past.

The face he saw that day made him realize he did not know Xenophanes at all.