I awoke early in the morning as we packed up to take the rivers down to the next site of where another battle would take place. Thanks to interpreter the Lord of the land who by now we had been told was named Henry. I often was surprised at how the soldiers followed Henry faithfully. He was a pale sickly man and the only thing paler than his skin was his hair which was shoulder length and almost white blonde. His eyes were a bright crystal blue and held intelligence behind him which I did not notice at the time. After eating breakfast I boarded the ship with Jarsom and Hasirir in which we began to sail downriver toward the battle site. I noticed while sailing that I had gotten taller on this journey and silently rejoiced to myself that I was no longer shorter than my companions.
"So what do you guys think of the noble?" I asked to break the silence as we sailed down the river. " He seems shrewd but he's quite weak so but I get why people follow him. " Hasirir's light voice carried over the wind up to where I stood at the skirls position. "Really? I don't see it I think he's probably a little bitch after all he is never on the front lines." I could hear Jarsoms deeper voice respond to Hasirir. Laughing a little at Jarsoms response I corrected the ship's path before switching with Hasirir. As I sat down on the oars bench I began to sharpen my axe and as the rising Sun hit my axe I noticed the four leaf clover engraving. It was engraved most likely as a joke on my actual heritage though I secretly enjoyed the engraving as it stirred up the few memories I had of my original home.
Soon arrived at Henry's second camp, docking our longship we got out of the ship and I went to meet Henry as Jarsom and Hasirir went to drink. "Ahh you are back, perfect timing as the battle will take place tomorrow." The translator told me Henry's words as I leaned on my axe and nodded. " Wonderful hopefully the gods favor us tomorrow. " I said with a smile though it dropped as when the translator told Henry what I said he replaced gods with god. After some more small talk about the battle I left his tent and went to join my friends who were quite drunk by now. Grabbing a pint of English beer and a leg of Turkey I began to feast and have a merry time before we set up our own camp.
The next morning I woke up with a terrible hangover and Jarsom and Hasirir must have too as I heard their groaning. Dunking my head in the cool spring water I then got ready for the battle. I suited up in my cloth pants and undershirt with my gambeson over it as well as my bear fur shawl. I then grabbed my axe and tucked a berserkers mushroom into my collar and made sure my seax was on my belt. Waiting for Jarsom and Hasirir to finish we then joined the Englishmen on their march to the battlefield. Some of the Englishmen had learned norse and I made idle conversation with them "Have you heard? The son of the Devil is going to be at this battle they say he can control the flames of hell." I heard one of them say. This caused me to snort in laughter as if what they said was true , he was obviously the son of Surtr the ruler of Muspelheim realm of the fire giants, sometimes Christians and their God and Devil were amusing.
Eventually we reached the battlefield and I readied my axe as I looked around for the rival army. Eventually I heard the sound of marching and the army came into view. They weren't positioned very far from us and I caught a glimpse of who I figured must be the son of Surtr. After all he carried himself unlike the other soldiers and was fairly younger seventeen in fact just like me. His hair was pitch black and messy falling into his eyes which resembled small flames in both color and intensity. He was deathly pale and was skinny with a small tone of muscle but nothing compared to Jarsom or me. I noticed he was also by far the shortest one out of the army though he held a Kievan Rus sword known to be used by its cavalry named a Shashka. It was a sabre like sword yet not as curved as traditional sabres. What I found most strange is that he was not wearing armor and just wore his simple clothes which were cloth pants and a long sleeve cloth shirt with a leather harness that held throwing knives.
I watched as the son of Surtr approached our army by himself and stopped just a few meters short. His face held a perpetually bored expression and it set my instincts on edge. Suddenly he inhaled then roared violet fire spewing out of his mouth as if a dragon had been given human form. I rolled out of the way and watched as many of the Englishmen were set on fire. Their screams filled my ears as I looked at the black haired boy. Fire now was flickering in his left palm as he brung back his arm the flames creating a large spear like shape he then threw the flaming spear and I watched as it decimated another section of our army leaving men dead or burning to death. I was broken out of my stupor when I heard the gleeful roaring of the enemy army. Getting up I stumbled back just as a blade was thrust into the ground where I once stood. Yelling a war cry I swung my axe down upon the enemy soldier and smiled as the rush of battle filled me. Like a animal I ripped the axe out and went on to the next soldier headbutting him before burying my axe in his throat. Suddenly I felt a blazing heat on my back and I ducked as I saw a sword wrapped in flames pass over me.
Looking over my shoulder I saw the son of the king of fire giants loom over me a look of burning hatred piercing his bored expression. I kicked at his kneecap and rolled away as he cloaked himself in flame before letting all of them die out. As I watched him rise and stand up I barely heard him say "You're what are they!.....ah damn I forgot the name." . His voice was rough and whispery but somehow carried just faintly across the sounds of war. I exhaled in a small trembling breath, for the first time I felt the fear of battle and I loathed it. " I'll show you what I am. " I said faking confidence as I ate my berserker mushroom. As my mind devolved in a animalistic rage I felt myself get closer to the spirit of the bear and charged at the son of Surtr running at him on all fours as if I was a bear abandoning my weapons behind me. I saw him tense and as I went for a wild punch his hand grabbed my arm and I felt a burning sensation as the heat from his palm burned my right arm. Yelling out in pain I batted the man's face away my enhanced strength breaking his hold and forcing him to the ground. "Oh I see I'll have to try" I heard him say softly as he suddenly punched me with a lightning fast jab. Stumbling back I saw his sword ingite on fire and prepare to bear down on me when Hasirir jumped in the way and the sword cleaved into his collarbone. His screams filled my ears as the flames burned hotter and brighter until he was engulfed in the purple flames and incinerated. Behind the son of Surtr I saw the large figure of Jarsom walk up behind him and smash his shield into the back of his head knocking him out cold. Yelling in rage I went to stab the son of the fire giant with my seax but Jarsom stopped me.
"Henry said we need him alive!" I heard his deep voice yell in my ear as my vision blurred with tears. Sobbing I watched as Henry's men restrained the son of Surtr by covering his hands in iron gloves and manacles before he was taken away to the camps prison. Somberly I walked back to our ship with Jarsom as we missed the victory feast to mourn our comrade. That night as I fell asleep I dreamt of my village in Ireland and the buildings being sent aflame.