A small scouting force rode ahead. Alfred and his forces had quickly made their way closer to their target and didn't wish to alert them. With a village up ahead that they knew had been targeted by the invading force, he wished to see if any stragglers had been left behind. Ash and his small force were given the job. Although Alfred trusted their name, he still wished to see their skill and it was a perfect first test.
Ash brought along a few of his men. He wasn't scared knowing he could easily run away if needed. Looking through a pair of binoculars at the ruined village he saw them. Ten men were left behind. They sat around eating and drinking. Ash nodded, to his men, remembering Alfred's order. If they felt it was safe to engage if anyone remained, keep two alive.
Ash pulled his sword out. Stepping out the tree line, he held it by his side, the blade pointing towards the ground. His armour, as black as his eyes, created a dreadful appearance for anyone who saw him. His men held back allowing for him to be spotted first. They knew it was a tactic Ash liked to use to instil fear in his enemies before they engaged.
The camp slowly quietened down as they began to look Ash's way. They were confused, unsure if they were looking at a ghost or not. Picking up their weapons they walked over towards him. Ash's men saw this and let them come closer. They didn't want to give a reason for any of them to run away. They got within 20 meters of each other, Ash staring at them unblinking.
They spoke in a language he didn't understand. Subtly he flicked his sword, Asmond understanding what it meant. Archers drew their arrows. Ash, despite his size, moved swiftly. He closed the distance in seconds, cutting the head off one of the men. Arrows flew from the tree line behind, impaling four of the men. The invaders didn't know what happened before Ash's sword fell again, piercing through another's heart with efficient accuracy.
One composed himself, swinging his axe down on the tall man. Ash backed away, twirling his sword behind his back, before charging in again. An axe from his left was intercepted by his blade, as Ash quickly switched hands. The invader didn't know how, as Ash did not seem to even look at it. With his eyes not leaving their target, Ash lowered his body, under another axe swing from the man in front, stabbing his sword through his stomach. Pulling it out, he decapitated the man.
The two remaining men, looked to the tree lines. They knew there was more, but not how many. They wished to run, but seeing the ghostly figure fresh out of a horror story, they knew it was pointless. They both readied their weapons. Ash dropped his sword to his side again. He knew that he had to incapacitate the two. The first man dove in. His sword slashed down on Ash's shoulder. Ash, dodged to the side at the last minute, not giving the other man an opportunity to attack. The hilt of his blade was smashed into the man's temple.
His body fell with a loud thud hitting the ground. Ash moved forward aiming for the next man. He tried to attack, not bothering to defend. Ash hit the sword away, leaving his body exposed. Throwing a punch into his stomach, the wind escaped the man's mouth. Ash didn't wait, a knee to the stomach followed by his heavy gauntlet into the man's temple, knocking him out cold. Signalling his men over to deal with the two captives, he sat down on a nearby log in the village to clean his blade and amour.
Alfred looked down at the waking barbarians. His eyes were cold. They shot awake seeing so many unfamiliar faces and tried to move, only to realise their bodies were bound. "LET US GO COWARD!" With a booming voice, the captive yelled at Alfred.
Alfred went wide-eyed hearing the language. He could understand it albeit sounding different. His mind was hit with a wave of nostalgia for the old world. He remembered when he was travelling around the world and found himself in Norway. He was intrigued by their mythos, the Viking era and the invasion of Britain in 1066, learning the language so he could get access to old documents and texts. The language spoken by the invaders was similar but different.
"Shut up," Alfred spoke in Norwegian. His words were obviously being understood by the captive who went quiet, in shock, that someone from the new world could speak his language. Those around Alfred were also shocked, especially those who had been with him for years. They knew he would have never encountered the language before and wondered how he could speak it, eventually assuming that Sol gave him the knowledge.
"How many of you are there?" Alfred went straight to the point. The two looked at one another, with one of them laughing.
"Why should I tell?" Spitting on the ground in front of him, he looked at Alfred with a smile showing his dirty teeth, "We have the Gods on our side. You are dead." His voice held a large amount of venom in it, but Alfred looked to the man to his right. He was less antagonistic, looking down with a conflicted expression.
Alfred ignored the one on the left, bending down in front of the other man. "Will you tell me?" His voice was gentle. The captive looked up into his deep blue eyes.
"You have the same eyes. Do you carry the blood of old?" Instead of answering, the man asked a question of his own, now confusing Alfred. He gave a shake of the head and shrugged his shoulders. The man looked to the other next to him, "You won't get anything from him, he is a loyalist to the Queen."
Alfred smiled hearing his words. He held off killing the fiery captive straight away; instead, he let him rant without being able to do anything. "And what about you?"
Shaking his head a depressing aura came off his body, "She's crazy, committing a grave sin."
"TRAITOR!" The other man shouted, looking at his fellow prisoner with a bloodthirsty expression, "SHE IS THE NEW GOD! ONE WHO WILL BRING ABOUT THE NEW AGE!"
"A kinslayer and fool. She should be put to death for killing the Jarl, a great man he was." The man countered with disgust in his voice thinking about Helga. Alfred was intrigued by this. He didn't know what was going on in the enemy camp, but it sounded amusing to him.
"The Queen. What is she like?"
"Crazy. At first, we loved her for being Godbound and God Summoner, but she went mad. Believing to be God she killed her father. Many support her and worship her, but the rest are too scared to oppose." Alfred smiled upon hearing this.
"We heard there were multiple leaders for your invasion. What happened?" Alfred asked the question. The one loyal to Helga fought to break free from his binding and kill the man next to him and everyone else, forcing Chris to subdue him and keep him in check.
"Originally it was the four strongest of our land. However, the Queen killed her father one of the leaders. King Frode and Jarl Halfdan immediately agreed to follow. King Knut was reserved, but ultimately bent the knee, trying to save his own life and his people's"
Nodding to all the information being given to him, Alfred planned. It wasn't a united front, he could exploit it. "Tell me about those two."
"King Frode loves battle. But above that, he loves the Gods and the new Queen. He wishes to make her his wife and unite their lands. He follows her out of zeal and personal ambition. Halfdan is different. Everyone knows he is a snake who slithers around seizing power. He has no love for the Gods or Helga, only joining her to seize more power."
"I WILL KILL YOU, TRAITOR!" The man's yells once again erupted. Alfred now annoyed by it made a slashing motion by his neck towards Chris. He already knew the compliant one was telling the truth from his reactions and had no further use for him.
Understanding, Chris lifted the man's neck, slashing it open with his knife. The blood sprayed across the floor, before flowing underneath the other captives knees. He didn't bat an eye at his ally being killed in front of him, used to sights like it. He now also understood that Alfred was the one in charge, not just the integrator because he knew their language. It was normal for him to be able to give orders like that.
"Do you think it is possible for me to beat Your Queen?" Alfred's question got the man thinking deeply. He looked up at Alfred before looking at the others around him. He saw Chris and Charles and knew they were strong warriors. Then he looked at Asmond who was happily eating an apple watching the entire interaction with interest. He would have believed the man was genuinely happy all the time if he had never met Halfdan, someone who always hid what he truly felt unless made angry.
Finally, his eyes landed on Ash. It was still in his memory how the man, cut down multiple men with ease. He looked like the tales of bloodsuckers from their legends and seemed to have the strength of one. "If your army is like that man over there then yes. We only have around six thousand here with us. But a few of them are great warriors. Hard to kill." The man was honest. He knew there was no point in lying when Alfred had already revealed that they had information about them, bringing up Frode and the other leaders before he did.
Alfred gave a genuine smile, "You have no loyalties to the Queen do you?" his question got a nod of the head, "It's safe for me to assume you came to my Kingdom to escape your home. A disaster, poor weather or an invasion. It doesn't matter but you needed to come here to secure your people's lifeline."
"It got too cold, we can no longer get food properly." The man was honest.
"In that case, I will offer your people a deal. Take this to any leader you wish, Knut, Halfdan, Frode or the Queen. I will give you a part of the South to settle on. In return for this land, you will bend the knee to me, become my vassal and live under my rules. You may keep your Gods, along as you take Sol, the Lord of Light, as your primary God. You will be allowed to send food to your people back home or bring them to repopulate the land you destroyed. If they prove their loyalty to me in the years to come they can also have a place in my court."
Alfred pulled the blade from his waist, cutting the rope that tied the captive. "Whoever you bring this offer to, tell them to follow the road back. I will be marching towards you. You have until we reach you."
Alfred slapped the man's shoulder before helping him up. The man gave one final nod towards Alfred before disappearing into the night. Alfred knew it was a gamble to do something like this, but he needed to return to the North and continue the invasion of the Safrid's. But more importantly, he needed to repopulate the land in the south after it had been brutalised. He could tell they were strong warriors. If they would fight for him as well it would be a great boost in military power.
He also knew that if he was betrayed, it would ease the pressure off of the capital, forcing the invader to redirect their focus back to him.
He didn't wish to fight the whole army however and just hoped that he judged the characters he heard well enough on the little information he had. He was hoping Halfdan's greed and Knut's dislike would be enough to sway their loyalties and the promise of land was enough of an incentive.
"Are you sure about this my King, letting him run free?" Chris asked Alfred, not knowing the contents of the conversation that happened. The only thing he could pick up was names and that was it. Alfred looked at him a chuckled.
"I will tell you what we spoke about."