Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-17114085-20190505142549/@comment-17114085-20190719113555

The axe struck the shield and splinted the wood as it was deflected. Tiskr managed to protect himself, but his shield was now damaged.

Tiskr's counter-attack hit Boruus in the stomach, where Bittnahjold had previously removed the protective plating. The cut was pretty deep, but in his enraged state it hardly registered to Boruus.

Still, the injury was enough to make Boruus stumble in his movements. He had lost so much blood at this point that he was getting very disoriented.

Kal was easily able to outmaneuver him in this state and get behind him for a decisive strike. A fatal strike to his neck or under his armpits would be enough to do the Orc in.

Sága was still offering suppressing fire, she let loose two arrows at the Orc, but both struck his armor and failed to injure him further. All she did was distract him even more so that Kal could attack without interruption.

Bodvar's nose was bleeding, Bakel's punch had broken it. The hit also made him light-headed. He struggled to push himself back up, wiping the blood with his back-hand.

Helgi, even though his left arm was crippled, charged at the Orc chief. He caught Bakel by surprise, right after he had knocked Bodvar back. He stabbed the Orc through a back gap in his thick armor and did the first bit of damage to him.

Bakel, of course, reacted instantly and turned around with a powerful blow towards the human's head.

Helgi, as if guided by the gods themselves, ducked the blow and plunged his sword deeper into the orc.

Bakel gritted his teeth, the sword was stuck through his torso and causing him great pain, but it had missed his vital organs so it wouldn't kill him anytime soon.

Harald ate with his father's vassals and other nobles that evening. They shared stories of the late Jarl.

Jarl Arngrim told the tale of Sigurd's upbrining at the court in Saarthal. "Jarl Sigmund Word-Bringer sent a young Sigurd to my father's court to be trained alongside me. We were cousins, Sigurd and I and both tall strong men even at that age. We were maybe 14 when we received our first swords from my father's smith, Regin. It was not a month later that we decided to put our swords to the test. A rumor had been spreading of a dragon in the mountains south of Saarthal. My father sent his housecarls to investigate, but Sigurd and I snuck out of the city to search for the beast ourselves. We wandered the woods for a week trying to find this dragon until we came upon the beast."

Harald had never heard this story before. ''My father fought a dragon? Why didn't he ever tell me this?'' he wondered.

"A dragon! Impossible..." A drunk Chief Vilbaldr exclaimed.

"Quiet! Let me tell the damn story." Arngrim barked at him.

Arngrim's son, Hjörvard, was grinning. He already knew this story well.

"Where was I? Oh, right. After a week of wandering we tracked the dragon down to a cave. My hands were trembling with fear. Sigurd was a brave boy he offered to go in first. We, however, hadn't brought torches so we walked around the cave in the dark. I couldn't see anything, I just kept walking forward slowly...waiting for the dragon to pounce out of the dark at any moment. Suddenly, Sigurd screamed like a girl! I could hear him slashing his swords at something wildly. I ran to his side and nearby got my head chopped off as a result." Arngrim said, chuckling as he did so.

The other drunk noblemen burst out laughing.

Harald grinned. It was hard to picture his father screaming in fear. He was always so stern during Harald's youth.

"I managed to calm Sigurd down, as it wasn't a dragon that he bumped into, but a treasure trove. That's when Regin showed up. Turns out that he was stealing from my father's treasury and hording the gold in that cave. The rumors of the dragon were only to scare the locals away from the area while Regin and his goons moved the gold someplace safer." Arngrim continued. "We had to fight that bastard and his men. Even though Regin was a thief, he was still a great smith. His steel proved true and the swords he made us proved his undoing. That and the fact that both Sigurd and I were already the size of full grown adults. Giantsblood has its perks. Anyway, we killed the thieves and then returned the gold to my father. That earned us quite the reputation. From then on, Sigurd became known as Sigurd the Dragonslayer in my father's court." Arngrim finished.

''I can't believe my father was that reckless as a young man. Sneaking off to hunt a dragon on his own with his cousin at 14.'' Harald reflected.