Helwalker
Perthro: The Rune of Mystery Part 2 | Final Choice - The last push for freedom
Click to read — Part 2.2 of Perthro: The Rune of Mystery
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The Chosen Path — “Start a fire within the castle”
Perthro: The Rune of Mystery
Part 2.3: Helwalker
“Get in position, once the fire starts we only have one chance to leave this forsaken island,” Frode demanded.
Einar nodded his head in agreement as Frode removed his shackles, “Guess we didn’t need this after all, eh?”
“Well how would you have, ever so creatively, killed the guard that ordered you dead?”
Einar grinned, “Right you are, my friend.”
“Now move.”
Einar scurried out of the great hall within the castle and down the winding path towards the boats. When he was a quarter of the way down, which took a few moments with his injuries, he strayed from the path and hid behind a small shed that held firewood. He looked back up the hill and signaled to Frode that he was ready.
Frode signaled back and retreated to the far end of the room where they had piled all the wooden items they could find, the guards body and the large tapestry sporting an unsightly beast. He picked up the torch from its place on the wall and walked over to the pile, savoring the moment as it may be his last – that is if the plan did not work.
Frode gazed into the flame that danced on the end of the torch he held, searching for something he desperately wanted to see again; Halfdan. His eyes glowed a deep amber, almost reflecting the deep rage that he harbored within him “I condemn this place to the realm of Muspelheim, to you Surtr, God of the realm of fire.” He lowered the torch towards the pile and watched as the tapestry slowly recoiled from the heat, before charring and catching flame. It took but seconds for the pile to combust, which prompted Frode to once again return to the window and watch for the reaction of the guards.
Once the great hall was spitting flames from its uppermost windows, Frode watched the guards start running towards the castle from the beaches below. Now it was time for the part of the plan that he did not look forward to. He grabbed a cloth that the guard had been using to clean his mouth and wrapped it around his arm, over the guard armor, before approaching the edge of the fire. Without thinking too much about it he pushed his arm into the flame and let the cloth ignite.
Frode did not hesitate but a moment, for if he did he would receive burns as bad or worse than Einar. He ran out of the front of the great hall towards the rushing soldiers. Barreling towards the enemy, he screamed at the top of his lungs, making sure not to say anything in his native language and pointing in the direction of the fire. His only hope was that the uniform that he wore fooled the guards enough for him to slip by.
Frode dropped to the ground just before the guards reached him and started rolling in an effort to put the fire out that started slowly consuming his entire arm. All of the guards ran past him as he was putting the fire out, still yelling and directing them towards the castle. Once the fire was extinguished he did not waste a moment. He rose and sprinted down the hill as fast as he could manage, only hoping that Einar was able to reach the boats and secure one.
Just as he thought they were going to escape without issue, Frode heard one of the guardsmen yell. When he turned around, he found that at least half of them had broken off and started chasing after him.
“Hermod, bestow upon me the gift of swiftness, I beg of you!” Frode yelled into the dark, stormy sky.
His strides grew, longer and longer, eating up the path before him. It was hard to tell if it was just sheer adrenaline powering his legs, or if Hermod had truly gifted him what he asked for. Whatever the case, it did not matter. What mattered was that Frode approached the ships and could not spot Einar. Dread washed over him.
He came to a stop in front of the ships, and turned, drawing his sword. He would not leave without Einar, and if that meant fighting through the remaining guards, so be it.
“Yoohoo,” Einars voice, arose from behind Frode in a light-hearted, silly tone. Frode turned and watched Einar’s head bob above the bow of one of the ships – he smiled at Frode. “So are you going to push or make my crispy arse do it?”
Frode turned his head to see that the guards were rapidly closing in. He ran to the boat and started heaving with all of his strength. The boat slid slowly backwards towards the sea, but the water resisted his efforts, making it harder than he had imagined. Finally the boat gave way and budged from the sand beneath it, taking to the water and allowing him to float it further. He jumped in and slapped Einar on his good shoulder, “We did it.”
“Not yet,” Einar muttered, directing Frode’s attention to a guard racing into the water after them. “I’ve got it.”
Einar stood up and grabbed a long oar, before waiting for the guard to get within reach. Once the guard was waist-deep in the water and only a meter or so behind them, Einar reeled back with the oar, flexing his muscles, summoning the strength and power of Thor. He swung the oar with an ungodly might that caused it to whistle through the air before smacking into the guard’s face, cracking like the sound of thunder. The Oar shattered into pieces, as did the guard's face before he sunk into the water.
Einar turned around and faced Frode, broken oar in hand, “Now, we have done it.”
Through many hardships, our heroes have escaped and are now on their journey back to Avaldsnes so that they may uncover the mystery that had left their brothers and sisters dead. I am eager to see where YOU take the story next!
This would not be possible if not for your choices made, so thank you for helping me create this epic Viking story! Keep on choosing and see where this story goes! Perthro: The Rune of Mystery will return in 3 weeks after the next issues of Trapped Within Darkness and Expedition Epsilon. You could earn a free premium membership if your refer 3 people, and you will have access to the character sheets! I hope you have a great week, and as always — Choose Fiction!
So exciting!!!! I love it!!!!