Prologue
"Who is the best warrior of them all?" asked a Nord huscarl to his weapons-brothers. The men pointed at old Karl Yaeger. Karl Yaeger shook his head. "No the best warrior ever was Arngrímur the Bloody-Hand." said Karl. "He was a Vyir warrior that I had the great honor of fighting beside for almost 20 years before he vanished. No-one knows what became of him." Karl sighed and drank deeply, he remebered that night all too well.
Chapter One.
It was thundering and lightening. "Arngrímur!" where are you?!" cried Karl to the darkness. He was extremely worried that something had happened to his friend. The rain began to come down and he looked down at his weapon. "I pray to the gods that I didn't kill him!" he said to himself. "I didn't kill him!" he cried. He looked around the battle field for his friend and saw nothing. He began to toss aside Orcish bodies. "Arn!" he screamed. He looked down and saw his pendant. He took it up, weeeping and set it on an ancient stone cairn. He stared at the pendant for awhile and then ran into the forest and ran back to Nordlandia. Home.
Chapter Two.
The younger warriors were settling into their bunks in the Hall and Rognvar approached him. "I know you are a berserker." he said softly. "You did what you could." he said reassuringly. "Why do you say that you wolf-pup? You didn't hear my story." he said morosely. "Tell me again." said Rognvar. "Alright. It was the day of the battle." said Karl.
"Men! Form your shield wall!" said the Thane. "Here they come!" said a huscarl. The men barely had enough time to get into formation as the Orcs riding their Frostwolves hit the combined Vyir/Nord line at full force. "Stay close!" hissed Arn to Karl. Arn nodded. The battle quickly turned sour as the Vyir and Nords fell like rotten corn to a sharp sythe. "What is happening? Some magic?" asked Karl but his friend had vanished. He tore through the lines, killing hundreds of Orcs and bought enough time for the Army to escape the onslaught but he couldn't find Arn anywhere.
Chapter Three.
"My lord. I have examined the skull of your son. The hit to the skull was bad. He will suffer delusions for the rest of his life." said the healer/priest gravely. "So Karl cannot fight with the other men then. What can I do with him?" asked Yarl Konrad Frothenburg. "He can fight, but he will see people that aren't there." said the healer. "Be glad that his birth injury wasn't worse, or you would have lost him." said the Healer. "The will of the gods be done." said the Yarl heavily.
"Papa, where is my friend Arn?" asked Karl. "Perhaps he went to the Temple?" asked his mother. The boy ran off and went to the Temple and looked around and saw his friend sitting on a bench. "Why did you vanish on me?" asked Karl. "I come and go." said Arn simply. "Please don't leave me again." said Karl. The boy nodded and they went off to play Orcs and Warriors.
Chapter Four.
"Arn! Did you actually exist? I saw your pendant! Why am I cursed with this condition?" sobbed Karl when he reached an open meadow that he remembered as being the site of his first battle. He heard a rustle of footsteps behind him. "Karl. I will never leave you nor will I forsake you." said Arn. "Surely you are a ghost!" said Karl, fearful. He turned and saw Arn, bloodied and wearing the pendant. "Karl, touch my arm." said Arn. Karl reached out and grasped a very real shoulder. "I don't understand, you shouldn't have survived that battle." said Karl to Arn. "I am a two-handed wielder, remember? I killed most of that Orcish Army. Our troops got out safely. I had to retreat to the woods and reheal completely." said Arn. They began to walk for awhile and then, with an almost superhuman speed, Arn ran forward and vanished. "Is he a god?" was the thought that formed in Karl's mind at that moment. "No my friend. I am you." said a voice that was unmistakably Arn's voice. Karl paused and thought for a moment. It made perfect sense. Arn was always braver, stronger, faster and tougher. Karl knew he was not that way but he considered himself more of a naturalist and spent most of his time (when he wasn't fighting) recording plants and animals in the forest and meadows of Vyirlund. "So that is the secret." said Karl to himself.
Chapter Five.
The war was over for five years and Arn had not returned to Karl. Karl had settled in as a full-time naturalist, compiling a huge volume of observations into a leather-bound book. He took in a young, promising whelp by the name of Rognvar the Uneasy and was teaching him how to fight and how to use nature to his advantage when out in the wilds. The two had their conversation and Karl paused. "Rognvar, there is something I need to tell you." said Karl. "Say on Nord." said Rognvar. "Arn was me. I did those things, but I always saw that part of myself as a different person. Arn would always appear when I was in high stress, because of my brain injury from birth." said Karl. Rognvar was astounded. "You killed over 5,000 Orcs then?" asked Rognvar, astounded. "I guess I did but I was fighting alongside myself so I couldn't tell." said Karl. "Does Arn return to you anymore?" asked Rognvar. "No, I think that side of me is either resting or is "back" in the right part of my brain. I see him in dreams from time to time but he is fading. Fading fast." said Karl.
Chapter Six.
"Does Karl know that Arn, the warrior he speaks of, died 100 years ago and is buried over in a mountain near here?" asked one of the younger warriors to Rognvar. "He told me of an exprience he had, he was on a battlefeild calling out to Arn and he found his pendant." said Rognvar. "That is odd, that matches the story of Ulric and Arn. Ulric was looking for Arn and found his pendant and put it on a stone cairn and wept because he killed his friend by mistake." said the young man. "Odd, so somehow that story ingrained itself into his memory and his "other personality" became that famous hero." said Rognvar. "You should hear him retell the story. He is trying not to repeat it, so he can silence the sickened part of his mind." said Rognvar.
Chapter Seven.
"Karl. I am back!" said Arn to Karl. Karl was startled to see Arn standing there. "Relax and you will enter back into me." said Karl quietly. "Karl. Before I go, I have a bit of a confession to make." said Arn. "Say on old friend." said Karl with a tear in his eye. "Karl. I lied when I said that I was you. I gave you those abilities because they always existed inside of you. I was your mentor and your guide. I am Arngrimur the Bloody-Hand and I was accidently killed by my friend Ulric on this very meadow 100 years ago. I am not quite a ghost you see. I am now a god." said Arn. "You are indeed the great hero?" asked Karl. "Yes, and I changed form and trained you as I trained Ulric. I even gave you the night vision of the night when Ulric killed me." said Arn. "Why?" asked Karl, quite shocked. "Because my dear brother, Ulric was your Vyir grandfather and I promised to watch over his seed always to the gods. A vow is a vow." said the demi-god. "But keep this to yourself, the gods must keep secrets you know." said Arn with a wink and a smile and he vanished, never to again appear to Karl.
Chapter Eight.
Karl visited the Tomb of his late friend. He left a bundle of mountain flowers and the pendant on the lid of his stone coffer. "Rest in peace my dear friend, and could you maybe train Rognvar?" asked Karl. "No, that is up to you my dear friend." said Arn's voice in his head. Karl closed the tomb and returned to his hut and did as he was told. Rognvar grew into a fine warrior and on more than one occasion, Arn fought at his side.
THE END
"Who is the best warrior of them all?" asked a Nord huscarl to his weapons-brothers. The men pointed at old Karl Yaeger. Karl Yaeger shook his head. "No the best warrior ever was Arngrímur the Bloody-Hand." said Karl. "He was a Vyir warrior that I had the great honor of fighting beside for almost 20 years before he vanished. No-one knows what became of him." Karl sighed and drank deeply, he remebered that night all too well.
Chapter One.
It was thundering and lightening. "Arngrímur!" where are you?!" cried Karl to the darkness. He was extremely worried that something had happened to his friend. The rain began to come down and he looked down at his weapon. "I pray to the gods that I didn't kill him!" he said to himself. "I didn't kill him!" he cried. He looked around the battle field for his friend and saw nothing. He began to toss aside Orcish bodies. "Arn!" he screamed. He looked down and saw his pendant. He took it up, weeeping and set it on an ancient stone cairn. He stared at the pendant for awhile and then ran into the forest and ran back to Nordlandia. Home.
Chapter Two.
The younger warriors were settling into their bunks in the Hall and Rognvar approached him. "I know you are a berserker." he said softly. "You did what you could." he said reassuringly. "Why do you say that you wolf-pup? You didn't hear my story." he said morosely. "Tell me again." said Rognvar. "Alright. It was the day of the battle." said Karl.
"Men! Form your shield wall!" said the Thane. "Here they come!" said a huscarl. The men barely had enough time to get into formation as the Orcs riding their Frostwolves hit the combined Vyir/Nord line at full force. "Stay close!" hissed Arn to Karl. Arn nodded. The battle quickly turned sour as the Vyir and Nords fell like rotten corn to a sharp sythe. "What is happening? Some magic?" asked Karl but his friend had vanished. He tore through the lines, killing hundreds of Orcs and bought enough time for the Army to escape the onslaught but he couldn't find Arn anywhere.
Chapter Three.
"My lord. I have examined the skull of your son. The hit to the skull was bad. He will suffer delusions for the rest of his life." said the healer/priest gravely. "So Karl cannot fight with the other men then. What can I do with him?" asked Yarl Konrad Frothenburg. "He can fight, but he will see people that aren't there." said the healer. "Be glad that his birth injury wasn't worse, or you would have lost him." said the Healer. "The will of the gods be done." said the Yarl heavily.
"Papa, where is my friend Arn?" asked Karl. "Perhaps he went to the Temple?" asked his mother. The boy ran off and went to the Temple and looked around and saw his friend sitting on a bench. "Why did you vanish on me?" asked Karl. "I come and go." said Arn simply. "Please don't leave me again." said Karl. The boy nodded and they went off to play Orcs and Warriors.
Chapter Four.
"Arn! Did you actually exist? I saw your pendant! Why am I cursed with this condition?" sobbed Karl when he reached an open meadow that he remembered as being the site of his first battle. He heard a rustle of footsteps behind him. "Karl. I will never leave you nor will I forsake you." said Arn. "Surely you are a ghost!" said Karl, fearful. He turned and saw Arn, bloodied and wearing the pendant. "Karl, touch my arm." said Arn. Karl reached out and grasped a very real shoulder. "I don't understand, you shouldn't have survived that battle." said Karl to Arn. "I am a two-handed wielder, remember? I killed most of that Orcish Army. Our troops got out safely. I had to retreat to the woods and reheal completely." said Arn. They began to walk for awhile and then, with an almost superhuman speed, Arn ran forward and vanished. "Is he a god?" was the thought that formed in Karl's mind at that moment. "No my friend. I am you." said a voice that was unmistakably Arn's voice. Karl paused and thought for a moment. It made perfect sense. Arn was always braver, stronger, faster and tougher. Karl knew he was not that way but he considered himself more of a naturalist and spent most of his time (when he wasn't fighting) recording plants and animals in the forest and meadows of Vyirlund. "So that is the secret." said Karl to himself.
Chapter Five.
The war was over for five years and Arn had not returned to Karl. Karl had settled in as a full-time naturalist, compiling a huge volume of observations into a leather-bound book. He took in a young, promising whelp by the name of Rognvar the Uneasy and was teaching him how to fight and how to use nature to his advantage when out in the wilds. The two had their conversation and Karl paused. "Rognvar, there is something I need to tell you." said Karl. "Say on Nord." said Rognvar. "Arn was me. I did those things, but I always saw that part of myself as a different person. Arn would always appear when I was in high stress, because of my brain injury from birth." said Karl. Rognvar was astounded. "You killed over 5,000 Orcs then?" asked Rognvar, astounded. "I guess I did but I was fighting alongside myself so I couldn't tell." said Karl. "Does Arn return to you anymore?" asked Rognvar. "No, I think that side of me is either resting or is "back" in the right part of my brain. I see him in dreams from time to time but he is fading. Fading fast." said Karl.
Chapter Six.
"Does Karl know that Arn, the warrior he speaks of, died 100 years ago and is buried over in a mountain near here?" asked one of the younger warriors to Rognvar. "He told me of an exprience he had, he was on a battlefeild calling out to Arn and he found his pendant." said Rognvar. "That is odd, that matches the story of Ulric and Arn. Ulric was looking for Arn and found his pendant and put it on a stone cairn and wept because he killed his friend by mistake." said the young man. "Odd, so somehow that story ingrained itself into his memory and his "other personality" became that famous hero." said Rognvar. "You should hear him retell the story. He is trying not to repeat it, so he can silence the sickened part of his mind." said Rognvar.
Chapter Seven.
"Karl. I am back!" said Arn to Karl. Karl was startled to see Arn standing there. "Relax and you will enter back into me." said Karl quietly. "Karl. Before I go, I have a bit of a confession to make." said Arn. "Say on old friend." said Karl with a tear in his eye. "Karl. I lied when I said that I was you. I gave you those abilities because they always existed inside of you. I was your mentor and your guide. I am Arngrimur the Bloody-Hand and I was accidently killed by my friend Ulric on this very meadow 100 years ago. I am not quite a ghost you see. I am now a god." said Arn. "You are indeed the great hero?" asked Karl. "Yes, and I changed form and trained you as I trained Ulric. I even gave you the night vision of the night when Ulric killed me." said Arn. "Why?" asked Karl, quite shocked. "Because my dear brother, Ulric was your Vyir grandfather and I promised to watch over his seed always to the gods. A vow is a vow." said the demi-god. "But keep this to yourself, the gods must keep secrets you know." said Arn with a wink and a smile and he vanished, never to again appear to Karl.
Chapter Eight.
Karl visited the Tomb of his late friend. He left a bundle of mountain flowers and the pendant on the lid of his stone coffer. "Rest in peace my dear friend, and could you maybe train Rognvar?" asked Karl. "No, that is up to you my dear friend." said Arn's voice in his head. Karl closed the tomb and returned to his hut and did as he was told. Rognvar grew into a fine warrior and on more than one occasion, Arn fought at his side.
THE END
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