THE CONFLICT #2

CHAPTER 3

RAGNAR

Rage isn’t a foreign emotion for me. It gives me strength and power to drive myself forward, to keep killing as my men around me fall and new enemies keep coming – keep fighting over the bodies of the dead. Blood splatters across my face and coats my armour in the sickening wetness. My body burns from the effort, the effort to keep myself alive. But my mind is crystal clear.

They will pay for taking her.

I don’t have to turn my head to know Axel and William fight their own battles not far from me, attempting to hold the front line. With the virus drifting in the air as thick as smoke, the werewolves are reduced to their base forms, their human forms. Still the beasts are brutal despite the effects of the virus, slower and weaker than they would have been while also suffering their lost connections to their mates. Their advantage is still evident. They were prepared for our attack. They knew we were coming. If I had to lose focus, if I had to glance around, the screams of the dying and tortured would pierce my head. I keep my focus, keep swinging and cutting down my opponents. I fall the beast in front of me who has barely hit the floor when I catch the sword of another man. Another monster. He bares his teeth, his black hair dull in the early morning. Sunlight is coated in a fog of sorts, visibility low across the battlefield. The air is suffocating. The battle has been going for hours now. I deflect his attack, just making it past his reach. My eyes flutter around, careful not to miss an attack from the sides. The werewolf-man advances, grinning to show me teeth stained with blood. Who's blood I do not know. He towers over me and like the rest of my opponents. I’m on the defence. The force of his blow is heavy, making my skin break out in new sweat. I grit my teeth, searching for an advantage, a gap in his attack. Neither of us sees Axel until his blade is in mid swing. The black-haired man’s neck is flowing with a river of blood when he drops, joining the others lifeless bodies littering the battlefield. I don’t have time to even mutter a thanks to Axel, when the next werewolf is upon me. I’m no fool. I know when the odds are against us.