章 40: Chapter 40

With a grunt Alvar shoved another huge Norn out of his way, barely staying on his feet and yet found enough strength in his muscles to move the much larger man.

'I suppose my training with the bloody cow helped me in some way sooner than I had expected.' Alvar thought to himself in mirth while dodging another group of panicking Norn that had no idea where to go as many of them didn't.

After dodging the family Alvar spotted his friend Veli who, along with the brunette at his side, had huddled together on the same spot Alvar had last seen them in order not to get crushed under the boots of some guy that had gone mad from fear or panic.

"Veli! Veli! Get your ass up and come to me! We have to get out of here!" Alvar called over, his words seemingly ripping his friend out of the state of frozen neutrality he had been in until Veli's eyes came to rest on the struggling Alvar that fought tooth and nail to reach his friend under the onslaught of Norn around him.

"Alvar! Thank the spirits you came! What do we do now?" Veli asked with a slight shake in his voice once Alvar had reached the duo, the brunette at Veli's side clutching the boys arm like a lifeline to her chest all the while.

"We have to get out of the crowd first or we'll get trampled sooner or later! Afterwards we'll seek shelter but one thing at a time. Come on, let's move out of this hell hole!" Alvar said causing his friend to nod and a light of determination to ignite in his eyes after which the three began to push themselves through the crowd once again into the direction Alvar had come from.

Their struggle was a harsh and tiring one, spiked with a few close calls that had nearly seen the trio get separated, but in the end they managed to emerge successfully from the crowd in which a few collisions of men or women had evolved into full blown brawls, causing Alvar to shake his head at their idiocy even though he knew that he couldn't really blame the folks. After all, for nearly everybody in the hall it was the first time that they ever came into direct contact with Jormag and his troops, thus the panic was understandable.

After taking another steadying breath Alvar returned his gaze from the crowd back to his front where he saw the old necromancer wave them over with a hurried expression on his face.

Motioning Veli and the brunette to follow him Alvar quickly jogged over to the old man who finished talking with a nearby Havroune all the while who disappeared back to where he had come from.

"Good, you made it out safely lad! We have to move with haste so that we can gather as many people as possible to evacuate them to the shelter rooms in the mountains where the patron spirits will guard the entrance!" The old man said while beginning to walk swiftly towards the main gates of the great hall, Alvar, Veli and the brunette hot on his heels.

"What about all the people in the great hall? We can't leave them all behind! If the enemy breaches the gates they'll be slaughtered in all the chaos down there!" Alvar motioned to the hell hole the great hall had evolved into, starting at the bottom of the stairs.

Rounding on his heels the old man let out a tired sigh but none the less remained firm in his stance, telling Alvar that he must have made such harsh decisions more than once before in his long life.

"Look around you boy! Do you really think these people will listen in their current state? I don't like to select who may live and who dies today but we just don't have the time to return all these people to a rational state! Take that as a life long lesson from someone who has had to make many difficult decisions in his long, long life. Harsh times sometimes require even harsher decisions to be made. Now let's move, we have no time to waste!" The old man turned back around and left the great hall with Alvar, Veli and the brunette not far behind him.

Even though Alvar knew the old man was correct he couldn't help himself but clench his fists and gnash his teeth in frustration. After all, all these people down there were his people and it didn't sit right with him to let them behind to get slaughtered! But the more he turned over those thoughts in his head the more it became apparent to him that he really had no choice in the matter. After all he was only a twelve years old boy and had only just started his carrier as a warrior. And there it was again, the feeling he had come to hate so bloody much over the last few weeks. Helplessness!

With gnashing teeth Alvar ran to catch up with the old necromancer in front of him, swallowing down the indignant feeling that was rolling inside his stomach like a hot ball of molten iron.

The four of them soon reached a gathering of people, divided into a few groups with each one being under the leadership of one Havroune who was guarded by the mist watch at all times. Turning his head left and right Alvar soon spotted his grandparents and finally let out a relieved breath at their sight, after which he rushed over to grab them both in a strangling hug, getting hugged back equally as fierce once the two realised who had barrelled into them just now.

"I'm so glad you are well Alvar! We nearly got a heart attack once we learned what was going on! Unbelievable that Jormag dared to attack us once again!" His grandparents spoke in tandem while his grandmother was fussing over Alvar, patting him up and down to check if he was hurt anywhere.

Veli and the brunette had equally rushed over to their families once they had spotted them, the brunette crying in her mother's arms as all the tension of the evening left her body in one motion.

"Attention please! We have to make haste to the caves or we may not reach them in time! Please try to keep calm but stay attentive all the time as we don't know if Jormag has prepared any traps for us on the w--!" The Havroune was interrupted by a loud sound, like bursting or cracking wood after which the sound of different commanders began to echo in the distance, bringing absolute silence to the murmuring people around Alvar, which soon evolved into panicked outcries and demands to hurry up.

"The gates have been breached! Fight! Fight for your lives!", "Form a line, you maggots!", "Nock your arrows! Loose!"

Alvar meanwhile had only one thought in mind once he heard the yelled commands from the main gates that lead into Hoelbrak.

'I need to get myself a fucking weapon or I'll not survive the night…!'