章 55: Chapter 55

Together they stood as one, united against their nemesis and his forsaken troops. Up on the wall that protected the city they all had called home for over 200 years they gazed out into the freezing night that seemed to swallow all the faintly flickering light of the torches that burned amongst the warriors up on the wall.

Together they stood as one and remain united they would stay until even the last one of them fell to the enemy. The first few rows were made up of warriors and guardians, all decked in thick metal armour tightened over thick furs held by leather with various weapons at their disposal.

The next rows after that were made of siege weapons build from the engineers and their superb craftsmanship. Each of these various siege weapons were build to cause as much collateral damage to the opponent as possible, some exploding into an ocean of burning oil on impact while others would simply burry and crush the targets under a rain of stone and sharpened metal spikes that would fall like hail from the skies.

The last row was made up of hunters with their bows in hand and arrows being carried back and forth so their supply would not run out in the middle of the fight, already having built a sizable mountain of them at the side of each hunter platoon. Behind the hunters the mages stood, in groups of three to cause as much damage on a large group of enemies or just to manipulate the surroundings to either make it harder for the enemy to climb the walls or breach the gates all together.

Standing before the rows of warriors stood Sjorn, decked in thick metal just as his fellow brothers and sisters while also wearing a helmet that had a sharp horn protrude from each side of it, giving the man a menacing appearance next to his already towering form with an axe in each hand that glinted dangerously.

There they all stood and waited for the enemies to finally show their faces, out in the night, their breaths flowing like thick smoke through their helmets due to the harsh cold of the December night.

They waited and waited and once the enemy actually appeared it came faster than any of them had thought. The first warning sign they got was the sharp drop in temperature which caused Sjorn to squint his eyes and began to speak in a loud and clear voice.

"Brothers and sister! For years I have fought side by side with many of you! Together we have shed tears and blood to defend our people! Never faltering, with courage weathering every challenge and overcoming it in the end! You are NORN! Not one of those sissy's that ran in fear and hid under Jormag's wings like the cowards they are! A true Norn never bows and never surrenders!

A TRUE Norn would never join Jormag but rather die with his back straight and his head held high! Let this be a night these fuckers will never forget for we will NEVER SURRENDER!"

The pure determination and conviction in Sjorn's words ignited a flame inside even the most fearful of Norn until it burst forth in on unified roar that shook even the very foundations of Hoelbrak under its volume, its fierceness piercing the freezing coldness of the night like an arrow made of pure fire that soon illuminated the marching enemies that spanned as far as the eye could see, and yet none of the Norn up on the wall cowered in fear but faced their last day on earth like they always had, with their back's straight and their head's held high…

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Alvar was lost. Sitting on the ground lost in his thoughts he felt simply numb, having buried all hurtful feelings behind the strongest mental shields he could currently produce, even though he knew exactly that his actions were everything but healthy. But he just did not care. All he wanted was for those feelings to go away and leave him alone with his thoughts.

In his mind he turned the events of the last months over and over to find out if he could have done something, anything really, to have prevented the events of today but his attempts to find a fault with himself and his actions to find some kind of scapegoat were in vain in the end.

Standing up with his spear clasped in his right hand, shield in his left and his sword, the one given to him by his grandparents, slung over his shoulders in a leather strap Alvar began to make his way over to the group of children and caretakers just moments after Sjorn had left the room.

In his wake the children stepped aside nearly fearful as Alvar seemed to radiate an anger and sorrow that was nearly touchable by those that felt it. One of the adults tried to talk to Alvar but the boy just looked at the woman who began to squirm under his gaze after a while before she turned away and left him to his own.

While Alvar was standing there lost in his mind, trying to hold back the flood of emotions he had buried away, another group of children, the last one he faintly heard one of the Havroune say to another who nodded in understanding, walked into the room.

Turning around slowly Alvar took in the children who all looked so innocent and scared in his eyes until he came upon a strangely familiar form that caused Alvar's emotions to nearly overwhelm him as they slowly managed to escape the tightly held ropes that had bound them.

There, standing just as confused and fearful stood none other than Veli with Gerdi coming in right behind the small group of children and before he registered what his body was doing Alvar had rushed over, dropped his spear and shield and crashed into Veli like a sailor who had gone overboard and found a rock in a wild storm that saved him from drowning.

At first his friend seemed shocked but once he registered who had crashed into him he equally as fiercely returned the hug. There they both stood amongst many scared children, not being much else really, both finding comfort in the others presence while silent tears ran down their cheeks, finally managing to let out some of the sorrow they both had bottled up after the events of tonight.

After a few minutes of familiar warmth and company they separated and sat down next to each other, both tired and drained from the upheavals of the day.

"It is good to see you Veli." Alvar began after he had regained some semblance of control over himself once again and smiled faintly at the fact that he had in fact not lost everyone tonight.

"Likewise Alvar. When I was separated from my parents I thought that I…--pffuu, never mind. What do you think is going to happen to us now? The attack must be about to begin very soon…" Veli replied and as he did so nearly began to suffocate on his rising emotions once again but managed to calm himself after taking in a deep breath, at least for now.

"Sjorn told me that the leaders of our people created an emergency protocol that made sure the survival of our people would be guaranteed in case of well, something like tonight. I think they will have created some way out of Hoelbrak through which we will escape but I don't know anything further…" Alvar replied back to Veli's question, relaying what Sjorn had told Alvar.

Now that Alvar thought about it he couldn't really be mad at his teacher. The man had done what was necessary and it mustn't have been easy for the man to do what he did. Sjorn had been right as well in his assessment that Alvar couldn't let himself be ruled by his emotions in a situation like this, even though it was extremely hard to see clearly through the veil of anger, fear and sorrow. Even in a semi clear-headed state that a good cry had provided him.

Firming his mental control Alvar took in a long and slow breath and after letting it out he gripped the spear and shield at his side and with determination on his face stood up in one motion. Handing his spear over into the hand holding his shield Alvar stretched out his now empty right hand for his friend to help him up and after looking up in a bout of short confusion Veli gripped it and was promptly lifted to his feet.

Keeping his friends lower arm clasped tightly in his hand Alvar looked his friend into the eyes and said: "Lets keep them safe, until we reach our destination. That's the least we can do for those fighting for us right now. We owe them that much!" Which caused Veli to firm his expression as well after which the boy nodded and after clutching Alvar's forearm tightly once more as well separated from Alvar.

Both turning around they marched to the front of the group of children, just as the Havroune and other leaders began to shepherd all the children into a narrow and dark corridor, the two of them now having found a new purpose. They would ensure their people would survive and wipe away any hindrance that stepped into their path to do so…!