Ragnarok Rising: Desolation: Book Five of the Ragnarok Rising Saga

by D. A. Roberts

  "I want your word that if I fall you will let Wilder go free," I said, my voice deep and tinged with emotion.

  "You have my word, Grant," he replied. "I will see that she is taken back to your people alive. I owe you that much."

  I wanted to believe him more than anything in the world. I wasn't sure how much his word was worth, but it was a small comfort.

  "Alright, let's finish the game," I said, fixing my eye on Thrym.

  Behind me, from back towards town, I could hear the approaching sound of massive hoof beats. Glancing back, I could see scores of the Eldjötnar coming over the hill. They cut down any of the dead that stood in their way, stopping about fifty yards away. A quick glance told me that their numbers nearly matched the Hrimthurssar's.

  Out of the group rode a single warrior. He only came forward about another ten yards before stopping. Lifting the visor on his helmet, I recognized his face. It was Fornjot the Destroyer. Even Thrym was shocked to see the arrival of the Eldjötnar.

  "I am here to repay a debt, Grant," he rumbled. "Your fight is with Thrym. We will make certain that it stays that way."

  I felt the smile spread across my face. I knew that Thrym had to be mad enough to chew steel right now. His advantage was gone. This battle was going to be between us. His people would not get their revenge nor could they interfere without facing the Eldjötnar. The odds had just shifted immensely.

  "It looks like the fate of Ragnarok is still in the balance," I said, turning back to face Thrym.

  "So it would appear," he muttered, glaring at me.

  "Thrym," bellowed Fornjot. "If you win, leave this place or you will be destroyed. If you fall, I will grant your people safe passage so long as they do not interfere with this battle."

  "Thank you," I said, turning back to nod at Fornjot.

  "It is the least I could do to repay you," he said, nodding. "Do not fall in this battle, Grant. I would welcome the chance to share a horn of mead with you."

  "I look forward to it," I replied, turning back to face Thrym.

  "It would appear that the fates are smiling on you, Grant," rumbled Thrym. "But I will still defeat you."

  "We'll see," I replied, feeling more hopeful than I expected to. "Grimmr bardagi."

  "Indeed," said Thrym.

  With that, Thrym raised his massive sword and gave me a grudging salute. I returned it with my right hand, then brought my blades up in a defensive stance. Although his blade was much larger than mine, I knew that I had the edge in speed. My best chance was in mobility, because if he landed a solid blow it would likely cut me in half. I would have to use the same strategy that I had used against Surtr and try my best to not be killed.

  I could see that his armor was thick and covered all his most vulnerable spots, leaving me few places to concentrate on. However, it wasn't as thick or heavy as Surtr's had been. That meant he would be more flexible and maneuverable than Surtr. It also meant that I might have a shot at penetrating his armor.

  His heavy boots crunched ice and snow as he moved towards the end of the bridge, closing the distance between us. He was still more than fifty yards away, but he was steadily eating up the ground. I waited until he was less than thirty yards before I moved. Not wanting to sit and wait for him to come to me, I snapped my wrists over and charged.

  I could see the surprise register in his eyes as I launched towards him. As soon as I did, I could hear the thunderous cheers rise from the Eldjötnar. They roared their approval and slammed their armored fists against their chest plates and shields, creating a booming like massive drums that only seemed to spur me on. I could feel the battle-lust rising in me like a flood, bringing with it the fierce drive and focus that I craved.

  Roaring in fury, I sped the distance between us and began planning my moves out three and four steps ahead. Time seemed to slow and distort as my battle focus snapped into place and all I noticed was the fight. All of my attention was now completely on Thrym.

  I could see his first attack in his eyes. It was as plain as the beard on his face. He was anticipating that I would dive low and go for his legs. He was planning on slicing down and catching me as I went for a hamstring. I wasn't going to do that. I had other plans.

  I saw his shoulder dip and he launched a powerful attack that would have cleaved me in half, had I been where he was expecting. At the last second I leapt as high into the air as I could, spinning around like a whirlwind. My swords were parallel to each other and extended out as far as I could reach. Too late, he saw the attack and tried to bring his blade back up to parry.

  I slashed across his neck and his upper arm, scoring deeply into the armor and drawing a fountain of the bluish-red blood from the gap between his armor and helmet. It wasn't a fatal blow, but it was going to hurt and limit the use of his right arm. First blood was mine.

  Bellowing in rage and pain, he swung around and slashed with his massive blade. I was already rolling forward out of his reach, but I felt the air as his blade passed dangerously close to my back. He recovered quicker than I had anticipated. His speed was also more than I had expected from him. This was going to be more difficult than I had estimated.

  Rolling to my feet, I ducked back as he pressed the attack. His blade was whistling closer and closer as I was put on the defensive. I didn't engage his blades with my own, not wanting to feel the power of his blow shake me to the shoulders. It would be better to let him wear himself out than to try to match him power for power. I didn't have a chance if I tried to go strength against strength. I needed to be smarter, not stronger.

  Dodging to my left, I avoided a savage attack that was meant to take my head off, only to find myself moving out onto the bridge. I would lose some of my advantage on the bridge because it was going to limit my mobility. Then again, I had the distinct feeling that was exactly what he had in mind. Like maybe he had been gauging his attacks to force me to this very spot.

  I could feel his attack coming at my back, but I had no plan to be there when it arrived. Running up the guardrail on the bridge, I jumped backwards and spun in the air. With both blades, I connected with his sword and shoved it to the side. The momentum of my leap took me right into him and I used it to my advantage. Rearing back, I drove my forehead into his nose and felt the bones give. Although I saw stars, I also saw blood erupt from the now broken nose.

  Placing my foot against his stomach, I shoved away from him and landed in the snow. Diving immediately to my left, I avoided the kick that followed me. He was roaring in both pain and rage, but I was going to keep moving. I had already scored two solid hits and didn't want to stick around to let him even the score.

  "Coward!" he bellowed. "Stand and fight!"

  "Right!" I called back, sarcastically. "Like I'm just going to stand there and let you kill me."

  I turned to see him charging at me with his sword raised for the kill. He slashed out, intending to catch me as I leapt in for another attack. Instead, I dove forward and rolled past his right leg, slashing out as I moved. I could see sparks fly off of his armor where my sword gouged a chunk out of the steel covering his knee.

  Kicking out in blind rage, he caught me in the ribcage as I continued past him. He hit with enough force that I was certain that at least a couple of my ribs snapped and I went sprawling out onto the bridge. I slammed into the guardrail with enough force to knock the wind out of me. I was having trouble forcing air into my lungs, so I knew that he had likely broken more than a few.

  With a shuddering breath, I hacked and spat bloody phlegm out onto the snow. The cold air burned as it filled my lungs and I coughed up more blood. I was seeing sparks in my vision, but my brain was screaming for me to get moving. I knew that he was coming to finish the job and I had to be somewhere else if I intended to survive this fight, much less win it.

  Glancing down, I could see that the river wasn't covered with ice. In fact, it seemed to be surging with flood level water that was littered with debris. Something was filling the James River with water. T
hen it occurred to me that the volcanic activity was undoubtedly melting snow and ice, sending the water flowing towards low lying areas. That meant that more was coming before this was all over.

  Diving away from the rail, I rolled to my feet and narrowly avoided the finishing blow that had been directed at my back. Thrym seemed shocked that I had avoided the blow. No doubt, he was sensing the kill and thought the fight was over. I was more than happy to disappoint him.

  From somewhere deep inside me, I felt a roar of fury building up. Instead of suppressing it, I let it flow through me and erupt from my throat. The voice that came forth sounded more bestial than I had ever sounded before. It was the snarl similar to that of a wolf and I felt the rage of battle taking over.

  Launching myself at him, I no longer felt the pain of my wounds. Instead, I felt only jubilation in battle and the desire to bring him down. I began attacking with wonton abandon, swinging blow after blow, forcing him to parry and defend. He was clearly shocked at the power of my blows as he began to fall back from my onslaught.

  "Odin!" I screamed, leaping towards his head and slashing out with both blades.

  Swinging with all his might, he deflected both blades and knocked me to the side. I landed on my feet and spun to press the attack. I had to bring both blades up in an "X" to block the attack that he had directed right at my skull. Steel rang on steel as the power of his blow shook me to the core. His strength was beyond what I could have expected. It felt like my arms were going to go numb from the impact.

  Stepping back, he disengaged the blades and launched another attack at my left side. Instead of deflecting the attack, I stepped inside his reach and sliced downward. I sliced a deep gouge down his left arm, revealing tendons and bone beneath the blue-tinted skin. Blood sprayed out onto the icy ground and instantly began to steam.

  I fully expected him to have to quit using the arm entirely, but he only roared in pain and kept coming. I couldn't doubt that the warrior spirit within Thrym was every bit as strong as the one inside of me. He wouldn't quit coming and neither would I.

  His next attack came at a downward angle, forcing me to step to my right to avoid the blow. The blade impacted with the steel guardrail and it shattered, either from the cold or the force of the blow. Shrapnel from the exploding rail flew out in all directions and I felt more than one piece stick into my body armor as well as my left thigh. I reached down and pulled out the three inch shard that had embedded itself in the meat of my leg, tossing it off into the water.

  Recovering my sword, I readied myself for his next attack. I didn't have to wait for very long. With a battle-cry that would carry to the Gods, he rushed towards me with his sword above his head and a look of unbridled fury on his face. Blood from the wound on his neck had stained his snow-white beard a deep crimson on the one side.

  A quick glance around showed me that we were nearing the center of the bridge. I either had to find a way to get off of the bridge or to slow him down. Neither option was looking viable, at the moment. I needed to change my tactics to regain some sort of advantage or this fight was going to be over soon.

  Snapping my wrists around, I flipped the swords over and held them in a reverse grip that put the blades along my forearms and extending out past my elbows. It would force me to get in closer for my attacks, but it would give me more power for blocking. It also had the advantage of making him shift his attack style to compensate for it.

  As he brought his blade down in a wide arc trying to slash me across the chest, I spun to my left and let the blades whirl around me. I scored deep gouges down the right side of his armor and broke two of the plates loose from the torso. I continued to spin as I moved past him, striking the backs of both of his legs and cutting into the armor there as well.

  Leaping back, I avoided the savage back swing that would have sliced my body in half, had I not already been moving away. Although I hadn't done significant damage to him, I had damaged the armor and it had given me an opening to strike. Next time, I was going to draw blood.

  Screaming in rage, he turned to come after me but stumbled and almost fell. I had done more damage to his legs than I had thought. He had to catch himself by grounding the tip of his sword and leaning his weight against it. I wasn't planning on letting him have time to recover.

  Surging forward, I launched a flurry of blows directed towards his head and throat. I expected to find him hard pressed to defend considering his condition, but he stood up and blocked the blows with his massive sword. He'd drawn me in by feigning weakness, hoping to catch me off guard. The trouble was, it worked.

  He brought around his armored fist, intending to smash me in the face. The power of his blow would likely have knocked me out of the fight, but I had other plans. Dropping to my knees, I slid on the icy ground and passed below his fist. I had to dive to my left to avoid sliding through the opening created when he shattered a section of the guardrail, narrowly avoiding falling into the churning waters of the James River.

  Kicking off of the guardrail, I launched myself towards the center of the bridge and rolled to my feet. He was already pressing the attack. I narrowly dodged a blow that was meant to disembowel me. I did take a nasty cut across the front of my body armor, but not deep enough to cut my skin. Although it was a near thing, I managed to avoid the worst of the slash.

  Instead of moving away so that I could recover, I dove in closer and slashed at his arms and face. He rolled with the attack and parried the blow that was meant for his face, but I scored a nasty cut down the side of his left bicep. He seemed impervious to pain and completely ignored the bloody wound.

  Dancing back out of his range, I moved to put some distance between us. He wasn't having any of that and kept coming, not giving me a moment's respite. I had to move quickly to avoid another powerful blow directed at my head. Instead of blocking it, I ducked it and rolled past his legs. As I rolled forward, I jammed the tip of my blade into his right foot, cutting through the thick leather and filleting the meat beneath it. Blood spurted from the mangled foot and began to seep out of the boot.

  I continued my roll but didn't escape unscathed. I felt the tip of his blade dig a deep furrow down the middle of my back, just to the right of my spine. This one did cut deep enough to draw blood. I knew it was going to be bad, but I couldn't afford to stop and take stock of the wound. I had to keep moving before he got close enough to finish the job.

  As I staggered to my feet, I could see the bright crimson of my own blood falling like rose petals into the stark white snow. Already, the burning of the wound was beginning to dull from the cold. I could feel the weakness creeping into my limbs and knew that I had to be losing quite a bit of blood.

  Dropping to one knee, I fought to keep my vision focused. My head was swimming with pain and blood loss but I knew if I didn't get back on my feet, this fight was over. Forcing myself to stand, I saw that he was limping badly but still coming right at me with the single-minded intensity of a true warrior. It would be no dishonor to fall to his blades. It would, however, be a big honor to defeat him. I wasn't ready to concede defeat, just yet.

  Backing away slowly, I found myself moving off of the bridge. Although he was moving slowly, he was still coming. We were both badly wounded but not ready to quit. Only death would bring an end to this fight. Neither of us would stop until we fell.

  Lunging forward with a sudden burst of speed, he leveled a brutal slash at my head forcing me to duck beneath it. He followed it up with a blow from his left fist that sent me sprawling onto my back and sliding away on the ice. I stopped just in front of the wreckage of the Humvee. Spec-4 was now front-row center for what was likely going to be the end of this fight.

  I got shakily to me feet and staggered unsteadily as I shook my head trying to clear it. I was seeing double images of everything, but knew that he was coming for me. I could hear him crunching across the frozen ground and knew that he was getting closer.

  Before I could get my vision to clear, I felt the impact of a
large dagger as it stuck deeply into my right shoulder. The force of the blow knocked both of my swords from my hands and sent me backwards onto the hood of the Humvee. I slid to a stop against the windshield and could hear Spec-4 gasp in horror.

  I managed to shake my vision clear and saw that he was less than twenty yards away. Scrambling back against the windshield, I felt my arm fall on a familiar shape. It was the M-240B mounted to our turret. Since he had nearly crippled me with the dagger and I had lost both of my swords, I was going to have to continue the fight with whatever weapon I could get in my hands. The Gods had delivered me a beauty.

  Rolling back to the turret, I grabbed the charging lever, locking and loading the weapon. Flicking off the safety, I squeezed the trigger and the staccato beat of the massive 7.62mm rounds roared to life and I walked fire right into him at less than twenty yards range. I could see the big rounds digging deep into his flesh and shattering armored plates as if they were made of glass.

  With a roar of pain, he dove to the side and beneath my line of fire. I knew he was badly hurt, but not out of the fight just yet. Then again, neither was I. Despite all the damage I had taken, I was more determined than ever to win this fight.

  I raked the area of ditch where Thrym had dove and heard a grunt of pain as at least one more round found its mark. I kept up the fire until the barrel was steaming with heat and the belt ran out of ammo. I might not have finished the fight, but I had certainly evened the odds. Now we were both hurt and bleeding profusely.

  Reaching over and grabbing the hilt of the dagger sticking out of my shoulder, I screamed in pain and rage as I yanked it free. Blood poured from the nasty wound, but didn't spray out. I had been lucky that the blade didn't strike any arteries. I was losing enough blood already without adding that to the list.

  Rolling off the roof of the Humvee, I landed with a grunt and began scrambling towards the front of the vehicle so I could recover my swords. Above me, I could hear the metallic "ping ping" as the hot barrel cooled and smell the distinctive odor of cordite. I have always loved that smell.