The battle at the hills had concluded, and before Sighvatur was a defeated Njal.
His army had been crushed with Sighvatur suffering minimal losses, but this was no surprise.
It was no surprise why he was mentioned in the same breath as Gissur, Njal understood why now.
This man was strong but that was not the most fearful thing about it, his ability to command an army while in battle was to be feared.
They had not killed everyone, and Njal knew there was still a chance at survival if he played his cards right.
"Chieftain Sighvatur, you live up to your reputation." Njal praised him but this was not a man with a fragile ego, he did not need it fed for he knew that he was strong or he would not be the Chieftain.
"You fought well too, Njal. I am certain your father would have been proud," Sighvatur returned the praise, but he was already looking at the next battle that lay ahead.
"Can you grant a warrior's dying wish?" Njal asked but Sighvatur raised a brow upon hearing this.
"Dying? No friend, I still have one more role for you to play. You want to warn your brother of our arrival, is that correct?" Sighvatur questioned him, he would want to do this in his shoes so this was an educated guess.
Njal did not know if this was bait but he had nothing to lose at this point so he gave him an answer.
"Yes, I do," Njal replied bluntly, watching Sighvatur stroke his beard in thought.
"I will allow it…" Sighvatur said, but one of his men handed him a spear.
".... On the condition that he can avoid my spear, I will give whoever you choose a five-second head start," Sighvatur wanted to toy with Njal but Njal saw this as an opportunity
The fastest person they had under their ranks was Gō, who luckily was not among those that fell in battle.
This was by the grace of the gods as it was not his skills that kept him alive.
"I agree to your terms," Njal said and he saw Sighvatur's stern face crease into a smile.
Gō got up to his feet as they had all been made to kneel. Gō did not even wait for the signal and he was off, the archer on the hill knotted his bow but Sighvatur gestured for him to hold his fire.
Gō was smart, he did not run in a straight line but instead took the zig-zag alternative to increase his chance at survival.
Sighvatur's smile ceased and the focus that followed was unparalleled, he did not blink as he studied the pattern and the body language of Gō.
Njal knew this moment right here might very well be the decisive moment in this brewing war.
Sighvatur's spear left his hand, flying through the air and everyone held their breath.
Sighvatur was confident in his spear-throwing ability, the darkness made it impossible for Gō to know where it was coming from and everyone prayed to the gods quite literally.
But the spear was a clean hit despite his evasive measures, and Njal knew their fate was decided by this single blow, or was it?
They saw Gō stand, the spear had hit him but it did not kill him, despite severely injuring him.
"Yes!" Njal exclaimed, the gods were still on their side.
"Hahaha! I have gotten rusty. These old bones are not the same as when I was young," Sighvatur laughed off his blatant failure but the laugh soon ceased.
And the moment it did, everyone that was forced on their knees lost their head, except Njal.
As for Njal, he was simply knocked out.
-
Gissur's wife freaked out, and Gissur did not know what to do because he had never seen her like this.
But this created an opening, an opening Kolbeinn could exploit but what kind of victory would that be?
He asked his men to stand down, at least until Gissur had his affairs in order.
Gissur looked panicked, a man that had faced death so many times without flinching was frightened because of his wife's behavior.
An arrow flew and was aimed right at Gissur's back but Kolbeinn threw himself in the way, the arrow belonged to his daughter.
"You do not strike down a man while he is taking care of his wife, Gudrun…" Kolbeinn said but this would be the single gesture that unknowingly changed everything, luckily the arrow only grazed his arm, altering the trajectory.
Gissur saw the arrow hooking on the wooden house in front of him and saw that Kolbeinn had defended him despite them being enemies.
"Some things do not change…," Gissur mumbled to himself, Kolbeinn always stood up for him alongside Njal. Even now, when he had his back turned, Kolbeinn protected him.
"Why did you do it?" Gissur asked as he embraced his wife, this seemed to calm her down.
"My body… It moved on its own," Kolbeinn responded and all Gissur did was burst out laughing.
These were the exact words he always said when they were younger. Suddenly, Tyr's proposal of an alliance did not look far-fetched but Gissur was not interested, for he still had the illusion all his forces were untouched, including his brother, Njal.
Noa came out amid the commotion and Nora's eyes immediately spotted him, Gissur was too occupied to notice her slip past him, and everyone's attention was focused on Gissur's wife that they paid little to no attention to Nora's movement.
"Noa! I am so relieved you are safe! Is it true what they said about Isak?" Nora asked, she kept her hands to herself because she did not know who might be watching.
"It is true but we do not have time to mourn! Tyr is in danger, I fear Gissur plans on killing him!" Noa warned her, but he also knew that they could not move Tyr or he would most certainly die.
Right now, Tyr's life was in the hands of the gods.
