Things were not looking good, the forces under Sturla had the upper hand in all battlefields for Kolbeinn had been injured and Sturla was about to take Gissur's life.
It was a dilemma because the war could very well be decided today if all things go as they were.
Kolbeinn was impaled clean through by Skaði's blade, there was nothing he could do about it because she had executed it flawlessly, she was no ordinary warrior and Kolbeinn knew this when she took down the Mad Hound.
Skaði stood, looking triumphant, she wanted to relish this victory because she had just wounded a Chieftain or possibly killed him with this strike.
"You were never the one they were worried about, I heard about how your brother died…" Skaði had every intention of shaming him for losing so easily.
Kolbeinn's knees buckled, dropping to one knee.
"If it was your brother I fought here today, I would be the one to fall. This clan really has gone to shit…." Skaði kept talking.
Kolbeinn tried to talk but he could not muster the strength to let the words out.
He was losing blood and she had not even pulled out her weapon, this was the only reason he was still conscious.
"I can not hear you, you want to beg for your life?" Skaði mocked him but she saw a shadow looming over her, someone huge was behind her.
"It can't be!?" She blurted out, turning her head to see the Mad Hound, he had used his muscle mass to minimize the damage to his neck.
That unique trait of his is what kept him alive, Kolbeinn knew he was not dead because Skaði had misjudged just how dense his muscles were and became the decoy to take away her attention.
And the fact that she had no prior knowledge of this made it all the worse because she had misjudged the strength required to inflict the necessary damage needed to kill him.
But he did not leave unscathed, he was injured and this damage had the potential of killing him if it bleeds for too long despite it not being as deep as Skaði intended.
The Mad Hound clenched both his fists together and Skaði tried to avoid the strike that was coming but two arrows found their way into her thighs to limit her mobility greatly, this took evading out of the equation.
Gudrun's accuracy was flawless and Skaði felt threatened, she raised her blade ready to defend against his attack but she did not possess the physical strength to do so.
But all this was irrelevant because Gudrun had buried more arrows into her shoulders, and just then, the Mad Hound's fists made contact with her blade; she did not have the necessary strength to sever it so it pushed the blade back on her and pummeled her into the ground.
Skaði coughed up blood, she too medium damage and she knew she would die if he attacked her again.
She did not want to die and she could see her life flash before her eyes.
"S-Stop! I have information!!" Skaði said bluntly, she had given up without much resistance because she did not want to die.
Not everyone saw death as a noble end, some still craved to hang onto life, Skaði was no different.
The Mad Hound stopped but with Skaði yielding, that meant that this battle was over.
Kolbeinn was in a critical condition, Skaði had hit a vital organ and he was losing blood much faster than a regular stab.
He was out cold and they rushed to make sure he was good, Kolbeinn became their priority.
They had every intention of taking the enemies back alive to pump them for information.
Gudrun held her nerves as she rushed to her father's side, she applied pressure on his wound as she desperately screamed for them to do something about it. She wanted Skaði dead, she did this to her father but she had to bite her tongue; this would be a decision everyone would soon regret for Skaði did not yield because she lost the will to fight but for a rather nefarious reason.
She knew she could win but if she lost over 50% of her men, Sighvatur would not like it so she had to thread carefully because she wanted to return with more men than Sturla.
She knew that if they took them prisoner, it won't matter because Sturla was going to kill Gissur and his men so this was temporary as they had nowhere to take them.
She watched them struggle to save Kolbeinn, applying first aid hastily but she kept quiet.
"Now we wait…" Skaði thought to herself, Skaði was a dirty fighter and the only reason no one had heard of her was because she had slain all enemies she encountered.
-
"You need to get up, Tyr…." A voice resonated in the head of the disgruntled Tyr, the blow had dazed him and he could feel his head rocking from the aftermath.
He saw Sturla strangling Gissur but his body was not responding. Sturla had his back to him because the force of the blow was his full power.
"It has been an honor fighting you, Gissur. Your legacy will not end with your death," Sturla reassured him, showing him the respect he deserved as Gissur slowly lost the strength to fight.
Gissur could feel his mind going blank and spit leaking out the edges of his mouth. Sturla was so preoccupied with Gissur that he had a momentary lapse because as far as he was concerned, Tyr was out of commission or possibly dead.
Gissur tried to gasp for air but it was trapped in his lungs.
Gissur was losing consciousness as his eyes rolled to the back of his head but a warm liquid soon dropped into his face and the hands that were firmly planted around his neck loosened.
Gissur opened his eyes to see a blade sticking right through Sturla's chest but he could not make out the person behind but his eyes soon saw it was Tyr.
"Tyr! You did i-!" Gissur was soon interrupted as he realized that the blade had ran through him too. This was Gissur's broadsword.
"W-What!?" Gissur coughed up blood, Tyr had struck a vital organ, right before he saw Sturla's head leave his body as Tyr had equipped his ax after abandoning the blade he had used to stab them.
"Everything is predestined, this is what we are thought to believe but we are never told that there's always a variable…. Gissur, you are strong and with your death here today, you will be a martyr, you will be immortalized. Fate is fate but I'm the variable to whatever fate one may hold. I'm Tyr Ragnarsson…" Tyr blurted out, he had made a deal with Kjell and this included killing Gissur for killing his old friend, Thorvald but this was not why Tyr killed him.
Tyr knew his life was in danger, and he needed an army more than ever if he was going to survive, and by killing Sturla and presenting his head, something no one has ever been able to do.
There was no way the Haukdælir clan would not recognize him as a worthy successor to Gissur and in turn, give him command.
Gissur, however, was not done. He got to his feet, he was losing blood at an astronomical rate and Tyr just stared at him blankly.
"Do not worry, I will send your wife and brother to you once I find them," Tyr said, Gissur charged at him one final time but in his state, he was no match for Tyr as the younger warrior slit his throat casually while moving past him.
"It's funny, is it not…?" Tyr paused as he looked over his shoulder to glance at Gissur gasping for air on the ground.
"... When the predator becomes the prey," Tyr said with a blood-curdling grin as Gissur dropped to the ground.
He knew Gissur was going to die today but Tyr had only planned to do so if they managed to kill Sturla.
Because Sturla's death was the one thing he knew he needed to rule over the Haukdælir clan for they recognized strength above all else.
Tyr soon clutched his head in discomfort, Sturla's blow had incurred more damage but he did not know how he managed to do what he did at a speed he has never displayed until now.
"It is just like last time…." Tyr noticed; he felt like his body did not belong to himself anymore.
And each time it surfaced, the path of him that felt empathy slowly diminished.
