403 Touchdown! Northumbria!
The night passed and the shores of Northumbria were about to welcome a threat that they had underestimated.
"Man, I cannot believe we were made to do guard duty..." A man A complained, yawning but this also showed the mindset of the warriors that were onshore.
"I know right, it is not like Bishop Calvin would lose on the water so why is everyone going to such lengths to do this?" Man B questioned with a raised brow.
There was no superior here, these were all average warriors with the responsibility of reporting back to the castle what they saw on the sea.
They knew that they could not do much in terms of combat but they could at least buy time for reinforcement to arrive.
"Hey, did you hear about the rumours flying around?" Man A said with a chuckle but the other man was clueless as to what these rumours were judging from his facial expression.
"What rumours?" Man B questioned with a raised brow.
"They say God is punishing us for spilling blood in his name," Man A said and this resulted in Man B laughing out loud.
"That is absurd! God blesses our crusade and that is why I know he will protect Bishop Calvin alongside the others. We are God's chosen warriors!" Man B said proudly.
The blistering sun made their body reek of sweat, their clothes drenched in it and this was why they were complaining.
They could be indoors relaxing yet they were here waiting for an enemy that would never come.
Or so they thought.
"Pagans! Enemies have been sighted!" A man screamed at the top of his lungs and these two men immediately turned their heads in that direction with a dumbfounded look on their faces.
"What!?" Man A exclaimed because they saw the Bishop whom they held in such high regard strapped to the figurehead of the boat that Tyr was in.
"That is impossible..." Man B muttered, This demoralized their army because Calvin was humiliated, he was stripped naked and the men held their weapons with shaky hands because in their minds, these Vikings had destroyed the ships but little did they know that they simply travelled around them after capturing Calvin.
Calvin was proving to be more useful alive than he would have been dead, he was badly beaten and could barely speak, and it was clear that the Vikings did not treat him with care.
Tyr was developing quite a sense of humour because Calvin was hung like the man on his cross, that was Jesus.
This was Tyr mocking their God for its inability to protect his worshippers.
The boats touched land but no one opposed them, The soldiers were in no mood to fight and thought about surrendering but that was not an option.
The Vikings had successfully landed in Northumbria and they could not believe that they were here. They had tossed the treasure from their boats to free up space for the real loot.
Tyr's feet were the first to touch this foreign land, and a smile appeared on his face.
He bent down and took the soil in his hand, his heart was beating fast but this was only his excitement as he slowly got back to his feet.
Tyr allowed it to slip from the gaps in his fingers back onto the earth, the Vikings looked pumped, they felt invincible and who could blame them?
An arrow was fired right at Tyr, it was going to impale his head and the young Viking not only dodged it but snatched it out of the air and threw it back at the archer like a boomerang.
It hit him right in the head and everyone was in awe, including the warriors on their end.
Tyr looked back at Alf, he knew that this was where Alf would shine and that was communication, they had a language barrier.
The English warriors were shaking and this was because of the state Bishop Calvin was, this little reverse psychology was effective.
Tyr stepped forward and the archers remembered what had happened to the first person who tried to shoot their arrow in this young man's direction, Alf walked beside him.
Tyr looked around, there had to be someone else of authority around her, it couldn't be this easy. Tyr whispered something into Alf's ear because he knew without a doubt that the battle was only beginning now but negotiation should be the first thing they attempted.
If nothing, to buy them time to sort themselves out.
"Hear me Christians, we are Norsemen and we have come for plunder. You may give us this plunder by choice or we will take it by force. Take this to your King, we will wait here for your answer!" Alf screamed at the top of his lungs and silence fell.
This silence did not last as the murmurs began, Tyr had taken command of this entire operation but this was partly because the heads of this army were family.
This was why he was allowed to spread his wings as he was yet to make a bad call.
Every choice he made brought them here and they did not want it to stop anytime soon.
Tyr smiled because he could sense the fear in the air, fear was good as it showed inferiority.
These men were scared and Tyr had a hostage that he knew they would not want to lose.
Calvin was not only strong but influential and how he lost the battle on the sea remained a mystery. They did not know that he did not lose.
"What have you done to that warrior of God?" A man asked, walking past the fidgeting men who immediately stood at attention the moment that he appeared.
Tyr could tell by the way he carried himself that this man must have a rank of some sort to command such a reaction from those around him
He walked past Tyr and headed right to Bishop Calvin but the man ran into Baard.
He tried to walk around the Viking but Baard grabbed him by the throat.
"If you kill me, the King will never see you," The man said bluntly and Alf raised his hand in the air to signify that Baard could not kill him or there would be consequences.
Raganr told his warrior to stand down and allowed the man to do as he wanted.
He cut Calvin down and took the clothes off his own back to wear for him, leaving himself only in his garments.
"Bishop Calvin, I promise I will return to you," The man said; getting up to his feet and began walking back towards Tyr.
"I will relay your message to the King but if that man dies, then you will suffer the wrath of not only God but the men that fight in his name," The man said bluntly, Tyr found the look in his eyes somewhat intimidating, he was not scared of them whatsoever.
Tyr watched what he had just done and this was the closest resemblance to Christ that he had seen. But this also gave them time to rest as they did not even know where the Kingdom of Northumbria was.
