Chapter 43 - Vott vs Grak

While Theoric was fighting Olik, Vott and his men engaged with Grak and his troll warriors. Muthos went along with them but hung in the back as he supported Tyborr and U-Slyn with small scale magic.

Askella, on the other hand, kept mostly hidden not willing to reveal much, she was still concerned that Grundor would sense her if she started blasting magic around.

Muthos tried to reason with the troll warriors,- "Brothers this is not the way, Ulik is dooming us all, he is not fit to be king, join us and save our people."

The impact of his words lost clout though as he fought against them on the side of their long-time enemy Asgard.

"Shut up Traitor!" "Kill the Traitor!" "Kill the Traitor!" "Kill the Traitor!"

Tyborr and U-Slyn felt increase pressure as the hate-filled trolls attacked harder wanting to kill them and get to Muthos to shut him up.

Tyborr irritated snapped at Muthos- "Would you shut it, hard enough already without you adding fuel to the flames."

U-Slyn- "I have to agree."

Grak saw the duo who use to be royal guards cutting down his men and knew he was in trouble. Their numbers were not that much more, though he was happy to see some troll patrols joining them from the surrounding flanking the Asgardians.

Vott and his men's skills were apparent as they had the advantage in this small clash with the help of the equally skilled royal duo who were a cut above the average trolls.

With fury in his veins, Vott forced his way through towards Grak who wanted to stay back a bit and shout orders since he was the only elite against a group of skilled combatants.

Serk and the rest followed Vott closely making sure his back was protected as he threw caution to the wind in order to get to the red armor troll to seek revenge.

Serk taking the initiative as he started coming more out of his shell, shouting orders,- "Men, stick close to the Captain, watch his back, Careful On The Flank, Patrols Incoming."

Grak watching Vott approach realized that this Asgardian was the focal point that if killed will bring the rest down as he drew his two war axes intending to make a quick kill.

Grak was one of the few intelligent trolls around, but his strict code of following orders no matter what prevented him from standing out.

The battle seemed to open in the middle as the two met, Vott holding a two-handed ax vs Grak and his two one-handed war axes.

Grak mocked him- "Stupid gardian, once you are dead the rest will follow."

Grak smirked as he ducked under to the left swinging his right ax into his exposed side with enough force to slice open the protective armor and leave a small scratch, drawing first blood.

Vott sensing the follow-up swing to his exposed backside, he rolled out of the way, quickly getting back to his feet as he turned to face him.

Taking the time to sober up from his initial blunder, Vott slowly approached Grak who was still as steady as ever, brimming with confidence.

Vott seeing this scowled as he took a closer swing this time so he could react to a counter, but he was still underestimating his opponent. Grak used both axes to block his swing as he kicked Vott away.

Serk seeing the situation could feel the gloominess from his men as they saw the fight play out with Grak having the advantage. They could only watch on though as their honor would never allow them to interfere in a duel.

Serk yelled- "Come on Captain, stop playing around!" hoping this would wake the Captain up who didn't seem like he was at his best.

Vott hearing Serk scream peeked over to see the determination in his eyes, the trust he had for him. Not wanting to let him down he calmed his breathing as he prepared for Grak who was taking the first step to attack.

Vott felt like time slowed as he listened to sounds of battle around him, the screams of anger and pain. Gripping his ax tightly he took off to meet Grak their axes connecting as they struggled for domination.

Grak laughed as they came face to face in their struggle- "You gardians will soon learn how tough trolls can be."

Vott wasting no time, charged him while he was stumbling, trying to tackle him down, but Grak dropped down with hands-free as he let go of his axes and grabbed the belly of Vott's ax, pulling him over as he used his feet to send him flying over and away.

Both coming to their feet at the same time with axes now back in Grak's hand, it didn't look like either would fall anytime soon as they continued to clash.

Hearing the booms coming from the other side didn't distract Vott as he had full trust in Theoric, but the same couldn't be said for Grak who thought Olik would have finished his prey off by now and start slaughtering the rest.

In fact, he was counting on it after seeing the skill discrepancy between his men and the enemy's men.

This distraction cost him a nasty gash on his arm as he battled Vott. The moment came when he heard the other trolls pause in shock at seeing Olik lose his head. Grak seeing his trolls pause in shock and then get slaughtered by the Asgardians who kept attacking, couldn't help but look to see what was going on as he yelled out for them to fight.

Grak unhappily shouted- "Don't Stop Fighting, Kill Them." glancing out to see the giant form of Olik, who looked even bigger fall without a head.

Struggling with Vott at the time he let his strength wain from the shock, allowing Vott to sidestep around dragging his ax head along Grak's exposed left arm.

Grak let out a wail as he dropped the ax in his left hand from lack of strength. Vott took the chance to attack again planting the ax in Grak's side, chopping right through the limp arm.

Grak howled in agony as he thrashed out on reflex with his right ax into Vott's exposed left side. Vott seeing it coming managed to avoid most the impact as it dug into his armor and bit him.

Vott grunted as he pulled Grak's ax out of his side and looked at the dying troll, he ambled over standing over Grak who struggled to lift his head to look at him. With a loud victory roar, he slammed the ax into his head dropping him dead.

The trolls already rattled from Olik's demise lost all hope, shattering what remained of their confidence sending the trolls in the surrounding fleeing while the ones in battle were promptly dispatched.

Theoric catching up saw Vott who was injured,- "I see you got your revenge, that's good, but you need to defend your sides more." he said checking the two prominent injuries, the one on the left still bleeding.

Vott in a good mood started to give a hearty laugh until his side shot pain through him,- "Ha... ah, yes it was a good fight, hopefully, Barath can rest peacefully now."

Serk reported in- "Sir, we have cleared up the remaining trolls and are tending to the injured, I think it'll be a while before we see any more trouble."

Vott nodded then looked to Theoric asking,- "You going to take care of them now or..." he trailed off looking at Muthos group who were heading over.

Theoric- "I didn't see anyone dying, so I'll wait until we split up, we can use your injuries as an excuse to pull you and the men out of the fight while I go with this, questionable group, to face Ulik."

Vott could only agree as he understood the need for him to redeem himself against Ulik, plus he still had the responsibility to see that his men survived and got the chance to be free to choose what they want to do, fight for what they want to fight for.

Vott still asked one last time before Muthos and company could hear,- "Are you sure you don't need us to at least watch your back?"

Vott shaking his head in disappointment- "Alright, make sure you stay safe... How are you and your men Muthos?" he asked when they approached.

Muthos sadly looked around at all the dead trolls lamenting- "Better than these poor souls."

Vott struggling to his feet exhausted and hurt from the battle, gathered his men,- "Let's find us a ship and get this over with."