Chapter 63 King Askild In Vestfold

The ship that the main forces of Kattegat traveled on made contact with the land, they made it through the wrath of the water and this only made Askild more confident of his victory as this was an unheard-of feat before.

Despite it being a product of Ulf's mind and Hagen's building prowess, this still required the trust of King Askild to implement because there was nothing anyone could do if Askild did not approve of it.

"I-It worked!" A random warrior exclaimed but he was quickly silenced by a glare from King Askild, now was not the time to be making noise seeing as they were not aware of their situation yet or who was around.

Birger studied the area to tell them where they had docked, it was an abandoned dock that was closed due to it being non-accessible by others making it less than ideal for cargo.

Vestfold had other docks but those docks were well protected and they would meet heavy resistance if they traveled that way so this path was the riskiest but also the one with the most reward.

"This is the dreaded seaport that was abandoned after it suffered the wrath of Thor, thunder destroyed the port and the water flooded the land," Birger stated firmly, this showed that where they were was far from safe if it had been flooded in the past.

they had to take higher ground to avoid the risk of being swept by the imminent flood despite the weather currently being in their favor but for how long?

King Askild was suspicious of all this because he did not trust Birger but he counted on his hatred for his brother as his driving force. They were allies because they had that in common and as long as that single thread connected them, there was no reason for Birger to betray him.

They had successfully landed in Vestfold and they were behind the forces of Asmund but further from the capital of Vestfold.

Ragnar and the rest of the warriors settled on higher ground, Bjorn was somewhat seasick and needed to rest, everyone needed it because they found solid ground after being at sea for so long.

"Father!" Bjorn called out to Ragnar, leaving the side of his commander and running to the side of his father, the newer Vikings under Asger did not like this as it felt like Bjorn had more freedom than them because of his title as Ragnar's son.

"Bjorn, I told you to stay with Asger!" Ragnar commanded but Bjorn informed him that he had gotten permission from his commander, Ragnar knew that just because he could did not mean he should as he noticed the gazes from the other warriors.

Bjorn was looking like he might be the weak link, a daddy's boy that cannot stay away for even a moment.

Ragnar knew all this could have been averted if Bjorn just chose him as his commander but he went with Asger and now there was nothing Ragnar could do but send his son away.

"Go over there, Bjorn! Do not return to my side until the war is over!" Ragnar raised his voice at Bjorn, something he did not mean to do but Bjorn took it surprisingly well as he was not upset or embarrassed by this behavior.

"Fine, Ragnar," Bjorn said, calling Ragnar by his name before returning to Asger. Bjorn at that moment stopped seeing Ragnar Lothbrok as his father and just another warrior.

"Your son has grown a sharp pair of fangs!" Skarde praised, hitting Ragnar a bit too hard on his back causing the smaller warrior to stumble forward but still firmly planted on the ground.

Skarde tried his best to hold in his cackle but he could barely do so as he found this funnier than it was.

"Ragnar, I can see why King Askild favors you." Skarde commended his fellow Vikings, even though his son was a menace just like him.

He was envious that it was Asger that got to train him, not himself but he also knew that Asger was the best person for Bjorn.

The skies darkened and this signified that it would soon rain, the wind became aggressive in the blink of an eye. It felt like a storm was coming, it felt like the gods were angry.

The warriors felt a chill in their spine as the air felt like it danced with death.

The ground shook with every thunder that descended from the heavens like the earth was about to split into two, this was a worrying sign as most saw it as the gods' discontentment.

"What is going on?" Skarde asked, talking to himself mostly but Ragnar heard him.

"The gods… The gods are angry…" Ragnar said in a demoralized tone.

They all looked to King Askild but he had the same expression as he did a few moments ago as this did not bother him.

This did not make the hair on his body stand as he knew it was time for him to speak to his warriors, they needed his leadership more than ever.

Askild got to his feet slowly and turned to face the crowd, the scary King that had built his reputation through tears and blood was about to give a speech to his warriors.

Bjorn gulped in anticipation because in his eyes, Askild was the pinnacle of what every Viking strived to be and he felt bad for Tyr that he was about to miss this moment.

"You fear the wrath of the gods?" Askild began his speech in an ice-cold voice.

"The same gods that brought us here? The same gods that protected us from the beasts of the sea?" Askild paused momentarily to establish eye contact with a few Vikings.

"The gods are not angry at us… No, no…" Askild continued, shaking his head to demonstrate his disapproval.

"The gods are angry that these men dare to stand in our way," Askild said, despite his voice not even hitting high notes, this was enough to sway the perspective of his warriors in less than 30 seconds as they were pumped now, feeling like the gods themselves had ordained their victory.