The day was drawing to a close and Ulf was extra cautious as the bodies he was responsible for had been discovered and he was now a wanted man.
He knew he had to be careful because he did not know the kind of men that Birger had under his command, nor their strength as it is believed he had strong warriors under his command.
That was the only explanation for Kattegat's fall.
Ulf knew Birger wanted something from him or he would not go to such lengths to garner his favor, he wanted to keep him inside and safe, a sophisticated prison of his own.
Lagertha only became a target because of Ragnar and he did not know what fate awaited her but he knew Birger was not stupid enough to be the recipient of Ragnar's wrath because it was only a matter of time before Ragnar would hear about the state of Kattegat and there was no telling how he would react.
Ulf was spotted on the road and he knew if he left anybody's trail he would be easy to track so for now, he needed to run and avoid confrontation.
He was like a man on the run, Ulf wondered why the security was heightened but unknown to him, Askild had escaped his captors and no one knew about his whereabouts as he was an experienced fighter and was not stupid enough to leave any loose ends.
This made it harder for Ulf, noticing the security was amped up around his destination as he got closer confirming that Bergdis's information was spot on but how would he get it was the problem.
He knew forcing his way in would put Lagertha in danger, and that was even on the off-chance that he could defeat Birger, who was one of the most skilled fighters in Kattegat right now.
He saw him topple and humble Erik in one move, that movement was not one of one that did not possess the necessary strength to make one submit.
Ulf could not believe he did not notice the difference, he spent the most time with Birger yet could not see through his deception.
Ulf knew he had to redeem himself, Birger had made him look like a fool if anything else because now, the name he had made for himself was quickly taken away from him.
Ulf waited patiently for the sun to go down, he knew he needed the cover of night and if it is as he thought, then Lagertha was safe…. For now.
-
Reidar arrived at the cell and the moment he saw Erik free, he knew Askild had escaped but Erik's eyes settled on Liv in his maddened state.
Without warning, Erik charged in their direction and Reidar was not scared despite Erik's state.
"Worry not, I am here," Reidar reassured the huge men before him but before they could shift their gaze down to look at their leader, he was nowhere to be seen but they heard his voice behind them.
"Worry now, I am no longer there!" Reidar shouted, he had taken to his heels as he had no intentions of fighting Erik, and the bulky men followed suit, running away with Erik chasing.
This was comedic and Reidar always avoided conflict by whatever means possible.
Only fighting if he had no choice, a trait that was rare in this world.
Reidar looked backward and he began laughing when he saw how everyone was running, it felt like they were in a marathon and he could not be more thankful for his smaller frame.
Reidar took a sudden turn, cutting around the corner with such agility that the men chasing after him could not replicate.
But upon turning, they lost sight of Reidar, it was a space between two buildings, it almost looked like an alley, the only difference being that it was barely 40 meters long.
The bulky men stopped, looking confused as they frantically searched for Reidar but to no avail.
They could not wait around because Erik was hot on their heels, they considered fighting but they knew they could not risk losing Liv as the outcome with Erik was unknown.
They kept running but they would soon realize that their stopping momentarily would have repercussions.
Being on the bigger side, they had difficulties accelerating allowing Erik to not only catch up to them but bifurcate one of the men with one swing, everything seemed lost.
They were surprised that Reidar had abandoned them because Erik was a high priority, even among the people to watch out for specifically stated by Birger.
Erik was one to be avoided, if possible because Birger knew the kind of monster he was, and knowing his men could not kill him, he would rather not lose men in the futile attempt but these instructions were only to his foot soldiers, it had nothing to do with his more skilled warriors.
Erik was about to cut down the second person, which would not have been a problem but this person was carrying Liv.
Reidar had not run, instead had climbed high up to lay in wait for Erik, effectively entering his blind spot as this was to take The Berserker by surprise but Erik felt pieces of small stones bouncing off The Berserker's shoulder making his surprise attack all but pointless.
"Well… This is awkward…" Reidar said with a broad smile as he looked right at Erik and the disappointed faces of his men.
Erik knew instinctively that Reidar was a threat, ignoring the other men completely and giving Reidar his full attention. Reidar was not taking this seriously for some strange reason and seemed to be messing around. Erik threw his ax right at Reidar, who had no choice but to let go of the curved wall he was holding onto, forcing him into a free fall.
This put him at a significant disadvantage.
Erik's weapon was stuck on the wall, leaving him with only one weapon now, and he held that ax with both hands, doubling the destructive power.
"H-Hey! Let us talk about this!" Reidar pleaded but all Erik knew was blood and right now, he craved the blood of Reidar.
Erik swung his ax the moment Reidar was within proximity, the air distorted and it felt like Erik was cutting through space itself. Reidar knew he would be stupid to try and stop this attack, he was sure no one could but the irony of this was that Reidar's attention was not on Erik but rather, his eyes had caught a glimpse of the panties Liv had on.
"Pink…" Reidar muttered right before being battered by Erik's ax.