The black smoke was getting thicker and thicker, the forces of King Asmund did not retreat because they did not want to lose grounds to Askild's men, they needed to make a stand here but during this diversion, Tyr and a few of the men that listened to his plan had circled the battlefield.

"I am Tyr, I have come for your head!" Tyr said with certainty in his voice, there was no hesitation or hint of doubt. Tyr truly believed he could end this war himself, all he needed to do was take the head of the man before him.

The men that were with Tyr were surprised by this declaration but they all knew Tyr couldn't defeat King Asmund, a person that even Erik could not beat or even compare to.

They, however, liked his confidence but they needed to cut through his guards first, these men were dressed differently from the rest so it was easy to discern that they were some elite guards of some sort.

"Hey Tyr, have you forgotten where you are?" A Viking whispered to Tyr. They understood that he was young and passionate but they had to use their brains here.

"Cut through them.." Tyr said, but this only drew confused looks from the men around him. It was like they were standing before Erik. Tyr was looking more like Erik as time went by.

"Y-Yes," They said, charging right at the guards that were surrounding the horse, they were roughly even in numbers but the strength of the men guarding King Asmund was on another level.

They cut down Erik's men with little difficulty, and Tyr knew at this moment that his plan was destined to fail if it continued like this but he received a warning before the last one of them was cut down.

"Tyr, that is not-!" He could not finish his words before having his head chopped off, this left Tyr as the only surviving warrior. The enemies smiled, they had foiled the futile attempt of Tyr from fighting their King. Tyr found it weird that the king did not accept his duel but then it hit him.

"It can't be?!" Tyr thought, the realization hitting him a tad bit too late.

Erik was lost in the smoke but this did not stop him from charging forward like a berserker, he cut down anyone in his path. Be they allies or enemies and he was laughing while doing it, he took a few minor injuries along the way but that was not enough to slow him down.

No one was a match for him, and the smoke put them at a worse advantage, Erik had instructed the archers to blindly rain arrows in the position of the enemies regardless of the possibility of them being caught in the cross river. If the arrows hit them, then it was fate.

No one could escape fate, not even the gods themselves, this was a reckless strategy and Sven was not aware of this plan.

All he heard was the scream of his men and arrows dropping around him.

"Erik! You fucking crazy bastard!" Sven cussed as he had to fight with a shield over his head, and cut down the enemies with a sword in the other hand.

They had to tie a piece of cloth around their nose, this was the only way not to suffocate immediately but this would not last for long.

They had to get out and the only way out was forward, they understood why Asmund left his forces here now, it was to create a barrier for their forces.historical

They either fought against insurmountable odds or suffocated in the smoke, it was the perfect plan from Asmund. He had turned a plan to blindside them into one that worked against both parties but he knew that whoever set the forest on fire might have anticipated this.

"Tyr! You little genius!" Erik praised the son of Ragnar as his body was drenched in blood and he had managed to push past the line of the enemies, and kept going forward.

There was no way to stop or track him, the smoke came to his aid in this regard and the raining arrows doubled down as an effective deterrent as the enemies were on the defensive, negating offense as their strategy was successful in keeping majority of Kattegat forces at bay.

Erik was not your average warrior, it was no surprise that they could not stop him as one or two slipped through behind him before the enemy recomposed themselves and reformed the formation.

Erik was out of the dark smoke in no time but he met no one, a few of his dead warriors.

He only saw a retreating horse and a few of the elite warriors that stayed back to stall him.

On the floor, he saw Tyr's ax. Erik instinctively knew that Tyr was not killed but taken.

What would King Asmund want with a child, there was no way he knew he was the son of Ragnar.

Erik's face changed, and for the first time in a very long time, Erik was angry and the energy that oozed from him was nothing but evil. The enemies gulped as they shakingly held their ground but Erik made quick work of them.

They tried to block his swing but he broke through their weapons while taking off multiple heads in a single swing. Such power and strength made the others know there was no way for them to kill Erik but they had no intentions of giving up either.

They were prepared to die but Erik did not plan on making it that easy for them, for the first time in a long time he put his bloodthirsty nature aside and used more of his brain.

"Take them," Erik instructed the warriors that slipped through the cracks, and they captured him.

Erik watched the horse in the distance and he admitted that Asmund had pulled one over their head but he could not help but be impressed by Tyr's little plan.

"I am afraid we have lost this battle," Erik muttered.