The Emeralds

XXIX

That early morning, Rainer must have wondered what kind of shock Magnar and his men must have received after losing the battle. As the fighting ceased and the battle dust began to settle on the ground bathed in blood, another... surprise awaited the enemy forces. What also surprised Rainer was that the gates of North Hill did not open when Magnar's hastily fleeing troops tried to hide in the castle. As soon as word spread among the slaves held in North Hill that the rebels were almost at the city gates, there was a mutiny in the sinister Jarl's capital.

Since Magnar took with him every soldier capable of fighting with the goal of eliminating the rebels once and for all, only a token garrison remained in North Hill. This one was only tasked with opening and closing the gates. Probably they did not expect that the battle fought on the crocus field, would reach inside the city. When the battle began and Magnar's troops were tied up fighting, there was a revolt in the city. The slaves decided to take advantage of the opportunity and the impending help of the rebels to take control of certain parts of the fortress. As a result of the fighting in the city, there were numerous fires that consumed several buildings. Despite the losses suffered by the slaves, those managed to take control of the most important place in the entire city, the gate lever.

When it became clear that North Hill would not welcome fleeing soldiers from the battlefield, Magnar's men abandoned their troops and fanned out in panic in all directions of the world. In pursuit of the fleeing soldiers went many of Rainer's men. The man himself did not pursue the fugitives. He went to North Hill to take control of Magnar's personal home, where the remnants of the enemy forces dug in and defended themselves behind closed doors.

The slaves, who had managed to free themselves from the bonds of bondage that bound them, greeted Rainer's entry into the city with loud cheers. The townspeople, uncertain what fate was now to befall them, could instead breathe a sigh of relief for the time being that Rainer had strictly forbidden his men to ransack North Hill. Wolf had had enough of shedding the blood of his Viking brothers and sisters. Ransacking this largest city in the north would only be an act of tyranny, not much different from that cooked up for his subjects by Magnar.

Although it was clear that Rainer's greatest enemy would not recover from this defeat especially after losing control of his own headquarters, a smile could hardly be seen on the wolf's face. The cowering man, accompanied by Colin, Thorstein, Olaf, Agape, Knut and a dozen men, knew what a terrible price the rebellion had paid for this incomplete victory.

Soldiers searched the battlefield for Magnar's corpse, which Rainer thought was pointless. However, this decision was insisted upon by Knut, whose forces had tipped the scales of victory in favor of the rebels. Wolf knew that until Magnar finished with the sword piercing his black heart, the wicked man would continue to live. He didn't even count on his men succeeding in capturing the fleeing fox after this battle. In all likelihood, as soon as he learned that his headquarters had been captured from within, he went to South Port and boarded the first best ship to head into the unknown. After this defeat, there was no way he could stay among the Vikings. Once news of Magnar's defeat spread across the peninsula, his eventual stay among his still loyal allies would become too risky for him.

"Let him run away. The day will come when I will find him. And when that day comes, Magnar will die and the world will forget that such a person ever existed."

The wolf held the young fox's hand as they walked straight to the top of the hill where the main North Hill fortress was located. Rainer didn't care if anyone thought anything bad about him. Rainer and Colin almost died during the fighting. Wolf didn't want to let the boy go now out of sheer need for proximity. So he wasn't going to hide his feelings for the boy, although after all, a march holding hands could mean much more. Since Colin was Magnar's son, perhaps most onlookers perceived the gesture as a demonstration of unity? An alliance, between Colin and Rainer?