Nyr Eikland: Rise of the Burned Jarl by Ethan McGrane

Author:Ethan McGrane [McGrane, Ethan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-18T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER Twenty-One

Flaring Tempers

The following three days were almost identical. We would wake up at the sound of Johan’s cart, eat, and run to the training field. One watchman was left behind and would be relieved midway through the day.

The training was the same. Wrestling, which most people had experienced. It was a great pastime. Then in the evenings, we would punch until our arms were tired and then punch some more.

Eira wasn’t allowed to participate in wrestling. It’s dishonorable for a man and a woman to meet in unarmed combat. However, she had an advantage in training because while the men were wrestling, Johan taught her some weapon skills, archery, knife throwing, and more advanced ax maneuvers.

Seemingly for his own entertainment, Johan took to pairing the smallest men with the largest. Agni against Steinn, Vali against Ivarr, and Egil against me.

Inevitably the small guys would get frustrated. Sure, they would manage to land a lucky blow time and then, but for the most part, they were being made to look like fools. When a complaint was spoken to Johan about the disparity in size, he would shrug it off and say, “Your opponents won’t always be the same size as you.”

Egil, when frustrated, would simply try to hurt me, going exclusively from wrestling to striking. When he would lose his temper, I would just hit him until he stopped, prompting a twisted cackle from Johan.

After two days of this, Egil, in protest, refused to be paired with me for training. As punishment, Johan made Egil stay at camp for the mornings and keep watch.

Egil blamed me for his predicament. He told others if I would have acted or let Egil show success against me, he would not have been punished like this. From my perspective, Egil should have shown up to the calling ceremony with an axe instead of a sword still bearing the smith’s edge. He would have followed the tradition if he wanted to fit in and didn’t desire extra attention.

Jealousy is the most likely culprit for why Egil is treated in the manner he is. The poor in Nalhafjord hate the wealthy. I’m told this tale plays out countless times everywhere in the world. The ones with are hated by the ones without, regardless of the likelihood of those without acquiring what they are missing.

Johan hates Egil because he comes from a wealthy family.

Nearly a week after the calling ceremony, someone managed to trap a rabbit. At first, it was a morale boost, proof we may acquire food from the forest. But quickly, we realized one rabbit could not feed twenty-eight warriors.

I wish I could say the rabbit was divided fairly, but to tell such a lie would sully every other word I shall speak until my dying day.

Aki was the one who trapped the rabbit. He had been setting up snares near thorn patches critters like to dwell in to ward off predators. Often waking up early to check them or waiting until after training, Aki was the only one maintaining these snares, which nearly paid off.

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