BXBX NOVEL Chapter 381 The Berserker Clan
Bjorn was speechless, Reidar had just revealed that he was the son of King Xenophanes but that in turn made him the next in line to succeed him.
The people of Kattegat would have never accepted Askild as their King even if he did kill Xenophanes but Bjorn knew how politics worked.
Birger was able to convince him to join his attack on Kattegat because of the information he gave to him, this included Fredrik's role in his mother's death.
But Bjorn had questions, there was no way that Reidar would divulge such information considering he could be targeted if it got out.
"Everything makes sense now…" Bjorn said; he wondered why Fredrik would endorse the man who killed his son. Bjorn made the connection that Fredrik was the one that killed Xenophanes using Askild as the medium.
This was the only way he could hold onto power as Xenophanes saw his father as an enemy and was getting closer to the truth. He planned to tear down everything his father had built because he took the one thing he cared about the most in his life.
"You are the son of Xenophanes…" Bjorn repeated but he could not take his word at a moment's notice.
"I know you have your doubts and you have questions…" Reidar said and Bjorn certainly did have questions, who would not?|
"Why have you kept this hidden for so long? Why did you not oppose Askild or avenge your father?" Bjorn asked his questions, starting with the easy ones.
"I did not hide it. I weaponized it, if Askild or Fredrik knew I lived, I would not be here today… I do not hate Askild for killing Xenophanes for this man was not my father. The man I knew as a father was killed by Xenophanes. Do not have it wrong, Commander. I do not hate King Askild." Reidar said and Bjorn's body language changed.
"But I knew the man who plays the fool would never be considered a threat. This was the one thing I learned from Xenophanes so I played the fool…" Reidar said but he was not done talking and Bjorn wanted him to say everything currently on his mind.
"The only person that knew who I am other than Birger was someone you knew quite well…" Reidar said; he expected Bjorn to connect the dots but there was nothing to connect.
"He was called Erik The Berserker…" Reidar blurted out and the moment he did, Bjorn's body tensed up.
"What the hell are you saying? How could he have known and not Askild? Erik is Askild's loyal dog!" Bjorn exclaimed. Things suddenly stopped making sense.
"What do you truly know about Erik?" Reidar asked and this was when Bjorn kept quiet.
"Erik is not some monster that spawned into existence…" Reidar said.
"Like every one of us, he was made into one…" Reidar completed his sentence.
He knew these were things Bjorn needed to know because, unlike the rest of the warriors in Kattegat. Bjorn was not afraid to stand out.
"And how do you know so much about Erik?" Bjorn calmed himself, the name Erik triggered him because he remembered what he did to his mother.
He was not going to pretend that this did not bother him but he knew now was not the time for tantrums.
"Erik The Berserker… The cheap imitation of the Berserker clan…" Reidar muttered with a mocking smile. He did not know why they called Erik this but he knew that they had no idea who or what the true Berserker tribe were capable of.
"... My mother was not from this land but there was a boy she told stories to about where she came from… That boy was Erik. This was how he came to be and Erik moulded himself to become the person she told him about in that story," Reidar paused momentarily as he adjusted himself.
"Erik suffered abuse as a child and it is believed that this affected his brain to a certain degree, Irmuska's stories were the only thing that gave him hope," Reidar said and Bjorn was listening to every word that came out of his mouth because he realized at that moment that things were not as they seemed. There was a lot he did not know and he was grateful that Reidar trusted him enough to tell him this.
"She told him stories about how a clan existed that killed and devoured the flesh of humans, how they were revered as gods and could not fall in battle even if they lost their heads.
Erik idolized this and eventually slaughtered his family at only the age of four before disappearing from the village because the crime for such offences was death." Reidar was spilling everything because he knew that Bjorn needed to know this.
"My mother, Irmuska, blamed herself for this because how he killed his family was reminiscent of the stories she told him. Teeth marks could be seen around his mother's breast with her other nipple missing implying he had bitten it off." Reidar was trying his best to humanize Erik but there was no justification for such a violent act; Bjorn was beginning to understand why Erik was the way he was.
Erik kept his past to himself and considering that Reidar was part of that past, he kept his identity hidden as well. How Reidar knew so much was what troubled Bjorn.
"Who is Erik?" Bjorn was blunt.
"Erik is a creature that should not have existed…" Reidar said before pausing once again.
"But I also think Tyr is another creature that should not exist,"
Bjorn's hand gripped the hilt of his sword and Reidar noticed this but was not worried about this, he expected it.
"I am not a threat, Bjorn…" Reidar reassured him.
"You mentioned Berserker…" Bjorn returned to the conversation but he did not take his hand off his sword because this man before him was not the Reidar he knew.
"They are a group of Germanic barbarians that migrated and settled in Norway. These people… They are not humans," Reidar said; he looked visibly worried.
"My mother ran from her clan because Xenophanes told her a world was possible without violence and this is why I hate him. He lied to my mother because it was the same violence that took her life. He took her away from her people and left her to be slaughtered like a dog," Reidar said as his eyes focused on Bjorn.
"... I have heard stories about your brother, Bjorn Ironside…" Reidar said; he had told Bjorn all he knew and now he was getting back to his point.
"But I am not the only one that would have heard about him… The man who rose from the dead…" Reidar said and Bjorn raised his brow because this was common information at this point. Tyr the undead was a title that resonated throughout Norway and it helped in boosting his younger brother's reputation.
"What the fuck do you mean by that?" Bjorn mistook this as a threat but it was anything but a threat.
"My mother left me a journal, Xenophanes found it and gave it to me as a memorial. I took a glimpse into how my mother lived her life right until the day I was born," Reidar said.
"Xenophanes had a role to play in her eloping from the tribe but ultimately, she did so to save me… There exists a prophecy that has been echoed for centuries…" Reidar said.
"A man will exist that will preside over life and death. He will be blessed with the wisdom of the god but his hands will be cursed with the touch of death. The day will come when this man will destroy the world," Reidar muttered and Bjorn raised a brow.
All this simply because his brother rose from the dead?
"In your effort to immortalize your brother, you condemned him. They will come for him, and there will be no stopping them but they will not do so until the next eclipse…" Reidar said so and the tone he used implied this was what he wanted to tell Bjorn.
He wanted Bjorn to understand that Tyr was in danger and hoped that they would have enough time to prepare for this threat.
The Berserkers could not be that much of a threat, Bjorn naturally thought he was blowing it out of proportion because how could they be as strong as they were and live in the mountains?
It made no sense that no one could speak about their strength as everything was dipped in stories.
Bjorn watched Reidar turn his back and begin walking away but not with a final word,
"You can save Norway if you hand Tyr over to them when the time comes. Only you, Bjorn. Can do that," Reidar said as he faded into the distance.
He knew he was not supposed to tell anyone what they had just discussed because that was part of the reason Reidar trusted him with this information.
He was shocked by everything he had just heard, he did not know about Erik nor did he understand how such a depraved warrior could exist.
He was seeing everything in a different light because if this was true, there was no way he would hand Tyr over to them. Time, however, was on his side because the eclipse was not until a few more years.