Aesir's Holmgang

Aesir was not about to waste time. Not now. Not with this.

He had not left the region since his encounter with Valk, if you could even call it that. Encounter sounded soft, and easy. A mere meeting, whereas the truth of the matter was that she had practically flayed him and he had let her. It retrospect it was a hard thing for him to grapple with, partially because he couldn't remember another time in his life where he has simply laid down and let the beating happen, but moreover because it had been delivered at the hand of a friend. He understood, in some dark recess of his mind, that Valkyrie probably did not hold him in a similar regard. Hell, she had said as much, but his own respect for her was undiminished. The wounds hurt, but the knowledge of it all was searing.

Aesir had sought out a healer as soon as he was able, though many of the wounds and bruises were still fresh enough that a weaker wolf might worry. The old crone who had seen to him was particularly worried about the gashes on either side of his face, but he had snarled out a vicious string of curses each time she made to tend them. Those would stay, he decided. If he survived this day they would go on to scar, gnarled and gruesome as they may be. Each time he caught sight of his reflection, he would remember.

When Valk's howl rang across the land, he was up and moving. It was a cold weight in his stomach knowing that before long his time would come for final judgement. Aesir didn't know if was relief or doubled trepidation he felt now, finally moving towards his fate, but he supposed that was a thought to be considered after. There would be no relief found here, nor mercy, until it was over and done with. He would either take a step towards regaining his honor, or he would die. The antlered male couldn't say for certain whether or not that would happen today, but he had no intention of living dishonored and kinless. Either way, fate would be sealed.

Upon arriving he saw that, besides Valkyrie, he was the first to arrive. Good, he thought. He didn't want her to think him any more cowardly than she already did. He was not afraid to face this, he was eager in fact, perhaps not to be beaten bloody for the second time in a season but instead to know the sweet release of justice. And let all of the Hjarrandi band know that he was not going to balk from it, either. Aesir didn't deign to greet her or make conversation. He merely settled in several paces away, and waited.
"Aesir Speaks" "Aesir Listens" Aesir Thinks