Hall of Flames | 𝐕𝐈𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒

4

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"Are you afraid little sister?" Ubbe taunted as they stood feet apart holding swords at each other. Both were breathing heavily as their three brothers sat watching. Björn had a life of his own and couldn't spend all day messing around with his younger siblings.

Hvitserk and Sigurd sat beside Ivar on his wooden stump both panting since before Ubbe and Tyra they were the two sparring.

Tyra smiled as they circled each other, "No, are you?"

"Of you?" Ubbe scoffed, "You're the size of my leg." That was a huge exaggeration now. It may have been true when she was fourteen but the sixteen year old had had a growths spurt since then. Tyra now only a stood a few centimetres shorter than Hvitserk, becoming quite a tall girl.

"That's rude!" Tyra gasped laughing but didn't waste a moment in attacking her elder brother.

Tyra offered a sword salute with mock seriousness. Ubbe returned it grinning. They circled on high guard.

The female moved first, swinging lazily at her brother already tired from the previous sparring. Ubbe parried sharply, and thrust at her, pulling back at the last moment to slap her cheek with the flat side of the sword. Tyra gasped as her brothers on the side laughed.

Tyra stepped back, sword held out to keep him at bay, although Ubbe was never one to be deterred. He swung forward, Tyra parried and tried to counter strike him only for the two of them to meet face to face swords locked with arms high.

Ubbe reacted first, using hands and sword grip to pry Tyra's sword from her hands. She let it go and grabbed him about the shoulders and drove her knee up. Ubbe twisted just in time, taking the blow to his thigh. It was surprisingly strong, he eyed his sister warily after that intended hit.

He grabbed her hands, and with main strength, spun her abound and pinned her against his chest. She struggled in vain, but could not best the larger man in a grapple so he flipped her over his shoulder and onto the dirt.

"Get off of me you oaf!" Tyra's giggles filled the clearing as Ubbe sat on top of her. She gasped for breath but still laughed as her brother wiggled around, Sigurd and Hvitserk laughed watching the scene whilst Ivar's grinned.

"Say you love me," Ubbe teased, poking her in the stomach, "Say it!"

After feeling like she would throw up the girl relented and patted her brother, "Okay, okay, I love you," Ubbe rolled off of his sister so they both lay on the ground with smiles on their faces.

Ivar spoke up from his wooden stump, eyes chining with pain as he watched his siblings move around so easily without any pain. As much as he didn't want it to, sometimes Ivar became resentful at the fact that he was the only one born a cripple. "Even me sister?"

"Ivar, you're my favourite." Tyra skipped up to her brother and wrapped him in a hug, kissing his cheek. Ivar huffed but didn't push his sister away. After a moment Tyra pulled away from her little brother, ruffling up his hair and picking her sword back up.

"You're only her favourite because she feels sorry for you like mother," Sigurd said sharpening his sword glaring at Ivar. Hvitserk and Ubbe stopped talking as they heard Sigurd speak, Tyra mentally prepared herself for the upcoming argument.

"Shut up!" Ivar spat at his brother, gripping the wood with his hands, muscles in his arms pulsing as he flexed his hands in rage.

Sigurd cooed spitefully, "Can't deal with that can you Ivar? That no one will ever love you, only feel sorry for you, cripple." Tyra pushed Sigurd away from the fuming Ivar, Sigurd having inched closer as he taunted his younger brother.

"Go away Sigurd, you've done what you always do, ruined family time," Tyra smiled sarcastically and nudged his shoulder away and in the direction of forest. Sigurd looked to his other brothers who didn't interfere as their sister told him off, he scoffed before leaving.

It fell silent in the clearing as Ivar stared at the direction Sigurd had left in with a heated glare. Hvitserk, Ubbe and Tyra shared unsure glances, never really good at approaching a fuming Ivar.

The two brothers gently shoved their sister forward who shook her head at her siblings but gently placed a hand one Ivar's shoulder. He flinched at her touch and shrugged her off. "He doesn't mean that, he's just hot headed an-" her brother cut her off before she could continue.

"Stop apologising for him, he knows what he was saying." Ivar dropped to the floor and began crawling away.

Tyra turned to Hvitserk and Ubbe who shrugged their shoulders at her picking up their weapons they had brought to the clearing. Tyra glared at them and grabbed her own weapons knowing she wasn't going to return that same day.

Before she left fully however, Tyra also grabbed Ivar's bow and quiver which he had left once he stormed off.

She hurried off after her brother and sadly it didn't take her long to catch her brother crawling through the forest, "Ivar, wait!"

The brother groaned as he heard his sister call out to him.

"I know you're upset-" Tyra often tried to console her little brother after an argument. Sigurd often got too quick tempered with the youngest child, he always felt like their mother never paid any attention to them because of Ivar's disability leading to many arguments breaking out amongst the siblings.

Ivar let out a humourless laugh and finally stopped crawling, allowing his sister to come stand in front of him, "No you don't Tyra, because you are not a cripple, you will never know what I'm feeling." His icy blue eyes glared into her soft ones and seemed to harden as she sat down.

"Okay, but keep pushing people who love you away and you're gonna have no one left," Tyra knew he meant no harm in his words but she never liked him demotivating himself. He was Ivar The Boneless, he would make a great name for himself and sometimes Tyra just wished he could see that himself.

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