[opening music playing]
[snow blowing]
[panting]
[music playing]
Ach! The mountain creaks to its bones.
It is a wild night beyond the gates.
Is there any other kind, on Fenris?
No, the world always saves its fury for nights like these.
Hm.
So serious, Njal!
Maybe just an unlucky storm.
No such thing as luck, Ulrik. Or so he’ll tell you.
Aye. It is fate that guides the pieces.
No, our hands guide the pieces on this board, and it is fate
that guides the aspirants who may yet bring us reinforcements this night.
[Ulrik] The two are separate.
[Krom] So you always say, when you win.
[Krom] Which you rarely do.
[all laugh]
But perhaps this night, eh, Krom?
That whelp you chose
will not be bringing you an extra fang to play this game tonight.
Mark my words.
Now,
let us play.
Hmm.
[sniffs]
[beast bellows]
[gasps]
Umm.
Ahh.
Do you think your choice of pup will fare better than your luck
upon this board, Slayer?
[mug slams]
A hardier aspirant I’ve rarely seen.
That one’s got bite.
[music playing]
[growl]
[panting]
[grunting]
[panting]
[pouring] Pah! He’s nothing but an enthusiastic pup.
The only safe bet was the runt
if you wanted an extra piece to save your hide.
That wiry little bastard will outlive us all.
[gasping]
[panting]
[dramatic music]
[Njal sighs]
We shall see which returns.
We must trust to fate that which we cannot see.
But enough!
There are still moves to be played upon this board.
[atmospheric music]
[rodent squeaks]
[footsteps]
[low growl]
[Krom] So tell me, Slayer.
Do the tests still answer?
Are they as hard now as they ever were, when we were out on the ice?
Aye, the tests still answer.
Do you miss it, Krom? The fire in your blood
from when you were still young and foolish?
[growls]
The fire is still there.
Ask the dead greenskins on Alaric Prime.
But it burns more slowly, my friend.
[Krom] Perhaps. But it matters little.
I have lived, I have fought.
Death will come for me one day, and I care not.
It is glorious, my brothers
to die as a son of Russ.
There is no greater prize.
If they do not come back... [sighs]
Then that is the way of this world, and always has been.
We are all on our second lives, here.
[branch rattles]
[panting]
[wings flap]
[wind howls]
[beast growls]
[panting]
[beast growls]
[jaws snap]
[music playing]
[groans]
[wind roars]
[dagger sinks] [screeching]
[dagger withdraws]
[growling]
[gasps]
- Argh! - [growling]
Ugh!
Argggh!
[dagger sinks]
[screeching]
[groaning]
[gasps]
[groaning]
[dagger clings]
[claw scrapes]
[body lands]
[beast lands]
[howling]
[sighs]
Hell’s teeth! I may be out for now
but I can still claw back a victory when my whelp returns with a fresh piece.
[Krom chuckles]
It was a poor move, brother.
Ach. I felt it in my bones
this damned cold, this damned storm. Not my night.
Then you should not have wagered on it so heavily.
[lips smack] Ahh.
Why are you always so damned gloomy?
Have another drink, crack a smile.
He won’t drink too much. He seeks to win.
Pah!
And you’ll do your utmost to stop me.
Aye – even you can’t foresee everything.
None of us here knows how our chosen ones fair in the wilds.
Now play!
[wind howls]
[snow crunches]
[sniffs]
[low growling]
[growling intensifies]
[vicious snarl]
Argh!
[axe clinks]
[beast roars]
[groaning]
[axe clinks]
[beast growls] [axe clinks]
[claw scrapes]
[groans] [spits]
Argggh!
- [axe whoosh] - [roar]
Ungh!
[gasps]
[groaning]
[beast and man land]
[underwater bubbles]
[underwater roar]
[underwater snarl]
[underwater groaning]
[head slams]
[dying whine]
[underwater grunting]
Ah! Ah!
[underwater grunting]
[underwater bubbles] [groaning]
[underwater bubbles]
[sighs]
Hm.
So, another piece down.
I didn’t see that move.
Didn’t see it at all.
Not all the pieces are accounted for yet.
Our aspirants might yet change the outcome in our favour.
Fah. There’s only one winner, now.
[breathing heavily]
[low growl]
[beast roars]
[panting]
[growling]
[panting]
[growling]
[panting]
[growling]
[beast running]
Argh!
- [dagger stabs] - [beast roars]
[paw swats]
Argh!
[body lands] [rocks fall]
Huh? [beast roars]
[beast lands]
[punches and breaks off rock]
[rock stabs]
[beast growls]
Arrghh!
[beast growls]
[dagger clinks]
[growling]
[panting]
Aghh!
[dagger stabs]
[beast growls]
[biting hand] Arrghh!
[hand hammers]
[beast screeches]
[growling]
[groaning]
[growling]
[boulder smashes] [blood splatters]
[panting heavily]
[dagger saws]
[panting]
[low growl]
[beast roars]
- Arrghh! - [beast pounces]
Arrghh!
[hand ripping off] Arrghh!
[blood drips]
[body lands]
[ice cracks]
[icicles falling] Arrghh!
[beast growls]
It has not been a lucky night.
[sighs]
Not for any of us, it seems.
But it is not yet over.
[laughs]
Maybe you should learn when to quit, Rune Priest.
Do you think your choice of pup will still bring you an extra piece?
On some nights
none succeed.
Aye, that can be true.
But not this night.
[snow blowing]
[ice smashing]
[fang stabs ice]
[ice breaking]
[water dripping]
[groaning]
[panting]
[thunder clap]
[howling]
[distant howling replies]
[grunting]
[intense music]
[panting]
[falls on knees]
Arrggggghh!
[panting] [heavy footsteps]
[panting]
[door opens]
[Ulrik] Hail! But you come here late, aspirant.
We might have ended this already.
Do you have it?
[footsteps]
[fang placed on table]
[laughs]
A fine piece!
Allfather only knows what you took that from, pup.
Go now. Rest. Your work this night is done.
Tomorrow, the Trial of Morkai shall truly begin.
[footsteps]
[door closes]
[laughs]
And so you have it, Rune Priest!
The game is yours.
Aye. So it is.
[slams fang on table]
[laughs]
[triumphant music]
Rarrghh!
[gunfire and sounds of battle]