This was the first time riding this new mount of his. This according to the note was known as a Juggernaut, and he could see why. This thing did not really seem to go the way Ragnar wanted at first as he started to head his way north. He had a mission to get to and his mount apparently wasn't exactly having it and making it easy for him. Now that the mount was alone with only him, it seemed to try and in part, it's own will against Ragnars. This beast seemed to refuse to accept Ragnar as his master and he wasn't fully sure why. Ragnar growled at the beast as he pulled with all his strength to pull it off the road and into a clearing. He took the beast and tied it to a tree by the chains as he left to go get some food and make a camp in that clearing for the night.

Ragnar was very surprised when he walked out of a clearing and into a camp with a fire already going and five men standing around it. The men around him seemed to be just as surprised as in a moment they all looked at each other. Ragnar looked at the men and realized that they were not travelers but bandits based on the fact that they had wicked-looking weapons and the fact that they had a bandana on their necks that they could easily pull to cover up their faces. Everything was still for a moment before a flurry of action happened as everyone went for their weapons to fight.

Ragnar managed to get his ax out first, clearly more skilled than the bandits but they also weren't wielding a massive ax so they were less than a second behind him as Ragnar swung his ax into the first man within his reach. The blow cleaved the man in half at the third rib, sending the two halves of his body tumbling to the ground, blood, and gore spilling onto the soil. The other bandits than attempted to stab Ragnar, though even his rusty armor blocked most of the blows before Ragnar abandoned his ax and started to use his fists instead. Ragnar grabbed the blade of one of the men to pull him close, his gauntlet protecting him from most of the damage as he threw his other hand into the man's face. He could feel it crumble under his strength as his face started to cave in before Ragnar threw an elbow into the side of his head, cracking his skull and his neck as it spun around before the body went limp and fell to the ground.

Ragnar looked around at that moment to find another target, his eyes looking for movement around him as if he was a surrounded animal looking to spill the blood of more of his enemies as he realized that no one was there. He kept looking around to find that the other three bandits had apparently decided to cut their losses and run. Ragnar after the blood fury had calmed down, he reached down and grabbed his ax and cut the heads off the two bandits and then brought them back to his campsite.

He then tied the two bandit heads to the saddle before getting on. He was going to ride through the night, because in this area apparently he could not trust not to get his throat cut in his sleep or for his 'mount' to simply trample him to death in his sleep. As Ragnar turned the beast, expecting resistance he did not get any. He was very surprised as he realized that the beast seemed to be following his orders now as he rode down the road again. Well, the mount did come from his Lord so it did make sense that having the skull of his enemies would please the beast.

655/500 WC