Erik didn’t have a brilliant tactical plan, he didn’t have a tricky formation or a clever explosive trap... he just had raw survival instinct, and a mace.

"With steel, you fat bitch!" Erik roared at the top of his lungs. "Brace the line! Forward! Do not let it break the center!"

The giant polar bear didn’t hesitate. It let out another deafening roar that sprayed hot saliva and fresh blood all over the snowy ridge, and then it charged.

As such, the front line of the musketeers thrust their long iron muskets forward, creating a prickly wall of deadly spikes.

The white monster slammed chest-first into the bayonets.

The sharp iron blades easily pierced its thick white fur, but they stopped dead when they hit the dense layer of blubber underneath.

The fat acted like a natural shield. The bear simply swung its massive right paw, smashing into three musketeers at once.

The three young soldiers were thrown violently through the air like broken ragdolls, crashing into the volcanic rocks behind them.

"Hold the line! Surround it!" Erik screamed, diving under another massive swipe of the beast’s claws.

The bear snapped its jaws, entirely focused on the annoying little creatures poking it with sticks.

It reared up on its hind legs again, towering over the terrified men. It was a true monster, a king of the frozen north that had never known fear.

"Hey! You ugly white dog!" Halig roared.

Halig gripped his mace with both hands, let out a crazy battle cry, and swung it directly at the bear’s exposed left ankle.

The bear let out a sharp yelp of pain. It dropped heavily back down onto all fours, its injured leg buckling slightly under its massive weight.

"Now! Hit it now!" Erik yelled, seeing the brief opening.

Erik sprinted forward, using a rock to launch himself into the air.

He raised his mace high above his head and brought it down with all his strength, aiming right for the back of the beast’s thick neck.

The monster shook its body, completely throwing Erik off its back.

Erik crashed hard into the snowy dirt, losing his grip on his mace. The bear spun around, its eyes locking onto the King of Norway.

It opened its massive jaws, ready to bite Erik’s head entirely off.

Suddenly, a young musketeer sprinted directly in front of Erik. He shoved the long iron barrel of his musket directly into the giant bear’s open, roaring mouth.

The boy pulled the trigger.

*BANG!*

The muffled explosion echoed thickly. The back of the bear’s skull blew outward in a shower of red and white.

The massive beast completely froze for a single heartbeat. Then, like a falling pine tree, the giant polar bear collapsed.

Erik lay in the snow for a moment, his chest heaving as he stared at the dead monster.

Halig dropped his bloody mace and fell to his knees in the dirt, completely out of breath. "I... I think my heart actually stopped. Tell me it’s dead. Tell me it’s not going to wake up."

"It’s dead..." Erik gasped, slowly pushing himself up from the snow.

"Good shot, kid," Erik said, forcing a proud smile.

The young soldier managed a terrified grin before collapsing onto his backside in the snow.

Though they had achieved a massive victory against an impossible beast, Erik’s mind wouldn’t let him celebrate. "We scared the giant sea-cows into the ocean. We are right back where we fucking started."

Halig looked down at his empty stomach, "So what do we do? Do we just start walking back with a dead bear and tell them to eat slowly?"

Erik turned around. He looked at Kjetil.

The hunter was still lying flat on his stomach near the edge of the cliff, he was staring at the dead polar bear.

To Kjetil, this beast was an unkillable demon of the ice. And these strange men in gray coats had just blown its head off.

Erik walked over, grabbed the rope tied to Kjetil’s waist, and roughly hauled the hunter up to his feet.

"Listen to me carefully, Kjetil." Erik said, "We proved that we can protect your people. But I need more meat. You know this island. Where did those walruses swim to?"

After hearing such words, Kjetil swallowed hard.

"They... they don’t swim far," Kjetil stammered, "The ivory-tusks are heavy and lazy. When they get scared off the black sand, they usually just swim around the glass cliff to the next cove. It is called the White Cove... It is only a ten-minute run from here."

Erik’s eyes lit up with a massive spark of hope. The food wasn’t gone!

"You beautiful bitch!" Erik laughed, slapping Kjetil hard on the shoulder. He turned back to his men. "Did you hear that, boys?! The meat is just around the corner! Leave twenty men here to butcher this bear! The rest of you, grab your maces! We don’t use the guns this time! We bash their skulls in quietly!"

The men, fueled by the clawing hunger in their bellies, let out a quiet but fierce cheer. They drew their heavy steel maces and followed Erik along the top of the volcanic ridge, running as fast as their freezing legs could carry them.

They followed Kjetil’s lead, wrapping around the massive glass cliff face until they reached a smaller, hidden beach sheltered from the ocean winds.

Erik dropped to his knees and peeked over the edge.

There they were. Dozens of massive, fat walruses had dragged themselves out of the freezing water and were resting on the snow-covered beach, exhausted from their panicked swim.

"Look at all that food!" Halig whispered, actually drooling slightly onto the collar of his coat.

"Quietly..." Erik commanded, signaling his men to slowly climb down the rocky slope. "Surround them. Don’t let a single one reach the water."

The soldiers crept down the cliff side. They spread out across the white snow, cutting off the massive beasts from the ocean.

"Now!" Erik yelled.

The walruses tried to drag their heavy bodies toward the water, but the musketeers were too fast and too desperate.

Within minutes, the White Cove was completely silent. The snow was painted bright red, and dozens of massive ivory-tusks lay dead on the beach.

The men hugged each other, laughing and cheering in relief.

"Start tying the ropes!" Erik ordered, a genuine smile on his face. "We build wooden sleds from the pine trees! We drag this meat back home and feast like kings tonight!"

The men eagerly set to work, pulling their hunting knives to start the heavy butchering.

But as Erik walked across the bloody snow to check on the massive haul, he noticed that Kjetil wasn’t celebrating.

Kjetil was staring at the massive wall of ice that completely covered the back of the hidden beach.

Erik frowned, walking over to the hunter. "What is wrong with you now?"

"This cove has been frozen solid for as long as my father has been alive... No one has ever seen what is behind this ice wall." Kjetil whispered.