Chapter 25: The Gathering Storm
The harbor at Kattegat had been transformed into something beyond Paul's wildest imagination—a forest of masts and sails that stretched to the horizon, three hundred longships carrying the dreams and ambitions of every jarl who'd ever heard Ragnar's name spoken with reverence.
"The largest fleet in Viking history. And I know exactly how badly this is going to end."
Paul stood on the dock with Lagertha, watching warriors from across Scandinavia prepare for what they believed would be the greatest raid in memory. Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, men whose fathers had told stories of distant wealth and impossible cities now gathered under banners that proclaimed their willingness to follow Ragnar Lothbrok into legend or death.
"I've never seen anything like this," Lagertha murmured, her voice carrying the awe that came from witnessing something genuinely unprecedented.
Paul activated Success Rate Analysis while maintaining his expression of appropriate wonder.
[QUERY: PROBABILITY OF CAMPAIGN SUCCESS]
[RESULT: 41%]
[FACTORS: FORCE SIZE (ADVANTAGE VIKINGS), PARIS DEFENSES (ADVANTAGE FRANKS), TACTICAL SURPRISE (NEUTRAL), SUPPLY LINES (DISADVANTAGE VIKINGS), WEATHER (VARIABLE)]
[MANA COST: 3 MP - REMAINING: 26/29]
Forty-one percent. Less than half. All this power, all these warriors, and the odds are barely better than a coin flip.
The terrifyingly low probability made sense when Paul considered what he remembered of Paris's defenses. Stone walls against wooden ships. Frankish heavy cavalry against Viking infantry. Urban warfare in terrain that negated most Viking tactical advantages. It would be a slaughter, and most of these confident warriors had no idea what they were sailing toward.
"I can't warn them without revealing knowledge I shouldn't have. But maybe I can prepare for what's coming."
That evening, Paul found a private moment to activate Monthly Vision—the most powerful and expensive divination in his arsenal, reserved for moments when he needed to see farther and clearer than normal prophecy allowed.
[MONTHLY VISION ACTIVATED]
[MANA COST: 40% CURRENT MP - 11.6 MP ROUNDED TO 12 MP]
[REMAINING MANA: 14/29]
[DURATION: EXTENDED CAMPAIGN SEQUENCE]
Twelve images burned into his consciousness with the clarity of perfect memory:
Paris walls rising impossibly high, stone fortifications that made Kattegat's wooden palisades look like children's toys. Siege towers burning like massive torches, Viking engineering meeting Frankish fire and losing catastrophically. Bodies piling at the gates in numbers that turned tactical losses into demographic disasters.
Frankish cavalry charging through broken Viking lines, heavy horses crushing men who'd never faced mounted warriors in formation. Lagertha covered in blood but alive, her face bearing the particular exhaustion of someone who'd survived when others hadn't.
Ragnar wounded badly, his legendary invincibility cracked by walls he couldn't breach through force or cunning. And then—the image that made Paul's blood freeze in his veins—Rollo in Frankish colors, leading enemy forces against the people he'd called family.
"Rollo's betrayal. I remember this from the show, but seeing it in vision makes it real. He's going to turn, and there's nothing I can do to stop it."
The remaining images showed partial success through desperate measures—an underwater attack that breached the walls but cost more than it gained. The return voyage with half the ships that had departed. Ragnar's mind breaking from failure that challenged everything he'd believed about his own destiny.
Paul gasped awake, sweating despite the cool evening air. The vision had shown him disaster waiting to happen, and he was committed to sailing directly into it.
"I have to try to save who I can. But some betrayals are too fundamental to prevent."
Paul activated Success Rate Analysis with desperate hope.
[QUERY: PROBABILITY OF PREVENTING ROLLO'S BETRAYAL]
[RESULT: 23%]
[WARNING: HIGH PROBABILITY OF TIMELINE FRACTURE IF ATTEMPTED]
[FACTORS: HISTORICAL NECESSITY (CRITICAL), CHARACTER MOTIVATION (FUNDAMENTAL), POLITICAL REQUIREMENTS (FRANCE NEEDS VIKING ALLY)]
Twenty-three percent chance of prevention, but attempting it risked timeline fracture. Some betrayals were load-bearing events that held the entire narrative structure together.
Paul found Rollo working on ship preparations, his massive frame bent over ropes and tackle with the focused attention of someone who found peace in practical work. Paul studied his former ally's face, searching for signs of the treachery to come and finding only the familiar expression of competent concentration.
"He doesn't know yet. The opportunity hasn't presented itself, the offer hasn't been made. But when it comes, he'll take it because that's who he is—someone who serves himself above all others."
Paul couldn't prevent the betrayal without risking everything he'd worked to protect. But he could prepare for it.
"Watch Rollo during Paris," Paul told Lagertha privately that night. "The threads around him fray. When he acts, be ready."
Lagertha studied his face with the particular intensity she reserved for warnings that carried weight beyond their apparent simplicity. "You've seen something."
"Fragments. Enough to know that loyalty isn't guaranteed just because someone shares your blood."
She nodded with the understanding of someone who'd learned that trust was a luxury that warriors couldn't always afford.
The final preparations included Paul's most expensive system store purchases yet—insurance against the disaster he'd witnessed in perfect clarity.
[MAJOR MANA POTIONS x3: 300 SP]
[MAJOR HEALTH POTIONS x2: 300 SP]
[TOTAL EXPENDITURE: 600 SP]
[REMAINING BALANCE: 625 SP]
[INVENTORY: 500 MP RESTORATION, 400 HP RESTORATION]
It was his war chest—the resources that might mean the difference between survival and death when the siege turned catastrophic. Paul tucked the potions away with the grim satisfaction of someone who'd learned to prepare for disasters he couldn't prevent.
The ships loaded at dawn, three hundred vessels carrying the greatest Viking force ever assembled toward a city that would break them against walls too strong to breach and defenses too sophisticated to overcome.
Paul stood at the dock watching warriors board with the confidence of men who'd never faced real defeat, knowing that most of them wouldn't return and that some betrayals he had to let happen because the story demanded its price.
[SYSTEM POINTS REMAINING: 625]
[MENTAL STRAIN: 85% CLARITY]
[NEXT PHASE: SIEGE OF PARIS]
[TIMELINE STATUS: APPROACHING CRITICAL JUNCTURE]
The sails filled with wind that carried them toward legend and disaster in equal measure. Paul gripped Lagertha's hand and tried not to think about how many of the faces around them would be memories before the campaign ended.
"Forward. Always forward. Even when you know what's waiting in the dark."
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