“Thirty seven of them are dead. I’m not certain how many got away. “Thorleif… Thorve couldn’t save him. That pair… they drained him so fast.”

Einar nodded as his second in command scowled.

“The fires dimmed as no one thought to watch them and a pair of the workers said two came from behind… in the shadows of the wagons where the shadows from the trees touched. They are the ones that got him.”

“Ospak and Skardi are okay at least. Thorve said they will be fine by tonight.”

Varitan’s words were comforting but the truth was losing someone changed the mood. In a little bit, Thorve would bring Thorleif back. Everyone knew death was always a possibility. The potential gains in power, experience and runes meant that death was likely and yet, after how successful the first two fights had gone, they forgot how quickly one could fall.

Is this my fault? Should we have taken a safer area first?

“Don’t do that.”

“What?”

Thorodd shook his head and frowned.

“You’re the leader. You make a decision and we follow. None of us blame you for his death. Thorleif himself will not blame you. That man is fearless and would charge a troll head on, alone if you commanded. Tonight every man here leveled a rune. For some, that has not happened in a while. Do not forget why we followed you.”

Einar saw the piles of corpses they had created from the fallen shadow suckers. It smelled sweet and looked like a pile of wood if not for the truth of what they were.

He had made sure that each of the monsters had been hacked so that no limbs remained. No one knew if they could rejoin together, so one pile was technically arms and legs while the other was the long, thick body that they were originally joined to.

Sunlight was casting its shadow from the west, rising above the trees slowly.

“Thank you for reminding me of that. We need to fight them better. I don’t doubt they will come again.”

“I think I have a plan for that, but we’ll need to get working on it quickly.”

Smiling, Einar turned to see Osvif bent over, a crude outline of the camp drawn in the dirt.

“Tell me what you’re thinking, warrior blessed with a boon.”

His friend made a hand gesture that told him where to go stick it, and both allowed a brief moment of humor to replace the frustration of losing a man.

“Varitan, can those axes we found left from five years ago work if we put a new haft in them?”

“They should… just a little cleaning and some time with a sharpening stone I have. They won’t dull like your axes do.”

Nodding, Osvif turned back to his drawing and rubbed his chin for a moment.

Tapping some lines he had drawn around the camp, their new tactician let out a sigh.

“Someone get the workers then on that task. We need them ready in less than an hour. Today is going to suck if we follow my plan but I think it will work.”

Getting a nod from Einar, Thorodd began shouting at the workers as he moved away.

“We’ll need to cut down about four to six trees and line them up like this. We’re going to box ourselves in.”

“Why do that? Won’t that help the dae thlibs since it will keep us surrounded?”

“That’s what we want them to think… if they can think,” Osvif informed Varitan. “Some ran away which means they at least know fear or have the ability to react. What we are going to do is set up the same as we did last night but also create a kill zone so they can’t get away. Einar, you can still shoot fire from your hands?”

“I can. It takes a bit more Wyrd but that shouldn’t be a problem with Odin’s boon.”

“That is what I hoped for. Otherwise you would be running around sending flames at all the monsters. Tonight you’ll also be taking over Hogni’s spot. You can make your arrows burn easier than he can.”

“I’m hearing a lot of me, what is everyone else doing?”

Grinning, Osvif held out the twig he was holding to Einar.

“Ignite it.”

Taking the stick and sending just a slight bit of Wyrd into it caused the twig to immediately ignite, flames dancing as Einar dropped it to the dirt.

“Sap… you covered that in sap.”

“We’re going to do that to everything,” Osvif replied. “Today we’ll create a barrier. Tonight when they attack and enough enter our kill box, we’ll ignite those trees we setup, or I should say, you’ll ignite them. With your ability, the sap on the logs and in them, they should quickly turn into a roaring fire.”

“Creating a massive amount of light,” Varitan said, starting to see the full plan.

“Exactly! And we will have all of our warriors cover their axe blades in sap. It won’t last long but when they put them into one of the fires real quick it will ignite.”

“And when they cut those creatures, it will ignite them.”

Osvif nodded and pointed at Thorve who was moving toward them.

“If we let them come, box them in so they can’t get away and more can’t join, we should be able to hopefully escape without any more deaths. From what you said about the first one you faced running away because of the fire, if we put panic in them, it should help even more.”

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Giving his friend a thump on the shoulder, Einar smiled, glad that his friend was displaying the talents and boon he had been gifted.

“Thorve. Thank you for your healing.”

She nodded, bags under her eyes and moving slower than usual.

“It is my burden. I am grateful for Lyeneru protecting me and the others last night during the fighting. Now I must do the hard part and bring back the one we lost. Sorry I could not save him.”

“You did what you could. I am grateful every day that Jarl Unnulf offered you to us and you accepted. Now whenever you are ready, let us bring back our ally and let you rest. Tonight will be a long battle, it appears.”

Covering her mouth as she yawned, Thorve nodded and motioned to the cart where the stone sat covered up.

“Then I shall begin.”

***

“Tell me, what do you use this sap for?”

Lyeneru had her back to Einar as each stood on top of a cart, watching the shadows of the forest, knowing that if the monsters attacked at the same time, it would be soon.

“Mainly for food and for alcohol. Someone a long time ago was rumored to try and make a lotion or perfume out of it but that didn’t stick.”

Chuckling, Einar realized she had made a joke.

“Yet no one has been up here in five years because of these creatures?”

“There are other forests like this in our lands. It costs our city a little more to have it delivered but the King and Queen cannot rescue every area overrun with monsters. There are just far too many. Five years ago everything changed. Something happened and our realm felt an influx of evil. Dead things came from Hel and those were quickly wiped out. Others have been allowed to fester, the cost of a place like this not being worth the risk.”

Did all the realms suffer because of me and what I made Odin do?

“We have adjusted in this time. Like if one suffers an injury our healers cannot heal, perhaps losing the limb is the best alternative, rather than risking an infection. Sometimes one chooses death, knowing that they shall be reborn, made new again and not suffering.”

“Just how much can your healers do? I’ve heard stories… Thorve speaks highly of the magical power you all have and yet I haven’t gotten to witness it myself.”

A small snort sounded, and he heard Lyeneru tsking her tongue a few times.

“I am impressed with what you can do, especially for a warrior. As a ranger the idea of being able to cast fire magic is intriguing yet if I was to compare you with our mages… you wouldn’t match up at all. Some can summon mighty storms, calling down rain, winds and lightning. Others have the power of ice, freezing what they face and sending shards so sharp they pierce through metal sometimes. A few have the power to burn with flames, even the dirt itself. The ones you should really fear are those who have nature magic.”

“Like the forest, tree kind of thing?”

She chuckled for a few seconds.

“Tree kind of thing… that is so… Viking. You are correct. Some can grow trees in a few days, others make a field ripe with harvest in just a week. While those powers seem great, they also can summon roots and thorns that will bind someone, dragging them down into the very dirt, never to be seen again. I have not witnessed one of those but the stories are inspiring. Only a few true gifted ones with nature magic remain and those are always by the side of the King and Queen.”

“And the essences you can create? That we used for crafting? How do we–”

A sharp tsk cut him off and Einar began to focus a little harder on the shadows, scanning in all directions.

“The forest is shifting. I can see it. Your eyes are not as sharp as mine but soon.”

Cupping his hands, Einar made the sound of the warbling bird from back in Kroppr and watched as his men began to stir slightly. No alarm was raised.

This time the fires that burned were closer to the wagons. They were not as bright right now, allowing the shadows to draw closer. Twenty five yards past the fires were a ring of trees all around them.

It had taken so much of the day to cut them down, drag them into place, cover them with smaller branches and kindling.

Blisters were on everyone's hands until Thorve healed them multiple times.

Yet even though everyone was exhausted, the plan was sound and everyone believed in it.

Thorleif himself had professed how great the plan was. He didn’t complain once about the death, not crying as many men had when Einar watched them be brought back. Instead the man grabbed his weapon, ate some food and joined the rest without speaking. Always quiet, he trudged on.

“I see them,” Einar stated. “They’re past the logs.”

Now he knew what to look for. Darker sections of the shadows moved, like tadpoles in murky water, a shape one could spot if they knew what to look for.

When the first one began to appear, it's dark leg stepping out of the shadows, Einar sounded the alarm.

“IT’S TIME!”

Movement like an ant pile that was kicked appeared, each warrior and worker moving to their designated place.

Logs began to be tossed onto the fires closest to the carts, igniting quickly as they cracked and popped from the sap that had covered them. Light blossomed into the area and a few of the shadow suckers stumbled when the place they were stepping out of was pushed out from under them.

They can be knocked out of their shadows… good to know!

Axes began to thunk against the wooden bodies of the attackers and Einar started sending fire arrows at the ones he could strike without fear of hitting his allies.

Ten, then twenty, were surrounding them.

“Light your weapons!”

Workers rushed forward with burning torches and the Vikings touched their blades to the fire when a chance came, turning the scene into something from a movie.

Vikings fought with flaming axes, hacking at the monsters that found no shadows to enter into from behind. In moments the first of the dae thlib were burning, succumbing to Osvif’s plan.

“I count almost fifty! Start the fires!”

As Lyeneru gave him the count, Einar began losing flaming arrow after flaming arrow into the circle of logs around them. Orange stars traveled across the open clearing, embedding into the logs and flames started to dance.

The speed of their spreading wasn’t as quick as they had hoped, so he lowered his weapon and pulled deep into his Wyrd.

Standing there, arms, legs, core tight, he breathed.

Oh Groa if you could see me now.

He wanted to smile but the effort required and the concentration wasn’t worth it. Her training on the ship had him ready for this moment and a ball of flames appeared and was sent to a section of the logs, bursting upon impact and immediately turning a five foot section into an inferno.

“What was that?!”

Ignoring his elven ranger’s question, Einar repeated the process, sending fist size balls of flames all around, bathing the camp in a warm orange glow as the section of logs lit up, igniting from the power of magic.

Shapes were tossed out of shadows on both sides of the logs, revealing easily another thirty or forty who could not get past the inferno that had trapped the other fifty plus.

Sweat poured down his face, but Einar didn’t care. His warriors were shouting and the chaos of the moment was shifting in their favor.

Ignoring his bow he channeled, sending smaller balls of fire at the shadow suckers that seemed confused, unable to react to the flames and the loss of their safety.

Some of his spells hit, others missed completely but each attempt taught him how to aim better, how to predict movement.

His legs burned, his arms shook and it wasn’t from the time it was from the power he was commanding.

Never had he cast like this before. Even in training.

This time was different.

He was a weapon for Odin and tonight he would strike true, ending the lives of the evil that plagued this land.