It’s been two days since the raid, the loot has been sold and the fleet back on track for Altsetja. They have lost a day on their journey because of the raid and are just around the halfway mark.

“Hey, Ulfsvip! Can you teach me some techniques with the axe?” Armas asks excitedly.

Ulfsvip turns to face Armas “Once we are at land. So just wait a while.”

“Don’t worry Armas, it shouldn’t take long as the wind is good.” Salrad pointed out.

Otso kept quiet in his seat, his head full of thought that he would not have ever thought. The weight of his first kill was heavy on him. He looked at the sea trying to clear his head.

Kalev had noticed how Otso’s mood had changed after the raid. He felt bad for not knowing how to help his friend, as he couldn’t figure out how to help himself.

The only one of the friends who had come out better from the raid was Armas. He had managed to keep his head strong from the event.

The others in the squad had either not noticed or chose to ignore the situation with Kalev and Otso.

For now the fleet was sailing smoothly not far from the coast, going perpendicular to it. The sea seemed to have forgiven them for their crime.

Ottharr stood at the bow of his longship, scanning the sea and the coast. Bölhun walks next to him.

“Any sight of the other fleet?” She asks after a moment of silence.

“Unfortunately, no.”

“We are a day behind.”

“Yeah, but we made a pact to wait each other around these parts.”

“Maybe they are just more behind schedule than us?”

“Could be.”

Ottharr takes a break from scouting the sea to look at Bölhun.

“You feeling better?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“You really should take less of those mushrooms. We can’t lose you.”

“You mean you can’t lose me?”

For a second Ottharr stays silent. “Yes, I can’t lose you, not again.”

Bölhun smiles slightly.

“You should rest more.”

Bölhun nods and leaves to go back to her resting spot.

As Bälhund left one of Ottharrs men took her place.

“Do you think we have enough men for Altsetja?”

“We should have somewhere around 750 men when we meet with the second fleet. It should be enough.”

“That is if our intel is accurate, sir.”

“I have an inside man, it is accurate.”

“As you say sir.”

They keep following the shore for a quarter of a day before a decision for landing is made. A shore with forest close to it was chosen for cover and for a chance to forage.

The landing and setting up camp goes flawlessly and the warriors are able to relax.

Harid’s squad as usual are situated on their own little farther from others. While Armas, Linntönn and Salrad were patrolling the perimeter, the rest of the group were tending to their campsite.

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The fire was started and the food preparations were too. Ulfsvip and Kalev were taking care of making the soup as Otso was making sure that the seasalt was washed off the equipment.

The busywork was helping Otso to keep his head empty of unnecessary thoughts. He just kept washing their equipment.

Kalev could still see from Otso that everything was not well. Even though he was keeping a stoic face, there still was an aura of uneasiness coming from him.

Kalev had no knowledge or experience on how to help his friend, he even couldn’t help his own thoughts from spiralling out of control. He also could only try to keep himself busy.

Kalev took a bowl of soup to Otso. “Eat, you need the energy for guard duty later.”

“Thank you.” Otso put down his shield and took the bowl.

“It’s still hot”

Otso took a sip from the soup before taking a piece of meat. They had been given some hare for the soup as well as a few carrots, and turnips with some wild garlic, and ginger.

The soup, even when hot, was delicious and helped Otso to relax. Seeing Otso get relaxed made Kalev relax also.

Ulfsvip kept working on the soup and let the two friends relax as he could see that they needed it after their first raid. He knew that this could make or break them as useful members of the group.

For a while Kalev and Otso sat down on the ground and ate the soup, mostly silently trying to gather their minds and to form new ideas about themselves as warriors. The raid had taken a great toll on both of them.

The camp was busy but also quiet. The guards had not seen any danger around the site when they made their first rounds and now hours later it hadn’t changed.

Otso and Kalev kept sitting on the ground now for a few hours, still silent. They had forgotten about the guard change that was supposed to happen a while ago. No-one had come to make the change with them.

Ulfsvip made his way towards them, a worried look on his face. His gaze darted around, looking at something or someone.

“Aren’t the two of you supposed to be at guard duty?”

“No-one has come to get us.” Kalev stands up and has a quick look around the campsite. “Where's the rest of the squad?” Kalev had a confused look on his face.

“They were supposed to change with you guys already.”

Now Otso had also become aware of the situation. He stood up to have a look towards the edge of the camp, towards the forest. He saw people clearly looking perplexed and peering into the forest, looking for, most likely, the missing guards.

Harid was hurriedly making his way to his squad, or the few members that were not missing. He had a stern look on his face.

“Get your gear now!” He demanded with almost a shout. “We are heading to the forest, something must have happened. We are missing ten men and no-one knows why.”

The three quickly equip themselves with their gear and make their way to the forest, following Harid closely.

At the forest, they search for the missing men. Other squads were not far, just in shouting distance. The forest turned thicker quickly as they made their way deeper.

Soon, a smell invaded their noses. It was something familiar, a smell of death. Otso readied himself for the possibility of finding one of the men dead, even his friend and squad mates.

As he took a step, breaking a stick, a drip of liquid hit his left arm. The drip had come from above. He stopped and turned his head up. Another drip hit him, this time on his helmet. The liquid was blood, Linntönn’s blood.

He had found one of the missing raiders, one of his squad mates.

“Captain, I found Linntönn.” He said with a monotone voice.

Harid took a look up to the trees, finding the body. He slowly lowered his gaze towards Otso, the emotionless face disturbed him. The look on Otso’s face was something new, he didn’t expect him to close himself so fast.

Harid had been observing Otso ever since the raid. He was sure that Otso would break and leave the raiding party. This wasn’t what he expected would be his reaction.

“We leave him behind. Keep following, we need to find the rest.”

With a quick point of his finger the squad started to move again, following his lead. As they made their way forwards, they found a few more bodies. The cause was still unknown to them.

Soon, they heard a shout, a clank and something dropping to the ground with force. They start moving faster towards the sound. Quickly coming to a clearance in the middle of the forest and there, they see the body of Salrad. Close by there’s also Armas, bloodied but still standing, axe in hand facing the enemy.

A single white haired woman, a white haired and pointy eared. Her arms covered in runes and seals, her left cheek fully covered in a tattoo. She was standing on a sturdy branch up on a tree.

She chanted something under her breath, and a few of the tattoos glowed. Her hand pointed towards Armas.

Before she can release her spell a ball of fire flies towards her, forcing her to doge.

“Wigbrand the great, Wigbrand the glorious. Give me your fire, give me your flame. Give me the power to burn this bitch!” Furagand chanted, preparing another spell to hurl towards the Elf. The tattooed rune seal on his right hand started to glow, the light dim and coloured like a flame.

Behind him came a few more of the raiders, weapons ready. One of them got thrown up in the air as he had stepped on a hidden rune seal under a pile of leaves. The spell produced a great gust of wind that got the raider to fly into a tree. The force from landing knocked him out.

“Be careful, there may be more traps set up.” Harid shouted to the rest of the raiders. “Looks like we're gonna have an interesting fight on our hands.”