Odda grabbed a dead branch that was in his way and broke it with a snap. It’s been a day since they left the beach and they were making good progress. The journey started with an abundance of greenery and life, but as they traveled deeper, the life disappeared. The leaves lost their luster and the bark of the trees became dry. The rich soil turned into sand as the forest that impeded their way began thinning out. They had kept the wide river on their right as they explored the area, ensuring that they would not lose their way.

“The forest is sick.” said one of the vikings. He had a rough brown beard, long brown hair and an aged face. An axe was held in his hand and his shield was fastened to his back.

“It does not take a man with eyes to see that, Ulfric.” Odda gruffly replied.

“I mean, it feels like part of the underworld.” Ulfric said as he stroked his furrowed brow.

“How do you know what the underworld feels like?” Odda scoffed.

“I once followed a soothsayer into the deep forests, she was an old crone with a cackle that made my skin crawl.” Ulfric’s eyes were distant as his arm unconsciously grabbed his other arm.” The air is much the same here, sinister things must have happened in this forest.”

“Why are you scared, Ulfric?” came the voice of Laufey as he jogged to them.” Doesn’t the air make you feel alive.” he opened his mouth and revealed sharp teeth. The black paint on his eyes fit in perfectly with the greying forest.

“Laufey, only you and your kin could feel like this is home.” Odda said, shaking his head.”Well out with it, did you find anything?”

Laufey grinned at them.”Half a day’s walk from here. A large open gate on an even larger wall awaits us. We peeked inside and saw that it’s abandoned.”

“Good, there might be more treasure there.” Odda said and then addressed Ulfric.” When we get there and secure a camp, I want you and another man to get back to the ship and let them know that we’ll be longer than three days.”

Ulfric grunted in agreement. They followed Laufey as he led them. In the distance they could see three dark spires reaching to the sky. After a few hours of hiking the dying forest thinned out and they found themselves on flat ground with a large and dark citadel in the distance. Odda took a knee and his hands grabbed a lump of soil. He held it up for inspection and after a moment, spat to the side.

“There’s almost more ash than soil in the ground. What in Odin’s name happened here.” he said with a frown.

They walked towards the looming citadel, axe in hand. Ready for any man or monster to appear. When they reached the halfway mark the light darkened, creating an eerie atmosphere. The vikings slowed down as their senses told them that there was a danger here.

“Don’t be cowards!” Laufey cried out with a laugh.

“All those sacrifices to Loki had finally turned him mad.” mumbled one of the vikings as Laufey jogged ahead.

When they neared the dark citadel, they noticed that the river flowed through it. A massive portcullis kept back tree stumps and larger foliage, evidence of the place being abandoned. They walked towards the gate attached to the dark wall, eyes scanning for danger. The wall loomed over thirty meters high. It was built out of black stone. If one looked for too long it seemed as if it absorbed the light around it. They entered through the large and heavy wooden gates and found themselves in a stone courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard stood a statue of a lizard-like man holding a crown in front of it. It stood tall, reaching four meters in height. Behind it, steps led up to another pair of fortified doors.

“Spread out men.” Odda called out in a low voice.”Secure the courtyard.”

The vikings walked forward on the balls of their feet, balanced and steady. Their experience at raiding made them careful as they walked in pairs. One walked in front, shield held in front of him while the other viking walked behind him, looking for any unseen threats, axe ready to throw. They walked up to the stairs and along the walls, making sure that no enemy would catch them from behind.

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“Sven, Hasfad.” Odda called out.” Get up the walls and keep a watch for any nasty surprises. The rest of you, follow me. We’re going inside.” he said, a grin plastered on his face.

With a mighty heave they pushed open the fortified doors. Their eyes met a dark hallway.

“Guess we’ll need some torches first.” Odda grumbled. “Laufey, go get us some.”

Some time passed before torches lit up the passage as they walked through it. Their eyes strained in the darkness and the air became oppressed. The hall continued for a long time before they found their first door on the side. They entered and to their delight, found it to be an armory. Black suits of armour were stacked against the wall and weapons glinting with silver decorated it.

“Look at the quality of this armour.” one of the vikings said while he thumbed the chestplate in his hand.

“The weapons are well balanced and extremely sharp as well.” another viking called out as he felt the edge.

“This land is rich, men! Unclaimed by any. We will take it all.” Odda announced. “But first, let's explore the rest, we’ll come back later for everything.”

They returned to the hall and continued. To their surprise and joy they found multiple armories along the side as they walked.

“There is more equipment here than there are men in Ragnar’s army.” one of the vikings said aloud.

Finally the hallway widened and an opened ornamental double door stood ahead of them. It was decorated with blood red rubies and gold. Along the side of the wall were many doors leading to other parts of the citadel. The doors were worth more than some kingdoms and the vikings could only smile bigger as they became richer and richer. One of the men walked up to the door and attempted to pry one of the rubies out of the wall with his knife. Suddenly a ghastly wail resounded from inside the door and a gust of wind knocked the man off his feet. As one, the vikings hefted their shields and flourished their weapons, ready for any enemy. After a few tense minutes, they advanced into the room.

The first thing they noticed was that it was illuminated and extremely large. On the sides of the room were arches that emitted the same pulsing blue light as the stone arch near their ship. The arches went around the room in a circular motion and in the middle sat an enormous silver throne. A hundred black steps led up to it and on the side stood statues of lizard-like men with enormous halberds. As the vikings craned their necks, they saw where the light in the room came from. The roof sloped upwards and then completely stopped. Instead, there was open air with a moon shining down, the origin of the light. A singular strong beam of moonlight fell on an object resting on the throne.

Awestruck, they let their guard down as they moved into the room. Odda walked to the stairs leading towards the throne and stopped. A sense of danger prickled his neck and made him cautious. His eyes turned back towards the entrance and that's when he saw it. Statues frozen in horror, staring in the throne’s direction.

“Something is off.” he said, his voice echoed in the room causing his men to turn towards him.

Laufey on the other hand, jogged up the stairs in delight and reached the silver throne before stopping and staring down at it.

“By the gods, you won’t believe this!” he cried out, grabbing the attention of everyone present.

Odda sighed at the man’s lack of self preservation and directed his voice at Laufey.”What have you found?”

“It’s a crown!” he cried out.

“And?”

“It has my name on it!” Laufey shrieked as he picked it up.

“Wait a minute Laufey! Something is not right! Put down that crown!” Odda commanded.

Laufey turned around, and held the crown in front of him. Odda stared at him, something ticking in the back of his mind. It looked familiar. . . his eyes widened as he realized that he stood in the same manner as the statue outside.

Laufey looked at the crown as if it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Slowly the crown lifted into the air. Seeing this, Odda holstered his axe and took off his shield and held it in his dominant hand.

“Sorry ‘bout this Laufey.” he muttered.

With a powerful throw the shield spun away from him towards the mesmerized Laufey. The shield flew true as it crashed into him with a painful smack, causing him to drop the crown. It clattered to the ground and began falling down the stairs.

Odda sighed in relief as he turned to face his comrades. They stared back at him in shock.

“It gives me a bad feeling.” Odda said loudly over the clanging of the crown falling down the steps. “Who knows, it might be evil or something from Loki hims-”

Odda felt something fall on his head, interrupting what he was saying. A heaviness settled on him as he began losing consciousness. His men stared at him as his eyes began glowing silver and the name of Laufey disappeared from the crown on his head. Slowly the name of Odda started etching itself on the crown. The statues alongside the steps vibrated as their eyes began shining with the same silver light. His men rushed to him and tried to pry the crown of him, but as they touched the crown they fell on the floor, writhing in pain as the same silver light shone out of their eyes.

***

Outside on the wall of the dark citadel sat Sven and Hasfad as they stared into the distance.

“Do you think they found anything good?” Hasfad asked.

“In a place as big as this?” Sven looked at him.”Of course they’ll find something.”

They sat in comfortable silence when a strong gust of wind exited the hall that their comrades disappeared into.

“What in the living hells was that?” Sven shouted.

The sound of wood hitting the portcullis resounded from below.

“What was that?” Hasfad shouted as well.

They peeked down at the river.

“What the hells is happening?!” they shouted in unison.

“Snorri why are you in a barrel, and naked?!” Sven loudly asked in confusion.