Einar pushed through the celebrating crowd with Kari following behind him.

“Einar,” she spoke up once they were out of the door guards’ hearing distance. “Your parents are still in the longhouse and so is grandma. Maybe...”

“I’m sorry Kari,” the young seeker stopped her from finishing her sentence. “I can’t.”

“But why? I thought...”

“I want to,” Einar sighed. “I really do, but after the Jarl’s announcement, Helga told me that she wanted me to meet her tomorrow before sunrise.”

“But then we...”

“She was clear that I needed to be well rested and well prepared for the task ahead. She pretty much ordered me to say no to your ‘charms’ tonight, no matter how much I want to say yes.”

“Oh,” Kari lowered her gaze, knowing that Einar was far too honest to make up something like that on his own. “I guess this is goodnight then.”

The young woman tried to walk away, but she nearly fell after tripping. Einar caught her with one hand, taking a better look at her flushed expression.

“How much honey mead did you have?”

“I,” she looked away flustered. “Three mugs, maybe.”

“Trying to gain some courage?” He asked as he lifted the petite girl, carrying her in his arms.

“I had to,” Kari answered as she rested her head on his chest, enjoying the soft touch of the fur mantle. “You’re a God-marked now. Ingrid might like to talk down to you, but I’ve seen the stares you got from the other girls of the village.”

“And I’ve seen the way the other lads keep looking at you. Especially your behind.”

“Haftor proposed to me a few days ago,” she sighed bitterly as they neared the healer’s home. “He then called me a stupid wench when I told him that I like someone else.”

“I guess I now have another reason to split him in half.” Einar noted as his eyes glowed up in the dark of the night.

“He’s still the Jarl’s son. But let’s not talk about him.”

The young giant was about to put down the girl when she threw her arms around his neck.

“Promise me that you will be careful tomorrow,” she whispered into his ear. “Whatever task the head priestess planned for you will most likely be dangerous. Promise me!”

“I promise.” Einar nodded, earning a gentle, honey-sweet kiss on his lips.

“Goodnight, Einar the seeker.” Kari chuckled as she slipped out of his grasp and hurried inside the house, nearly tripping. Twice.

The youth let out a disheartened sigh while watching the young woman rush inside before he turned around to leave. The journey home was silent and uneventful, ending with a bucket of water to be used to scrub off the sweat and dirt before falling into his bed. Sleep came easily and the rooster’s cry arrived fast. A heavy groan later the young seeker got out of his bed, donning clean clothes and his armour before heading over to the pantry.

“Your mother is still asleep,” a gruff voice resounded from behind him. “You’ll have to wait for breakfast.”

“I can’t,” Einar said as he shoved a couple of apples a piece of cheese and a sausage into his world eater satchel along with some slightly stiff bread. “Priestess Helga is waiting for me at the forest’s edge.”

“Oh,” Björn walked closer to get a better look at his son. “Is that why you slept here instead of staying at the old crone’s house?”

The young giant just grumbled as an answer before turning towards his father.

“Stay safe,” Björn patted him on the shoulder. “And stay vigilant. Don’t get overconfident just because you are a God-marked now.”

“I know.” Einar nodded before catching his father in a bear hug.

The way towards the edge of the village was a silent one since most of the locals were either still asleep or dealing with their morning chores. At the line where the village ended and the old forest was starting to take hold, Einar noticed a familiar figure waiting for him. Helga stood beneath a large tree, her hand on its trunk as she listened to the sound of the forest.

“I’m glad you could make it here so early,” the priestess said as she turned around. “Your task is quite time-consuming, so it’s best if you can start early.”

“And a good morning to you as well,” the youth nodded. “What exactly is this task I’m supposed to do?”

“See the mountain over there?” Helga pointed at the distant snow-capped mound. “There’s an abandoned settlement on it. I want you to go there.”

“What do you need from there?” Einar interrogated the priestess.

“I don’t need anything from there. You on the other hand do. There’s a shrine there that was once meant to be a trial ground for newly anointed God-marked.”

Here she pulled out a carved yellow crystal figurine the size of Einar’s fist from her satchel and handed it over.

“The trial ground is like an arena with a tree and an altar on one end. There should be a wall there where the villagers used to hang drinking horns as a sign of respect. Take one and place it where the altar allows before adding a few drops of your blood into it. Then you must place the effigy on the altar as well. Once these two are done, your trial will begin.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“What will I have to fight against in this arena?”

“I don’t know,” the priestess shook her head. “It’s different for everyone, but I know that there are nine rounds. You’ll first have to reach it though. From what the hunters told me before, the ancient dead have been seen roaming about there recently.”

“Draugrs?”

“Do not fight them,” the woman said as she walked with him toward the forest path. “Try to reach the trial ground without killing any of them.”

“But why?” Einar couldn’t stop himself from asking.

“The trial will either draw any nearby beast and monster towards its centre or conjure them from the darker planes. The draugr should be a decent warm-up for you and it might be enough to get you through a round or two.”

“I see. I’ll try not to get into a fight with them ahead of time then.”

“Good,” Helga nodded. “Now run. You should hurry and return as soon as possible.”

Einar nodded at the priestess as a form of silent farewell before he headed out with hastened steps. It felt strange to run through the forest. He did it many times before when he was chasing his prey, but this time it was different. His movements were faster yet smoother than before, not to mention that he could make out more of the small details of the forest around him even while running.

More than an hour of running later he finally tired himself out enough to slow down and continue at a walking pace. The trees around him were now thick enough to need three men to encircle them and they were double the height of the ones at the edge of the forest. He could hear the howling of wolves in the distance, but nothing near where he was.

A small deer ran along not far ahead with a couple of birds singing on the trees. The entire forest felt peaceful. A quarter of an hour later the young seeker rested up enough that he could continue running along the age-old path. Einar switched between running and walking throughout the rest of the day, eating and drinking some when it was needed. By the time the sun was about to reach the distant trees, the mountain seemed to be quite close. ‘I should be able to reach it in a few more hours, but it’s about to get dark. I need a fire.’ He thought as he began to grab dried sticks along the path as he walked.

Half an hour later the darkness caught up with him, only to be pushed back by the light of the small campfire he made beside the path beneath an old tree’s cover. Although the young seeker enjoyed the slight night breeze, a campfire was still necessary to keep the beasts away while he was sleeping. A meagre dinner later Einar put some more wood on the fire before lying down on the ground beside it. Sleep came easily to the young giant, only waking up much later to the sound of the nearby branches cracking. He stirred fast and drew his weapon, scaring away a rabbit in the process.

With sleep gone from his eyes, Einar packed up after looking up at the waning moon. ‘The sun will rise in an hour or so.’ The seeker thought as he trampled out the embers of his campfire after a quick breakfast, heading out along the faded forest path. Rushing through the dark forest felt exciting, the first rays of the morning sun showing him at the foot of the mountain. There was a broken path up on the side of the ridges, but even Einar found it hard to traverse it.

More often than not, the path was either blocked by rock slides or it broke off, leaving large gaps where he found it safer to climb rather than to jump. The sun got high in the sky as he reached the snow-dotted entrance of the abandoned village ruins Helga told him about. Several shambling figures caught his attention as he got closer. ‘Draugr.’ He thought as he watched the ghastly creatures walk around aimlessly.

They looked human enough from afar, but as he sneaked closer, the youth managed to take a better look at them. The skin of the draugrs was dry and rough, sticking to their frame like dry bark. It was cracked in places, a black ooze sleeping through the cracks. A pale blue mixed into the ooze that glowed with a faint light. Their eyes were lifeless and foggy, but the same faint light shined behind them as the one that mixed into their putrid blood.

They wore age-old mouldy clothes and armour along with rust-spotted weapons. Einar tried his best to sneak through the ruined village, but he found more and more draugr shambling about. When the trial ground came into view, the young giant felt relieved for a moment, but a growling sound from his left side brought him back to his senses. One of the ordinary clothes-wearing draugrs noticed him, growling and stumbling as it tried to reach him.

‘Damn it!’ He cursed inwardly as more of the monstrosities noticed the growling of their fellow risen dead. Einar broke into a run as he zigzagged through the increasing number of undead, reaching the shrine with dozens of monsters shambling behind him. The seeker tore off a drinking horn from the nearby wall while running, drawing his knife to prick his left thumb. He forced a few drops of his blood into the horn while taking out the crystal effigy, placing both on the altar.

A powerful gale burst out of the altar, pushing back the draugr outside the ring of stones. A wall of rippling light appeared between the carved stone pillars and Einar could breathe up a little. He looked at the leafless tree that grew right behind the altar, its branches looming above it like dried-out hands. A growl snapped Einar out of his musings and as he turned around, he saw a single draugr wearing peasant clothes push through the rippling wall of mystical energy.

‘Round one.’ The seeker understood the situation as he drew his sword to meet the incoming enemy. He imagined that his weapon would have some problem against the dried-out body of the monster, but as he swung the blade with full force, it cleaved through the draugr in one go. The split-apart corpse fell on the floor, but it kept on crawling towards him even though it was cut in half just below its ribs. Einar stabbed it in the skull and twisted the blade sideways, ending the monster’s existence. He watched aghast as the corpse went still, melting into a dark liquid that flowed along the carved grooves of the trial ground towards the altar.

As it vanished behind it, a chestnut-sized pink fruit grew on one of the branches of the ancient tree. The young giant however didn’t have time to be amazed as a pair of draugr made their way into the small ritual arena. ‘Round two, I guess.’ He thought as he readied himself, swinging his weapon into the sword of the nearby draugr. The giant’s blade bit into the rusty short sword before it lodged itself in his opponent’s shoulder.

‘Damn!’ Einar growled as he had to dodge the other abomination’s attack before stomping the draugr in the stomach while yanking his sword free. A few more heavy swings took care of the undead duo that soon turned into black goo like the previous one. Another colourful fruit grew on a different branch while four more draugr entered the trial ground.

‘This might get troublesome if there’s no rest between fights.’ He mused as he swung his sword at his enemies. Time after time the draugr were allowed into the trial ground in increasing numbers, only to be defeated by the young giant. ‘Finally.’ Einar sighed as the last risen dead of the fifth round fell and the fifth fruit appeared on the branch of the tree. Even though the draugr were slower than the living, they were both fearless and tireless.

Einar had a few cuts and bruises, despite his increasing skill in wielding his new sword and fending off his enemies. His respite didn’t last long as he felt the ground tremble slightly before black smoke seeped out of the stone floor. A dirty rag-covered hand burst out of the patches of pitch-black smoke, jagged claws on each finger. The hands continued in dark and festering arms, a terrifying head and misshapen body.

“What in Harald’s name is that?” Einar stuttered as he watched the human-like monster crawl out of the shield-sized smoke patch on the ground.

It looked at him with glowing red eyes, releasing a blood-chilling scream as it rushed towards him with great speed. The young seeker felt his muscles tense under the weight of the dreadful scream, but he managed to push through it, taking a swing at the abomination. His blade reached the front of the creature, slashing it across from the left shoulder down to its right leg.

The cut was deep, spilling black blood and innards as he split the monster open. It fell back on the ground trashing about, its wound slowly closing up. ‘Just die already!’ He roared as he beheaded the abomination, panting more due to the strain on his nerves than from being tired.