Yrsa knew this creature. She had seen it before. The recognition of the monster, and the sound of the howl he had made stopped her cold.

  As soon as she stopped, the rage that had burned away all reason within her ebbed, she reclaimed control of herself. She looked at the man that she had just killed and then back towards the other one that she had slammed his head into pulp, not to mention the dead body of Jorian lying near the tall silver striped werewolf.

  She stumbled backwards staring at the carnage and death that she had caused. She felt like she was going to throw up. She sat down heavily in the snow, her eyes blank, staring at the snow in front of her.

  Hysminai ran towards Keva and bit her. His Alpha had lost a lot of blood but as soon as he had bitten her on her flank, her wounds slowly sealed themselves shut. He watched as she shifted back into her human form. He pressed his large ears to her chest. She was breathing deeply and evenly. He smiled as he stood up, she was going to be just fine. She just needed some food and rest.

  “Hysminai!” He heard a familiar voice call to him, “Michelle needs your assistance.”

  He whipped his head around and ran back towards their pack Sage. He knelt down next to her, surveying her broken body and blood-spattered skin. He inhaled her scent deeply before biting her softly on her neck. He then bit her on her abdomen, then again on her arm.

  The wounds were slow to respond. He watched as Michelle’s face twisted in pain as she cried out weakly. Her bones were mending at an extremely accelerated rate. Her skin would follow. He placed his claw on her shoulder and tried to provide a comforting presence for her. The pain increased as the healing continued. Her body slowly put itself back together. It took minutes, but when the healing was done, Michelle rested easily in her human form with no scars and no internal bleeding. She was going to be fine.

  Huan Li stood in the middle of the clearing. He shifted back to his human form and spoke loudly for all to hear, “I am Huan Li, Elder of the City Under the Mountain. I have come with Yrsa Magnusson. This battle serves no one and nothing. Who is in charge?”

  A man pulling an axe from his belt stepped forward, “We have no leader.” He spat into the snow at his feet. “Our chief is that one lies dead at your feet.”

  “Who killed this man who you call chief?” Huan Li asked.

  Yrsa raised herself from the snow and walked forward. She could feel the eyes of everyone who still lived watching her. She stopped a few feet away from Huan Li, “I killed him.”

  Huan Li’s expression didn’t change. He called out to the man who had spoken for the rest of the Berserkers from the North, “Do you still practice Trial by Combat?”

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  The Northman walked forward into the clearing but keeping a safe distance from the man and woman already in the clearing, “Yes, we do. That how Jorian became chief in first place. He killed old chief.”

  “Then by your own laws and traditions I name Yrsa Magnusson your new chief,” Huan Li said.

  “That no how law work,” The man spat out contemptuously. “Must speak council, only they name chief.”

  Huan Li nodded, “Then take us to your council. We are protected under Trail by combat laws, yes? My people will travel with you unmolested?”

  The man turned and looked back at the remaining members of his raiding party. He heaved a heavy sigh, “Yes, you safe. We will no attack you. Council will judge.” He turned around and gathered his people around him at the edge of the clearing and spoke in their native tongue.

  “Yrsa, I hope that you won’t keep us in the dark if they are planning anything,” Huan Li said softly as he watched their enemy.

  Yrsa shook her head, “They’re only talking about how they will travel and when they will come back for their dead.” She let her voice fall silent as she said that word, knowing that she had let herself lose control of her rage, and through that mindless rage she had killed three people. She had named Huan Li and Javier monsters not too long ago. Right now, the only monster in this group was her, a terrible uncontrolled monster.

  “Hysminai?” Huan Li called out. “How is the wounded from your pack?”

  The Healer stood up quickly, “Elder, Michelle is going to need a day or two to rest to recover completely. Keva should only need a good night’s sleep. We could carry them so long as it isn’t too far.”

  Yrsa turned to Huan Li, “I can help, if you’ll let me.”

  Huan Li smiled at the blonde woman. He knew what she was going through. He could pretty much tell that she had never killed another person before. Whether this was by design or accident, or if perhaps she had let her Berserker rage get away from her. That was the most likely reason for her quietness and eagerness to help. She was ashamed of something and wanted to sponge it away from herself with good charitable deeds. He would have to speak with her later, for what it was worth. He had experience with uncontrolled latent abilities and dealing with the consequences of those abilities if left to run unchecked.

  Huan Li nodded to the tall blonde woman, “I would be honored if you would help us.”

  Yrsa nodded and gave a small, tight-lipped smile.

  The man turned back from his group and looked at the Elder, “We take now, must go quick, snow coming soon.”

  That was not going to be ideal, if anything happened, they would be stuck in the north, surrounded by possibly, very angry Northmen who may not be so accommodating if they found out that this group of Shape shifters just so happened to kill about ten or so of their people. But there was no better option at this point. They had come to the north to find these Berserkers and here they were. He just wished that it could have been under better circumstances.

  Huan Li nodded, “Then lead on.”

  Huan Li quickly gathered Keva’s pack as Javier slung Keva over his shoulder and began carrying her. In his werewolf form she was very light. If he had to do this in his human form, he wasn’t sure that he would have made it half a mile.

  Soter carried Michelle and Hysminai picked up Paley and brought him with them. They all knew that they were going into enemy territory. But Yrsa had killed their chief and if they did in fact honor the Trial by Combat rules and decorum, then it’s possible that they could find a willing ally in these people. If Yrsa could be persuaded to help them and go back to California with them, bringing along their new friends, of course.