The forgemaiden examined the items before her, stopping on the rune stone for a moment before clicking her tongue as she looked at the tear-shaped gem.

  “It seems the Gods really do favour you. That rune would further protect your mind while this frozen tear could strengthen any frost-aligned talisman. Both are good things to have about.”

  “I take it the rune is meant for a headwear?” Einar asked, earning a slight nod.

  “Yes and don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten my promise and I’ll craft you that headband as soon as I can find a proper place to work. One that’s hopefully bereft of watchful eyes and killer giants.”

  “Sounds like you’re not too hopeful about this... temporary God-marked alliance.”

  “These people might be tolerating each other for now, but they can barely agree on anything without having to spend hours arguing. I swear even Arvid has more sense to him than these fools. Don’t tell him I said that.”

  “Sure.” The young giant let a small smirk creep across his face as he took off his left-hand talisman and handed it over to the forgemaiden.

  “So this is the ice shield talisman Lady Hrefna made you? It’s beautiful. And powerful too. I only ever refined one talisman so this will take longer than it usually does. You should go and talk to Arvid or get something to eat while I’m working. You look like you could use both.”

  “Alright,” he agreed with a sigh. “I’ll be back.”

  “Take your time. I’ll need about an hour for this.”

  Einar left without another word, his feet taking him to a set of campfires that served as the Vikings' makeshift kitchen. Arvid was busy helping out, roasting some meat, which involved slowly turning the rod on which the meat was while talking to a shining-eyed young woman. When Einar got close, the girl looked at him with a meek smile before turning to leave.

  “Wha... wait!” Arvid tried to call out to the girl before noticing the giant behind him.

  “Einar,” the warrior turned around, his sullen mood shifting to excitement. “You’re back! I heard someone mention that you came back but I didn’t believe it until now. What are you doing here? Weren’t you off to explore the island?”

  “I was but I decided to tell everyone about the sixth trial before heading deeper. It looks like the other challenges are days away from here.”

  “I see. So, how was the sixth trial?” Arvid asked.

  The young seeker spent a good ten minutes telling him everything about his journey toward the mountain and the trial itself. By the end of his tale, Arvid was looking at him with raised eyebrows.

  “You’re telling me that they want us to stare a bunch of ice drakes in the eyes? How are we supposed to do that and survive? Half of these braggarts would get killed off by the second drake.”

  “The Gods must have a reason for doing this.”

  “You mean, besides being vicious bastards? I doubt. Anyway. What are you going to do now?” The warrior asked while slicing off a piece of meat to check if it was good to eat.

  “I’ll stay for the night and head out early in the morning,” the seeker replied. “I still have three more trials to find and conquer. They are likely toward the other end of the island, so it would take days to reach them.”

  “I guess we won’t be seeing you around for a while,” Arvid sighed as he held out a large slice of roasted meat to the young giant. “I hope you know what you’re doing. This place gets more dangerous the further we get inland. The others might have forgotten to mention it when you arrived, but we ran across an ash drake on the way here.”

  “Oh...”

  “It killed three warriors before we managed to end it.”

  “Was it at least worth it?”

  “You tell me. You’re eating its remains.” The man pointed at the large chunk of meat that was slowly being cooked over the fire.

  “It’s not bad but it wasn’t worth three lives.”

  “People die for wealth, birds die for food.” Arvid said with a darkened expression as he pulled the large roasting rod from above the fire.

  “A strange thing to say, but true. So, what about you? What are you planning to do?”

  “Me? I’ll stick with the others and conquer the trials,” the firm-toned answer came. “After that though, it’s every man for himself.”

  “Arvid...”

  “Oh, don’t give me that look. We both know that as soon as we step on the second island and the truce of the Gods is gone, it’s going to turn into a war. I mean, you told us yourself that Takeshi fellow promised you a duel to the death. Do you think the others are different?”

  A few moments of awkward silence stretched on before the man continued.

  “They act all respectful when you’re standing in front of them but as soon as you leave, they start kissing Brynhildr’s boots. The same goes for the God-marked of the other kingdoms. Everyone keeps looking at each other as if they’re expecting a blade in the back.”

  “It’s not surprising,” Einar remarked while sitting down. “We’ve been raiding the ships of the Eastern Alliance for centuries. Of course, they want us dead.”

  “And the others? I heard some of the warriors from Hellada talk about you with respect, but the desert kingdom’s people want to enslave us while the Empire’s folks think that we are all savages and must be killed to protect their lands. Mark my words, this will end in a bloodbath. And for what? Glory, fame? A chance at becoming a god?”

  “People died for less before.”

  “True,” Arvid sighed as he too sat down, handing over a plate of food to the young giant. “It’s still going to be bad though. I already talked with the others and we decided to split as soon as we reached the second island. Brynhildr will want us to dig in and build some kind of fortress from where she could rule us like she always wanted, but we want no part of it.”

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “There’s strength in numbers.” Einar said between two bites.

  “Says the man who wants to conquer the island on his own.”

  “True.”

  “Don’t worry about us,” the young warrior reassured the giant. “Unlike the others here, none of us wants to become Gods.”

  “Then how are you planning to leave the Torn Serpent?” The seeker asked with an equally concerned and puzzled look.

  “It’s simple. We just have to survive until you or someone else becomes a god and gets us out of here. Then we can all return home as divine champions, carrying gold-filled sacks and epic tales that will make all the women swoon.”

  “Of course, you will.” Einar said as he rolled his eyes at his friend’s antics.

  “Einar,” a voice cut into their friendly chatter as an armour-clad woman walked toward them. “Lady Brynhildr wishes to see you.”

  When the giant didn’t react, the woman cleared her throat.

  “She wasn’t ordering, but asking. She said that she hopes you can join her and have a talk.”

  “Go on,” Arvid said with a smirk. “She might want to propose to you in private.”

  “You…” The woman turned toward Arvid with looks that could kill, but the warrior just raised his hands.

  “Easy there. I’m talking about an alliance, not marriage. Why don’t you sit down instead and eat some food while its still warm?”

  “I…” She wavered while the giant stood up, heading toward the large tent that belonged to Brynhildr.

  Arriving in front of the large tent, Einar found two shieldmaidens standing guard. The women gave him an apprehensive look before stepping aside to let him through. Inside, the seeker found simple bed rolls lined up along the tent wall, leaving enough space to walk about. A small firepit was in the middle, Brynhildr sitting beside it with a conflicted expression.

  “Thank you for coming,” she finally said, breaking the awkward silence and surprising Einar with her polite tone. I hoped we could talk about... things.”

  “Things?” The giant asked back after hearing her strange mutters.

  “What did Harald tell you when he came to you?”

  “Not much,” he let out a sigh while walking closer so he too could sit down. “I didn’t even know it was him until we arrived here. He appeared as an old warrior and I thought he came along with the other sailors for one last adventure. Told me his name was Spear and after I offered him a place beside the fire and some food, he told me the story of how he earned his name and gave me some advice before leaving.”

  “That’s all?” Brynhildr questioned with her eyebrows raised.

  “He did leave behind a drawing of a raven that turned out to be his blessing in the form of a star chart.”

  “I see,” she sighed wearily. “When Svanhildr came to me, she too kept her true name hidden but she soon revealed it after making sure that we were alone. The queen of the gods then told me that once we arrived, I was meant to lead our people through the first island safely.”

  “Only the first one?”

  “Yes,” she nodded. “I didn’t understand at the time but after the Fates told us that we could only fight the beasts but not the other kingdoms’ God-marked on the first island, it became clear. She wanted me to lead them to the trials and make sure that as many of us survive as possible.”

  “Arvid thinks that once we set foot on the next island, everyone will turn on each other for the chance of becoming a god.”

  “He’s right,” the young woman agreed, surprising him once again. “You might not have noticed that since you’re out there exploring most of the time but it’s already happening. My shieldmaidens had caught wind of several small groups forming around strong warriors, most believing that they could rise to power through them.”

  “If you can’t become a god then become their champion,” Einar deduced. “What about your shieldmaidens? Are they loyal?”

  “I have known them since I was a child,” Brynhildr stated with a firm and heavy tone. “They are good people, loyal and trustworthy. But most importantly, none of them wants to become a god. There are others too that only came here because of the edict of the gods. Most of them only want to survive long enough to get back home but this Oni...”

  “It’s stronger than me,” the giant admitted. “If it wasn’t for the barrier of the proving ground, it would have likely killed me. If it appears, don’t hesitate to use anything you and the others have to overwhelm and kill it.”

  “I know. Hopefully, that fox’s magic trinkets can really tie it down long enough to let us kill it without having to sacrifice our people.”

  “Is there anything else or...”

  “I... I wanted to apologize. When we arrived on the island, I was desperate. A part of me was afraid that you being Harald’s chosen meant that I would be forced to marry you when we became gods.”

  “If,” Einar corrected her. “The trials set by the gods are already dangerous enough and they are supposed to be preparing us for the real challenges of the other islands.”

  “Still, coming here was meant to get me away from my father’s grasp and grant me my freedom, but then we got visited by the gods and...”

  “They gave us a blessing, not a command. Whatever we do with it is up to us. You want to lead the people and I want to explore and hunt. That’s all there is to it.”

  “And becoming a god?” Brynhildr asked the important question, making Einar let out a sigh.

  “It’s tempting, but I still have people back home waiting for me to return.”

  “Even if you don’t become a god, you are still going to lose them with time,” the young woman remarked with a low tone. “God-marked age slower the stronger they get. I won’t ask you how powerful you are right now, but I can guess some of it just by sitting near you, feeling the divine power that surrounds you. You are likely already at a point where you would live nearly twice as long as an ordinary man and that will only grow longer.”

  “Or I might just die young in battle,” the giant added as he slowly stood up to leave. “My father often said that worrying about things you can’t change is just a pointless source of headaches.”

  “Wise words,” Brynhildr nodded as she watched him leave, calling out to him before he reached the entrance of the tent. “And Einar. Be careful out there!”“The same to you.”

  The seeker walked back to Arvid in silence, his mind going through the short conversation he had with the princess. There was truth in her words but none of it was helping him at the moment. There were still three trials left on the island just so he could leave and who knows how many islands he had to go through. It was better not to think about the problems of the distant future for now though. Back at the fire, he found his friend side by side with the shieldmaiden, the two sitting and sharing stories over some food.

  “So, how was it?” He asked after noticing the seeker. “You’re still in one piece so it couldn’t have been that bad.”

  “We talked about some matters, mostly the island and the Oni.”

  “I should get going.” The woman beside Arvid said as she stood up to leave.

  “Already? You haven’t even finished the tale about that hunt.”

  “Maybe another time.” She replied with a somewhat shy smile before leaving, the warrior staring at her back wistfully.

  “Did I interrupt something?” Einar asked as he sat down beside the fire.

  “Not really. How were things with the princess?”

  “She seems... different.”

  “That trial with the stone stairs hit her hard. She became a lot more reserved after that. A lot of people did.”

  “Not you, apparently.” The giant remarked.