“This is me being reserved,” Arvid chuckled. “But seriously, things had changed a lot. Everyone feels like a dagger that has been sheathed but is ready for blood.”

  “Brynhildr said that she too agrees with you about the people turning on each other once we reach the second island.”

  “Of course, she does. She’s not blind. Several groups tried to secretly ask me to join them in the past few days. They tried to be subtle about it but it was clear that whoever wasn’t with them would become an enemy. What about you? Do you plan on joining Brynhildr or...”

  “No,” Einar shook his head. “You haven’t seen much of me these past days and will see even less once I reach the next island.”

  “Sounds like a seeker alright. Just don’t disappear on us forever.”

  “I don’t plan to,” the young giant said before a deep yawn broke free. “I should see if Rúna has finished my talisman, then get some sleep.”

  “You do that,” the warrior hummed. “I still have a few people to talk to.”

  Leaving Arvid behind, Einar headed back toward Rúna's tent, finding the forgemaiden sitting beside her own small campfire. When she noticed the seeker, she gave him a weak smile.

  “Are you alright?” Einar asked worried, but the woman just waved him off.

  “Just a bit tired. Refining your talisman took more out of me than I imagined it would.”

  Saying that she handed over the bracelet. Looking at it, the young giant could see the difference as the once pale and faint runes now glowed with a frost-blue light. The metal of the bracelet felt cold to his touch and when he put it on, a shiver ran along his spine

  “That ice drake tear is a rare treasure,” she remarked. “I wouldn’t mind having a few dozen more of those.”

  “You might be able to get one if you manage to win against all four of the drakes.”

  “As if,” she sighed. “Not everyone is as hard-headed as you are.”

  A few seconds of awkward silence later the forgemaiden spoke up once more.

  “So, what are you going to do now?”

  “The same thing as before,” he replied calmly. “There are three more trials to find and conquer. After that, the next island and the one after that.”

  “One step at a time,” Rúna hummed. “Will we meet again before you leave for the next island?”

  “Hopefully. Once there though... it will be hard to say what happens.”

  “I’m not stupid enough to take a swing at you with my hammer,” the woman stated. “And besides. You seem to have a knack for finding rare materials and runes for me to work with. As for me, I doubt that any of the God-marked Vikings here would be dumb enough to attack the only forgemaiden that could help strengthen their arms and armour.”

  “Arvid said he plans to leave with a few of his friends, trying to stay away from the others.”

  “I know,” Rúna nodded in agreement. “He invited me as well, but I haven’t decided yet. It will depend on what we find on the next island. Anyway, you should get some rest. You look like you’re ready to keel over at any moment.”

  “It was a long day.” Einar claimed as he began to pull out pieces of his tent from his world eater pouch, setting up his shelter for the night beside Rúna’s.

  “Good night.” The seeker said before sprawling out on his bedroll, falling asleep faster than expected.

  When morning came, the young giant got out of his tent and packed it away, finding Rúna still sleeping inside her own. Most of the camp was still silent with the people either sleeping or quietly sitting beside the rekindled campfires. Einar wanted to leave unnoticed, but he was stopped by the voice of a man he soon recognised.

  “I heard you have a habit of leaving unannounced,” Rokuro, the protector of the fox-tailed woman said from the side as he walked over. “Lady Hanako asked me to bring you these before you leave.”

  The archer handed over three slips of parchment that had the same glowing symbols drawn on them.

  “These are?”

  “Paralysing charms,” the man explained. “They work similarly to talismans, but they are single-use things. Hold them between your fingers like this and channel your spirit energy into them. Once the symbols light up, throw them toward the target the way you would a knife and they will seek out the prey on their own.”

  Einar listened to the archer intently, his eyes never leaving the strange parchment strips.

  “They can at best restrain your enemy for a minute although that could change depending on their strength. If you use one, you must either run or kill your opponent as fast as you can.”

  “Got it,” the seeker nodded as he put away the parchment talismans. “Tell Lady Hanako that she has my thanks.”

  “Kill the Oni if it appears and you will have repaid her kindness in full. Now go. Many of the people in the camp would want to keep you here as another weapon to wield, but you are more useful to us out there.”

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  “Thanks?” Einar looked at him puzzled before turning around and leaping into the air, turning into his raven form to fly away.

  Hours later, he reached the mountain with the sixth trial once again. He found the four ice drakes still chained around the weathered stone altar, the beast not even deigning to look at him as he landed. The seeker took a cold breath as he walked over to the other side of the mountaintop looking toward the distant forest below him. There were a few spots where the trees parted to give space to what could have been ruins, but they were too far away to know for sure even with his looking glass.

  Stopping for a moment to think things through again, Einar checked his kit and supplies before leaping forward. He fell through the air for a second or two before turning into a raven, gliding through the sky toward the next mountain. He flew as far as he could before landing on the overgrown path to continue on foot. It took the better part of the day for him to reach the first clearing along the way, the ruins of what once could have been a small forest village. Unlike the previous ruins before, this one was completely broken and overgrown. He found the remains of the stone wall of the settlement, crumbling and overgrown.

  None of the houses were standing, their collapsed remnants held signs of something rampaging through the village. ‘What happened here?’ Einar asked silently as he walked along between the ruins. The answer came to him at the other end of the settlement where he found the bones of a long dead beast. It was a strange sight as a large skeleton got pinned to a half-destroyed wall by rusty spears. Its body was similar to a human’s but its skull was that of a bull with a pair of large horns and its feet ended in hooves. The size of the skeleton was also bigger than even he or the Oni was.

  Several other broken and overgrown corpses littered the ground around him, their armour rusted and useless. ‘It must have been a desperate fight.” Einar thought to himself as he looked around for anything that could have been salvaged but for nothing worth taking. Having no reason to waste time there, the giant leapt up into the air and turned into his raven form, flying above the forest’s crown. He headed toward the next point of interest, barely making half of the journey before night fell.

  Not willing to risk being attacked by overgrown bears and wolves while sleeping, the young seeker decided to sleep on top of one of the trees. He weaved a decent length of rope between a couple of study branches before spreading a few smaller leafy branches and his bedroll atop the rope. It wasn’t the most comfortable bed, but it was safe and sturdy.

  When morning came, he dismantled his contraption before continuing his journey. When he reached the next clearing he found the telltale marks of a proving ground in the middle area of the small valley. Rune carved stones lay in a circle around an altar the dense grass and shrubs stopping at the edge of the circle. There were four stone pedestals placed around the altar in an even distance according to the four main directions, each different in size yet all of them had something in common. An animal was sitting on top of each pedestal, all four staying dead silent as they watched Einar approach the altar. He pulled out his drinking horn from his satchel and placed it on the altar, a soft and sultry voice resounding in his mind as he did so.

  “It’s not always the strongest that survives,” the voice whispered into his mind. “Sometimes, it’s the one that can convince others the best. The trial of charm is meant to prove your charisma and persuasiveness in the face of adversity. A true leader must be able to inspire, flatter, bribe or reason with others in hopes of getting what they need without having to resort to violence.”

  The corner of Einar’s eyes twitched as he listened to the alluring voice, his very soul shuddering with desire for a moment before he grit his teeth and cleared his thoughts. The seemingly broken stone pillars rose into the air piece by piece, reassembling themselves as a barrier appeared around and above the proving ground.

  “Each of the four beasts around you has their own personality. Read their behaviour and convince them to accept you or face their wrath upon failure. Their pride grows as the circles in front of them change from clear to bronze, then to silver and finally gold. You must earn the favour of at least one of them to be able to leave the proving grounds.”

  As he heard this, the seeker glanced around to see what he had to work with. The first beast was a raven while the second was a peacock. He looked at the third pedestal that held what seemed to be a grey-furred wolf. The last pedestal held a small fire drake that was the size of a grown dog. Einar was stumped at the sight of the four beasts. How was he supposed to convince them to accept him? The first of the four was the raven. He walked over and stepped in front of the bird, greeting it with an awkward nod.

  “Hello…” He tried to speak to the creature, but it simply ignored him.

  “Listen, I…”

  “Caw.” The raven let out a bored gurgling croak, slightly turning its head away from the seeker.

  “You little…” Einar grumbled as he turned into his raven form, earning a newfound interest from the bird standing on the pedestal.

  “Caw.” The new a response from the raven as it looked at him excited.

  A moment later the small brazier beside the pedestal lit up, its flame floating up in a fist-sized ball that floated toward the altar in the centre. ‘Thank you, I guess.’ He thought while returning to his human form and heading toward the peacock.

  “Greetings.” Einar said as he stepped inside the glowing bronze circle.

  The idly lounging peacock raised its head to look at him with its beady eyes. The seeker could feel its gaze moving up and down along his body as if the bird was examined and came from head to toe. It was strange to speak to the bird and even stranger to try and convince it. What little he knew about peacocks told him they were proud and arrogant creatures. That is if he could believe those off-handed remarks.

  “I’m not sure what I should be doing here,” he admitted awkwardly. “I mean, you are a really pretty bird with your colourful feathers and all that...”

  Before the giant could even finish what he wanted to say, the brazier beside the happily cooing peacock burst into flames, the fire spilling over as it formed into a ball that flew towards the altar. ‘They really are proud and arrogant.’ Einar hummed as he gave a slight nod to the bird and turned toward the next pedestal. The dark grey-furred wolf that lay on the short stone pedestal raised its ears upon his arrival, The animal looking at Einar with a curious gaze.

  “Easy there,” the seeker said as he walked closer with slow steps. “I’m not here to fight.”

  The wolf cared little about his words as it kept staring at him warily. They both stared at each other for a while, Einar trying to figure out how to speak and what to say while the wolf was just sitting on the weathered stone, slowly licking its snout.

  “Are you… hungry?” He finally asked after noticing the beast’s repeated licking.

  He didn’t receive an answer but it was worth a try so he reached into his world eater pouch and pulled out some dried meat which he held out toward the beast. The wolf raised its head slightly as it noticed the meat, sniffing into the air before getting on its feet with visible excitement.

  “I guess you are.” Einar sighed relieved as he carefully tossed the piece of meat toward the wolf which it caught with its fangs from the air.

  It chewed at it greedily and swallowed it in one go before looking back at the young giant. Einar noticed that the silvery light of the circle began to glow stronger. ‘Bribery it is.’ He thought as he tossed another piece of dried meat to the wolf. After the third piece, the brazier beside the pedestal the wolf stood on best to life with bright flames that drifted toward the altar at the centre.

  The seeker watched it for a moment before turning his guest toward the last beast he would have to convince to gain the highest prize of the trial. The small drake was also watching him from afar, its eyes cold with indifference. Once he stepped into the golden circle in front of the drake, Einar noticed that it barely growled at him a bit before laying its head down on its clawed feet in boredom.