Bjorn walked to the front of the ship on the morning of the third day of sailing since the battle with the prince, past Ruhak, who was taking a nap, and Cecile, who was rationing what food they had. Peng was manning the steerboard, keeping them on course northward.

He thought it odd that the Nikan man had so quickly integrated into being simply...part of the team. Not that it wasn’t also odd to just consider the five of them a team now. But when you were lacking hands in a desperate situation, you weren’t to complain about extra help.

Taya leaned against the front stern of the boat, looking out ahead of them.

Bjorn took a deep breath. Whatever the answer was to the question he was going to ask her, he’d have to take it in stride.

Bjorn sat on the edge of the planking on the other side of the keel, “So...do you have any experience with the Nikan?”

“Aside from three days ago and Peng, not really. Why do you ask?” The Sklaveni turned to face him.

“I...I don’t know if it’s safe to go home. I want to go back to Ascomarch. More than anything. But if these...princes are hunting us? I could endanger everyone by going back.” More than anything? Why did he say that? If he could go back, that’d be great, but he wasn’t set on it. The part of him that was still attached had just taken over.

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Train up your powers a bit and you could protect them. Hell, there might be some Shedim Masters among your people. But...if you really aren’t sure, it will be awhile before we can make it to the Northlands. I’d be happy to teach you a thing or two more.”

“That’d be appreciated.” Bjorn muttered.

“Why do you want to go home so bad anyways? Even before we left, I always used to see you stare somberly off into the night sky in the northward direction.” Taya pursed her lips.

Bjorn felt warmth arriving in his cheeks, “O-oh. It’s just...family and friends, you know? It’s home.”

Taya narrowed her eyes, “That’s like...a tenth of the truth. Maybe not even that.”

Bjorn blinked, “What?”

“I can tell you aren’t telling me everything. Not a good basis for the beginnings of a friendship. Spill.”

Bjorn stammered, unable to think up anything to say. Anything besides the truth. Or at least, all he was willing to tell, “Well-well, there’s some...unfinished business I have and-”

Taya sighed, “Look, you don’t gotta tell exactly what happened, but for the gods’ sake, Bjorn, at least give me the gist.”

Bjorn fell silent, pursing his lips. “It’s...about a girl. Named Katla.”

“Who is she, your wife?” Taya asked. “Wifely...prospect?”

“N-no,” Bjorn said. “And frankly, I don’t think it’s your business. I’ve already told you all I care to say.”

Taya scoffed, “Well come on, now I’m invested. Making leading statements like ‘unfinished business’ and such.”

Bjorn cursed his skaldic affinity for storytelling.

“I...ugh, fine,” Bjorn grumbled, breaking eye contact with her. “Katla and I go way back. We Ascommani have an old tradition that states any warrior and any shield maiden can only ever go into battle with the other. A warrior and his shieldmaiden row together, fight together and camp together. She was my shieldmaiden and probably the best one I could have asked for.”

Taya furrowed her brow, “You take that many women into battle with you? I always imagined Ascommani as being more...masculine. No, not masculine. Just...I don’t know, it doesn’t fit with your culture’s image.”

Bjorn shrugged and let his chin rest on his open palm on the edge of the longship’s hull. “In some people’s images, we don’t have a culture. If a woman has a good axe-arm, who are we to deny her the glory of battle? Plus, we watch each other’s backs and make sure that we don’t end up doing something that we’ll regret.”

“Sounds romantic,” Taya grinned.

“Well, many pairs are husband and wife, but some pairs are brother and sister too,” Bjorn said. He scratched the back of his head. “But, er...yeah. I asked her to marry me.” Just saying it out loud sent pangs of regret and humiliation through him.

“And?” Taya asked, looking a bit too invested in this story for, well, any normal person’s taste.

“We, uh...we decided to stay friends,” Bjorn muttered.

“Oh. That must’ve hurt,” Taya said. Bjorn studied her expression. He couldn’t tell if she pitied him. He hated that. He didn’t want pity. He’d accepted the outcome.

“She got engaged to someone else. She probably thinks I’m dead at this point anyways.”

“Well, all the better to surprise her with your existence!” Taya exclaimed.

Bjorn hushed her aggressively and pointedly looked at Ruhak and the others, who weren’t paying attention, before continuing, “Could you not announce my personal shit to the world? And Ascommani aren’t exactly patient people. If she thinks I’m dead, I wouldn’t blame her if she moved on with her life and found another warrior. She would’ve had to find another partner to keep sailing. And it’s not like I disappeared on the best of terms either.”

Taya frowned, “That’s…a depressing end. I don’t like this story anymore.”

“Yeah. Neither do I. Which is why I don’t like to bring it up.” Bjorn said, turning to look ahead. He blinked, “Uh...is that land?”

Miles away, in front of them, was a small line on the horizon. The green on it answered his question for him.

Taya chuckled, “How convenient for you.”

“Land!” Bjorn shouted, stumbling to his feet, “Land! Everyone grab and oar! Peng, man the rudder!”

He moved to pull the sail up before grabbing an oar and helping row the ship.

As they approached the shore, Taya pointed to a gap in the rocks and sand among the distant forest, “That’s the mouth to the Loughal river. It’ll take us right to the heartland of my clan.”

Bjorn and his shipmates rowed the longship into the giant river before them, as silty and grey beaches led them into the thick, dense Sklaveni forests.

The songs of birds and chittering of animals filled the air. The further they sailed down the river, the further the trees seemed to reach over them. Soon, the trees had become massive, overshadowing the whole river with its canopy. An ambient hue of yellowish green light permeated through. While it was enough to see clearly, Bjorn never thought trees could grow so big.

“What the…”

Bjorn turned to look where Taya was staring. Their boat was approaching a clearing in the thick forest, the ground flat, wet, and brown, lacking any vegetation.

“Pull to the shore here.” Taya said.

“Bank portside!” Bjorn ordered, stopping his oar in the water and forcing the longship to turn.

The boat’s keel drove itself into the silt bank of the river, coming to a halt.

All that were aboard disembarked, Ruhak and Bjorn pulling the ship further onto land.

The area smelled of ash and smoke despite the wetness and mud that caked the ground. There was no plant life to absorb the water in the mud and sediment, unlike the vibrantly green floors of the rest of the forest.

Something was more foul seeped into the scent of the place as Bjorn got further from the riverbank. But it was hard to place amidst the evidence of fire.

There certainly was something here, considering all the lumber and planks half-buried in the mud.

“What is this place?” Cecile was the first to ask.

“Maybe I haven’t been home in awhile, but I could’ve sworn this was the place…”

“You don’t think-” Bjorn started.

“We probably stopped too early.” Taya muttered.

Bjorn glanced down, feeling something odd beneath his foot. Upon lifting it, he found a skull buried in the mud. He stifled a yelp. He looked around the area again. Though camouflaged by the dirt, he could see stone foundations dotting the clearing. The trees around it had black charring on them. And, while Bjorn wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, he thought he could see red stains among the black and grey ash.

His eyes widened as the sudden impetus shot through him to keep the horror that had clearly happened here from Taya.

To what end, idiot? She’ll just find out anyways.

“T...Taya.” Bjorn muttered.

“Hm?” the Sklaveni asked.

“You, er...you might want to see this.” Bjorn said.

Taya approached Bjorn and looked down at the skull. She left out a shaky breath.

“There’re foundations. And...blood, I think.” Bjorn continued softly.

She backed away, slipping on the mud and collapsing onto her behind. But she kept trying to distance herself from the evidence.

“No,” She hissed through gritted teeth, “No, no, no, no, no!”

Taya looked around her, surveying the burned patch of ground, her fingers gripping her dark hair and cursing in Sklaveni.

“I-it might just be someone who drowned in the river.” Bjorn quickly added, “We can’t know for sure if-”

Don’t!” Taya snapped as she staggered to her feet. Bjorn’s eyes drifted to the ground as he fell silent. “I-I-I just need to...I’m gonna...fuck. Fuck.!” Taya steadied herself against one of the stone foundations.

Shame filled Bjorn’s chest with tightness.

“Taya...I’m-” Ruhak started softly.

“Don’t you dare apologize. You might convince me to blame you for what happened here,” Taya said, malice poisoning her voice.

Taya started to meander about. Bjorn noticed more bodies, their remains mostly sunken into the ground.

“No…” Taya whispered.

Bjorn glanced up at the back of her green cloak as she collapsed to her knees.

He dared to step closer. He saw the body she was looking at. It had a very decorative necklace around its throat. Though, it was made of wood and clay. Not worth stealing.

“Mother,” she gasped, choking up.

Seeing the normally positive and confrontational Taya be so...horrified, was genuinely shocking to Bjorn. He didn’t know how to feel. It made him even more surprised by the fact that he found Taya’s despair at the death of her mother unusual.

Taya gritted her teeth before she let a sob out and grabbed her claymore off her back. She threw it across the clearing with a burst of violet energy and roar of impotent frustration. The sword wedged itself in a tree.

The sudden violent motion made Bjorn flinch. He didn’t really know what to do. He wanted to comfort and console her. But...was anything any of them could do enough to quell her pain? And if it wasn’t, should he still do anything?

She ground her teeth together, her fist quivering, “I’m gonna find who did this! And I’ll fucking...I’ll…” She forced herself to take a deep breath. “True Weakness is stagnation, Taya. Weakness is...gods dammit.”

Taya fell to her knees. Cecile dared to kneel next to her and attempt to comfort her without word. But Taya just stared, indifferent.

Bjorn decided to speak up and take his shot at trying to be there for her, but she cut him off before he could speak.

“The crows got to her before I could,” Taya muttered. “Nothing I can do about that now.”

“They didn’t even bother to conquer the place or loot it. They just slaughtered everyone and burned it to the ground,” Ruhak observed. “There’s a lot of singed wheat and evidence of compost.”

A voice whispered from the trees, “Taya…”

Bjorn snapped his gaze up to an elderly man who had suddenly emerged from the foliage, followed by thirty odd other men and women, all dressed in dark green cloaks like Taya’s.

Taya’s face fell, “Yaroslav…”

“You’ve returned...I’m sorry, young one.” the old man muttered, “We did all we could.”

“Who?” Taya asked, standing, her face contorted in rage, “Who did this? Who killed her?”

“Who else? You travel with one of them in your company.” the old man said.

Taya’s glare imposed such a force of hatred, Bjorn could feel it just from having it graze him on its way to look at Peng.

This was starting to become a pattern with the Nikan. To what end did they simply just kill everyone in sight?

Taya’s family and village had suffered the same fate Bjorn feared for his people. That was convincing enough. No matter what, he couldn’t go home.

_______________________________________________________________________

Taya wouldn’t allow herself to lash out at Peng despite the childish impulse to do so. Just because he was Nikan didn’t mean he was the one who set fire to her village and killed her mother.

There were soldiers who did it. An officer who ordered it. Higher ups who planned it. An emperor who desired an invasion. They were at fault. They would suffer her wrath.

“Is this all that’s left?” Taya asked, transitioning back to her native language.

Yaroslav nodded.

“And the clan?”

“The chieftain’s son still lives. We came here looking for some who ran during the raid. They’re still missing.” Yaroslav said, “I thought you had been sent away with Plague.”

“The Nikan did the same thing as they did here on that island.”

“And your companions?”

“Most of them were residents of the island as well. I made sure they didn’t have any symptoms, though.”

Yaroslav nodded, “I regret how lax we’ve been with Dawn Circle. I hadn’t known their druids were sending Shedim Masters away. But...you’re here now. You should come with us back to the High Citadel. The Highlands are the only truly safe places left in Sklava. These woods are no longer ours.”

The Druid turned around and started to lead the survivors back into the wood. Taya followed, her company in tow after retrieving her sword.

“What do you mean these woods are no longer ours?” Taya asked.

“We cannot claim that which we cannot protect,” Yaroslav said. “The Nikan control it now, using it to fuel their logging and build their war machines. No attempts the High Queen has made to reclaim that land have been successful.”

“High Queen?” Taya asked. “What of the King?”

“Died of sickness two months ago.”

“Well, we have to do something!” Taya exclaimed, “We’ve repelled Koini expansion for a thousand years! Surely, we can kick these eastlanders out!”

“Calm yourself, child.” Yaroslav sighed. “War is not so simple. And besides, the Koini were lax with us. They never decided to fully invest into an invasion. Just look at the destruction wrought by an empire who has.”

“What isn’t simple about it?” Taya asked. “We gather all those who wish to fight for their homeland and force the Nikan out. With my powers and the awakening of others, we can match them.”

“There are refugees, Taya.” Yaroslav said. “Us included. We can only live off the good graces of others. We cannot demand that they help us liberate our land.”

“Then we ask the refugees to fight!”

“There are only refugees because all those among them who were willing to fight are dead. We can only retreat to the Highlands for now.”

Taya stopped in her tracks, “Where are these Nikan?”

The druid turned to face her, “What?”

“Where are they?”

“Don’t be foolish, Taya. Strong, though you be, you’ll only get yourself killed.”

Of course Yaroslav thought her foolish. They all thought her foolish. But what else was she to do? Let the Nikan get away with this?

Taya scoffed, “What do you care? Not like you were my greatest supporter.”

“It doesn’t matter what I think of you personally,” Yaroslav glowered. “I refuse to let yet another one of my people die.”

“Taya.” A rough, but gentle hand landed on her shoulder. She looked at Bjorn next to her. He didn’t understand her language, but she could tell from his eyes that he understood her emotion, “Whatever you’re thinking...it’s not worth it right now. You’ll get your chance against them.”

Taya sighed, glowering but taking heed of his words, “Fine.”

They hiked for nearly an hour, from the thick forest into the Sklaveni Highlands. The rock formations and mountains that populated the Highlands were much like a forest of stone in a way.

When they emerged from the mountainous, forested border of the plateau, the others of her company got their first look at the center of Sklaveni society.

The Highlands, while populated by many large rocks, was a relatively flat plain that overlooked the forest that surrounded it. The grass was an intense, verdant color that never appeared naturally anywhere else.

“By the gods…” Ruhak muttered.

“Welcome to the heart of Sklava, gentlemen and lady.” Taya sighed in Koini, “Good thing about being on a giant plateau is that no one can drive siege engines up here. So I’d say we’re pretty safe from the Nikan, if that’s what you’re looking for.”

Ordinarily, Taya was proud of her homeland’s natural beauty. But...needless to say why her enthusiasm was lacking.

While it would have been impossible to see in any terrain less open than this, Taya could make out the castle that marked Sklava’s central city of Varikolga, also known as the High Citadel. All the clan chieftains would meet there in times like these.

A ferry upstream on the river got them to the gates. The walls of Varikolga were made from a foundation of large boulders and rocks, then built upon with rough stone brick. The wet climate of the Highlands made walls like these prone to building up moss.

While the others marveled at the beauty of her homeland, Taya seethed.

The people she had strived to protect were all dead. She’d failed herself and her people.

It was due to circumstances you couldn’t control, Furious One. an Eldritch voice resonated in her head. The words of her Shedim. Do not lose your sense of purpose because Fate tried to dissuade you.

This is what Fate considers dissuasion? Taya replied. And my purpose died with them.

So what is it you are to do?

Grieve. Then find a new purpose, I guess.

No regrets. The Shedim said encouragingly.

No regrets.

The exchange made her feel marginally better. She wanted to dismiss the effort since she still felt entirely devastated. But what was anyone else to do?

They neared the city’s river entrance and the guards atop the gatehouse dropped the spiked chain that blocked off the waterway, letting them in after a quick exchange with Yaroslav.

They disembarked the ferry at a small marina and headed onto the dirt roads of the city. Though what was within was a very different picture from when she had last visited this place.

While already very wide in nature, the roads were impassable, filled to the brim with sickly, starving people. Mostly women and children.

“These are just the ones without plague.” Yaroslav muttered.

“And the ones with it?” Taya asked.

“Not allowed into the city once all the medical tents filled up. They’ve an encampment on the west side of the wall.”

Taya shook her head in dismay, “Gods and demons.”

“Highland cities have all taken in refugees of both Sklaveni and Ashen origin.” Yaroslav said.

Taya looked to Bjorn, who frowned. The word for the Ascommani in Sklaveni, which translated to ‘Ash men’ was very similar to their own word for themselves.

“Did he just say Ascomanni?” Bjorn asked in Koini.

“Some of the refugees are from Ascomarch.” Taya said.

“Don’t tell me the Nikan-”

“No.” Yaroslav said, joining their Koini conversation, “The Sarfans invaded Ascomarch some time ago.”

“But how? Only we can cross the White Sea.” Bjorn said.

“Well, now only you and the Sarfans can.” Yaroslav muttered, “I don’t know too much about it. Perhaps your kinsmen can tell you more. Finding lodgings here will be difficult, but I’m certain someone will be willing to house you for a fee. It was good to see you again, Taya.”

“I’m going to fight them, Yaroslav. If no one else is going to, I will.” Taya said, “I want to put a warband together. Did Braslav make it out alright?”

Yaroslav nodded, “He tends to what remains of our people in my stead.”

“You said he’s had visions, right? How much does he remember?”

Yaroslav sighed with exasperation, “You’ll have to figure that out yourself. The boy doesn’t like talking about them. Now, I have people to tend to. People who, as I have said, will not fight with you.”

With that, Yaroslav and the survivors of Taya’s village left her and her party to their own devices.

Taya scoffed, “Alright, well I’m going to see what the rules are on forming a warband before I get kicked out for something stupid. There’s got to be some people here willing to fight. Anyone wanna come with?”

“I need to...figure out what happened to my home,” Bjorn said solemnly.

“I’ll go with Bjorn,” Cecile said. “A lot of people here look like they need medical attention without the Plague.”

“They already have doctors for that,” Bjorn frowned.

Cecile sighed, “I myself have never heard of any intention to invade Ascomarch, so I want to figure out what exactly happened. Plus I think you could use the company.”

“Then I’ll go with you, Taya,” Ruhak said. “I believe you can officially sanction a warband with the Koini guild system. It’ll stop other groups not affiliated with the Nikan from seeing us as a threat. You’ll want me there.”

“Um...” Peng muttered, looking about his surroundings, “I’m getting a lot of looks right now. Could I go with you two-” Peng stopped himself, recalling the death glare that Taya had given him.

“I don’t blame you, Peng,” Taya said. “Sorry if I made you feel that way. You can come with us.”

“Thanks,” Peng muttered. “Also, am I still a prisoner? I’m not very wild about being a captive, but I also have nowhere to go.”

Taya looked at Bjorn, “You captured him. What do you say?”

The Ascommani shrugged, “He’s done nothing but help us so far. How about...a probation. You’re not a prisoner, but we’re still gonna keep an eye on you for the time being.”

“So we’re officially a group now?” Ruhak asked.

“Look, we can talk it over later and see what people want to do.” Bjorn said, “I need to investigate this whole thing with Sarfait.”

With her village gone, Taya was hoping they would join her. While she hotly desired revenge currently, no matter the reason was, she could lead a warband of Shedim Masters against the Nikan. Shedim Masters would start facing terrible atrocities like those that happened to her village if this continued. So long as she was alive, Taya refused to allow that to happen.

Yes. That sounded like a good purpose.

The aggression the Nikan were showing...well, Taya didn’t want to call it a sign, but it was too much of a coincidence.

The Elder Shedim were going mad trying to find hosts and the world was soon to be in political and martial turmoil. That was two out of three. Dangerously close to the advent of an Armageddon Event. The coming of Bás Síoraí. The Eternal Death.