Bjorn let his scars light up to send an arc of electricity at a pile of tinder, starting a small fire.

He had to use his power sparingly, since he’d never gotten an opportunity to recharge and if one of the Twelve passed over, they would certainly notice him. He could feel the chill of his power getting weaker and weaker.

Bjorn put some rat meat he’d gotten earlier today on a spit and started roasting it over the fire.

Since the Twelve stormed the city, Bjorn and Taya had made their way to an underground aqueduct rather than a sewer, so they had a source of clean water. They’d hunkered down with a few other survivors, making something close to a camp along the water.

Though everyone mostly kept to their own, Bjorn occupied himself with taking care of Taya. Her fever was still going strong. Bjorn tried to cool her off with wet cloths, but it did little good in staving the sickness off.

Bjorn took the meat off the fire and started eating it right away. Even though it burned his mouth, it was all the food he’d been able to forage for himself in days. Most of what he found went to making sure Taya was strong enough to fight her fever.

But he didn’t mind. So long as Taya was around, he’d be alright.

Sometimes she spoke in her sleep and when she did, she said those things she always did, about life, the universe and everything. “We have to keep moving forward” or “Have faith you can do it.” He liked to pretend she was talking to him.

He looked at her sleeping form on a bedroll a few feet away. She was less sweaty and seemed less tense. Maybe the fever was dying down.

The eerie silence was growing more uncomfortable by the second. The other survivors had said they were going to forage for supplies, so he and Taya were the only two in their camp.

To break the deafening quiet, Bjorn started humming an Ascomanni folk song as he ate.

He stopped his humming abruptly as he heard footfalls coming from further down the aqueduct. He thought the survivors had returned...at least until he heard the clang of metal on stone accompanying them.

Bjorn stamped out his fire, then rushed over to Taya and dragged her bedroll so it was hidden behind a tent. He grabbed his axe and shield and waited.

Three men clad in black scale armor walked into the camp, one of them holding a straight sword that was set aflame and was being used like a torch. The screech of Banebending reached his ears.

The Bane Knights spoke to each other in Nikan.

Panic rose from Bjorn’s racing heart.

Then they stopped. One of the Knight who wielded one of Nikan’s many types of halberds looked directly at him and sent a wave of magically controlled water at him.

Bjorn rolled out of the way and charged in. He rammed his shield into the man with the flaming sword and swung at the man with the Halberd with his axe.

His opponent parried the axe before the butt of the halberd smashed against his head.

Bjorn stumbled to the ground, pain burning in his temple. Since when had he gotten so weak?

“Looks like we missed one.” the Fire Knight muttered in Koini, rolling his shoulders.

“Wait. Isn’t this the Northman the Royals spoke of?” the third Knight asked.

“No.” the Water Knight scoffed. “That one held his own against her highness, Yahui. This weakling couldn’t possibly be him.”

The Fire Knight asked, “Are there any other survivors down here?”

Bjorn only tried to stand back up. The Fire Knight kicked him in the stomach for that. Bjorn fell back to the ground, the air forced out of his lungs.

“Answer the question or we beat you to death.” the Knight said impassively.

“There...there aren’t any others.” Bjorn groaned.

“I think he’s lying.” the Water Knight said. “We’ll find whoever’s left on our own. Let’s just do this pitiful lump a favor and put him out of his misery.”

“But what if I can’t?” A groan came from behind the tent.

Fuck! Bjorn cursed in his mind. Taya!

“Actually, put that on hold.” the Water Knight sauntered over to the tent and threw it into the aqueduct. Taya was tossing and turning in her bedroll. “See? What’d I tell you?”

Bjorn had little lightning left in him to help her. But he had to do something.

Bjorn summoned up all the lightning he still had in him and threw the bolt at the Water Knight. The electricity struck the ground next to him, causing the Knight to jump.

Then he laughed, “Wait a minute! There’s no way! He is the Northman!”

Bjorn had failed. His one chance to stop them had been thrown away.

“And the girl?” The third knight asked.

The Water Knight threw off the covers of her bedroll, revealing Taya’s half-naked body and the Plague Scars on her leg.

“This is the Sklaveni! The one that defeated Prince Guanyu!”

“We’d be treated like war heroes for finding them.” The Fire Knight gasped.

“Not the Northman. The girl will get us far,” the Water Knight said, “But the Ascomanni is still conscious. And unnecessary.”

Bjorn’s panic took hold of him with even more strength as the words exited the Knight’s lips. He was going to die.

“I’ll take care of him. You two tie up the girl.” The Fire Knight walked over to Bjorn and swung his blade down at him. Bjorn blocked the strike with the haft of his axe on instinct.

The Knight stomped down on the haft, crushing Bjorn’s fingers between the haft and his own body.

They pinned his hands down, along with the rest of himself.

He was dead.

NO! I can get out of this! Don’t panic! He told himself these things in vain. Fear had consumed him.

The Fire Knight positioned his blade downward at Bjorn’s throat, ready to thrust.

If he wanted to live, he couldn’t keep being afraid. If he’d taken the risk to go out during a storm, he would have the power to fight them. If he hadn’t hidden and fought instead, perhaps this never would’ve happened.

The Fire Knight thrusted his blade. In a split second, Bjorn acted before his fear could keep up. He bit down, his teeth clamping onto the metal blade.

“What the…” The Fire Knight tried to wrench the blade out of Bjorn’s mouth, but he locked his jaw and refused to budge. THe Knight lit his sword on fire, but Bjorn simply breathed the Shedemic energy in like a delicate perfume.

His panic was not gone. In fact, it was more present than ever. Pure adrenaline drove Bjorn to fill himself with energy and unleash the power of a thunderbolt into the Knight’s body.

Bjorn staggered to his feet as the other Knights looked to him in surprise. He grabbed the fallen Knight’s sword and absorbed all the Shedim’s essence, powering himself.

Just act. No second thoughts.

Bjorn was acting nearly unconsciously and in complete lucidity at once. His instinct and conscious mind decided now was the time to act completely in tandem.

He lashed his hand out and struck each Knight with a bolt of azure lightning. It took only an instant to kill them both. Smoke wafted off his hands.

“I thought I’d sensed a powerful Shedim somewhere in this place.”

Bjorn turned to the shadows of the aqueduct’s tunnels as a figure stepped out of the darkness and into the dim, tiny amounts of sunlight that were allowed through.

At first, Bjorn thought it was Yahui, but this woman was slimmer and smaller. She wore black steel armor like many of the Bane Knights, but it was far more decorative and lined with gold and red accents. In each of her hands, she carried two hooked swords with crescent blades in the place of cross guards and wicked hooks at the end.

“My younger sister has told me much about you, Bjorn Stormtamer. I must say your gift is impressive.” the woman mused with a malicious tone.

Bjorn kicked his axe into his hands and sent blue arcs of electricity coursing through it. “Who are you?”

“A mere viper.” the woman whispered before sprinting towards him.

Bjorn threw out a lightning bolt, but somehow she evaded it. The woman slashed at his throat with her blades, but he was able to roll to the side and pick up his shield. He put it between himself and the woman as she unleashed a flurry of attacks.

The screech of a Shedim confirmed she was some kind of Banebender.

Bjorn slammed his shield into her, sending her sliding away from him. He heard sizzling from the front of his shield and glanced at it. Drops of black liquid on it seemed to burn through the paint and wood.

He tossed the shield aside.

“You’re the first princess, aren’t you? The Serpent of the Twelve.”

The woman grinned. “How perceptive. Unfortunately, not perceptive enough.”

Bjorn’s eyes bulged as all of his muscles tensed up. He collapsed to the ground, unable to move.

“The burning venom comes from the Shedim in my right hand. Everyone likes to pay attention to that. But a minor cut from my left sword will leave you paralyzed for an hour.” the princess said as she walked over to Taya.

No. No, you can’t be serious. Not again!

Bjorn strained to move, but no matter how much he thought about moving, his muscles were stuck in a painfully contracted state. He was curled up like a dead spider. And just as helpless as one. At best, he could move his tongue and lips.

Words! If I can get the second mantra, the power from that ought to do something! At the very least, I should be able to call down some lightning!

But no words came to him. And his tongue was tensing by curling up in his mouth while his lips tightened as though he’d eaten something sour.

He could barely keep his eyes open through a squint.

“Well...I suppose it’s better that I have this prize rather than three nobodies.” the woman said as she knelt down to Taya. “Don’t you think? I think I’ll take her head to my father. The whole body would be too troublesome.”

He struggled more, but it was so useless no one could even tell he was exerting his will as much as he could.

The princess grabbed Taya by her hair and lifted her roughly to have a clean shot at her neck.

NO!

The Serpent swung at Taya’s throat.

But time seemed to slow as words came to the forefront of his mind.

“True Strength!” Bjorn roared, “Is finding the will to fight, despite the weight of fear’s chains!” He tackled the Viper to the floor.

Taya’s would-be killer screamed in agony as electricity racked her body.

Bjorn’s scars seared with azure light, sending incredible pain through his body.

The Viper stumbled backwards and ran as Bjorn dropped to the floor to grit her teeth as his Scars expanded around the nape of his neck.

The Storm of the White Sea manifested above his cringing form and shouted, “Fathers and Mothers of lies! Behold your downfall! With breath of fire and strike of lightning, this warrior shall rise to conquer the spawn of the abyss we scorn with the name Despair!”

The pain subsided as his Shedim vanished. He staggered to his feet, blinking and looking about his surroundings.

He would not sit here and let Taya be hurt. He would not hide underground while the Nikan slaughtered innocents above.

He would not sit there and let fate beat him as it liked!

He would allow no one and nothing to hold him back from doing what he knew was right.

Bjorn unleashed a bolt of lightning powerful enough to evoke a deafening crack of thunder and blow a hole through the aqueduct.

Though if he was going to fight, it was better that Taya remained somewhere safe for the time being.

He leapt onto the cobblestone streets and drew his axe. “He who sails the dark clouds of the storm and rows his vessel with lightning. Bond with my steel and become the hand that carves my path.”

His axe became a two-handed weapon, with a heavy-looking and elaborate axe head, crackling with bright blue arcs of lightning.

A small squadron of Bane Knights was waiting for him up top.

Bjorn grinned with malice, challenging them to come closer.

He was done looking back. He was done viewing his failures as failures. They were tests to prepare him for the moments when he would need his conviction the most.

No matter how many attacked him, no matter how many tried to reject and shun him, he would fight!

“No matter your numbers!” he roared in Ascomanni, “I won’t bend to tyranny! No matter what you think! No matter how you try to scare me! I will not bow to fear! Be it gods or men! Fate or destiny! You will all crumble before I, Bjorn Olafsson, Stormtamer of the White Sea!”

His primal roar of fury gave the Bane Knights pause.

One of them lit his spear alight with flames and rushed at him. Bjorn slammed the blade of his axe into the knight’s chest, cracking his armor and sending him flying.

The Knights, with control over earth, started flinging boulders and uprooted bits of street at him, but Bjorn blasted them to dust with bolts of electricity.

A few regular soldiers lined the street and started throwing gas bombs at him. They were as useless as every other projectile. In fact, he hit the gas with lightning just soon enough to pour it over the Bane Knights, who scattered and broke up formation to avoid it.

Bjorn caused an explosion in an already deteriorating building with a blast of lightning, blocking the path between him and the Knights with rubble.

He needed to find somewhere to be a base of operations if he was going to put up a proper fight. If he wanted to fight off every Bane Knight in the city, he’d need more than just himself.

Perhaps the university. It was mostly accessible only by bridges. And the one staircase-

A Bane Knight broke the rubble barrier through. Then six more followed suit.

Bjorn stomped on the ground, unleashing a shock wave of energy that knocked the incoming enemies off balance, making them vulnerable to the simplest of attacks.

The Ascomanni was a whirlwind of blood and death for Bane Knights and Nikan soldiers alike. He fought with ferocity and certainty in his victory. Or at least, he was certain, until another hundred Bane Knights filed into the street, cornering them.

He blocked the strikes of three men at once with the haft of his axe before launching them backwards with a push. He moved to attack another before one of the Knights was suddenly gurgling on a spear through his throat.

Everyone froze as the Bane Knight collapsed. A meek-looking Koini man stood behind him, trembling at his own work.

A wave of battle cries washed over the street as men, women and children rushed out from the alleys, wielding cooking ware, farm tools and fallen debris as weapons.

They struck Knights over the head with blacksmith’s hammers and shovels. They piled onto the Knights, five or six at a time, tearing off their armor and throwing away their weapons.

Bjorn held up his axe and roared incoherently before jumping back into the fray. The people wanted to fight back. They just needed to be shown they could. Just like he once was.

Bjorn reveled in the brutality. He basked in the glorious feeling of righteous fury.

No. This isn’t your last stand. These people will fight, but they’re ill-equipped to do so. Retreat to the university.

“Free men and women of Koini! Get to the university! We’ll make that our stronghold!” Bjorn shouted, “Go, go, go!”

Bjorn ushered the citizens away from the fighting. He trailed behind them to keep them from harm from any Knights who followed them.

People crammed themselves onto the bridges and flooded out on the campus of the University of Koinelia while Bjorn guarded their rear.

“I’m going to hold them here until we can get a decent barricade up.” Bjorn said to the citizens, “Turn this university into a fortress. I’m going to signal for reinforcements.”