On the other side of the door; armed guards were screaming and running toward the center of the camp. As soon as the last patrol passed them, Ulf opened the door and ran behind them; Alec followed her lead.

  "Erik is making a diversion; I know where the flag is," she explained. "All I need is time; you think you can manage that?"

  Alec was already following her; it would have been stupid to say no now; plus, if they had already begun to act on their plan, it meant she believed it could work that was enough dor him.

  "Yes, Ma'am." He answered.

  "Second rule. No matter what happen don't die."

  A couple of Guards busted out of an alley before them.

  But before Alec could react; Ulf mimicked drawing a bow, and in a flash, twin arcs of light—thin as arrows but bright as lightning—sliced through the air.

  They sent the guard flying back on impact. Their screams swallowed by the roar of fire.

  "What- What was that?" He nearly screamed, surprised.

  "Stay focus."

  The smell hit Alec before the sight did. The air grew heavy, filled with a thick smoke almost choking, the burning stench settling heavy in his throat.

  Then he saw it—everything was on fire. Huts collapsing into flame, the sky bled from blue to furious orange.

  Guards sprinted through the chaos, shouting, trying to contain the blaze.

  Erik’s diversion wasn’t just effective; it was apocalyptic.

  Ulf stopped beside him. “Your name again?”

  Rude.

  “Alec Chase.”

  “Ulf Skadidóttir,” she said. “Erik should be down this path. I trust you not to ruin this for me.”

  She pulled a knife from her shoe and handed it to him.

  “I won’t,” he nodded as he took it.

  She holded his hand as he did.

  She drew something that glowed with the same fiery light as the sigils on her bracers on his wrist. A wave of pulsating heat ran through Alec's body.

  Skadidóttir; the name tugged at something deep in his memory—like he was missing something big-before chaos shoved it away.

  When he turned back to her, she was gone.

  Now it was Alec's time to move.

  He pushed through the smoke, each step burning his lungs and stinging his eyes. The heat pressed against him like a living thing, and the shriek of collapsing wood and the roar of flames made every sense scream for retreat.

  Through the haze, a movement caught his eye. There—at the center of the camp—Erik was a whirlwind of motion.

  Warriors closed in on him from every side, his back turned to a wall, their blades glinted against the orange blaze.

  But Erik didn’t falter; he looked more like the actual danger than anything else.

  He was dodging, parying and striking them with such agility and violence that even some of the guards hesitated to go at him.

  If Alec had known they could fight like that he would have stayed with them since the beginning.

  Erick dodged a sword strike and kicked the guards sending him sprawling into the flames.

  Another lunged; Erik’s fist met his jaw, and the man crumpled as he picked up his sword.

  Then a third one, swinging wildly. He ducked under the strike and struck the guard's head with the hilt of his sword before slashing at the man’s side, forcing him to stumble back.

  Alec saw his opening. With not much time to think, he tightened his grip on the knife and edged closer, using the smoke and confusion as cover.

  The fire wasn’t giving anyone mercy; collapsing timbers and sparks forced him to jump, roll, and pivot constantly.

  Alec realized just how high the stakes were: one wrong step, one second of hesitation, and he’d be just another casualty on the burning ground.

  One guard noticed him; a sword clanged near his shoulder, sparks flying. Alec stumbled back, nearly falling over a burning log.

  His heart raced, he grabbed the intact part of the log and swung.

  The log struck the guard across the helmet with a sickening crack. Sparks and embers flew in every direction as the man staggered back, clutching his head and screaming.

  Alec barely registered the pain in his hands from the heat; adrenaline drowned everything out. Using the confusion, he pushed closer to Erik.

  On his side, Erik dodged a downward strike. He tried to retaliate but one guard grabbed his arm; responding quickly, he headbutted him, but the first assaillant wasn't done and when he realised that, the man's sword was already inches away from his head.

  Emerging from the smoke, Alec lunged at the guard, plunging his knife in his side, Erik then stabbed him: before turning to Alec.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "Young brother!!" He claimed. " I was starting to believe that you wouldn't show up."

  "And miss your party? Never."

  Erick smiled. It felt like the first time he had seen one since he had woken up in that forest. A genuine smile.

  He grabbed Alec by the collar and pulled him closer.

  Planted his sword in the ground and Shouted.

  "I, Erik Ragnarsson declares it. None of y'all will live to see tomorrow."

  The men froze.

  “Ragnarson?” the name echoed through the camp, a ripple that seemed to still even the flames. Despite the chaos, the air itself felt suspended.

  “Impossible!” one guard shouted, disbelief cracking his voice.

  “Come and try my blood, then,” Erik roared, eyes ablaze with fire.

  The men staggered back. Alec’s heart hammered. What was happening? Were they really afraid of his name? Who was this boy standing next to him?

  Erik turned to Alec and picked up his sword. The odds had shifted—suddenly, they looked like the ones in control.

  “He speaks the truth! The kid next to him—he slayed Bjorn! I saw his axe!” screamed the guard who had thrown Alec into the cage.

  The guards’ language, once gibberish, now fell into words Alec could understand. They all turned their gaze toward him.

  “And that’s my brother. The Tide Turner!” Erik shouted, and a wave of ice frozed the men before Alec.

  “Now you have to uphold your legacy, brother,” Erik said, a smile cutting through the firelight.

  Alec’s hand tightened around a sword, the familiar weight anchoring him. Knife in the other hand, he breathed deep, raising his weapons as he had done a hundred times in practice.

  “Don’t make me wait,” he said, head held high, defiance blazing in his eyes.

  The wind picked up, fire roared higher, and then, as if the sky itself answered, the snow returned with a biting force that eased the flames.

  Silence fell. No one dared move.

  The perfect moment to run, Alec thought—but what if Ulf hadn’t finished yet

  "Then let's test those young heroes." A voice echoed from the crowd.

  The snow thickened, each flake hissing as it touched the scorched earth. Not a storm—it was a warning.

  A path opened between the guards as the voice stepped forward. Not stepped-parted the chaos. Even the flames seemed to bow

  A tall man pushed through the ranks. His norse armor was dented and blackened with blood, he shuffled his ashy hair as he walked slowly. His eyes were sharp, but his demeanor could have fooled you, he looked like this was another friday.

  Erik must have seened it too, because he stepped in front of Alec

  Alec had never seen him before, but something in those eyes made his stomach twist. Not fear. Recognition. Like meeting the reason for your nightmares before you ever knew their name.

  "Chief?" A voice from the crowd broke the silence

  "You're awake?" Another voice said

  He pointed his axe at Alec. Not Erik.

  And the next second, she was inches away from his face.

  Erick pushed Alec down, evading the worst.

  "He's fast." Erik screamed as he lunged forward.

  He dodged the first swords strike with ease before bumping Erick back with his shoulder.

  As erick staggered, but caught the man by his collar and headbutted him.

  The man stepped back but recovered before Erik could do anything.

  This wasn't an enemy Alec could manage.

  He stood backup, trying to make his hand stop shaking.

  Erik wasn't slowing down. Every slash was lethal, he was fighting to kill.

  The man moved through them like he had already dance that dance before. Dodging with ease

  That's where Erik changed the play, he feinted a slash, the man moved first and Erick punched the man in his jaw.

  So hard it felt like it reverbed through the crowd.

  The man took it, stumbled back a bit. A whisper emerger from the crowd.

  "HOLMGANG!" Someone said

  "HOLMGANG!" Another one respond louder.

  Until it turned to a chant.

  The man lunged at Erick with new found strength.

  Erick flinched and struck. The man only had to wait a second to catch him; he grabbed him by the arm then kneed him in the stomach, before kneeing him in the head.

  Erick stumbled, nearly falling down, the man then pushed kicked him, he slided back, but stayed up.

  "Let's give the crowd what they want." He said. "Bring me a sword and chield, do so for our guest, the ragnarsson!" He screamed.

  The crowd roared in unision and excitement. They were talking about a one on one to the death

  A shield and a sword, were handed to the man.

  A shield and a sword where throwned toward Erik and Alec as the roaring chants were now being matched by the tambour of swords clashing on shieds.

  Erik picked the axe the man had thrown at Alec earlier. Mimicking him slashing the throat of the man.

  The man smiled- then hurled the shield at Erik's face.

  Erik crossed sword and axe just in time.

  The impact rang through his arms—but the man was already there.

  He pressed forward, slashing again and again. Erik dodged and parried, but the blows kept coming, off-balancing him. The man aimed to finish the attack.

  Alec moved before he could think.

  He threw his knife at the man, in a flash it got to his face.

  Electricity erupted across the blade as it struck, snapping through the man’s body. He stiffened, muscles locking, breath ripped from his lungs.

  Erik leapt back, stunned.

  "Ulf?" Erick searched for a second before turning to Alec. "Of course you have her knife."

  The man staggered back, definetly lost.

  Alec rose and in an instant, the knife appeard in his hand, static electricity still drizzling on it.

  "Don't throw that so carelessely younger brother." Erik said as he turned to the man.

  Alec saw a smile on his face

  The man caught his spirit back.

  The crowd roared again.

  Thunder echoed far, to break like the storm itself was enjoying the show.

  "That's my clue to leave." Erik whispered.

  That was Ulf's doing? Her signal.

  That time, and that time only, Alec started the dance.

  He lunged at the man in an estoc.

  The man was surprised barely avoiding it.

  Erik followed. He threw his axe at the man head.

  He dodged again, but it imbalanced him.

  Alec struck with his sword aiming for his side.

  Steel met steel, as the man parried—too late

  Erik threw his sword.

  No trained fighter expects that.

  It logded itself straight in the man shoulder.

  As he struggled and step back.

  Alec closed the show by throwing the knife.

  It split the air and lodged itself deep in the man’s chest as another wave of electricity surged outward.

  The man’s roar froze the crowd—a literal shockwave rippling through the camp.

  He staggered back, his chest smoking from the lingering electricity.

  For the first time, his eyes widened with something that wasn’t confidence.

  Alec didn’t wait to see if he’d recover.

  With a nod, he and Erik bolted through the crowd, whose roars had turned into gasps. Too shocked to react, no one tried to stop them.

  At last, they ran.

  Erik moved like he already knew the path Alec would take.

  Their way was clear—guards’ bodies littered the ground, arrows buried in them like markers.

  Static crackled as the knife reappeared in Alec’s hand, and realization struck him hard.

  “This wasn’t chaos. And Ulf wasn’t a side character—she was the architect.

  They didn’t look back. The camp behind them burned like a living thing, smoke twisting into jagged shapes that chased them through the snow.

  Each step crunched over ash and debris, fire and frost hissing together underfoot.

  Shouts faded into panicked screams.

  “Left—there!” Erik shouted, pointing toward a narrow gap between two smoldering structures.

  Alec followed without hesitation. The enemy was disoriented. The path ahead was almost eerily clear.

  For a moment, the fire behind them felt distant, replaced by the pounding of their hearts. The wind cut through them, carrying the scent of burning wood and iron.

  “Keep moving!” Erik yelled. “We’re not safe until the woods!”

  The forest edge loomed ahead. Freedom waited just beyond the smoke.

  For the first time since waking in that nightmare, Alec felt in control—not just of the fight, but of his life.

  “You’re a good fighter,” Erik said.

  “The two of you would’ve managed without me,” Alec replied.

  Erik snorted. “Maybe. But watching a side character turn into a hero?”

  He smiled. “That was worth seeing.

  Ulf was standing against of the three of the forest edge.

  She had her bow on her back and big flag with runes that formed a circle emaning cackling electricity on it.

  She exhaled deeply as she saw them.

  "I tought y'all want to get that back." She said as she threw his axe back at Alec.

  He caught it mid air.

  When had she?

  "I told you he was good." Erik said as he reached her side.

  "He didn't dissapoint." She smiled.

  Ulf pulled a bkack flag out with runes drawn on it and planted it in the ground.

  The wind dropped.

  Snow stop falling. And the storm died down.

  And infront of them, a golden door opened.

  She smiled as she streched.

  "This was only the beginning boy. We don't know what's coming behind this door." She said coldly to Alec.

  "I know our new brother can handle it." Erick said as he put his hand on Alec's shoulder.

  Ulf opened the door and a blinding light emaned from it.

  "Has anyone seen Aksel?" Erik asked.

  Alec didn’t know when Ulf had positioned herself behind him, but she kicked him through the door and he disappeared.

  Alec's heart dropped again. He definetly hated doing this he didn't understand.

  "See you on the other side." She said as she crossed the doorthreshold.

  And now it was his turn.

  He took a deep breath. He hadn't learned a lot until then. Except that they were so much that he didn't know, this place wasn't following any rules that made sense in Alec's mind.

  A different behavior all together. But he had kept on pressing forward even when uncertain.

  Forward was the only way in front him, to survive, to get answer about himself.

  So no matter, how hard is body screamed at him not to, how bad he wanted to threw up as he did, he crossed the door threshold.