"So you singlehandedly stopped five robbers?" Blader asked Sodull after the recruit finished giving a brief explanation for why the locals thought so highly of him. "How?"

"With a bow and some well-placed arrows," Sodull said with a smirk. "Clambered up to the rooftops and rained judgement down into their midst." He leaned back in his chair, taking a bite out of a slice of the good thick bread slathered with butter, and chewed as Erik, Blader, Skalfi, and Wolfsted looked at him, perplexed.

"You did what now?" Erik asked after the brief silence.

Sodull swallowed his bite. One of the local families had supplied them with slices of cold chicken, a good loaf of bread, half a ball of butter, and a thick hunk of cheese for their meal, complete with glasses of cold milk. Apparently, he was right in believing he was well thought of here.

"I shot them with my bow," Sodull said, indicating the weapon sitting with his sheathed sword and shield.

"Where did you get a bow?" Skalfi asked. "We only came in here with our personal weapons and you didn't have a bow."

"Well, I got the bow from the kidnapper," Sodull explained.

"What kidnapper?" Wolfsted asked. "Start from the beginning."

Sodull then launched into his tale about another village, this time on the edge of a forest, where two young children had been kidnapped and taken into the woods. He had ventured into the forest to recover them, killing the kidnapper and taking his bow and quiver full of arrows before he had then returned the children to their grateful parents. Before moving on to this village, he had practiced with the bow to improve his accuracy.

On reaching this village, Sodull had barely arrived before a gang of outlaws had ridden down the main street. He had quickly concealed himself, climbing up onto a rooftop to get a better view of them. It hadn't taken him long to either kill or injure the robbers with the bow and arrows, and the injured ones were finished off by the people of the village. Sodull was immediately hailed as a hero.

"And that was yesterday," he finished. "I decided to spend some time here before moving on to save the next village, but then you four showed up. What have you been up to?"

So Skalfi, Wolfsted, Blader, and Erik told Sodull their stories, about Jotunheim, the tunnels, the dwarves, the dragon, and Brunna. Erik's voice went low when he talked about his ally. "She was a good einherjar. She shouldn't have died." Then Blader mentioned the strange figure on the throne and what he had said to him.

Sodull frowned. "General Thrym was killed by Dyr Gunar?"

Blader nodded and briefly gave an overview of the conversation he had had with Erik, Skalfi, and Wolfsted concerning that subject. "We think it was deliberate that no one was made aware of how my grandfather died."

"What I want to know is why that voice talked to you," Sodull said, his brow furrowing thoughtfully. "If no one knows this, except for the high ups of the einherjar and the Valkyries, and the gods of course, then why tell you? You don't know, presumably, so why point this out to you?"

Blader frowned. "That's a good point. I hadn't thought of that."

"The Reenactment seems to be faulty," Skalfi said with a nod, Erik nodding with her. "It doesn't look like the seers orchestrated this."

Wolfsted grimaced. "So who is also controlling this Reenactment beside the seers?"

Skalfi glanced at Blader and he knew she was thinking about the overheard meeting between the gods. But Sodull and Erik didn't know about the meeting, about what was discussed there. Only Wolfsted, Skalfi, and Blader knew.

"Should we tell them?" he whispered to Skalfi, and she seemed to consider it, her lips pressed tightly together. Then she glanced at Wolfsted, repeating Blader's question to him.

Sodull and Erik exchanged a glance as Wolfsted looked at Blader over Skalfi's head. He nodded, once, and Skalfi repeated the movement to Blader.

"All right," Blader said, leaning forward. "Back at Vigrid, Wolfsted, Skalfi, and I were riding past Yggdrasil when Wolfsted decided to head down into the root basin. We found that the gods, with the exception of Baldor and Nanna, were having a meeting."

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Erik asked.

"We didn't tell anybody," Skalfi said. "For your protection, and for ours. But with the evidence pointing to a faulty Reenactment, it's probably about time we told you."

"So they talked about the wolf attacks," Wolfsted said. "It was coordinated, which means there was a leader. The gods hypothesized it was someone connected with the Dyr Gunar plot. Apparently, the wolves would flock to Gunar."

"But only because of the chaos he invited," Skalfi said. "He had no power over them, apparently."

"They briefly discussed the Reenactment," Blader said. "About the seers increasing precautions. And that ended their meeting."

Sodull and Erik exchanged another glance, their eyes widening. "Precautions against what?" Sodull asked. "It looks like there's a flaw in their Reenactment."

Erik nodded. "It sounds as if the precautions are connected to the wolf attacks. If the instigator is believed to have been a part of the Dyr Gunar plot, then the precautions must be linked to that as well."

Wolfsted cocked his head. "But why? That seems to say the Reenactment is at risk. Why is it at risk?"

"Either there's someone in here they really want planted in the einherjar," Skalfi said slowly. "Or there's someone they really don't want in the einherjar."

Sodull nodded. "I have another question. How did you know about the meeting, Wolfsted? Your decision to head down into the basin coinciding at the exact time of a meeting between the gods seemed highly coincidental."

Skalfi glanced at Wolfsted. "You knew something was happening. You went down there with a purpose."

"Well?" Blader prompted quietly. "Tell us, Wolfsted."

Wolfsted shifted uneasily in his chair, all eyes on him. "I told you," he said defensively. "Aldrians have a sixth sense, what with us being hunters and all. That's all it is."

"Right," Sodull drawled. "I've heard that myth about Aldrians having a sixth sense, but I've also heard the myth about you guys having a third eye in the back of your necks and that's why your hair is so long, to cover the unnaturalness of it. And I doubt that is true."

"Unless you want to show us yours," Erik added.

Wolfsted furtively glanced around, looking like a cornered animal. But before he could say anything, screams from outside caught their attention.

Blader started up from his chair as some villagers dashed by the window. "What's going on?" he queried, glancing back at the others.

"Something we need to save them from?" Sodull guessed. "That's probably it."

Snatching up their weapons, the group headed outside, slipping their shields over their arms and drawing their swords. Screams continued to echo up all around them as the five recruits stepped into the street and glanced in the direction the rekkr were running from.

A giant wall of flames stretched across the meadow as far as they could see, roaring toward the village. The wildfire stood incredibly tall, the sky above darkened by the black smoke. It was approaching the village rapidly and Blader began to feel the heat in the air.

"Let's go!" Wolfsted yelled, turning to run.

"What, Aldrians don't like fire?" Skalfi mocked, and Wolfsted shot her an injured look.

"No!" Sodull said. "We have to help the villagers!"

"They're not real!" Wolfsted pointed out. "They're rekkr!"

"That's not the point," Blader told him. "This is all a test, Wolfsted! Are we einherjar or not?"

"Einherjar!" Erik declared. "Let's make sure the villagers are all cleared out!"

"There's a river north of here," Sodull added. "It's wide enough to provide protection from the fire."

"Go," Blader ordered tersely, and he and his friends scattered, darting into houses and making sure the villagers exited. Shield on one arm, his sword sheathed on his back, Blader shepherded the rekkr up the street in the direction of the river. The bank of fire was getting closer, its heat rolling into the village in violent waves that almost burned his skin through the shear intensity.

And the fire hadn't even arrived yet.

As Blader cleared the last house, the villagers fleeing out of the village and through the waving grass toward the river, he saw Sodull and Erik waiting by the village's edge, eyes wide as they looked for the others. Beyond them, Blader could see the curve of the river, which was to be their salvation from this wildfire. Then Wolfsted came into sight, carrying an elderly man on his back. Skalfi was behind him, a baby clutched in her arms. Blader ran towards them, but skidded to a halt when he heard the cry.

"Help! Help!"

The voice was high-pitched, filled with fear. It most likely belonged to a child. Fire was starting to burn down the buildings on the edge and there was no time to waste. But Blader hesitated. Sodull and Erik were already starting to help Skalfi and Wolfsted run for the river and there was no one to consult.

Whose life do you most prize?

The voice from the Reenactment rang in his ears as the child continued to cry out for help. Blader could hear the anguish, the fear, and suddenly he was a ten year old kid again in the flipped Transriot on Thor's Bridge.

What would Ivan do?

Blader knew what his brother would do. He would run back toward the fire, find the child crying for his help, and either save their life or die trying.

Blader started to run back into the village, shoving his fears down. The raging fire was coming closer as the child continued to scream. "I'm coming!" he yelled back, as loud as he could.

"Here!" the child screamed and Blader spun, the voice coming from up on his left. Altering his path, he raced towards the house there, trying not to look at the towering wall of fire approaching him.

Kicking the door open, Blader staggered inside, struggling against the fear inside him. Wildly, he glanced around the main room and saw a little girl lying by one of the walls, a chair pulled up beside the shelves behind her. Tears stained her face as she looked up at him. She appeared to be around Freyja's age.

"Help," she whimpered.

Blader dashed over to her side, crouching down. "I can't stand," she told him, her voice filled with tears. "I hurt my leg trying to get down and run."

"It's okay," Blader soothed. "I'll carry you. It might hurt, but I have to, okay?"

The girl nodded as Blader pulled her into his arms, crying out when he moved her leg. But he kept going, standing back up as her arms wrapped around his neck, turning and running for the door.

The fire was nearing, devouring the house four doors down from the one Blader was exiting. He only took one glance at the flames before turning and sprinting down the street, the roaring of the fire drowning out his thoughts and all other sound.

Fear drove Blader forward, knowing that to stop or slow down was to die. He had to make it to the river. The river. He had been able to see the glint of its waters before running in to save the girl. He should be able to make it. He should be able to make it.

Blader felt the heat assaulting his back, the flames growing closer and closer as he ran as fast as he could. To stop meant death, to stop meant death. He ran as he had never run before, holding the girl tightly to his chest.

Blader had only felt fear like this once before, on Thor's Bridge. Nothing else in the Reenactment compared to this, nothing else before the Reenactment compared but Thor's Bridge, not even fighting the wolves to save Hilda. Perhaps it was simply knowing that only death awaited him at the end, that life was beginning to withdraw from his reach as he ran. But on Thor's Bridge, he hadn't really realized that planting himself by the door with the stun baton had guaranteed his death should the Valhallans have walked through the door. Now, he fully realized the danger he was in, how close he was to dying.

He kept running.

Blader raced past the last building in the village and continued on toward the river. He vaguely heard someone screaming his name and when he glanced toward the body of water, he saw Skalfi waving her arms, Wolfsted, Sodull, and Erik with her. Horror was in their faces, their eyes wide.

"Run!" Erik yelled.

"It's here," the girl sobbed in Blader's ear. "It's here."

Blader felt the intense heat on his back, searing his skin, but he didn't risk looking over his shoulder. He pinned his gaze on Skalfi, standing on the riverbank, and made her his only focus. I just have to reach her. I just have to reach her. I just have to reach her. He put on a burst of speed.

The heat was growing in intensity as he reached the river. He didn't dare to slow on reaching the bank. With a hoarse cry, Blader hurled himself into the river.

The river swallowed Blader as he struck the water, enveloping him in its cool liquid, such a far cry from the flames hounding at his back. Blader kept a hold on the girl with one hand as he struggled to swim toward the other bank.

The fire was still burning behind him, growling down at the stretch of river that was stopping it. He came up for air, inhaling smoke as he sought for oxygen. Coughing and hacking, Blader treaded water to the best of his ability, gripping the girl as hard as he could, and shaking the water from his eyes as he tried to find some strength to keep going.

He vaguely heard a splash, felt water droplets on his face, and then something was trying to pull the little girl from his grasp. Blader resisted, jerking back, and then noticed the soaking wet black hair of Wolfsted, trying to take the girl. Releasing her, Blader watched his friend stroke sloppily toward the shore, appearing to struggle with the movements. Sodull appeared in the water, helping Wolfsted finish crossing to the riverbank, as Blader felt an arm slip around his back, and he groaned.

"Come on, Blader!" he heard Skalfi calling. He glanced over dazedly and saw her beside him, starting to swim back toward the shore. He was almost surprised when he was pulled after her. Then Erik was on the other side of him and the three made their way toward the riverbank, where Wolfsted, Sodull, and the little girl were climbing out now, coughing and shuddering. As someone raced toward them, grabbing up the little girl in a desperate embrace, Skalfi, Erik, and Blader made it to the bank and Wolfsted and Sodull grabbed at Blader's arms, ignoring his groans and dragging him from the river.

That was the last thing Blader remembered.

/**/

Well, that was...intense.

What did you think? Of their conversation, of the wildfire? What do you think about Wolfsted's "sixth sense" excuse?

Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed! Please comment and vote!

Skylar Wittenborn