The beam of crackling energy shot right over Blader Thrym's head, scorching the black rock behind him. The ripple of heat caught him in the back, despite his armor, and he gritted his teeth against the burning pain. Lifting his rifle, he ran forward, flanked by two of his squadmates, firing at the rekkr trying to advance on the einherjar's position across the rough plain. Blader took cover behind the next rock formation and crouched down, taking a brief breather.

"They're getting smarter," Wolfsted Kyll swore, his powerful rifle spitting energy at the rekkr soldiers as he wiped his shaggy black hair off his forehead, now slick with sweat. "Vidar's foot, how are they doing this with just rekkr?"

"It's damn sorcery," Skalfi Vekja said, brown strands of hair escaping from her short braid. Her bright blue eyes were the only spot of color in the dark landscape. "It's that blood magic Tros and Racarl wield."

"Real soldiers are still better than summoned ones," Blader grunted. He glanced over at them. "They don't go through grueling testing to get this far."

"That's the truth," Skalfi muttered.

Glancing behind him, Blader saw Sodull Trautt and Vandri Merki taking cover behind another formation, Sodull's red hair and Vandri's blonde braid plainly obvious across the distance. The rest of their company was spread out behind them, slowly advancing on the rekkr across the frozen lava plains, the formerly violently fiery substance having cooled to a dark shade with orange veins shooting through it. Blader rested his rifle on top of the rock formation, setting one of the rekkr in his sights.

"We're not going to get anywhere this way," Wolfsted sighed, propping up his rifle beside his friend's. "Why did they train us with swords and shields if we're to spend the rest of our time in the einherjar shooting them?"

Blader furrowed his brow. "Wolfsted's right. Why don't we give these rekkr a taste of our swords for once? These are all rifle rekkr. They're not trained to handle swords because they're trained to shoot us down before we get close enough to draw our swords."

Skalfi frowned thoughtfully, still crouched behind the barrier. "That might work, but how will we approach them? They've got rifles trained on us, Blader."

Blader surveyed the opposition, squeezing off the occasional laser. Skalfi propped her rifle up beside theirs, adding to his and Wolfsted's fire, as the three of them thought, trying to come up with a plan.

"We have to get off the field," Blader said finally. "Out of the valley, toward the ridges." He nodded in the direction of the edge of the battlefield. "We'll be able to get behind their lines that way."

Skalfi and Wolfsted glanced over toward the dark stone ridges, their expressions thoughtful. "Let's take Vandri and Sodull," Skalfi said finally. "We'll want them to pull this off."

"An Aldrian could do it by himself," Wolfsted pointed out, a note of bragging in his voice.

"Then by all means," Blader said, gesturing to the enemy rekkr. "Go ahead."

Wolfsted frowned at him. "An Aldrian also doesn't leave his friends behind."

"Right," Skalfi drawled. "That's why."

Wolfsted glared at her, but Blader spoke before he could retort. "Let's get Vandri and Sodull and go."

Skalfi glanced over in the direction of their two friends, who were firing steadily at the rekkr. It took a couple moments of gesturing and low calls, but eventually Vandri and Sodull got the gist. Blader, Skalfi, and Wolfsted laid down cover fire as the two ran towards them, ducking and weaving and firing the occasional shot off.

"What did you want us for?" Vandri asked as she sank down behind the rock barrier, glancing over at Blader.

"We're going to take out the rekkr," Blader told her. "Using swords and shields, Vigrid-style."

Sodull narrowed his eyes, but there was a flash of lightning there, the flare of interest. "That would certainly be a change of pace."

Quickly, the five went over their plan before everyone slung their rifles across their backs, removing their shields and drawing their swords. In the battles they had fought in ever since becoming einherjar, the weapons they had trained in had been put aside as secondary weapons, carried by all skera but only used in close combat. The rifles were better for distances.

"To the tunnels," Wolfsted hissed at Blader as they all crouched behind the barrier. "We can sneak behind their lines through them."

"On three," Blader murmured. "One, two, three!"

The five bolted out from their hiding place, sprinting for the ridges at the edge of the valley. Energy beams streaked over their heads as they ducked and dodged, shields held up to protect them from the worst of it. Blader felt one beam strike his shield full on, sending him stumbling to the side, but he righted himself and kept going.

Finally, they reached the ridges at the side of the valley, rising awkwardly into the black stone embankment. Blader cast his gaze around, looking for the tunnel that would lead them beneath the craggy surface of the valley. It took his eyes a moment to find the entrance in the dark rock, the ebony shadow leading into the ground.

Blader moved toward it, his companions noticing his movement and hurrying after him, shields still up. He reached the entrance, gazing down into the darkness with caution. "Prepare to descend," he commanded. "Shields up to advance, swords in defensive."

Vandri, Wolfsted, Sodull, and Skalfi obeyed his order as Blader himself assumed the position, shield up in front of him and his sword extended to the side. Then, with him in the lead, Wolfsted and Skalfi positioned themselves behind him and to either side, Vandri and Sodull bringing up the rear.

The darkness engulfed the einherjar as they descended into the tunnel. Blader blinked, waiting for his eyes to adjust enough to see in the dim light. He could already see the vague outline of the walls but he needed to be able to see any attackers. The natives weren't exactly friendly to the einherjar soldiers fighting a battle on their world. At this point, the dwagr were just as likely to attack them as the rekkr were.

"Move out," he murmured.

The einherjar crept through the tunnels. The craggy, black rock arced over their heads, a slight heat emanating from the surface. The tunnel itself had a very dim light, just enough for the soldiers to be able to see. For that, Blader was thankful. He'd already spent time in pitch black tunnels and didn't need a repeat of that.

With the exception of their boots scraping on rock, there was no sound in the tunnels. Blader took that as an ominous sign. From what he heard, these tunnels were the roads of the dwagr, their main dwelling being underground. But since the battle had begun, no sign of the natives had been seen. Whether that was for good or ill had yet to be decided.

Up ahead, after an indeterminate amount of time walking through the tunnels, Blader saw the path split into two. One descended steeply into the ground, the other continued on straight ahead. He lifted his sword, indicating the latter tunnel as their course of action, and heard the slightest sound of a pebble hitting stone.

That was the only indication of what was coming.

Blader lifted his shield as the hard rock clanged against it, bouncing off to fall to the tunnel floor. A barrage of other rocks followed the first, hitting the shields of the other einherjar as they all hid behind them.

"What in Helheim!" Skalfi exclaimed.

"Dwagr," Sodull said in disgust. "I bet ten it's dwagr."

Blader shifted his sword in his grip and glanced around his shield after a moment of silence. A horde of natives, pale skinned, sturdily built dwagr with wild beards and hair, charged them, howling and waving short, squat iron swords, the beings themselves half the size of the einherjar.

"Attack!" Blader called, dropping his shield to defend his midsection and swinging his sword up to block the leader's blade, the sound of the metal clashing ringing through the tunnel.

The tunnel was wide enough to accommodate a fight among the dwagr people, but the humans would have a bit of a tough time, Blader noticed. Due to their formation, he took the brunt of the attack, Wolfsted and Skalfi dealing with the dwagr who moved past them. Vandri and Sodull stood on the edges, flanking Wolfsted and Skalfi respectively, and slashed and parried the attackers who fell to the outside, the five of them forming a point.

"Take that!" Wolfsted grunted, as he kicked a dwagr in the chest, knocking him into several of his comrades. The Aldrian had his shield to the side, exposing his body as he kicked and slashed, what Blader had come to recognize as his friend's style of fighting. He also knew that Wolfsted would rather be charging the dwagr instead of waiting to meet them, but he remained in order to protect his friends, to hold the line.

A blade nicked Blader's leg and he shifted away, striking out with his blade and connecting with flesh. He heard a howl, a curse, and swung out again, his eyes finding the offending dwagr, crimson blood standing his shoulder. They wore armor, much like the einherjar, but the dwagr sported thicker metal plates across their abdomens and back, their helmets fitting over their wild dark hair. But the armor plates on their arms only shielded their forearms.

"Aim for the upper arms, shoulders, waist down, and neck!" Blader commanded. He heard several grunts in response and knew they would. It was strike true or die. It always was, these days. Mercy belonged not on the battlefield, not during these times.

Mercy didn't seem to belong anywhere, these days.

Skalfi had marked several dwagr already with her dagger, carried in her shield hand. Hidden behind the strong metal and wood, enemies always seemed surprised when a seeming shield bash turned into a jab, the unseen blade almost always drawing blood. Combined with her sword, which quickly swept in to finish a job, it was a deadly pairing, one she had grown expert in wielding.

The dwagr continued to hurl themselves at the einherjar, slashing, jabbing, cursing, and howling. Blader and the others held their ground, deflecting and parrying blows, lashing out with their blades to take out an attacker, cuts and scrapes finding the exposed parts of their bodies. Soon, bodies littered the ground before the soldiers, providing obstacles to their fellows as the natives continued to attack.

Then an echoing howl rose from the remaining dwagr, their bloodstained leader calling to those still alive from his militia. The surviving dwagr began to retreat, backing away from the einherjar's line and regrouping by the entrance to the descending tunnel.

The einherjar didn't move, watching the dwagr as they retreated into the deeper darkness. Then Blader slightly lowered his shield as they vanished from sight. "Let's go."

Carefully, the five soldiers moved forward, falling back into formation as Blader led them toward the second tunnel. After several minutes of walking, the ground beneath their boots began to slope upward and Blader lifted his eyes to see a thin stream of sunlight lying before them.

"Do you think we're far enough behind enemy lines?" Vandri asked in a whisper.

"We should be," Sodull answered, looking up at the rock above their heads. "I believe we've traveled far enough."

"We can't go any farther, anyway," Wolfsted said with a slight shrug. "Unless we want to follow the dwagr."

"No, thank you," Skalfi said, grimacing.

Blader stopped, glancing up at the sunlight. "On my command, we charge out of the tunnel and attack. Behind them or ahead, we put our all into this charge and take out as many as possible. Rekkr have shown no indication they won't kill their own kind to get to their targets, so don't rely on them not shooting just because we're in their ranks."

"That might even play to our advantage," Skalfi observed. "If they can take out a few of their own."

"Right," Blader acknowledged, glancing at her, her eyes determined, features formed in an expression grim and ready. The dim light hid part of her face, as if shading her from view, keeping a part of Skalfi hidden from the world. Blader knew the feeling well. "For the past year, we have fought the rekkr mostly with rifles, only using swords when we're in the middle of a battle. They're not accustomed to our sword and shield tactics, and these rekkr aren't programmed to have those weapons. So get close, stay close, and stay together."

All four of his friends nodded, their faces serious in the dim light.

Blader smiled grimly at them. Through thick and thin, they had managed to stay together during the last year of intense combat, ever since proving themselves in the Reenactment. He determined to keep it that way, for all of them to remain together.

I will not lose another of them the way we lost Erik.

"Charge."

The five einherjar ran up the slope, shields up and swords ready. Blader felt adrenaline surge through his veins and his mind slipping once more into intense battle mode. It was time to end this battle.

Bursting out of the tunnel into the weak sunlight, Blader, Wolfsted, Skalfi, Vandri, and Sodull risked a quick glance around to ascertain their position and realized that they had, indeed, come up behind rekkr lines. Blader turned and led the others silently toward the rekkr, his grip tightening around his hilt as their boots pounded on the rock and solidified lava plain.

"Einherjar!" he heard a rekkr shout, turning to point its rifle at the group, but Blader hurtled toward it, shield up. He took the blast in the center of his shield and sliced right through the rekkr without stoppping, causing it to flicker and fade as he pivoted to find his next opponent, Wolfsted pivoting with him to watch his back.

Vandri and Skalfi were doing the same, staying in a loose back-to-back formation that made sure all sides of an einherjar were covered. Sodull was the only one without a partner and so he stuck with Blader and Wolfsted, the three of them having formed a loose triangular defense formation that kept all three relatively protected.

Blader slashed and cut, ducking behind his shield to deflect the blasts of energy from the rekkr's rifles. The einherjar kept close together, always moving in the same direction, cutting down rekkr and pulling their attention away from the rest of the forces.

Heat seared the side of Blader's face as a blast shot past his head. Sliding forward, he slashed through another rekkr and spun around to thrust his blade through the abdomen of another. Pivoting again, he swung his sword and heard a harsh clang as it met metal.

Blader's eyes widened as his eyes tracked the progress of his blade. A young woman stood there, her sword crossed with his, her eyes blazing. He could tell by the expression in her eyes that she was no rekkr.

"So you used the dwagr tunnels to sneak behind our lines and destabilize the rekkr," she said calmly. "I was told to expect something ingenious from you, Blader Thrym."

Blader narrowed his eyes. There was only one person who could have told her anything about him, and that person was a traitor.

"And who do I have the pleasure of meeting?" Blader asked coldly, drawing his sword off hers and swinging again. She blocked his swing, not bothering to answer, and then they were sparring, their steps quick, their blades quicker, each stroke meeting its match.

Wolfsted, Sodull, Vandri, and Skalfi kept fighting the rekkr, Wolfsted casting a glance Blader's way but unable to aid him. Blader and the young woman continued to duel, every thrust meeting its parry, every slash being blocked.

And then she jumped.

The woman flipped over backwards after Blader lashed out at her after feinting with his shield, and she landed in a crouch with her sword out to the side. Blader couldn't believe his eyes. He only knew of one person who could perform such feats.

But this woman was clearly no Valkyrie.

Blader charged as she came out of her crouch, the clash of metal echoing in his ears. She swung hard and he took the blow on his shield, thrusting low and forcing her to twist away, her black braid whipping out behind her. Blader pressed his advantage, feinting left and then whipping his blade around to the right, aiming for her sword arm. She dropped into a crouch, sweeping at his feet, and Blader jumped over her sword, kicking up with his foot.

His boot connected with her jaw and she went over backwards with a grunt, turning it into a roll and coming up in a sprinter's position. She narrowed her black eyes at him and as the weak sunlight glinted off her blade, Blader caught a fresh scar, beaded with blood, on her wrist.

He had not caused that scar.

She flew at him, coming through the air with her sword cleaving down toward him, and he rolled out of the way, coming up on his feet a little bit away. The woman landed and pivoted, lifting her shield as Blader swung, at the last moment changing his angle and cutting in below her shield.

His sword bit flesh as she jumped backward and his blade came away with the edge tainted with blood. A scowl on her face, the woman flew at him with a double kick, her body twisting through the air, and Blader fell back. His shield took the brunt of one kick but her other boot landed a blow on the side of his jaw.

Blader heard a sharp yell and suddenly Wolfsted's painted shield slammed into the woman's shoulder, with so much force behind it that she was thrust backward, heavily off balance. Blader took a glance around and saw that most of the rekkr were in retreat, their numbers severely depleted. The rest of the einherjar forces had advanced, storming the rekkr's lines, and his friends had turned from their targets to Blader's opponent.

The look in her eyes showed that she knew the game was up. She was outnumbered and alone and without further ado, she retreated, Sodull giving rapid chase. But within moments, she had outran him and her form vanished among the craggy plain, racing after her army, the glint of her dark metal plates the last thing they saw.