"Get your weapons, men, we're under attack!" was all Nea heard before she fell to the ground and everything around her went black. She heard no more sounds, she felt nothing - it was as if she was dead.

She couldn't help her family, even though she wanted to so much! She couldn't help her mother...but she needed her help the most! No matter how hard she tried to regain consciousness, it was futile every time.

Now she was lying there in the middle of the camp, motionless, and her life could be over any second if the enemy realised she was still alive! In her subconscious, she spoke to the gods and hoped she would not die. Not today, not now! She had just turned 18, her life couldn't be over yet!

At some point she felt her blood start to flow again and faster than lightning she opened her eyes and looked around! She looked around for her mother, but she couldn't see her! Fear rose in her and immediately she picked up her axe and began to fight!

Her enemies moaned in pain, blood poured from their lifeless bodies and a slight smile formed on Nea's lips. She had missed fighting and killing. Killing made her feel powerful and it was actually fun! Fun because her enemies had that scared and begging look in their eyes every time before Nea's blade went through their body!

Should she feel like a bad person because she liked killing? No, because she was a Dane! Danes didn't feel like bad people just because they liked killing! On the contrary, they loved the feeling of power and adrenaline that flowed through their bodies every time they were successful!

Nea loved the adrenaline rush that ran through her body every time she looked at her blood-stained blade. Wine red was such a beautiful colour and Nea would have no problem dyeing the next village they raided wine red!

Corpses were scattered all over the camp floor and Nea had to be careful not to fall over one. On the way to her mum's tent, she stepped over at least 5 bodies. One of them was her best friend Leif, whom she had known for ages and with whom she had already experienced a lot!

Seeing him lying there lifeless on the floor broke Nea's heart into a million little pieces and she didn't know how she would ever recover from the sight of his corpse! Now she hoped that at least her mother had survived, but fate was not kind to her.

The moment she entered the tent was the worst moment of her entire life. Her mother lay lifeless on the ground, covered in blood and almost blue with cold, holding the necklace that Nea had given her for her birthday.

It was a necklace of wolf teeth that Nea received when she killed her first wolf. Her mother wore it every day, but now she no longer had the opportunity to do so. Now she was dead and Nea didn't know who she should be angrier at - her father for not protecting his wife or the man who had killed her mother!

She really didn't know, and at that moment her anger immediately vanished. The only thing that was important to her at that moment was to take the necklace from her mother's hand so that it would remain intact!

Nea didn't know where her father was and it scared her. She was afraid that he had been hurt and that she was wrong to be angry with him! But she couldn't leave her mother alone...even if she was dead now. She just couldn't bring herself to leave her mother alone now and she didn't want to.

On the contrary - she wanted to free her from her hell! She wanted to find her mother's murderer and kill him with her blood so that her mother's soul could ascend to Vahalla! That was what the Danes believed in! It was the only sensible solution for her mother to find peace and quiet!

But how was Nea supposed to find her mother's murderer? She had no trace of him, nor did she even begin to know what he looked like! Nea was desperate, scared, angry and lost. She stopped asking herself why exactly her mother and her best friend fell victim to death...but it was actually the one question that interested her the most.

Suddenly she felt a hand on her left shoulder and if it had been an enemy, she wouldn't even have killed him. She would have just stood there and look at him until he had killed her. But it was her father who looked at her with concern and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

His blade was also covered in blood and he had several splashes of blood on his face and armour. Nea looked at him, lowered her head and began to sob! This was the last time her father took her in his arms, because he always used to say - 'Once you're 18 years old, I won't take you in my arms anymore when you're sad! You'll be an adult and won't need me any more'!

As he let go of her, he looked at his wife's body and sighed. He couldn't tell his daughter that he knew who had murdered her mother. It would only destroy Nea even more and also the last shred of relationship they had!

But in doing so, he prevented his wife's soul from ascending to Valhalla and finding peace! He thought about telling his daughter the truth for a few minutes, but he didn't dare. All at once, Nea turned around and looked at her mother. The tears in her eyes broke his heart and he swallowed. Her eyes were red, the dried tears on her cheeks were now replaced by new ones and suddenly she sank down.

He didn't know what to do because he wanted to honour his own words! Nea looked at him...there was a clear cry for help in her eyes, but her father stood up again seconds later and walked towards the tent exit. Nea didn't know why he did that and stood up right after him to grab one of his hands, but he pulled it away in a flash and disappeared...