The group walked the tunnel for hours. It led in a straight line until they were far beyond the village limits. Eventually, a speck of light appeared in the distance. ‘Seems like we’ve found the exit.’ Bjorn thought while gripping his weapon.
“Skalr, extinguish the runestones. If there’s anyone waiting out there, I don’t want to warn them of our arrival.” Ania said while glancing sideways.
Skalr nodded, and the light around the group dimmed to nothing. The group shuffled along silently, listening for anything out of the ordinary. As they came closer to the exit, all they could hear were the normal sounds of a forest in winter.
“Wait here,” Bjorn whispered as he moved forward slowly.
Ania chewed her lip at the thought of letting Bjorn go on alone. However, she knew he was the most likely to survive a trap or ambush due to his blessing from Exile. The tension rose in the tunnel as Bjorn disappeared for several minutes.
“What do you think is out there?” Fjora asked as she fiddled with her club.
Ania thought about it for several moments but could not guess. There could be nothing or a group of elven assassins. There was no way to know until Bjorn returned. Ania even considered turning the group around if Bjorn took too long. However, it was unnecessary when Bjorn poked his head into the tunnel.
“It’s clear.” He said in a disgruntled tone.
The group sighed in relief as they filed out into the open. The tunnel exited into a serene clearing with a small pond. Ania glanced at how close the trees grew together with a frown. ‘What forest is this? The trees in Skardia usually grow further apart.’ 𝐨𝘃𝗹.
For a moment, she wondered if they had crossed the border. Then she realised that was impossible. They had not walked for long enough for that to be true. The group spread out to study the clearing and a short way into the woods. However, there was no sign of elven tracks or evidence of what they were doing in the tunnels.
“Maybe it was an escape route.” Fjora hummed while looking around. “In case someone like us came looking for them.”
Ania was inclined to agree. The flowers and different tunnels would slow down anyone chasing them. ‘Perhaps those runes in the tunnels really are something to help the flowers grow.’ She sighed. Ania could already see their argument against the elven gods collapsing. That meant it would be harder to get the villagers to give them up and follow Ragnarok instead.
“There’s something in the water,” Skalr said as he stared into the depths of the pond.
As the others gathered around him, he pointed to an elven rune that was barely visible on a rock in the pond. Ania frowned as she looked for other runes, but the murky water made it difficult.
“The elves aren’t here, and we can’t know what they were doing.” Ania sighed as she glanced at the remaining two villagers in the group. “I hope you’ll accept my apology in the absence of any evidence as to what plagued your village.”
“There’s still something we can do,” Skalr suddenly said as he turned his gaze away from the pond. “I can use a Memory rune that will show us what happened here if anything.”
Ania frowned while looking from Skalr to the villagers. Personally, she wanted to tell him to go ahead. However, she wanted to know the villagers’ thoughts on the matter. Eventually, both of them nodded in agreement.
Skalr went to work carving several stones and placing them at different points around the pond. As he prepared to place the final one, he gestured for everyone to step back. Only when he was certain everyone was far enough away did he lay it on the ground and activate it.
Skalr quickly backed up as golden lines connected the runestones before they pulsed in unison. The group watched as golden motes burst from the runestones to cover the entire area. An ethereal glow started at the elven rune in the pond before following invisible lines to other runes that connected to the ones in the tunnel.
“What did you do?” Ania hissed when she saw that. She pointed her spear at Skalr’s throat as Bjorn and Fjora wore grim expressions.
“Don’t worry. The elven spell has not been activated, this is a memory of a time when it was.” Skalr said as he pointed behind the group.
Seven ethereal figures walked out of the cave with extreme grace. Their hoods covered their features, but everyone could guess they were elves. They spread out around the pond as they monitored the situation.
“There are no problems. The spell is working as intended.” One elf said to the others as she looked at the runes.
“Hm, just like the other villages. We’ll let it work for a few weeks before we offer our help.” Another replied.
“So the elves were behind it!” Svern groaned as he watched the scene unfold.
The image of the past overlapped with the present as a purple liquid flowed through the elven carvings into the pond. The water turned a shade of purple before returning to its normal colour.
The group gasped as the water flew into the air before turning into snowflakes. Then a sharp wind blew and carried the snow in the direction of the village. Ania did not know what to say at that sight. It was clear they had found their evidence, but from the sounds of it, the elves had done the same thing at every village they had come across.
“We need to destroy this so the elves can’t use it again.” Fjora hissed as she raised her club.
She struck the hidden carvings with it, causing cracks so the magic could not be carried through them again. Skalr watched the group as they did whatever they could to destroy the remains the elves had left behind.
When nobody was looking, Skalr tossed three runestones into the pond before pretending to search for more carvings. Thirty minutes had to pass before Ania was satisfied with the destruction they had wrought. However, she had an uneasy feeling that something was wrong.
She scanned the forest again before she realised that Skalr was standing at a distance from everyone else. As far away from the pond as possible without raising any suspicion. ‘What’s he up to?’ Skalr had his gaze fixed on Bjorn’s back as Ania saw a sword appear in Skalr’s hand that had been hidden in Skalr’s cloak!
“Bjorn!” Ania roared when Skalr dashed toward him.
Ania felt like the world slowed down as Skalr slammed a runestone on the sword’s blade. Bright flames burned along its steel as Skalr slashed, and blood sprayed through the air!
Ania gasped as the air just behind Bjorn’s back shimmered as an elf became visible. A crimson line cut deep across the elf’s back as the elf gasped for breath. Skalr wasted no time and severed the elf’s head.
“Get ready!” Skalr screamed as the three runestones he had tossed into the pond lit up.
A golden burst of light lit the clearing and revealed three more elves standing among the group! Ania cursed in her mind as she lunged at the elf who was closing in on her!
The elf ducked under her spear and slashed her thigh. Luckily, the dwarven-steel protected her. However, a white line appeared on her armour. ‘They can cut through our armour!’ Ania cursed as Fjora screamed out.
An elf had slipped under her club and stabbed her twice in the ribcage. She gasped for breath as she swung again. However, the elf was too nimble for her to handle, but Bjorn roared as he jumped between them.
Bjorn roared as he swung his hammer, and as the elf dodged it he let go of his weapon. The elf’s eyes went wide when his blade barely cut into Bjorn’s skin. Bjorn gripped the elf with his now free hands before furiously headbutting his opponent.
The first strike burst the elf’s nose, but the following four broke the other bones. The elf yelped in agony as his cheekbone pierced his left eye before Bjorn threw him on the ground. The elf tried to crawl away, but Fjora was waiting.
Her club came crashing down, bursting the elf’s skull like a piece of fruit. When Ania spared a glance away from her opponent, she noticed that Svern had lost his hand and the other villager was already dead. ‘Where the hell is Skalr?’ Ania cursed as she felt her opponent’s blade bite into her left forearm.
The sudden pain caused her to drop her shield as she backtracked. Her heart pounded in her chest as the elf closed in with a flurry of blows. However, the elf’s blades never reached her as a flaming blade appeared out of thin air to pierce the elf’s throat from behind!
‘What the hell?’ Ania cursed as the blade vanished again. She glanced around, but there was still no sign of Skalr. ‘Where did he go?’ She knew that Skalr had saved her, but she struggled to understand what was happening.
The flaming blade flashed a few times in different locations, and before Ania knew it, the battle was over. Suddenly, Skalr stepped out of a crack that appeared in the air. His gaze wandered over the clearing as the flames on his blade died down. Bjorn wore a grim expression as he stared at the supposed Runelord.
“Why didn’t you warn us if they knew they were here?” Bjorn cursed as Skalr cocked an eyebrow.
“They were with us since the village. I couldn’t risk exposing their presence before everything became clear.” Skalr sighed as he glanced at Ania. “What now, princess?”