The Shadow of the Gods

Before Virk’s duel with Guðvarr, Orka advises him to end the fight quickly by striking fear into his opponent. As the fight begins, Guðvarr, though wearing fine armor and wielding a sword, reveals his lack of actual fighting experience. Virk, despite his simpler equipment, gains the upper hand, striking a blow to Guðvarr’s shoulder and forcing him to submit.

However, Guðvarr’s taunts provoke Virk, leading him to raise his axe to deliver a death blow, breaking the agreed-upon terms of the duel. Sigrún’s Tainted warrior, Vafri, intervenes and rips Virk apart. Thorkel tries to stop her, but he is injured, and the attack only ends when Sigrún activates her collar. The jarl declares that Virk broke the rules and that his death at Vafri’s hands was justice. Orka watches Vafri lick Thorkel’s blood off her blade.

After a day of sparring and training under Røkia, Varg joins the Bloodsworn and Jarl Logur’s warriors for a feast in the mead hall. Varg befriends Torvik, a young scout-in-training for the Bloodsworn, who is eager to prove himself.

The feast is interrupted when Prince Jaromir of Iskidan and his warriors arrive uninvited. Jaromir demands the surrender of Sulich, one of the Bloodsworn, but Glornir calmly refuses. One of Jaromir’s guards threatens violence, prompting the entire Bloodsworn to rise in defense. Sergei, a merchant accompanying Jaromir, diffuses the situation. Jaromir vows to return with evidence of Sulich’s crimes and leaves the hall.

The Battle-Grim camp on a remote island after two days of travel south. They find a plateau near a massive moss-covered rock, which Kráka identifies as an oath stone. Uspa uses her blood to awaken the stone. The runes glow and images appear, depicting the war of the gods and the origins of the Tainted, those with god blood.

The carvings tell a story of jealousy and betrayal, including the binding of Lik-Rifa, the dragon, and the brutal blood feuds among the gods. The Battle-Grim debate the truth of these stories. Elvar remains skeptical of Lik-Rifa’s existence, citing the lack of any dragon-born Tainted. Agnar, however, reminds them that the gods’ offspring caused the near-destruction of the world, a danger they must always guard against.

The camp’s peace is shattered during the night by an attack from night-wyrms—slimy creatures that emerge in swarms. The wyrms attempt to burrow into the warriors’ bodies. Elvar and the others use fire and weapons to drive them back underground. The attack leaves the group shaken and wary. Elvar notices the oath stone’s glow fading and realizes it drew the wyrms to the camp. Agnar orders the group to return to the safety of the Wave-Jarl.

Orka, Thorkel, and Breca return to their steading and settle back into their routine. Breca is distressed over the injustice of Virk’s death and, despite his mother’s warnings about letting nature take its course, saves a moth trapped in a spiderweb.

Orka, unable to shake her unease, visits Froa—a vaesen spirit bound to a sacred ash tree near their home—to seek advice about relocating their family. Upon arriving at the site, Orka is horrified to find the ash tree destroyed and Froa dead. Orka realizes the same people who destroyed the tree may be connected to the murders and kidnappings. She then hears distant screaming from the direction of her steading.

Varg approaches Glornir to request an akáll from Vol, a ritual that would let him relive his sister’s final moments. However, Glornir tells him that Varg is not yet truly Bloodsworn, despite his initiation and training, and that proving himself will take time. Though frustrated, Varg accepts his judgment, and Glornir gives him money for equipment.

Orka races back to her steading to find the gates broken and the hall burning. Inside, she finds Thorkel surrounded by the bodies of his attackers. He manages to tell Orka that Breca was taken before succumbing to his injuries.

Orka tracks the attackers to a riverbank, where a group of them are butchering her pony. She kills most of them but captures one and interrogates him about Breca’s whereabouts. He tells her that her son was taken down the river by a group led by a man named Drekr. Orka kills the young man and then swears to exact vengeance on those responsible for her family’s destruction.

Svik and Røkia help Varg buy weapons, clothing, and a helmet. Glornir also gives Varg a spear previously owned by a fallen comrade.

While the Bloodsworn prepare to depart Liga, Varg learns more about the warband, including that they used to be led by a warrior named Skullsplitter. On the way to the docks, Jaromir and his warriors block their path. He demands Sulich’s surrender, but Glornir refuses again, and a fight begins. Jaromir’s mounted warriors clash against the Bloodsworn shield wall. Despite Varg’s inexperience, he manages to dismount and kill one of the warriors. The fight is interrupted by the arrival of Jarl Logur and three ships bearing Queen Helka’s banner.

Orka returns to the ruins of her steading and finds Vesli tending to the injured Spert. Vesli tells her that warriors, vaesen, and a Tainted attacked the steading and kidnapped Breca.

Orka buries her husband and retrieves a chest she and Thorkel had buried years ago, filled with weapons and armor. She equips herself for battle and swears a blood-oath of vengeance over Thorkel’s grave. Though Vesli offers to join her, Orka insists she stay behind to care for Spert.

Queen Helka’s arrival in Liga with her fleet prompts Glornir and the Bloodsworn to hastily depart after the fight. Before they board their ship, the Sea-Wolf, Varg reluctantly accepts the armor and weapons of the warrior he killed.

Svik then guides Varg through the practicalities of life aboard the ship, showing him where to store his gear before they take their places on an oar-bench. As they sail away, Glornir announces their mission: To investigate and eliminate a threat in Queen Helka’s northern realm.

Elvar and the Battle-Grim arrive at Snakavik, a fortress built into the giant skull of Snaka, the dead serpent-god. The Battle-Grim leave the docks and go to meet Jarl Störr in his mead hall atop the skull. Agnar presents their prize, Berak, to him. Jarl Störr tests Berak’s nature through the living head of Hrung, a giant whose disembodied form resides in the hall. Hrung confirms Berak’s Tainted blood after tasting it, and Störr agrees to twice the usual price.

The transaction appears complete until Hrung calls out Elvar’s name, shocking the hall. When Jarl Störr says Hrung is mistaken, Elvar removes her hood and addresses Jarl Störr as her father.

Orka sneaks into Fellur at night to gather information about Breca’s abductors. She finds Mord and Lif, Virk’s sons, tied to a stake and awaiting punishment after their attempt to get revenge on Guðvarr. Orka frees them and tells them to wait with their boat on the fjord.

She then enters Sigrún’s mead hall. She slips into the jarl’s private chamber and interrupts Sigrún and her lover in their bed. She kills the man and incapacitates Sigrún. However, her true target is Vafri. Orka addresses her as a fellow wolf-tainted descendant of the god Ulfrir, and says she knows she was involved in the attack. Orka forces Vafri to reveal where the group is taking Breca.

The interrogation is interrupted when Sigrún breaks free and attacks. Orka kills Vafri and wounds Sigrún. The arrival of armed warriors forces her to flee to the fjord, where Mord and Lif wait with a boat. The three of them escape and row toward the sea.