22. Magnar

1000 YEARS AGO

“Magnar!” Julius hammered on the door to wake me, and I groaned in displeasure as I clawed my way back towards consciousness.

I tossed the blankets aside and headed for the door, only remembering that I was naked as I pulled it open.

“For the love of the gods, Magnar, I’ve seen your cock far more often than I ever wanted to and more in this lifetime,” Julius cursed as he pushed his way into the room and bolted the door behind him.

I let out a laugh as I retrieved my clothes from the floor and pulled them back on. “What’s got you so worked up?” I asked as he paced away from the door, pushing a hand through his short, dark hair.

“We may have outstayed our welcome. The barkeeper came looking for his daughter and wasn’t best pleased to find me on top of her.”

“Are you telling me you couldn’t handle one old man without having to come crying to me?” I teased.

“One old man wouldn’t be an issue, but he stormed off to raise the rest of the townsfolk against us and see us on our way. I suggest we get out of here before-” He stopped mid-sentence as he spotted Elissa in my bed. Her cheeks flamed red as she clutched the blankets over herself. “Please tell me this one is a whore and not another village girl.”

“She’s Ocean Clan,” I replied lightly as I tossed the girl her dress.

“Thank the gods for that!”

“Oh, and she’s also betrothed to someone here. Or was I suppose. I might have ruined her.”

“Ruined? Who was she supposed to marry?” Julius asked incredulously.

“An old man, you can imagine why she preferred to take me to her bed.” I tightened Tempest’s sheath across my chest as I replaced the heavy blade on my back.

“Well let’s hope they don’t know about her yet. We should leave.”

“He’s old and near toothless,” Elissa added as she pulled her dress on. “And the mayor.”

I exchanged a look with Julius and we both burst into laughter.

“Well if we’re going to piss off a whole town, we might as well do it thoroughly,” he said.

“And my father’s the magistrate,” she said. “Just so we’re totally clear on everyone who’s involved.”

I couldn’t help but laugh harder as I yanked my boots on.

A clamour of noise began to grow outside, and I tugged the curtain aside, spotting a horde of angry townsfolk marching our way. They held various weapons, none of which would do much good against two fully trained slayers, but our vows forbade us from willingly engaging them.

“Time to go,” I announced as I dropped the curtain and Julius yanked the door open. “She’s coming with us,” I added.

“Of course she is,” he replied sarcastically. “Why the hell wouldn’t she?”

“I gave my word, brother.” We thundered down the stairs, Julius shaking his head.

“I don’t think you made that decision while thinking with your head,” he commented.

I glanced back at Elissa whose cheeks were still flaming red and grabbed her hand to hurry her along.

“You still want me to take you to your clan?” I asked as we made it to the door.

“Yes,” she breathed, and despite the fear she clearly felt, I could tell she was desperate to be free of this place so she could return to her mother’s people.

“Then let’s run.”

Julius yanked the door open, and we fled in the direction of the stables. I could hear the angry crowd drawing closer and my blood sang in my veins as we raced to elude them.

We rounded the final corner and skidded to a halt as we found the stable boy waiting for us. Our horses were saddled, each carrying bags filled with grain. The boy sat on a stunning grey mare and his face was set determinedly.

“I’m coming with you,” he called, and I noted the fresh black eye he was sporting. “I wish only to serve you.”

“Any man who can saddle Baltian is welcome to join us,” I replied, and I leapt onto the stallion’s back, holding out a hand for Elissa. “What’s your name, boy?”

“Aelfric,” he replied with a grin. “And I won’t let you down.”

“Yes, let’s bring the stable boy on a stolen thoroughbred,” Julius said with a grin as he jumped onto his own steed. “Why the fuck not?”

“Well, Aelfric,” I said as the townsfolk rounded the corner and spotted us, crying out in anger while waving pitchforks and other improvised weapons. “You’d better be able to keep up.”

I gave Baltian his head and he charged at the crowd, forcing a path through them as they screamed a torrent of abuse at us. The other horses followed close behind and we raced away through the snow, carving a trail for home.

***

It took us twelve moons to find our way back to the clans’ camp. They’d moved several times in the months we’d been gone, and I had to rely on Tempest to track them down. The blade seemed to be slower to direct me than usual, and I struggled to figure out why. Usually, the closer we drew to camp and the other blades, the stronger the pull towards home felt.

But today it was more like trying to lock on to a much smaller group. I wondered if the clans had split up for a while. Sometimes bad weather or difficulties with supplies made that unavoidable. We couldn’t always travel in one group.

Julius noticed the difference too, and we let out a joint sigh of relief when a collection of scattered tents finally appeared on the horizon.

Elissa was riding with Aelfric today, and I was glad to be alone as I gathered my thoughts for my reunion with my kin. It wasn’t often that I had to return bearing news of failure, and I just hoped that our father would still be proud of what we’d managed. Next time, Miles wouldn’t be so lucky.

I kicked Baltian into a reluctant gallop and we charged towards home. Though I would have been thrilled to return with tidings of Miles’s death, it had been so long that I was just pleased to be back at all. I may have been a grown man, but I missed the comfort offered by my mother’s company and the wisdom of my father. I wasn’t ashamed to admit such feelings and I would relish a moment in their arms as we were reunited after so long.

The first face I saw as I reached the tents wasn’t my mother or my father though; it was Valentina. She was dressed immaculately as always, her dark hair braided carefully. But there was something off in her gaze.

“Valentina, how unexpected to find you waiting for me out here,” I said dryly as I pulled Baltian up beside her. The coy smile I expected didn’t come, and I frowned as she resisted the urge to play our usual games of courtship. Or I supposed her games were aimed at courtship while mine were designed to tease her for her persistent devotion.

Her face was still with restrained emotion, and she twisted her hands together uncomfortably as if she couldn’t decide how to deliver whatever it was she was trying to say.

“Magnar...” she began, but Julius interrupted her with his arrival.

“Valentina! What a surprise to see you waiting out here for my dear brother. I do hope you haven’t been at this every day for the past few months?” He tossed me a taunting smile and slid from the saddle. “Where is everyone else?”

I followed his gaze to the empty space between the tents, a pit of unease growing in my gut. Something was wrong. Besides the camp being much smaller than usual, everything else was missing too. In place of the usual chaotic chorus of swordplay, wood cutting, children playing, and horses snorting was an eerie silence.

A sliver of ice crept down my spine. I dismounted too, tossing Baltian’s reins to Aelfric as he pulled his horse up beside me.

“Where are our mother and father?” I demanded, having no space in my heart to wonder about anyone else yet.

“Your mother is in her tent,” Valentina began, her hand snaking out to grasp my wrist as I began to move past her. “But Magnar-”

I pushed her aside as I began to run for my parents’ tent in the centre of the camp with Julius right beside me. Whatever had happened, I didn’t want to hear it from Valentina, I wanted it from my mother’s mouth.

The guards looked up in alarm as we raced towards them, but they recognised us and stepped aside. I shoved the tent flap out of my way and quickly crossed the wide space inside. The pile of thick furs which served as my parents’ bed lay at the back of the room and I spotted her curled among them with a jolt of surprise.

“We have returned, Mother,” Julius announced as we made it to her bedside. “Tell us what has happened here.”

“My sons! Oh the gods have returned you to me when I needed you most!” She scrambled out of the bed and threw her arms around both of us, crushing us tightly against her as she sobbed.

I’d never seen her cry before.

My heart constricted in my chest as pain sped towards me on swift wings.

“Father?” I asked, knowing in my heart that nothing else would have reduced her to this state. I felt Julius’s posture stiffen beside me as he waited for the blow that was about to fall.

“I’m so sorry, my loves.” She gripped us harder, her fist knotting in my hair as if she were afraid to release us.

“Tell me,” I growled, staving off the rush of pain and grief that came for me as my need for answers persevered. I had to know who had done this. I had to know who had managed to fell the great warrior Earl Mallion Elioson. The idea of such a thing happening was beyond my comprehension and my mind rebelled at the suggestion of it.

“There was a tremendous battle. The prophets foresaw three of the Revenants reunited in one place, and the clans joined forces to march against them and finish our feud once and for all. Almost every warrior we had marched out and none have returned. I only remained because your father begged me to stay and lead the clan in his absence. Now I have to live with the knowledge that he died without me by his side.”

“When did this happen?” I demanded, refusing to bow to the weight of the emotions that were piling in on me. Julius had fallen unnaturally still, and I wasn’t sure if he was even breathing.

“Three nights ago.” She ran her hands up and down our backs, soothing us the way she had when we were small boys. I wasn’t sure if she did it for us or for herself; to reassure her that her children still lived.

“How can we be certain they’re all dead?” I asked a little more aggressively than I’d intended. “Perhaps the battle rages on, maybe we should be heading out to-”

“I dreamed it,” she breathed. “I managed to dream-walk with souls on the edge of death and saw what had happened. Our people were winning, cutting through their forces, and heading for victory. But the lost Revenant, Erik, returned from whatever pit of hell he’s been hiding in for the last two hundred years. His hunger was insatiable. His rage unparalleled.” She descended into sobbing, and I pulled her against me fiercely.

“This can’t be happening,” Julius breathed, and I found myself at a loss for words.

“How many of us are left?” I asked eventually, my voice cracking with the question.

“What you see here is it,” Mother replied. “This is all that remains of the seven clans. Our people destroyed all of the vampires who fought beneath the Revenants, but it cost them everything.”

“All seven?” I asked in astonishment. “You mean to say that this smattering of tents is it? There are no more of us left?”

If it was true, then we really were done for. It would take a hundred years for our clans to even begin to rebuild our numbers, and that would rely on the vampires leaving us alone to do so. And if I knew anything about them, then I knew that wouldn’t be the case. They’d come for us now, hunt us down like feral beasts on the scent of fresh blood and try to wipe us out. If our bloodlines were lost, then humanity would no doubt fall to them too. We were all that stood in their way.

I tried to wrap my head around the idea that such a thing could have happened. Our people had been decimated. Even if all of the sired vampires had been destroyed too, we were still at a major disadvantage. They could create more vampires as quickly as they needed them. In the span of two moons, they could sire hundreds of monsters in their image. There would be no way to stop them.

As my thoughts started to spiral into despair, I heard the one sound in the world that I wished for most, shock piercing my heart as I spun towards the flaps that hung closed over the entrance to the tent. I held my breath as I failed to believe it was true, but then I heard it again.

“Freya?” my father called more urgently from outside the tent.

The three of us looked to each other in astonishment for a moment before turning and running for the exit. We burst out into the dim sunlight and found him standing on the far side of the fire pit.

“Mallion!” my mother cried in relief as she began to run for him, but he backed up sharply, lifting a hand to warn her away.

“Please, Freya, my love, don’t come any closer. I couldn’t bear to hurt you.”

My relief slowly gave way to something far darker as I looked at my father more closely and blinked the grief from my eyes. Though he had always been a handsome man, his features looked too perfect now, his face too alluring. Something in the way he held himself had changed, like he had gone from a prowling wolf to a stalking wild cat.

I caught my mother’s wrist as she tried to approach him despite his warning, the foul truth slipping through my soul.

“No,” I breathed in horror as the reality of what they’d done to him weighed down on me.

“I only came back to say goodbye, my love, my sons. Please forgive me for taking such a risk, but I couldn’t bear to leave you without seeing you one last time.”

My mother started screaming as she realised what he was, the noise pitching through me, scarring my soul. Julius joined me in restraining her, and my father fell to his knees beyond the fire, tears streaming down his face, grief cutting him in two.

“Tell me who did this to you, Father, and I swear to you that I will end their immortal life if it’s the last thing I do,” I cried, my voice cracking with the pain of those words.

A heavy pressure began to build around us and the sky rumbled with an approaching storm. I had the strongest feeling that we weren’t alone, the gods turning their eyes to us in this moment of truest defeat.

“It was the Revenant Erik,” he replied. “Once all of our kin lay dead at his feet, he decided to force his eternal curse upon me. It pains me beyond measure, but I need to ask a favour of you, dear boy.”

I let out a howl of pure rage and hatred as I released our mother into Julius’s care and pulled Tempest from my back. I knew what he was going to ask me, and the thought of it alone made me want to drive the blade through my own chest. How could I live with myself if I had to kill my own father?

“I’m already dead,” he breathed, his voice carrying to me despite the distance between us. “But I need you to release me from this torment. You don’t know how the blood calls to me. I’m fighting it with all I have but I can’t do so for much longer.”

The presence around us grew thicker and I felt sure the gods were near, come to see the outcome of the trick their demon had played on my family, toying with us all over again.

The pain I felt seemed enough to cleave me in two and I used that energy to drive my blade into the hard earth by my feet. I dropped to my knees and pulled my fighting leathers off, tossing them onto the dirt so that my bare chest was exposed.

“Gods, if you are here, I beg you to release my father from this curse!” I moved to grip Tempest by the hilt, hoping to hear them speaking to me through the blade.

It’s too late, Idun’svoice whispered sadly beside me, and I hung my head as I bucked against the idea of accepting it. My father stood before us, his flesh and soul trapped by the curse of the Revenants.

“Please,” I begged, and I didn’t care that they saw me brought so low. “Please, I’ll give you anything. I’ll give you everything. Just let him live.”

Only ending the curse can release him.

“If I knew how to do such a thing, I’d have done so already. There must be another way!”

The goddess seemed amused by my determination, but she didn’t budge in her decision.

Prove your strength, Magnar, and I will grant you gifts enough to chase your foes to the ends of the earth. Prove your strength, and I will make it so that your very name incites fear in their bones.

I shook my head to clear it of the voice who goaded me into action. No deity nor any other being would guide my actions. My life was my own and my decisions would sit squarely on my shoulders. I needed no gods to tell me how to live.

“Please, my boy, the thirst grows stronger.” My father turned his worried gaze on my mother and brother, and I squeezed my eyes shut as I made my choice.

If the gods refused to release him, then I would have to do it myself.

I closed the distance between us in eight long strides. He looked up at me with his too perfect face; the face of a stranger in place of my father. But I could see his soul still shining in his eyes. He deserved a warrior’s death. He deserved to be rid of this torment.

“My sword is yours.” He dragged the heavy blade from his back and held it out to me.

I accepted Venom with a feeling of dread building in every fibre of my being and weighed the legendary weapon in my hand. It was heavier than Tempest, though the length was the same.

My hand shook as I gripped it in my fist, my heart racing with the inevitability of what lay before me, agony burrowing its way into my soul. I would never recover from this act. I would never again be the man I was now. The gods had refused my pleas and the Revenants had delivered a torture beyond all comprehension to my door.

“Know that I will carry it with the promise to right this wrong that has been done to you. The Revenants will fall, and I won’t rest until I see an end to their vile kind,” I swore as I forced myself to raise the blade and held it ready above his heart.

“I am so proud of you, my son, never forget it,” Father breathed, the tears on his cheeks summoning my own. How could I do this? How could I find a way to live with it if I did? “You will lead our people to victory against them, never doubt it.”

Father looked up at me, eyes filled with regret, and I knew he wished he hadn’t had to ask this of me. But I would never have allowed another to take on this burden. My love for him made this task impossible, but it also made it mine alone.

“I love you,” I told him, my mother’s sobs punctuated by Julius’s cry of pain behind me.

“I love you too, son.” He gave a final nod, the plea in his eyes undeniable, and I fought the shaking in my limbs so that I might offer him release from his pain at last.

I took a heavy breath and my muscles tensed as they fought against the need to drive the blade home.

The goddess grew anxious as she waited to see what would happen, the storm building quickly above us as lightning flashed, her impatience buzzing through the air itself.

“I love you all,” Father breathed, and I forced my arm down with a cry of agony tearing from my throat, and Mother and Julius called their final love-filled words to him.

“I release you from this curse,” I choked out.

Venom pierced his heart in one heavy blow and he fell apart into ash which swirled around me before catching on a breeze and tumbling away. The greatest man I had ever known, the most powerful warrior to have walked our lands, turned to nothing by the curse of the monsters he’d given his life to see destroyed.

My mother screamed behind me, and I sank to my knees once more as my own tears fell in burning lines down my cheeks.

Thunder boomed angrily above our heads, and I turned my eyes to the heavens as rain began to hammer down upon my bare skin.

A true warrior turns from no fight, Idun purred, and I felt the ghost of a hand stroking the side of my face as if she were proud of me for my part in the sick fate she’d just watched play out. You have proven yourself worthy, Magnar Elioson. I grant you the power to destroy your enemies and lead your people to greatness.

As each raindrop hit me, I felt a surge of power flooding into my veins. I choked on my own grief as my tears mixed with the rain and washed my body clean. A scratching pain began on my chest, and I groaned aloud as tattoos started to appear across my flesh depicting ancient runes, the likes of which I’d never seen.

I could feel the goddess pouring her power into me like I was nothing more than a vessel to be filled. All throughout the campsite, slayers cried out as the goddess imbued them with gifts too, our power growing while our pain burrowed deep and scarred us from the inside out.

But my grief hit me harder than any gift she bestowed on me, and I raised my head to the sky and roared my rage into the heavens. I wouldn’t forget that she had forced my hand in this, that she had refused to help me when I had begged her to do so with all I was. But I would take her gifts all the same. Because nothing mattered to me now except the promise I had just made to the man I loved beyond measure.

I would rid the earth of the Revenants once and for all, and I refused to die until it was done.