It took them a while to fashion a stretcher for Klora out of some vines and sticks Nyyri, Ohrein, and Sodull scrounged up, Nyyri using her magic to weave the vines between the two sturdy sticks to create a stretcher. Blader took the time to examine the Yggdrasil root, frowning at the runes etched into the blood coating the root.

"What is Racarl trying to do?" he murmured, drawing the dagger from his belt. He scraped away part of the blood, but the runes didn't smudge and disappear. They had been carved into the root itself, glowing softly despite the blood being disturbed.

Crouching down beside the root, Blader gently touched one of the runes, feeling a quick jolt of electricity shoot down his arm. All of these runes were of the higher order, unreadable to him, their meanings all but lost to memory. But they had something to do with Jorid's sorcery, with the blood magic.

"I hate sorcerers," Idrask muttered, staring at the runes in distaste. Blader glanced back at the disgruntled hunter, remembering what Wolfsted had told him a year ago, when he had revealed the rune on his chest to them in the Reenactment. "My parents and my brother searched everywhere for the elder who marked me, who cut the rune into my flesh and sealed it with blood. My brother only found scraps of information, whispers of knowledge that used to be." From what Idrask had said earlier, it sounded like he had been the brother who had sought out those answers. If his memory served him correctly, Wolfsted had three older brothers.

Blader stood, glancing around the chamber. The Yggdrasil root had taken up most of their attention on arriving and he hadn't bothered to examine what else lay in the chamber. But now he saw the skeleton, sitting on the other side of the chamber, painstakingly draped over a pile of weapons, wood, and rocks that had been arranged to resemble a throne.

What is Ilmarinen doing with a skeleton on what appears to be his treasure pile?

Frowning, Blader walked toward the pile. The skeleton seemed to have had a slender build in life, most likely alfr. He glanced at the pile, noticing the swords were mainly alfr in design, but some had been forged in Midgard. Why did he include wood and rock in his treasure pile?

"It's not a pile."

Blader glanced over to see Nyyri standing behind him, her eyes taking in the scene as she seemed to read Blader's mind. "It's a shrine," she continued, stepping closer. "To Kullerva, Ilmarinen's first. His jealousy for her turned him into this dragon – it's what killed her. It looks like he tried to build her memory a throne, perhaps as a reminder."

"How do you know it is a shrine?" Blader asked her.

Nyyri gestured to the pile. "The arrangement is typical of a Laufsblad shrine to a deceased loved one. The skeleton is the only thing out of place, but the weapons, wood, and rocks are all assembled in the traditional way." Bending down, she lifted an old, brittle strand that might have been a vine a long time ago. "And an attempt at greenery. Ilmarinen was preserving his memories of Kullerva, of himself as alfr and Laufsblad, through this shrine. He was trying to preserve the past." Nyyri twisted the strand between her fingers and it crumbled. "He failed. You can't preserve the past. It will always become ashes, no matter what you try to do."

[----]

Klora was laid on the stretcher and Blader and Sodull carried it out of the cave and down the ravine, back in the direction of Meilikki. Nyyri and Idrask took point, Sig walking with them as they followed behind with Klora's stretcher, Yngvild, Raena, Wolfsted, Ohrein, and Skalfi bringing up the rear, weapons drawn and held against their shields in a gesture of respect to their fallen comrade. Klora's own sword had been laid on her body, the hilt on her neck and the blade pointing toward her boots, hands folded over the blade, and the shield had been placed over the sword on her torso, the traditional method for removing fallen einherjar from the battlefield.

The walk out of the forest was arduous and slow, and when they reached the plains bordering the wood, they could see the smoke rising in the distance from Meilikki's ruins, the fire having finally died.

"I hope some managed to evacuate," Nyyri said, her voice catching slightly.

Blader thought briefly of Matt, Deila, and Sampo, among the others who had been inside Meilikki when the fire had erupted. He wondered if they had escaped, or if they had perished in the hellish flames. No, he told himself. You can't do anything about them now. Don't think about it.

Silently, the einherjar trudged through the field, the grass brushing against their boots. The sun was setting in the distance, brilliant shades of red and orange shading the sky. It would be dark by the time they reached Modi's camp, if it was even still there.

The weight from Klora's stretcher burned into Blader's hands, but despite Ohrein offering to take his own turn carrying the stretcher, he wouldn't hand it over. Sodull and Ohrein changed places instead and the young einherjar followed silently behind Blader. But Blader wouldn't relinquish his post. He couldn't. Klora was dead, one of his einherjar was dead under his watch, and he deserved every bit of strain and discomfort carrying her body gave him. Every step was a reminder, branding the toll of leadership into his flesh. The squad hadn't even been given their first official mission yet, and one of its members had already been killed.

Finally, the gloomy procession reached Modi's camp, where they were welcomed by weary einherjar. Marching through to the makeshift command center, they found Captain Matt and Deila waiting for them.

Both looked like they had been through hell and back, their clothes singed, their faces grimy, skin and tunics covered in soot. The same expression of resignation was imprinted on both of their features.

Matt's face fell even further when he saw Klora laid out on the stretcher. "Nidr," he murmured. "She was one of the good ones."

"Saved my life," Skalfi said quietly. "She sacrificed herself for me." She looked shaken, her eyes distant as she glanced down at Klora, as if she was reliving the moment Jorid had grabbed Klora instead of her. Blader himself remembered that moment well, knowing Jorid was attempting to use his "weakness" against him.

"She will be given a full einherjar funeral," Blader promised.

"We lost many good ones today," Matt said, wiping his arm wearily across his eyes. "That fire...it was like it came from the depths of hell. There was no earthly way to stop it."

"Racarl started it," Blader told him. "We pursued him into the forest." Quickly, he recounted their run-in with Idrask Kyll and the subsequent battle with Jorid, resulting in Klora's death. "Racarl's left for now. I don't know where he went."

Matt nodded, glancing sympathetically at Nyyri. "We were able to evacuate part of Meilikki, although we lost many in the process. Sampo stayed behind to hold the fire back with his magic to enable others to get out. He died a hero, Nyyri."

Nyyri looked down, her eyes reflecting a sudden disbelief and grief.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Matt told her.

Nyyri nodded. "Thank you."

The squad all murmured their sympathies, Nyyri accepting them with quiet thanks. Matt dismissed her so she could mourn with her people and had Klora taken to the tent covering the fallen einherjar until they could be sent home. As a medic saw to the rest of the squad and Idrask went to write up his mission report for General Utanlands, Blader, Sig, and Matt were summoned to appear before Modi Thorson.

"Captain Mattr," Modi greeted. "Commander Thrym. Drengr Sig."

"General," they returned. Although Modi had a ranking higher than general, he preferred to use the title for its simplicity.

He looked to Blader. "Report."

Blader gave a concise summary of their initial engagement with Racarl, the chase, and then the second battle, ending with Klora's death and Jorid's escape. After he finished, there was silence for a moment as Modi tapped his fingers on the desk in his tent, his eyes distant as he mulled it all over.

"You will have to submit an official report of Nidr's death," Modi said eventually. "My brother will find a replacement einherjar."

"I already have one," Blader said, causing Sig, Matt, and Modi to all look at him in confusion. "I want Nyyri of the Laufsblad tribe to join Mjolnir."

Matt furrowed his brow. "Nyyri is aldnari, Commander. She is also now the first of the Laufsblad tribe, what with Sampo's death."

"Mjolnir's mission objective is to end this war through targeting Racarl and Tros, correct?" Blader asked. When Sig and Modi nodded, he continued. "They fight with powerful sorcery, we fight with swords. He has an edge on us. If we want to be successful, we'll need an edge on him. Nyyri wields powerful magic, and in the battle, she and Drengr Sig were able to withstand him for a time, and that was without strategy. Imagine our strength once we have our full numbers and have completed our training together."

"Commander Thrym is right," Sig said quietly. "Racarl has a power that makes it difficult to effectively fight against with only our standard weapons. Although we were close to bringing him down today, it was ultimately his magic which saved him. Nyyri would be an asset to Mjolnir, with her skills. Perhaps it is unorthodox, but after all, Racarl and Tros are more than just Asgard's villains. We have already seen how we can cooperate with the aldnari here – why not have her join Mjolnir? A symbol of alliance, between more worlds than just Midgard and Asgard."

"On top of that," Blader added. "Racarl is only the apprentice. Tros is going to have more power, more abilities. This squad's mission is to take down the sorcerers. Nyyri's presence on the squad will make that mission easier to accomplish."

Modi frowned, considering. "I will speak to Magni," he said eventually. "But I see no reason why Nyyri Laufsblad would not be able to join Mjolnir, if she is so inclined. She must accept of her own free will, of course."

Blader nodded. "Understood. Thank you, General."

"Thank you, Commander Thrym," Modi said.

[----]

The following day, Captain Matt told Blader that Magni had approved Nyyri as a replacement for Klora. He found the alfr in the aldnari tent, resting her hands on her desk with her eyes closed, as if meditating.

"Nyyri," Blader said quietly, standing at the entrance. Her eyes slid open and she glanced over at him, her face drawn.

"Commander," she greeted quietly. "What can I do for you?"

Blader stepped into the tent. "I want you to join Mjolnir Squad."

Surprise flared in her eyes but was quickly masked. "You want me to join your team?"

He nodded. "Yes. Racarl fights with a magic that the einherjar aren't trained against. But you were able to hold your own against him. With Klora Nidr's death, I need to find a replacement, and you are the best candidate I can think of, considering our job is to fight Racarl and Tros."

Nyyri pressed her lips together thinly, glancing down. "I would have to leave Alfheim." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes," Blader said. "We are shipping out to Midgard for training as soon as they can get us on a ship."

Nyyri straightened, turning to face Blader. "Because of Racarl, Sampo is dead," she said, her expression hardening slightly. "Because of him, my people perished in unnatural fire. And because of him, I am now the first of Laufsblad where only several weeks ago, I was merely a member of the aldnari ranks. I promised Sampo by the tree's song that I would return to him, but never thought to invoke a similar promise that he would be here when I returned. Because of Racarl, he is gone." She pressed her lips together for a moment before continuing. "I will join Mjolnir Squad, Commander Thrym. I will help you fight those damned sorcerers."

[----]

A week after the burning of Meilikki, the squad shipped out for Drottning, accompanying Klora's body back to Midgard. Nyyri had used the time to choose her second and then step down, helping the new first to choose his own second and educating both of them in leadership.

Idrask Kyll had been called back to Tuisto. Wolfsted hadn't seemed disappointed to see him go, saying a brief goodbye and not even bothering to watch his brother ride away on the horse Matt had lent him. "We will see each other again, brother," Idrask had told him before leaving.

"Perhaps," Wolfsted had allowed.

Blader spent his days training, running the einherjar through drills against the magic of Sig or Nyyri in preparation for facing Jorid again. With every stroke of his sword, he vowed again to take the sorcerer down. For Klora. For Klora. For Klora.

The fact that he hadn't even known her that well made him all the angrier about her death.

She died under my command, under my orders.

Due to their delay in Alfheim, they had no time to stop long in Drottning, which disappointed Skalfi and Sodull. When they docked in the port of the city, a detachment of the unit stationed there escorted them through the city to the barracks, where they spent the night before taking a military Transriot out of the city and toward Domstall early the following morning.

As they approached Klora's home village of Soma, the conversation among the einherjar died down. An einherjar funeral had been granted to Klora, and since she had been a member of the Mjolnir Squad, even if not for long, the squad would be there to perform the honors. The only ones not to be involved in the funeral were Endryr Tharin and Valdar Paaviken, the last two members of the squad who were awaiting their arrival in Domstall.

The ceremony was small, due to the small size of the village. But the entire squad accompanied Klora's body through the streets to the funeral pyre. On reaching the square, the small, open coffin, carved in the shape of a longboat, was halted and the squad members all drew their swords and laid the tips on Klora's body, flat side facing up, their spines ramrod straight as they stood at attention. When Blader gave the signal, the einherjar all stepped back and raised their swords, pointing the blades up as Klora's body, arranged with her weapons and other tributary items, was set on the pyre and lit on fire.

He could hear her parents crying as they stood nearby, holding each other. Klora had been an only child, Sig had told him. Now she was gone and her parents would make the trip to visit their child at her grave, knowing that her death came under a Thrym's leadership.

I will avenge her. I will. I will.

Although Blader had lost soldiers in combat before, Klora was different. When Brunna had died in the Reenactment, fighting the dragon, there had been no time to stop, no time to mourn. Even in the Svartalfheim battles, Blader had only been a skera, taking orders and only giving them if needed. But now he was the leader, he was the commander, and Klora had died facing an enemy Blader had known was difficult to defend against.

The Transriot ride to Domstall started out quiet. After an hour on the road, Blader glanced up to see Skalfi sliding into the seat next to him. "You blame yourself," she said quietly.

"I'm the commander," Blader said simply. "I gave the orders to fight Racarl."

"And Magni told you to give those orders," Skalfi pointed out. "And I'm the one who was supposed to die, if she hadn't stepped forward. And Racarl is the one who actually killed Klora. Blader, you're not the reason she died. Racarl is the only one to wear the blame for that. You have to remember that, if you're to remain Mjolnir's commander."

Blader glanced over at her. "I knew what he could do and I ordered us to chase him anyway."

"That's our job," Skalfi snapped. "We all joined Mjolnir knowing we would be focusing on Racarl and Tros. Klora knew that when she accepted the position. All of us know that. And we all accepted knowing we'd be serving under Commander Blader Thrym, and that we are to follow his orders. And you accepted knowing you had to give those orders, rain or shine, life or death." After a moment of silence, Skalfi grasped Blader's hand, twining her fingers through his. "You're not alone. We're all in this together – we have been from the start. Don't forget that."

She squeezed his hand before releasing it, folding her arms over her chest. "Thank you," Blader told her. "Thank you, Skalfi."

Skalfi shrugged. "You helped me, last year, when I was upset with the High King's speech. Just trying to return the favor." She looked over at him. "I do have a question. Racarl seems particularly...interested in toying with you."

"I told you, we knew each other growing up," Blader said quietly.

Skalfi shook her head. "I know, but...he said he knew that...that I was your weakness. That you would be willing to die for me, back in the Reenactment. How could he know that about you? About...how could he know that you would go down into Helheim on the off chance of saving me?"

Blader remained silent. Domar Tros had told him, when he had stood before him in Helheim, that Jorid had insisted Skalfi should be the one threatened in order to coerce him into coming before them. "My apprentice. He knows how to manipulate you, always has, he says. You have a bit of a bond with young Vekja and he wished to exploit that. Although I told him any of your young recruit friends would have done, he insisted on it being Vekja. But it is of no manner."

"I'm not sure exactly how he picked you out of everyone," Blader said slowly. "Tros said any of you would have done, but Racarl insisted on you."

"How did he know?" Skalfi asked.

"We went to primary and secondary school together," Blader said. "We knew each other for years. His father was the blacksmith. My father went to him for his tools. But I don't know what would have made him choose you, besides our friendship."

"Could it have something to do with my second shield comments?" Wolfsted's question came out of nowhere, the Aldrian standing beside their seat with a smirk. "Racarl may have noticed, the same as I, and decided to use it to his advantage."

Blader wished he could contradict Wolfsted, but Tros' words about his bond with Skalfi made that pretty hard.

"Shut up," Skalfi told him. "You know, I'm going to pick a random girl and make random second shield comments about the two of you, see how you like it."

"That's not the same thing," Wolfsted protested. "This isn't random, Skalfi."

"I don't mean to intrude," Sodull said, sliding into the seat in front of them and twisting so he could face Blader and Skalfi, arms resting on the back of the seat. "But I had something to ask as well. Racarl mentioned, Blader, that the two of you had somehow protected your classmates. What did he mean?"

After a moment of silence, Blader slowly recounted what had happened on Thor's Bridge, how he and Jorid had been the only two willing to stand at the entrance to the Transriot and defend against the approaching terrorists. They had never had to fight them, though, due to the arrival of the Valkyries. It was that moment that had both cemented and changed their friendship, for Thor's Bridge had resulted in the death of Sofi Racarl, Jorid's mother, turning Jorid bitter and eventually leading to his fascination with arcane knowledge like blood magic. It had also led them to their eventual falling out as friends.

Wolfsted, Skalfi, and Sodull listened in silence until Blader finished the brief story, not wishing to dwell on his fear, the eternity between being rescued from the Transriot and returning to his parents, or the fireshock that moment had brought both him and Hilda.

"You were that kid?" Sodull asked in disbelief. "My parents talked about you. And Racarl. They told this story about these two kids who, with only a stun baton, guarded the door to protect their classmates. I heard that story, back when I was about ten."

"I remember Thor's Bridge being mentioned by my parents," Skalfi said slowly. "Something about the Valkyries. My father got quite irate about it, but I don't remember why."

Something about the Valkyries. Blader remembered his own father being angry with Eirnn, the head of Njordesden's Valkyries and the liaison to the first Mjolnir Squad – which Othorjadom Vekja had also been a member of.

Maybe my father and her father were angry about the same thing.

"I never heard about Thor's Bridge," Wolfsted said, with a shake of his head. "It's horrible, what happened, though."

"That makes more sense," Sodull said thoughtfully. "Why Racarl seems interested in playing with you, Blader. Think of the bond between the four of us, for going through the Reenactment. That must be similar, perhaps not as strong, but still similar. You two stood together to defend your classmates once – now you oppose each other." He nodded in satisfaction, as if pleased with that explanation.

Blader wondered if that was part of the reason for Jorid's enmity, alongside their former friendship.