Contents
Chapter Seven: Elvar
Overview
Elvar leads a forward scout as the Battle-Grim pursue fugitives from a raided village into snow-choked hills. At a molten waterfall they kill a bull-troll, then subdue a giant fugitive. Agnar exposes the man as Berak Bjornasson, a Berserkir, by threatening a captured boy and using a thrall-collar command.
With Berak taken and casualties suffered, Agnar orders the dead gathered and the troll butchered, securing profit and proof of Elvar’s worth.
Summary
Elvar and the Battle-Grim leave a subdued fishing village and climb into snowy hills, following their thrall’s scent toward fugitives. Signs of troll dung and frost-spider webs raise the stakes as Agnar sends Elvar, Grend, and Biórr ahead to scout. The trail leads to a molten waterfall where a fur-clad man fights a young bull-troll while a woman and child cling to the fire’s edge.
Agnar dispatches warriors to secure the escapers as the company engages the troll in scattered pairs. The beast charges, killing two Battle-Grim brutally and wounding others. Seizing an opening, Agnar stabs the troll’s back while Elvar cuts a leg artery; the bull-troll collapses and dies, turning the fight.
As the victory cry fades, the fur-clad man refuses capture and kills a warrior before Sighvat’s chain blow drops him. Even bound, he resists the collar until Agnar threatens the captured boy. The man’s eyes fleck amber, his body swells, nails lengthen—signs of Berserkir blood—yet a command through the iron collar halts him and forces him to his knees.
Agnar names him Berak Bjornasson, wanted by jarls for blood-debt and weregild, confirming the Hundur-thrall’s identification. With the woman and child secured, Agnar orders the dead gathered and the troll butchered, claiming both profit and the prize of a Tainted captive.
Who Appears
- ElvarBattle-Grim warrior; scouts ahead, fights the troll, severs its artery, and witnesses Berak’s Berserkir reveal.
- AgnarBattle-Grim chief; commands the hunt, helps fell the troll, manipulates Berak into revealing his nature, claims him.
- Berak BjornassonFugitive giant; battles a troll, kills a warrior, exposed as Berserkir when provoked, then restrained by collar commands.
- SighvatEnforcer; chains the thrall, hammers pins, fells Berak with chain and punches, collars captives under Agnar’s orders.
- GrendElvar’s guardian; shields her in the melee, attacks the troll, helps her regain footing amid blood and chaos.
- BiórrWarrior shadowing Elvar; scouts the flank by the stream and witnesses the troll fight and capture.
- Hundur-thrallScent-tracker; leads the pursuit, identifies Berak, and is chained to a tree during the melee.
- Woman (captive)Companion of Berak and mother; destroys an item in the fire pool, captured while fleeing.
- Boy (captive)Child with the woman; threatened by Agnar to trigger Berak’s Berserkir transformation.
- Young bull-trollTerritorial beast at the molten falls; kills Battle-Grim before Elvar and Agnar bring it down.