Chapter Forty-Four: Elvar

Elvar marches with the Battle-Grim through the misty Dark-of-Moon Hills, surprised by the lack of danger. Agnar briefly halts the column, troubled by a vague premonition, but Uspa can only say they are close, not where. With no clear sign, Agnar orders the advance to continue.

That night, Elvar lies with Biórr and notices a lattice of whip scars on his chest. She presses him about his past, age, and kin, but Biórr grows tense and evasive, offering little beyond that his kin are dead. Their closeness contrasts with the secrets he keeps.

They join the campfire where Uspa sits with Kráka and the Hundur-thrall, Ilmur. Uspa confides a painful certainty—more feeling than vision—that they may see Oskutreð on the morrow. Elvar thrills at the prospect, but Agnar’s earlier unease lingers over the camp.

A debate flares: Elvar celebrates battle-fame and the chosen bonds of the Battle-Grim, claiming oaths outweigh blood. Uspa counters that the gods’ relics will poison human hearts and restart cycles of slaughter. She admits her own hypocrisy—she guides them only to save her stolen son, Bjarn.

The exchange ends on irreconcilable beliefs: Elvar trusts choice and glory to shape their future, while Uspa insists that blood and kinship rule human fate, warning, “Blood is always the answer.”