Chapter Thirty-Six: Varg

Climbing into colder, harsher country, Varg travels with the Bloodsworn toward the Boneback Mountains. He apologizes to Sulich for past offence and, uneasy in the shadowed pines, falls in beside Skalk. Varg asks Skalk for an akáll to further his oath of vengeance; Skalk warns it will anger Glornir and demand a blood oath debt. Varg, pressed by time and duty to his sister, considers despite the cost.

The forest turns unnaturally silent, and Torvik signals danger. Glornir gathers the Bloodsworn and advances through a root-choked streambed marked with blood-stained runes. A foul scent thickens as fear spreads through the ranks.

Edel’s scouts reveal a grisly scene: twenty-four men and women hang inverted, skinned and gutted, each chest carved with a rune. Evidence—an eagle-wing brooch—identifies them as Queen Helka’s drengrs. Olvir, grief-stricken, recognizes them.

Vol names the rune bannað jörð—forbidden ground. Confronted, Skalk admits he sent these warriors despite earlier saying Helka could spare none, revealing withheld truth and undermining trust. Glornir, furious yet resolute, orders a search and commits to cleansing the hills of the lurking threat to earn their coin.

Edel leads them onward while the dead are cut down and examined. As the Bloodsworn march deeper into the tainted wood, Olvir weeps for fallen comrades, and Varg steels himself between conflicting oaths—tempted by Skalk’s offer even as the company faces an ominous, rune-marked foe.