Ch 12
"Good. Then we move forward. Tomorrow, we'll choose the animals, strong and healthy ones to sacrifice in exchange of the rejuvenation. After that, we start the process. One by one." Erik said to all the gathered old people
The elders stiffened, straightening their spines as if preparing for battle.
Halldis tapped her spear on the floor.
"I'll not hide my joy at the thought," she said. "I'll cast nets again."
Turik wiped his palms nervously against his tunic.
"I'll work leather and not be a slow rotting burden to the village."
Sigrun pressed her hands together.
"I'll find my son and walk the world on even legs."
Eldri Runetongue smiled
"I will tell your tales and teach runes to all who seek its mystic powers"
Skaldi lifted his stump again, jaw set.
"I will hold a shield with two hands and protect you and what you build"
Ketil's clouded eye gleamed weirdly.
"I'll see clearly who are your enemies and strike true."
Yrsa grinned like a wolf.
"I'll run free, Champion. I'll roam the world and guard you in your journey"
Orvar gave a sharp nod—probably the most emotion he'd shown in months.
Hjalti struck his chest again.
"Hjalti will crush skulls of Champion's enemies"
Korb bowed low in solemn promise.
"Young eyes or old, I'll scout for you and be of service"
Frode groaned again as every face turned expectantly to him.
"Oh gods… fine. I'll do my part in the village. But if any of you so much as joke about me being handsome again—"
"Oh, we will," Sigrun said sweetly.
"Constantly," Yrsa added.
"All the time," Ketil finished.
Frode's suffering was glorious.
Erik clapped his hands, drawing their attention.
"Then it's settled. Tonight, rest. Tomorrow… your new lives begin."
A collective breath washed through the room—mixed fear, hope, excitement, disbelief.
They drifted toward the doorway in twos and threes, muttering to each other in hushed, excited tones, as if scared the moment might crack if they spoke too loudly.
Runa, who had returned some time ago, had remained silent at the threshold. She hadn't wanted to interrupt—just watched everything unfold with the quiet intensity of someone seeing history being made. She stood quiet, unreadable, her dark eyes taking in every word, every expression She lingered now, gaze following the last of them until the hall grew still. Only when the last of them slipped out did she step forward.
"You do realize," she said, voice smooth and edged like silk hiding a blade, "that you've just upended the lives of an entire generation"
"No," Erik sighed, the weight finally dropping from his shoulders. "They upended their own lives. I'm just opening the door for a new chance." He thought 'One like I got being sent here'
"And dragging them through it like a man who thinks destiny should hurry up." Runa's replied, her lips curved as she smiled knowing.
He gave her a look and she gave him one back, sharper, amused, impossibly beautiful in that dangerous way she had.
She stepped closer, slipping her arm through his with deliberate slowness.
"You pretend you're only guiding them," she murmured, her voice low, intimate, "but you burn so brightly it's impossible not to follow. Even for me."
Erik swallowed. "Runa—"
"Don't overthink it," she cut in gently, lifting his chin with a single finger. "Just let yourself be… human. You carry the world on your back, Erik. Tonight" her eyes softened, that rare tenderness only he ever saw "you can let someone else distract you."
Her forehead touched his. His hand found hers automatically.
"Tomorrow," he whispered, "I forge my own clan. Some of my first followers… my first responsibility. And my first promise to uplift the world outside these walls."
Runa's breath brushed his lips.
"Then come to bed," she said softly, confidently, as if stating a command, the stars themselves would obey.
He didn't argue. He simply let her lead him. And the night claimed them both ,quiet, warm, and full of unspoken vows.
------
The Next Day – Before Dawn
Erik left long before the sun had risen, boots crunching over stiff grass as he stepped out into the cold blue-grey of the predawn light. Sitting atop of Kahuna, his warg retinue gathered effortlessly around him—the fox slinking at his heel, the raven fluttering onto his shoulder, the wolves pacing in a loose semicircle, breath steaming in the cold. Above, the owl circled silently. The two shadow-cats moved like ripples of night beside him, nearly invisible but felt.
He inhaled deeply. Today was time to hunt.
One-Eyed Korb waited for him by the treeline, leaning on his spear. Henrik stood beside him, tall and lean moving with a hunter's quiet confidence. His warg companion hawk perched on a nearby branch.
"You came" Erik noted. "Thank you. We'll cover ground a lot faster this way"
"We were awake before you," Korb replied with a wry smile. "Bad habits from the old days."
Henrik nodded respectfully. "What do you need us to track?"
"Deer," Erik answered. "Many of them. Enough to rejuvenate ten to twelve people at least, more if we get lucky. And any elks you see—I'll take them all."
Korb chuckled dryly. "You and your elks."
"They're big enough to carry us and I do like to travel in style," Erik shrugged. "And I need enough mounts for the people joining me."
"Tall order" Henrik commented "You'll need a dozen at least. Let's see how lucky we get"
They went separate ways, spreading into the forest. Korb and Henrik tracked with nearly supernatural precision with Henrik's eagle letting them see far but it was Erik's senses, shared through raven, fox, wolves, even the owls overhead and enhanced further by the living radar gift of the old Gods made the search swift and efficient.
By mid-morning they had a dozen deer bound and ready, their bodies uninjured and calm thanks to Erik's warg touch. Several other older, smaller animals were also hunted and either eaten by his wargs or were to be taken back to the village for communal eating.
They also found seven new elks, two massive males, proud and thick-antlered, and five females, strong-bodied and docile under Erik's mental guidance.
"Good haul," Korb grunted, visibly impressed.
Henrik whistled low. "The gods smile on you."
Erik merely nodded. He knew how people viewed him and looking at it from their point of view he could understand even though he didn't agree with it.
They packed up their haul on top of the new elks and turned back to the village, happy with a successful hunt.
They returned to the village as the sun reached its peak. Children ran to the fences shouting as the new elks were guided in, their massive forms and numbers drawing gasps.
But Erik had no time to bask in the admiration.
School was already waiting.
Because everyone had stayed up late the previous night, he had given the children yesterday off. But now he taught them more than usual as he would soon not be teaching them
Later came the few grown-ups who had been learning from him. They got bigger portions of meat as a bribe and compensation. He taught them more as well as they would become the teachers once he left. That required knowledge to pass on in his absence. He'd made advanced lesson plans and primers for them to follow.
Kari, one of the woman asked once the lessons were finished
"Are we truly ready to teach others, Erik?"
"You almost are," he said firmly. "By the time I leave, all of you will be."
He ate a meal of roasted fish and flatbread standing up, barely taking ten minutes. Then he was already moving again. This time to the lab where several volunteers awaited
Chief Frode had sent volunteers, adults with steady hands and serious expressions. Together they helped Erik finish several more sets of armor of Arapaima-scale cuirasses, Leg guards, Arm guards, helmets with a samurai-like face scary masks and deer antlers he'd added. All was lacquered green for protection and uniformity. Most of the task were delegated but a few he had to himself like particularly the helmet as the samurai face mask plate and antlers required his powers to make it right quickly.
And finally, he crafted round shields made from dense weirwood boards, coated in leather, then plated with smaller versions of his arapaima-inspired scales.
'Light. Durable. Nearly indestructible.' He thought as he tested it by having a villager take a swing at him.
The volunteers talked whispered in awe as they worked. They had learned enough that they could make and repair more armor so long as they had the raw materials.
'Raw materials like resin and carbon fiber which only I can make' Erik thought 'a bottle neck in production speed but a necessary one to maintain leverage. Just in case'
As sunset bled across the sky, the entire Heart tree clearing was crowded once again. Six deer lay ready outside, alive and braindead. Helga and Gonir were amongst the crowd as his ambassadors, calming fears as the voice of experience.
The six chosen stood forward: Turik the Tanner, Orvar the Longbowman, Yrsa the Wild, One-Eyed Korb, Chief Frode and Frode's wife, Asa.
Frode looked like he regretted every decision that led him to this moment. Asa elbowed him.
"If I'm doing this, old man, so are you." Asa said
"Gods save me," Frode muttered.
Erik stepped before them.
"Tonight," he said, "you will rise young again. Tomorrow, the rest. I kept my promise—you will walk into the future with strength. Never Forget! This is a gift from the Old Gods to thier worthy worshippers. It is meant to be cherished by spending this new life in their service. It is not meant to be squandered or do injustice upon others." He paused before speaking ominously "For what is given can also be taken away" The crowd listened silently in reverence and fear with some nodding in agreement.
"You're up first Turik. Step forth" Erik said
Erik knelt beside him. "Lie down, old friend."
When Turik obeyed, Erik placed one hand on his chest, the other on a deer, and the ritual began.
Turik's hands, once trembling like leaves in a storm, steadied under Erik's touch. His joints loosened. The rough stiffness of his fingers, scarred from a lifetime of blades, smoke, and brine smoothed. The gnarled knuckles unknotted themselves.
The deer shriveled into a husk.
Turik gasped as his shoulders pulled back, broad and steady again. His eyes sharpened; the dull yellow haze of age cleared, revealing the keen craftsman's gaze he thought forever lost.
He sat up slowly, staring at his hands like holy relics.
"These…" he whispered. "These are
mine again."
He flexed them and they moved steady and strong
A trembling smile broke across his face.
"I can work," he said. "I can
create again."
"Who's next?" Erik asked "How bout you Halldis?"
Halldis Storm limped forward using her spear as a walking staff. Erik gestured for her to lie down. Then Erik touched her and the deer.
And then the rejuvenation took her.
It hit like a wave, a rush of warmth through her bones, a tightening of muscle, strength threading back through fibers that had long surrendered. Her limp vanished first, leg straightening as if remembering what it was meant to be. Then strength returned to her. Her spine straightened. Her breath deepened.
She gasped and stumbling got up, but Erik caught her until she stood firm under her own power . She flexed her fingers and toes, then her whole armand leg , awe widening her eyes.
With a sudden burst of speed, She threw the spear she hadn't truly wielded in years at a tree. It whistled cleanly through the air and struck the trunk loudly
A smile — fierce, wild,
young — spread across her face.
"That two done" Erik stated "Orvar?"
Orvar nodded limped forward, his frame twisted by decades of war wounds and bone warping. One shoulder too high, one hip too low, ribs pressing wrong against one another. His bow arm hung crooked, useless.
He laid down with a shuddering breath.
Erik touched him and the deer.
The bones were the first to change.
Orvar felt them shift—grinding, then aligning with slow, precise snaps. His spine straightened segment by segment. His ribs settled like a collapsing tent pulled upright again. His arms lengthened equally, shoulder joints rolling back into perfect symmetry.
The second deer shriveled.
Orvar arched off the ground with a shout as the last vertebra clicked into place. His lungs expanded fully for the first time in years.
When he stood, he stood like a warrior reborn, straight, tall, balanced.
He reached out as if to draw an invisible bowstring.
His fingers pulled back effortlessly.
"Thank ye" he said quietly. It was the first time he's heard him say anything to anyone.
"Me next" Yrsa said stepping forward hurriedly.
Yrsa didn't lie down—she dropped herself with the careless confidence of someone who had never feared anything but boredom.
Her body was still strong, but the rot had crept into her joints, her gut, her blood, a slow, creeping decay that no warrior's will could outrun.
Erik touched her and the deer.
Yrsa hissed as heat surged through her limbs like a blaze roaring through dead underbrush, burning away the rot. Her heart thundered. Her muscles tightened with fresh strength. The old ache in her hips vanished. The stiffness in her shoulders snapped free.
The deer shriveled into a husk again.
Yrsa sat up in one swift movement, eyes wide and bright as a wolf's.
"Oh
yes," she growled, rolling her neck. "That's the fire. That's the rage. That's the life I remember."
She sprang to her feet in a single bound.
"Erik," she said, grinning savagely. "If you need someone to hunt your foes, I'll be the first in line."
"Korb" Erik said gesturing him step up.
Korb lowered himself to the ground slowly. Not from pain, just weariness so deep it had hollowed him out.
Erik placed his hand on Korb's chest and the deer beside him.
This rejuvenation was quieter and gentler.
Korb's body didn't surge with sudden strength; it
woke.
His heartbeat steadied. The fatigue clinging to his bones evaporated. His skin tightened. Muscle shaped itself anew on his arms and legs. His remaining eye sharpened until it gleamed like polished amber.
The deer shriveled in to a husk once again.
Korb inhaled sharply—his first deep breath in decades.
He sat up slowly.
"…I feel alive," he whispered. "Alive and strong. Are you sure…?"
"Do not lose hope" Erik replied "You are needed. You will make sure other donot suffer the losses that you have suffered"
A small smile—rare, fragile—touched his face. He got up and Hjalti stepped forth.
He lowered himself to sit, joints cracking like old wood. Erik placed his hands on the ruined knees and the other on a deer
Hjalti grunted as they loosened, not with magic, but with the painful force of muscles remembering their shape. Scar tissue softened. Tendons tightened. Hjalti drew a sharp breath as his legs straightened fully for the first time in years and the dull headache that had haunted him like an old enemy finally slipping away.
Another deer shriveled into a husk again.
He blinked, breathed, blinked again.
Then he stood.
No wobble. No hesitation.
"Hjalti has legs again! Hjalti has no ghosts pounding inside skull!" Hjalti barked a laugh that echoed off the trees.
" Hjalti feels… dangerous again!"
"Alright " Erik said feeling tired but willing to see it all done " Ketil, come forward"
Erik palced a hand on Ketil and another on the deer. He coaxed the muscles around the eye to wake again.Ketil gasped. His fingers twitched. The tension in the lid changed, then the focus in the pupil tightened like a bowstring drawing back.
Next came the hands. Erik worked the tendons, massaged the knotted forearm muscles, forced the shaking joints to realign. It was hard. But not too painful. Ketil endured, but didn't pull back. When it was done, the tremor was gone.
Next was Skaldi who stepped forward impatiently
"Give me two hands again, healer" Skaldi said as he thrust out the stump proudly. The old wound was swollen, tender, angry at being touched. Erik inspected it carefully, then set to work — pressing, pulling, aligning old bone and scar with grim precision.
Skaldi's breath hitched. Sweat rolled down his jaw. But he didn't flinch.
Bit by bit, the stump changed — not magically, but through the brutal, slow correction of a limb rediscovering its shape. Muscles twitched. Bone ached. Skin stretched.
And then the fingers appeared , first a curl of movement, then form, then strength.
Skaldi stared, stunned, as he closed a hand he hadn't possessed in years.
He flexed it. Made a fist. Slammed that fist into his palm, grinning like a wolf.
The deer shriveled into a husk again.
"Two hands. Two hands again!" Skaldi yelled happily and stepped away for the next one.
Next Erik guided Eldri to sit. He placed a hand on her back, steady and firm. He worked her lungs first — long, slow pressure along the ribs, adjusting the tight muscles that kept her breath shallow. Eldri gasped as her chest opened wider than it had in years.Next came her throat. He massaged the frail muscles, easing decades of strain.
The deer shriveled into a husk again.
Her next spoken word came out clearer and stronger.
Eldri's eyes widened. She lifted the willow flute with trembling hands.
She blew a single note. It rang true.
Her hand fell over her heart as tears gathered.
"I can speak. I can breathe. I can
sing our history again."
She bowed her head happy tears in her eyes and stepped away for her old Friend Sigrun
Sigrun stepped forward with quiet dignity, hands folded.
Erik studied her gently, then set to work, helping her sit and stretch. It was not dramatic , no bones snapping into place, no scars undone. Only muscle after muscle tightening, toning, awakening.
Her breath deepened. Her back straightened. Her steps grew lighter. Her softness melted, not fully, but enough that she moved like a woman a decade younger.
Sigrun touched her sides in surprise.
"Oh my! I haven't felt this light since my second son's birth…" Sigrun murmured .She smiled shyly, cheeks warm.
"Thank you, Erik. I'll serve you with what strength I now have" Sigrun said
"Chief?" Erik said "You're up next"
Frode hesitated, pride wrestling with necessity.
He laid down, breathing out heavily.
Erik placed a hand on him and the deer.
Strength returned to Frode like a rising tide. His chest broadened, muscles packing tightly across shoulders once weighed down by leadership. His greying beard darkened. His eyes sharpened with the fierce steadiness of a man born to command warriors.
The deer shriveled in to a husk. Again.
Frode stood taller than he had in years, imposing, solid, powerful.
He ran a hand through his now-thick hair and let out a deep breath.
"I can serve them again," he said. "Not as the last embers of a leader… but as a roaring flame that leads and warms in the darkest of nights"
Next Asa lay down with difficulty—joints swollen, legs stiff, her memory frayed by creeping fog.
"I am old," she murmured. "Wrinkled. Forgetful. My bones ache with every step. I would like to remember the faces of my children without reaching for them in my mind. Fix me, Erik. Please."
Erik placed his hand upon her.
Her gout-clotted joints cooled, the swelling pulling back. The fog in her mind lifted like morning mist. Her wrinkles softened, then faded. Her breath deepened. Her limbs loosened until they no longer trembled.
Another deer shriveled in to a husk.
Asa opened her eyes and clarity shone there, sharp as the first frost of winter.
She sat up slowly, touching her own face, her own hands.
"Oh…" she breathed. "Frode… look at me."
Frode strode to her, stunned, seeing her as she had been when they were young.
She rose to her feet with no pain at all.
"I remember everything," she whispered. "Everything."
Frode wrapped his arms around her, breath trembling.
They stood together, a chief and his wife reborn.
The elders were too stunned by their own rebirths, too overwhelmed by limbs that did not hurt, spines that did not bow. They were feeling
life.
Unlike them Erik felt strung out,he tried to get up but he swayed.
'I think I overdid it' he thought 'I shouldn't have rushed this after working with my powers all day long'
Yrsa noticed first. "Erik?"
He lifted a hand. Tried to smile. Failed.
A wave of dizziness washed over him, blurring the edges of his vision. His knees buckled, and he caught himself on the nearest stump, breathing hard. A cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
The others surged closer, but Helga's voice, steady and commanding held them back.
"Give him space."
Erik lowered himself to sit, elbows on his knees, head bowed as he tried to draw breath deep into his lungs. His heart thundered like a war drum pressed too hard. Every fiber of him felt hollowed out—like the deer he had drained, except still alive by sheer force of will.
He wiped his brow with a shaking hand.
"Too many," he muttered. "Too close together. Power's… running low."
His vision pulsed with dark spots, the world tilting gently as though the earth itself rocked.
One-Eyed Korb knelt carefully a few paces away. "Rest, Life Weaver. You gave more than flesh today."
"Just—" Erik sucked in air, let it out slowly. "Need a moment."
He closed his eyes.
The cold wind brushed past him, tugging at his hair, cooling the feverish heat beneath his skin. His breath, ragged at first, gradually steadied. His pulse eased. The hollow ache in his bones dulled from a scream to a muted throb.
Minutes passed.
Quiet minutes.
The newly young stood around him in a reverent half-circle—not speaking, not shifting, simply watching in the way warriors watch a comrade recovering from a great exertion. Respectful. Alert.
Turik murmured, "He looks half-dead."
Orvar replied softly, "Yet he brought us all back from half-death."
Finally, Erik exhaled long and slow, and the trembling in his hands eased. He lifted his head.
Color had returned to his cheeks. His eyes focused again. His spine straightened with a weary groan.
"I'm all right," he said. And this time, it was mostly true.
He pushed himself to his feet—slowly, carefully, but without wobbling. He rolled his shoulders, testing for lingering weakness. It was still there, a deep fatigue in the marrow, but he could stand. He could breathe. He could walk.
Yrsa grinned. "Back from the brink?"
Erik smirked faintly. "I just need something to eat. Maybe ten thousand calories."
"Well after what you've done" Frode declared, "we'll feed you enough for twelve winters!"
Frode stepped forward, placing a newly strong hand on Erik's shoulder.
"You did a great thing today," he said. "Now let us steady you and help for a while."
Erik nodded, breath finally steady. "Just give me a minute to catch the world… it's still spinning."
His strength was already returning, slowly, steadily as his body recovered from the monumental gift he had given to them.
The newly rejuvenated stood in a loose semicircle around . Helga and Gonir stepped forward with them, their faces bright with the same fierce certainty.
"I walked here with nothing left to offer. Now I stand straight again" Turik the Tanner, now broad-shouldered again bowed his head. "Erik… my life is yours to command. May you lead us with wisdom."
"I'll follow you " Olvar said bowing in respect and gratitude.
"I'm yours in the hunt, in the fight, and in all the strange things you drag us into." Yrsa the Wild snorted a laugh, tossing her now-thick braid over her shoulder.
"My voice is yours, Erik." Eldri said "My stories are yours. But if you ever stray… I will be the first to speak against you."
"Life Weaver, Erik." Halldis said as she bowed her head "I pledge my renewed strength to your cause. I'll fish, hunt, fight, whatever you need."
"You have retuned my voice, my purpose "Eldri Runetongue said "I will speak your deeds with truth. And I will warn you if your shadow grows too dark."
"You gave Hjalti back the war in his blood." Hjalti bowed to Erik with surprising grace." Hjalti gives you the rest of his life. Hjalti vows to breaks your foes."
"We are souls reborn. And every rebirth needs purpose" Sigrun ssaid as she 0rolled her shoulders, testing her renewed strength. "You've given us that. We give ourselves to your service… as long as your heart stays yours."
"You've helped us without asking for anything. You've protected us without asking for praise. You've changed our lives without demanding anything in return" Helga said as she stepped to Erik's side, her jaw set, eyes fierce. "That is why we choose you. Not as a master. As a leader worth following."
"We stand with you" Gonir nodded sharply beside her. "Lead to great new innovations and wonders"
Erik exhaled feeling the weight of their commitment. He steadied himself, met each of their gazes, and answered:
"Then I'll just have to make sure I live up to your expectations."
Author's notes
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