It took less than a week to build the longship. That had to be some kind of record.

Bjorn had tirelessly cut planks from the wood and riveted them together with some scavenged supplies. He built the whole boat from the keel up more or less on his own, with marginal help from the others.

Peng was allowed out of his bonds, but Ruhak and Taya always kept a close eye on him.

Bjorn tossed the finished oars into the boat. They would only have four rowers, but that would have to do. He didn’t like relying on wind power, but he didn’t have much choice.

All the supplies they intended to take with them were already in the boat. All he needed now was-

A powerful gust of wind blew against Bjorn’s back. Then another.

“We have wind!” Bjorn shouted. “Get in the boat!”

Ruhak, Taya, Cecile and Peng ran from their campsite. Bjorn joined Cecile, Ruhak and Peng in jumping into the boat as Taya used her magical strength to shove the boat off its stand and into the sea.

She joined them on the deck as Bjorn hurriedly let down the sail. Wind caught in the cloth like a tackle into a shield and powered the ship forward. Bjorn sighed in relief as the island grew smaller and smaller.

Ruhak unloaded an unrestrained whoop of excitement, which Taya was quick to join in on.

“Where are we headed?” Cecile asked.

Bjorn looked up at the sky, “North. To south Sklava.”

“Home!” Taya exclaimed. “Finally! My mother is probably worried sick.”

“Aren’t you at all concerned about the Nikan? You said they were fighting with your people," Bjorn said.

Taya scoffed, “No need, Stormtamer. Sklava never even fell to Koinelia. Nikan is like a minor annoyance compared to them. Their emperor is only... thirty or some years old.”

Bjorn felt a pang in his side as Taya used his title. He didn’t want it anymore.

“Thirty? No he has to be at least forty," Ruhak asked. “Doesn’t he have something like twenty children?”

“What does it matter?” Cecile asked. “Thirty or forty, the Emperor’s children are some of the scariest Bane Knights in the world.”

Bjorn frowned, recalling stories about the raids his village’s men went on to Sarfait. Bane Knights were warriors who put common Shedim into specially made weapons, giving them access to supernatural powers. The Ascomanni could only match them with raving mad berserkirs and exceptionally skilled drengr.

“Rumors going around the army actually say the royals Banebend Elder Shedim," Peng said.

Taya frowned. “That’s absurd. Elder Shedim are far too powerful to be Banebended.”

“Just a rumor," Peng shrugged. “I’m sure it’s just the empire trying to make itself look good in front of its people. Though I can confirm that Nikan has been training a far greater quantity of Bane Knights. I think they just hit two thousand.”

“Two thousand?” Ruhak exclaimed. He cupped his chin. “With that many, you’d think they’d have already taken over the world. I’ve always wanted to try wielding a Baneblade.”

“Maybe you’ll manifest a Shedim and have one of your own," Bjorn mused.

“Wouldn’t that be great?” Ruhak shrugged. “But...I’d hesitate. I’m not too keen on going into any wars right now.”

“Don’t worry yourself, Ruhak. Wars are for the Wojewodas," Taya shrugged. “Too dense, full of tactics and opaque strategies. Duels are more my style.”

“A warrior without tact is no more than a wolf with an axe in his mouth," Bjorn said. “Every little motion on the battlefield relies on tactics, down to the individual warrior. But I guess it’s different when you rely on special powers to make you invincible.”

Taya scoffed, “You come up with that line yourself?”

“I’m no Skald, but I dabble in the arts," Bjorn grinned.

It was then Bjorn caught sight of a small dot in the distance. He narrowed his eyes. It was a Nikan junk. Just the one.

“Uh...Do you think someone from the empire didn’t get the news about attacking the island?” Bjorn asked.

“What do you mean?” Taya asked.

Bjorn pointed straight ahead. Taya shadowed her eyes with her hand as she peered out. The others followed Bjorn’s finger to the vessel.

“Yeah...that is weird," Taya muttered.

As they drew closer, Peng joined them in looking at the junk.

“Oh shit.”

“Oh shit?” Taya asked. “Why ‘oh shit’?”

“That’s the banner of the 17th Prince, Gongsun Guanyu. Also known as the Hunter," Peng said. “The only reason for him to be out here is to hunt someone like you.”

Bjorn ran to the back of the longship and pushed the steerboard. The boat started to turn outwards, giving the junk plenty of personal space.

“What are you doing?” Taya asked.

“Sailing around the prince," Bjorn said. “We’re fast enough to do it.”

“Turn this ship straight towards them," Taya ordered.

“What?” Ruhak asked. “Are you crazy?”

“If we just leave them be, they won’t stop chasing us until we lead them all the way to my village. I’m not letting them touch my home," Taya said. “Now turn the boat around.”

“How are we going to fight them? You’re the only one with powers. Who knows how many people are on that ship? We’ll be overwhelmed!” Bjorn argued.

“We’ll make it out!” Taya said.

Bjorn’s eyes were drawn away from Taya and to the cloud of arrows that soared through the air towards them.

“Sail! Get the sail down!” Bjorn screamed. He grabbed his shield, pulled his helmet down and covered himself and Ruhak as he brought the sail down. The arrows pelted them, sinking into Bjorn’s shield and glancing off his armor. Arrows simply shattered upon contact with Taya’s skin.

Cecile and Peng ducked behind the hull, the wood protecting them.

“Too late to run, Bjorn," Taya said.

Bjorn cursed in his native language as the junk drew up right beside their longship, lamellar-clad soldiers ready to board.

Taya boarded them first.

“I’m gonna go help her," Bjorn said, breaking the arrow shafts off his shield. “You three be ready to leave once we...well whatever Taya plans to do.”

The Ascomanni pulled himself up onto the Nikan junk’s deck and didn’t hesitate to sink a throwing axe into a poor fellow’s neck.

Taya had cleared most of the archers, either throwing them overboard in a wide arc of her sword or just dismembering them into human fillets.

Bjorn began to advance on the few spearmen on the deck, but stopped when their attention was directed towards the back of the ship. He followed their gaze to the deck above the cabin.

“So, you’re the one the fleet was talking about, huh?” A man clad in shining lamellar armor and a decorated helmet stood on the upper deck, looking down on them alongside a young woman in similar form-fitting armor. “The one they were actually supposed to kill.”

“I hear you’re called the Hunter,” Taya said. “Because you apparently kill people like us for fun. But tell me, have you ever faced a Shedim Master who was little more than a whelp?”

“I’ve killed those of your wretched kind who could control time itself. Do not take me lightly, girl," the prince growled.

“Not the question I asked, Gongsun," Taya said before launching herself off the deck towards him. Their clash erupted in a blast of green and violet light.

“Ascomanni.”

Bjorn looked to the right as the woman nimbly leapt down to the lower deck. She drew a long and thin one-handed sword from her hip.

“Are you like her?” the woman asked. “A Shedim Master?”

“Who knows?” Bjorn muttered. “Who’s asking?”

“Just a poor fellow soldier," the woman flourished her blade. “I am Gongsun Yahui, 3rd imperial princess. What is it you call yourself.”

“Bjorn Olafsson," Bjorn said, slowly starting to circle her. Despite being armed for battle, the princess didn’t look as though she would make any kind of aggressive movement, which was arguably more disconcerting to Bjorn than if she’d attacked him outright.

“Bjorn, Son of Olaf. It is rare that I would get to meet someone from lands as far off as your own. Now tell me...may I have this dance with you? I am eager to see the skill of a mighty Ascomanni warrior.”

“Not like I have much of a choice," Bjorn raised his shield.

Yahui attacked with the quickness of a lightning bolt. There it was.

Bjorn knocked her arm away with his shield and swung at her with his axe. The blade sparked off her armor, but she was stunned nonetheless. She clearly thought there was enough of a gap in their agility to exploit speed.

Just because I’m big doesn’t mean I’m slow, princess.

Yahui found her resolve again and rushed in, attempting to use his size against him. She’d get in too close for him to effectively maneuver.

Bjorn put his shield between her and that coveted position.

She kicked off his shield, flipping into the air and landing behind him in that same worrisome proximity. Bjorn twisted himself around and kicked himself back in time to parry an underhanded thrust of her blade. The blade circled back around into an overhead strike.

Bjorn’s axe head sparked off the sword as he knocked it aside again, before shoving his foot into her gut.

The woman slid back, but didn’t fall over. She met his eyes with an excited glare.

Bjorn’s mind was racing, but it was methodical in a way. His mind entered a state of hyper focus, like it always did in combat. He’d trained himself to channel his adrenaline into rapid thought rather than panic. Doing so made the world, save for himself and his opponent seem to slow down by the slightest bit.

She swung her blade from the side. Bjorn allowed the metal to sink into the side of his shield. He tried to rip the sword away from her, but she jumped with his flailing arm, almost as though she were flying to keep hold of her weapon.

Before Bjorn realized it, the woman hopped onto his shield and leapt back, pulling her weapon out and shoving him back with her feet. She landed and quickly dove in for another attack as Bjorn was stumbling.

The thrusting sword barely missed the tip of his nose. Bjorn hooked the blade in his axe’s beard, throwing her to the ground and using the momentum to get himself back on his feet.

The woman pressed her palm to the deck and launched herself back into a sturdy stance. 

They stared at each other, both taking labored breaths.

Bjorn hadn’t expected a princess to be this ferocious. The princess was equally surprised by Bjorn’s refined fighting style.

The two of them clashed again, one never letting the other get too much of an upperhand before the encounter was over and they separated to rest.

During one of their rests, the prince landed next to them and struggled to push the shaft of his glaive against Taya’s claymore. He shouted something in Nikan before leaping away.

Yahui sighed, “Little brothers. Always ruining the fun.”

Yahui cast her blade aside, causing Bjorn to frown. Rather than dropping his guard, he lifted his shield.

Her eyes glowed bright orange like a burning fire. Metal blades the size of daggers materialized attached to her fingers from nothing, glowing red with heat.

Bjorn swore he saw the outline of a collection of fox tails behind her, made from red-orange light.

Yahui huffed, “Forgive me, but think I’m going to tip the odds a little.”

Yahui vanished and reappeared in front of Bjorn almost instantly before slamming her foot into his chest. He went flying, crashing into the upper cabin of the junk.

Bjorn groaned.

Taya slid to a stop next to him, “You will die like that, Ascommani! Get up and fight! Your Shedim! Call it to you!”

Bjorn stared, dumbfounded partially in pain and partially in confusion as Taya re-engaged with the prince. Was it some kind of on-demand thing? Didn’t much feel like it. In fact, there was no evidence at all for its existence, except for the black marks on his arm.

But maybe it was worth a try. She sounded like she would bet her life on him having access to her power. And Bjorn was quickly reminded about how deadly that newfound speed of the princess’s was as she closed the distance between them in an instant.

Bjorn threw himself out of the way as Yahui nearly crushed his skull with her knee. He needed to match her power. Whatever Taya believed he could do, he needed it right now.

Bjorn held both his arms up in a guard as Yahui’s leg smashed into his shield, snapping it in half. The Ascommani tumbled to the ground, but got to his feet quickly.

Come on! He didn’t know what to do except yell at himself in his mind.

He ducked out of the path of Yahui’s dagger-like claws. He could feel the immense heat on his skin as they passed over his face.

She unleashed a flurry of attacks.

By some luck of the Weavers, Bjorn escaped with nothing but some singes on his clothing, but only to be met by another spinning kick from the princess. The deck seemed to crumple beneath him as he was smashed into the wood.

She leapt up, determined to pummel him through the deck with a final blow, but when Bjorn instinctively held out his arms to protect himself, a flash of light filled his vision and an explosion deafened him.

The thump on the deck was the first sign he had to the fact that Yahui had been knocked prone. Ears ringing and vision blurring, he staggered to his feet.

His Plague Scars were alight with bright azure energy, while his hand crackled with lightning.

He could feel power flowing through his veins, like icy blood running through his body.

Yahui dragged herself to her feet and wiped a bit of blood from the corner of her lips. A large smoldering mark was left in her chest, her armor destroyed as though...well...had lightning struck it? But the blast had merely blackened her skin with soot. No evidence of injury was on her. What the hell kind of power did she wield?

Yahui chuckled, “Impressive. I sense a great deal of power coming from you. Too bad you’ll never have the chance to learn it.”

The junk shook, distracting both of them from their opponent as Taya’s battle with the prince had carved a giant hole into the middle of their boat.

“Gods damnit,” Yahui hissed.

“Too bad our battlefield is about to sink,” Bjorn forced a smirk. “Next time, then.”

Bjorn leapt off the deck and landed in the nearby longship, followed by Taya.

“Let’s move before they decide to hitch a ride!” Bjorn shouted.

Using their oars, the escapees pushed off the sinking junk and rowed away until they could pull the sail up once more.

Bjorn couldn’t take his eyes off the sinking junk until the wind carried them far enough to lose sight of the Nikan rowboats.

Still Bjorn’s neck remained craned, his eyes focused on nothing in particular but a dreadful implication.

The Nikan empire was hunting them. Bjorn didn’t much care why, but...would they trek all the way up to Ascomarch to find him? Even if he found another place to stay, would they find him? If they did, this power coursing through his veins acted as the perfect way to keep Bjorn from returning home.