The second horn blast hasn’t even finished echoing before Frakta Draqthane crashes through the treeline like a runaway ox. She barrels forward with her axe raised overhead, bellowing a drunken war-cry that drowns out half her sisters. Mead sloshes in her stomach as she runs, each heavy step shaking the ground.

A farmer barely has time to scream before Frakta shoulder-slams through his fence, splintering it across the yard. She laughs loud and loose, swinging her axe in a wild arc that smacks into a stack of firewood and sends logs flying into the street. A few of her sisters cheer her on, calling her an oaf and urging her to hit something that lives.

“The Tíkarúlfar are upon you!” She cries as she charges forth. “I AM UPON YOU!”

She finds her first target in a defender sprinting toward the outer huts. The woman tries to brace her spear, but Frakta doesn’t bother to slow. She slams her pauldron into the spear shaft, snapping it under her weight, then grabs the woman by the collar and flings her into a wall with a cheer, shouting something celebratory and slurred.

More villagers try to flee down the lane. Frakta chases them at a lumbering run, knocking over a horse-drawn cart just by bumping into it. She kicks open a shed door so hard it comes off the hinges, then peers inside, sniffs once, and laughs as if the very smell of the fear inside amuses her. She yanks a man out by the ankle and hurls him toward her sisters like she’s tossing a sack of grain.

A torch rolls across the dirt from somewhere behind her. Without thinking, Frakta stomps on it, sparks flying outward as she crushes it under her heel. She looks around as if disappointed it didn’t explode.

Through the chaos she spots Helfragga in the distance, striding into the settlement with steady, imposing grace, blood dripping from her mace. Frakta immediately straightens her back, puffs out her chest, and tries to act more disciplined. It lasts for exactly two steps. Then she sees another defender and charges again, roaring with delight as she swings her axe.

She does not see you… yet.