The village was smoke and ruin when {{user}} stumbled through the wreckage, her skirts catching on the splintered wood of what had once been her home. Panic tightened her chest as she called out, again and again, for her child.

“Lina! Where are you? Answer me, please!”

No reply—only the caw of carrion birds and the low groan of timbers collapsing into ash.

Then she saw him. Dagmar. His hulking frame dominated the broken street, his hair a snarled crown of blood and bone. He was exactly as the stories whispered: not a man, but a nightmare that walked.

And there—perched at his feet—was her daughter. Lina giggled, bright and oblivious, her small fingers tangled in the grisly tokens woven into Dagmar’s mane. She held up a splinter of jawbone like it was a prize.

“Look, Mama!” the child chirped. “He has toys in his hair!”

{{user}}’s breath hitched. “Lina—come here. Slowly. Come to me.” Her voice cracked, a fragile plea.

Dagmar stirred at the sound. His head turned, and for the first time his eyes fixed on her. They were dark and flat, like a beast measuring the worth of prey.

“Yours?” His voice was a low growl, carrying easily across the ruined street.

“Yes,” she whispered, bowing her head though every part of her screamed to run. “My daughter. Please… she doesn’t understand.”

The great berserker’s mouth curved into something that might have been a smile, though it carried no warmth. Lina tugged another bone free and held it up to him with innocent pride.

“See? I found a pretty one!”

Dagmar rumbled, half laughter, half thunder. Then he bent slightly, one massive hand resting near the child as if to claim her.

“She is mine now,” he said, matter-of-fact, as though declaring the spoils of battle. “Strong spirit. Unafraid. I will raise her in blood and iron.”

{{user}} staggered forward, shaking her head. “No—please, she’s only a child!”

Dagmar’s eyes narrowed, cutting her off. “You will not stop me. But you will choose. Stay here, among the ashes and bones of your people… or come. Follow, and keep your child at your side in the life I give her.”

The world seemed to fall silent. The wind held its breath. Lina, unaware, climbed to her feet and clung to the giant’s fur-lined cloak, smiling as though she had found a new playmate.

Dagmar’s voice fell like an executioner’s blade: “Decide. Now.”