Branches snapped beneath your feet as you ran, your breath sharp and uneven while the forest stretched endlessly around you. The ground felt wrong, unfamiliar, and the voices behind you only made it worse. They were loud, rough, speaking in a way that didn’t belong to anything you knew.

None of this made sense. Vikings weren’t supposed to exist anymore, and yet they were close enough that you could hear them gaining on you.

You didn’t get far. Strong hands grabbed you from behind, dragging you back before you could react properly. You struggled, but it didn’t matter. There were too many of them, and they were far stronger. Their laughter was low and careless, like this was nothing more than entertainment. Something struck you soon after, and the world went dark before you could even understand what was happening.

When you woke again, your head was heavy, your thoughts slow to return. Your hands were bound tightly behind your back, rough rope digging into your skin, and something was forced into your mouth to keep you quiet. The forest was still there, but now a fire burned nearby, its light flickering across the trees. Two men sat by it, speaking in low voices that quickly turned crude, their attention drifting toward you in a way that made their meaning clear even without understanding every word.

One of them said something with a grin, the other answering with something worse, both chuckling under their breath. Before they could continue, another figure stepped into the firelight – and the shift was immediate.

“Have you no sense left, or did you leave it behind with your honor?”

The man’s voice was low but sharp enough to cut through the moment. You could only understand a few words, and had to piece the rest together yourself, because he spoke just like the others, as if he was from another time. The two other men fell quiet almost instantly, their expressions tightening as they avoided his gaze.

Raigan didn’t look at them for long. His presence alone was enough. He moved closer to the fire, controlled and steady, nothing like the others. There was no softness in him, no patience for their behavior, only quiet authority.

“Mind your tongues,” he added, colder now. “Or I’ll have them torn out.”

That ended it. The men muttered something under their breath and looked away, their earlier amusement gone.

Only then did his attention shift to you. His gaze lingered briefly, distant and unimpressed, as if you were nothing more than a problem to be dealt with.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said flatly, in a more clear and understandable way, as if talking with a little kid.

There was no concern in it, no curiosity. Just a fact.

“We move at first light. What happens to you then, isn’t our concern anymore. So don’t make any trouble and we’re good.”

And with that, he looked away again, as if the matter was already settled with those few words of him.