Freya drifts through feverish dreams of darkness, fire, and pain until a charred specter appears before her. The apparition tells her that her name was born in fire and that Skaland will be united beneath whoever controls her fate. She wakes sick and disoriented in the forest, realizes she has been carried away from Hrafnheim, and recognizes one of the men holding her as the false cripple who deceived her.

When the kidnappers tell Freya she is being returned to her king, she understands that Snorri sent them and that the future Saga warned of is closing in. Though unarmed and still weakened by whatever drug they gave her, she uses Hlin’s magic to light the darkness, hardens a stick into a weapon, and attacks first. Freya injures two men, but her drugged body and their numbers turn the fight against her.

The kidnappers pin Freya in the mud, bind her wrists, and prepare to force another dose down her throat. As panic rises, Hel’s voice presses her to condemn them and reclaim control, and Freya comes close to giving in because she knows that being delivered to Snorri could seal her fate. Before she does, blood suddenly sprays across her face as Bjorn kills the man restraining her with his burning axe.

Bjorn and Harald’s wolves tear through the remaining kidnappers while Bjorn beats the last man until Freya calls him back. He frees her and asks if she is hurt, and although Freya says no, she is badly shaken by how near she came to invoking Hel’s power. The moment also exposes Bjorn’s terror at how close he came to losing her.

Skade and Harald arrive moments later, and Freya explains how she was tricked and drugged. Bjorn identifies the dead men as Skalander by their tattoo work, confirming that they served Snorri. Harald concludes that Snorri knows Freya is in Nordeland and will not repeat this quiet attempt, meaning open invasion is likely soon. Rather than wait for fate or Snorri to strike again, Freya decides that at dawn they will sail down the Rimstrom and carry the fight to him.