Darkness fell, but Dag couldn't sleep. He kept on looking at the top corner on the wall in front of him, illuminated by a light coming from outside the window.
It seemed real moonlight, or at least, what Lady Ysabel told him to be real moonlight. Sometimes, children used to ask her how beautiful the Earth was before the Dark Day, the day Sun died and Xis settled on the blue planet.
Ladies told them about flowers, birds, and other animals that frolicked in the meadows. About the sea, rivers, and waterfalls. Children were fascinated by the book's illustrations, showing colorful and different landscapes. It was real until it finished.
Dag was remembering as much as possible about those images. He flopped in his bed thinking about his past on Earth and his parents.
His mother.
Where was she? Was she an incubator for real? Was she dead? His father was certainly dead, Xis killed him. He wouldn't mind that much, now he had the chance to restart.
94% Norse, 4% Roman. Dag started focusing on those numbers.
Why Roman? He was definitely Norse, the percentage was higher, but what about his 4% of roman blood?
Finally, after about an hour, he fell asleep.
The morning showed up and with it, the rooster started singing. Dag slowly opened his eyes.
He was the only one in the room, nobody else was on the bed.
"Oh no, I'm late…where are they now?"
He quickly stood up and put on his leather shoes. He opened the bedroom door, noticing that the main room was empty.
With a feeling of disorientation, he ran getting out of the house.
Outside, the sunlight was so bright, that he couldn' keep his eyes open. After a few seconds, he saw Asa, feeding the cows.
"Good morning sleepyhead! I made an exception for today because it's your real first day here. From tomorrow, I'll wake you up with a bucket of cold water!"
Asa was smiling. Dag waved his hand, then scratched his head.
"So? What do you want to do? If you come closer, I can tell you how to reach Jernhest's Library. You will meet a lot of interesting people that will…"
"I'll go to the Arena" interrupted Dag.
"The arena? Taya said that you are not a good fighter, you'll get hurt. Listen, life is yours, choose wisely who do you want to become. The choice is free" Asa said.
Dag walked to her: "I will be a great warrior and I will discover more about my origins. I feel that there is something I should know since I was a baby, I just don't know what" said Dag in a secure tone.
Asa looked at his face.
There was something in his blue eyes, something burning.
What he was saying was true.
"Well, if this is your choice… wait for Eirik, he will go to town to sell our wood at the market. Go with him, he'll drive you close to the Arena. Next time you'll go on your own" replied she.
"Okay, thank you!"
Dag sat on the grass, waiting.
Eirik was finishing to dispose perfectly half-chopped trunks on an old wooden coach, pulled by a brown and white spotted horse.
Then he looked at Dag: he didn't seem very happy to give him a ride.
"Let's go puppy, I heard you".
With a jump, Eirik got on the couch, grabbing the horses' reins. Dag climbed the step to get on, helping himself with his hand.
He turned back, looking at Asa: she was smiling, as always, watching her kids going on their own.
During the trip, Dag tried several times to speak to Eirik, but he was not such a good interlocutor. The only information Dag obtained was that Eirik was 12 years old, 4 years older than him.
On the road, Dag studied carefully his new older brother: he was a cheeky boy, his hands were wide and calloused, despite his young age, probably because he was learning the lumberjack job.
His glance focused on the road, while he chewed a licorice stick. Dag tried to learn the route from the house to town.
They finally get in Jernhest's city center, the journey was faster than the day before, with Taya.
"See you, puppy… we've arrived. This is the Arena" said Eirik, inviting Dag to get off the coach.
As soon as Dag's feet touched the ground, he whizzed away.
Dag looked at the Arena. Without noticing, he was trembling.
He inspired, then walked towards the entrance, remembering what happened the day before and reliving the pain on the hand the boy stomped with the shield.
Once entered, without a word, he moved to the weapons rack.
He grabbed a sword and started to hit the training dummy, while the other fellows fought against each other.
Most of them didn't care about him, but somebody did: a group of three boys and a girl looked at Dag, defiantly.
Among them, there was the boy that Dag blinded and defeated.
He got closer to Dag and punched his back from behind before he could realize to be in danger.
The wooden sword Dag was holding fell to the ground and he touched his back, crouching painfully.
Then he stood back up, grabbing his sword.
Without saying anything, he kept hitting the dummy turning his back on the boy and his friends.
The bully boy moved his arm swinging the sword against Dag for the second time when a hand grabbed it.
It was Taya's.
"Kid is that you? I rode you to the farmers' house yesterday… Dag! Is that your name?" asked the Shieldmaiden.
"Yes".
"Hahaha! And what are you doing here at the Arena, Dag?" Taya continued, with the hands resting on her hips.
"I'm here to fight, to become a great warrior!" stated Dag.
The guys around him started laughing loudly.
"He could not be a great warrior even in 100 years, Master Taya! Hahaha!" the bully boy said, mocking Dag, supported by his friends.
"Quiet Finn! Nobody told you to speak!" Taya said in a rude voice, shutting up the boy, trying to teach him some true discipline.
Two new recruits joined us today… Karl and Freydis, step forward" continued she, nodding her hand.
From the group of guys behind them, a boy and a girl walked forward.
Both of them had red hair: he was a young kid surrounded by an innocent air and walked among the other warriors, looking around with his eyes wide opened, appearing more scared than Dag.
The girl, Freydis had long, coppery red hair and light skin. Her big brown eyes shined at the sunlight. She was shorter than the other guy, probably younger.
Perhaps they were siblings.
