Chapter 361 - Leaving Kirkenes

That same day, a few hours later, Erik was leaning over the railing of a sailing ship as he watched Kirkenes disappear into the distance. The light of day was fading, and this town of many memories was bathed in orange light.This was the same ship as they had used to get to Kirkenes from London a year ago. The invisibility sigil Elora had used on it had long since worn off, but it didn't appear like anyone had touched it since then.

On his shoulder sat a casually lounging Elora with a smile on her face. She was happy they were finally getting started on their journey forward. Of course, they had to make some stops, first in Alta, and then in England, but those wouldn't last long.

Next to them stood Liv, Astrid, Alice, Nora, Anne, and Viljar.

They all wore varied expressions, and they all had their own reasons for being there.

Liv and Viljar were merely hitching a ride, for example. Once in Alta, Liv would gather her people, release those stuck in blood farms, and then leave for the Council.

Viljar, on the other hand, was there as the Enclave representative for the punishment of the Dominion forces in Alta. After that was over, he would gather up the Enclave shapeshifters released from blood farms, and head back to Kirkenes.

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Their expressions were both calm, either because they didn't care much about Kirkenes, or because they knew they'd return soon.

Astrid and Alice were there for obvious reasons. They would be traveling with Erik, and they both had strong feelings about Kirkenes, so they watched it fade into the distance with a hint of melancholy, not knowing when, or if, they'd return.

Nora and Anne, on the other hand, were a little more ambiguous.

Erik had asked Anne to come with them to Alta, but not explained the reason why. Still, despite Anne's increasing nervousness around him, she didn't have a good reason to refuse. Thus, she felt compelled to accept, considering who Erik was.

She looked at Kirkenes with a complicated expression, as her thoughts were mostly revolving around why Erik wanted her to come with them.

And finally, there was Nora. Just before they left, Erik had pulled Nora aside, and removed the Bond of Service, giving her back complete freedom. Then, before Nora could recover from her surprise, he had given her a choice: stay with the Enclave or come with him.

But… she would have to accept the Bond of Service once again if she wished to come with. She would never be a wife, only ever a servant.

Surprisingly, or perhaps not, Nora didn't even need any time to think about it.

Thus, here she was with the rest of them. A collar of runes inscribed on her neck, and her face twisted in excitement. Any possible melancholy over possibly never seeing Kirkenes again was wiped out by the perverted thoughts filling her mind.

Meanwhile, the ghouls and vampires travelled back to Alta over land and would likely arrive only a little later than their ship.

As they started to pick up speed and glided over the water, Erik turned to Viljar, "Are you sure you don't wish to come with us, Uncle? I'm sure Mom would love to see you again."

Viljar nodded slowly, "I would love to see her again as well, but the Enclave is my home now, and more than that…" he paused as an expression of deep, emotional pain passed over his face, "…I can't risk the chance of facing Edda again."

Erik pursed his lips, and nodded slowly, "I understand, Uncle. I'll tell Mom you miss her."

"Thank you," Viljar answered with a sad smile.

Not everyone had the courage or desire to face someone they once loved and who had betrayed that love. Erik understood that. Everyone grieved in their own way, and Viljar preferred to consider the Edda he once knew as dead along with his late wife.

Perhaps he even still felt some love for her, and simply wanted to grieve his wife while letting Edda live out the life she had chosen for herself. Either way, seeing the Edda she turned out to be might cause him to break down.

Erik and Runa, on the other hand, needed revenge. They had no more love to give.

* * *

About half a day later, their boat sailed into the harbor of Alta. Once there, they surprised the vampires on guard, and quickly subdued them.

Although Emma and Emily had taken over the command bunker, the vampires guarding Alta and the blood farms were entirely ignorant of everything that had been going on.

They'd continued receiving orders from the bunker through communication sigils like normal, and occasionally left a shipment of blood somewhere near the cave for them to pick up, meaning that nothing changed in their routine. Thus, the news that Sigurd was dead, and Liv was back in charge, came as quite the shock to them.

But in the end, it didn't matter. There were around a hundred vampires there, with only three second rankers in charge. Naturally, they were quickly subdued by the sheer power present on their ship.

Unfortunately, they couldn't keep all hundred vampires in place, as some managed to escape. They didn't care about, though. It's not like those vampires posed a danger. Either they'd end up joining the Council, ghoulified in the wild, or caught by the Enclave.

After the vampires were herded together and surrounded by walls of ice conjured by Erik, they turned their attention to the victims of the Dominion blood farms, and it was truly a depression sight.

The blood farms were filled with both humans and shapeshifters, each one of them weak and barely able to take a few steps forward. Some had gone half-insane, and simply rocked back and forth, others had infantile minds.

In the end, Elora sealed the memories of the worst ones, and the rest would simply have to live with it. Either way, it would take a while before any of them recovered up to a point where they could travel.

They remained busy with this for a few more hours, until the ghouls and vampires from Kirkenes arrived and took over the job of caring for them.

Thus, their group moved on to the bunker, where Emily and Emma were waiting for them. Sёarᴄh the nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.