Nyra's breathing had steadied, the weight of her nightmare beginning to settle in the back of her mind rather than pressing against her chest. The cold air had helped. So had the stars and in some strange way, so had Thal.
Then, casually too casually he spoke. "You up for a fight?"
Nyra blinked. "What?"
Thal shrugged, rolling his shoulders as if he wasn't standing there half naked, covered in dried blood, burns, and the remnants of battle, suggesting a sparring match in the middle of a cursed wasteland.
"You're awake. I'm awake." He tilted his head slightly. "Might as well do something with it."
Nyra let out a dry, incredulous laugh. "You're joking."
Thal said nothing because of course, he wasn't.
Nyra sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You really think sparring is what I need after…" she gestured vaguely to the surrounding wasteland, "…all that?"
Thal didn't miss a beat. "It worked when you were younger."
Nyra froze. She remembered. The first time he had found her crying, broken, lost, she had clung to him the same way she had tonight but back then, she had been a child. She had thought he would comfort her.
That he would tell her things would be okay. Instead…. He had thrown a punch at her.
She had barely dodged it in time, stumbling backward with shock and rage only to be forced into defending herself. It had been the first time since she lost her family that she had felt something other than grief.
A distraction. A challenge. Something to focus on besides the past and gods help her it had worked. Nyra huffed, shaking her head. "You're an ass."
Thal exhaled through his nose, the corner of his mouth twitching faintly—neither confirming nor denying it.
She exhaled sharply, rolling her shoulders. "Fine. Let's do this."
Thal nodded once, already stepping back to put some distance between them.
Nyra cracked her neck, taking a loose but steady stance. Her fingers curled into fists, but she didn't reach for her axe. This wasn't about weapons. This was about movement, speed, instinct.
If she was being honest? She kind of needed this. Nyra moved first and she closed the gap between them in seconds, shifting her weight as she swung a sharp right hook toward his ribs.
Thal didn't block it, didn't counter it, he just took the hit.
Her fist met solid muscle, and the impact barely made him move. She barely had time to register that before his palm came down against her shoulder, sending her sprawling back into the dirt.
Nyra hit the ground with a sharp grunt, but she rolled back to her feet in an instant. "Right." She wiped her mouth, a smirk curling on her lips. "Forgot you're built like a fortress."
Thal didn't reply. He just watched her, waiting. Waiting for her to figure it out. Nyra narrowed her eyes. If she couldn't match him in strength, she'd have to use speed.
She lunged again, shifting to the side, aiming low. Her foot hooked behind his leg, trying to sweep him but Thal stepped over her…. literally. She crouched low, ready to take his legs out from under him and he just walked over her like she wasn't even there. Nyra stared at the ground then she turned her head.
Thal was now behind her.
She slowly looked up at him. "…Are you serious?"
Thal simply raised a brow.
Her breath escaped in a low growl. She wasn't going to let him toy with her
She twisted sharply, launching herself up in a fluid motion, driving an elbow toward his side but Thal caught her wrist mid strike. The force of the stop sent a jolt through her arm, locking her momentum in place. Nyra gritted her teeth, trying to pull free but his grip was like iron, Then Thal lifted her.
Nyra's eyes widened as her feet left the ground. He wasn't even trying and she barely had time to react before he threw her. Her body twisted midair before she hit the dirt again. Nyra groaned, pressing her forehead into the ground. "I hate you."
Thal simply crossed his arms. "Again."
Nyra growled under her breath but pushed herself back up.
The fight went on like that for a while Nyra kept attacking. Thal kept deflecting and when she finally landed a hit, he just absorbed it like it was nothing but she was getting faster. She adjusted, Adapted, learned.
Soon, she found herself predicting his movements, shifting before he could counter her completely. At one point, she ducked under a swipe meant to push her back, twisted, and drove a kick into his ribs. That one actually made him step back. Only half a step but a step nonetheless.
Nyra grinned. "Oh? Was that an actual reaction? Did the great Thal actually…." Before she could finish, he moved and Nyra was suddenly on her back again. She coughed, staring at the stars. "Okay. That one was on me."
Thal just grunted.
By the time they slowed down, Nyra was panting, but exhilarated. She hadn't felt this alive in days. She rolled her shoulders, stretching her aching limbs. "Alright, I'll admit that was a good idea."
Thal simply gave a small smile.
Nyra smirked. "You know, one of these days, I'm actually goanna take you down."
Thal raised a brow. "Hm." That wasn't a no.
Nyra let out a breath, then paused, something flickering in her expression. She hesitated before speaking again. "…What are Berserkers, really?"
Thal finally looked at her.
She swallowed. "I mean, I know the basics. We're strong, we heal fast, we fight harder than most...." She flexed her fingers, thinking about what she had done earlier reattaching her own arm. "...but… this?" She gestured to herself. "I don't think I understand it."
Thal was silent for a moment. Then, to her surprise, he shrugged. "I don't know."
Nyra blinked. "What?"
Thal exhaled, running a hand through his shortened hair. "I've only ever heard stories. Fragments." His golden eyes flicked to her. "You know more about it than I do."
Nyra stared. Somehow, that was more unsettling than if he had given her some cryptic answer. "…Huh."
Thal just watched her.
Nyra folded her arms. "Well. That's… not what I expected."
The night stretched on, the cold air settling into their skin, yet neither of them moved to go back inside. The sky was still endless above them, stars scattered like shattered glass against the dark. The fight had burned away some of Nyra's lingering tension, but the questions those remained.
She hadn't expected Thal to have no answers. He knew everything or at least, it always seemed that way.
Thal was the one people sought out for guidance. For wisdom yet, here he was, shrugging at her like he knew just as little as she did.
"I never really travelled to the Bonelands," Thal admitted, arms crossed as he looked ahead. "Only a few times." His voice was steady, but there was a hesitation buried beneath the words something quiet. Reluctant.
Nyra frowned. "Really?"
He exhaled, slow. "The North was where I stayed. The Empyrean Spine, the lands beyond it that was where I walked. The Bonelands?" His golden eyes shifted to her. "It wasn't my place."
Nyra tilted her head slightly. "So… I'm the first Berserker you've ever met?"
Thal shook his head. "No. I met one long ago." He paused, then added, "But she never told me what she was. Not really. Never spoke of her kind. What she could do... what it meant. She kept it all locked away."
That stopped Nyra cold. She had always assumed someone had to know somewhere, someone had to understand what Berserkers were and if anyone did, she thought it would be Thal.
She let out a soft huff and shook her head. "Great. That's reassuring."
Thal simply raised a brow. "Some people have never met a Jotun."
Nyra snorted. "Yeah, well, Jotun's aren't exactly common."
Thal gave her a look.
She faltered. "…Okay, fine. Maybe that was a bad example."
His golden eyes flickered in the firelight. "How many know what a Nephilim is?"
Nyra's mouth opened, but no words came out. The answer was obvious…. Nephilim were myths. Legends whispered in passing, shadows in history that most people didn't believe were real.
She hadn't believed it when she first met Thal. The realization settled in her stomach that maybe Berserkers were the same just maybe they were just fragments of stories.
She frowned. "That doesn't make sense. We exist. People have to know something."
Thal exhaled through his nose, looking toward the distance. There was something in his expression that unsettled her.
Nyra crossed her arms. "You're telling me no one's written about us? No scholars, no records nothing?"
Thal was quiet for a long moment. Then, finally, he spoke. "…There's one story."
Nyra perked up. "What kind of story?"
Thal's gaze drifted toward the Empyrean Spine. The towering mountain range loomed in the distance, jagged peaks cutting into the sky like the ribs of the world itself. His expression darkened.
"I don't know who he was," Thal admitted. "Or what he went through. No one does."
Nyra stiffened. That wasn't a good start. "But the story says he went against them all."
"…All?" she questioned.
Thal's golden eyes gleamed faintly in the dark. "Humans. Elves. Dwarves. Beastkin. Orks. Even Nephilim."
Nyra felt a chill crawl up her spine.
"He fought against Nephilim?" she repeated, her voice quieter.
Thal nodded. "And even dragons."
Something cold settled in her chest. People fought wars. Races clashed all the time. But someone fighting everyone? That wasn't just war…. that was something else.
Nyra's voice was careful. "…Why?"
Thal exhaled, shaking his head. "No one knows. All that's said is that he did it for one thing."
She pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth.
"…Vengeance." The word lingered in the air between them, heavy with something old, something unsettling.
Nyra shivered. Not from the cold. "What happened to him?"
Thal's gaze remained on the mountains in the distance. "He turned against the world itself."
She breathed out slowly, grounding herself. "That sounds like bullshit."
Thal didn't react. "Maybe."
"Maybe?" Nyra raised an eyebrow. "You actually believe that?"
Thal's voice was quiet. Too quiet. "I know the blade was real."
Nyra blinked. "…The blade?"
He nodded, his expression unreadable. "Ruinaros," he said. The name made her stomach turn. Something about it felt wrong.
"…What is it?" she asked, hesitating.
Thal's golden eyes flicked to her. "A giant greatsword. One that bled mana through the blade itself, extending it. They say it could carve through armies."
Nyra frowned. "That just sounds like another legend."
Thal finally turned to look at her fully. "I've seen it."
Nyra froze. "…What?"
Thal didn't blink. Didn't waver. "I've seen Ruinaros."
Nyra stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate to say something, anything but he didn't and that was all he needed to say. He had seen Ruinaros.
Which meant, at least part of the story was real and the Berserker who had wielded it? The one who had fought against the world itself?
She didn't know if she wanted to know more because suddenly, she wasn't sure if this was just another legend or if it was something far worse.
His eyes stayed on Nyra, studying her reaction. He could see the way her expression shifted, her shoulders tensing at the weight of the story. The way her hands curled slightly, not into fists but close.
"This doesn't really help you know more about Berserkers," Thal finally admitted, his voice steady.
She let out a slow, dragging exhale, her shoulders taut. "Yeah, no kidding."
A man who fought against the world. A blade that could split mountains.
It was a story that felt too big, too distant, like something from an age long buried under blood and dust but that was the problem, wasn't it? She had never heard it before.
No one talked about Berserkers. No books, no stories...nothing and maybe that was the point.
Thal's gaze flicked back toward the Empyrean Spine, his face unreadable. "Maybe that's why not much is known about them."
Nyra's lips parted slightly, but she didn't speak not at first because he was right.
If this Berserker the one in the story really did turn against the world, if he truly was that powerful…
Then how many others had been like him? How many had been wiped from history? Her stomach tightened. "…Do you think my people would have known?" she asked, her voice quieter now.
Thal's expression didn't change, but he hesitated. A pause, barely noticeable. "Maybe," he said.
Nyra didn't miss the way he said it, not as fact, not with certainty just maybe.
She swallowed. She had lost everyone. Her family, her home, her village. Even the bones of her brother had become part of the weapon she carried on her back.
She had nothing left of them, no stories, no history, just herself and whatever she was.
Nyra exhaled sharply, rubbing the back of her neck. "Great. So the only people who could've told me anything are gone. That's comforting."
There was a pause before Thal finally spoke. "You're still here."
Nyra stilled. It was so simple.
So blunt but something about it made her pause, because he wasn't wrong. She was still here and maybe she didn't know what she was maybe no one did, but that just meant she had to find out for herself.
Nyra huffed, shaking her head. "You really have a way with words, you know that?"
Thal grunted. "I know."
She let out a soft laugh but the weight of the conversation lingered. The world had buried whatever Berserkers were and she wasn't sure if that meant she was something forgotten or something that was meant to be erased.
They let the silence stretch between them for a moment longer, his golden eyes steady as he took in Nyra's expression.
Then, casually, he said, "There could be others more knowledgeable than me on this."
A crease formed between her brows as she met his gaze. "You think so?"
Thal shrugged. "There are always people who like delving into history."
"Yeah," Nyra muttered, arms crossed. "The kind who live in basements and smell like mildew."
Thal huffed. It wasn't quite a laugh, but close.
"If I ever meet one," she added, smirking, "I'll make 'em talk."
He didn't argue. Just nodded slightly, like he expected nothing less.
Then, without fanfare, he said, "The Berserker I met before her name was Alinda."
Nyra blinked, caught off guard. "…Alinda?"
Thal didn't look at her. "She never said what she was. Never talked about it. But after meeting you… I'm certain."
Nyra squinted, trying to place the name. "Don't think I've heard of her."
"You wouldn't have," Thal said, voice quiet.
There was a note in it something unreadable, too controlled to be casual.
Nyra didn't push. Not yet. But the name stuck in her mind like a thorn. She didn't know who Alinda was. Didn't know why the name felt heavier than it should've but she'd remember it.
With that, the conversation settled, the night stretching out before them once more. The stars hadn't moved, the mountains still loomed in the distance, and the Shadowfern's unnatural quiet still lingered behind them.
For now however just for a moment, Nyra wasn't drowning in the past she was just here and that was enough.