Heli presses his hand to the wall. Aside from the slightly grainy texture of the wallpaper of the inn's room, he doesn't feel anything special about doing so. He lifts his hand and sighs. Solon must have been joking. He rubs his thumb and forefinger together. Everything certainly seems like normal skin. Viken may like to joke about snakes, but he's certainly not a lizard. He gazes up at the plaster ceiling, and as soon as he wills himself onto it he is. He's still enough to find his centre and stay balanced. With a hesitant step, he walks forward until he's over the bed. Better not to fall on his head again.

He looks down at the packed suitcases spread about on the floor. Eugene had gone to return all his books, and as soon as the snow stopped, they'd be on their way back home. Eira had predicted the skies would clear by morning, and morning fast approaches.

He wonders if it's possible to sit in this upside down position. It's a curious feeling, sitting down against gravity while also trying to maintain the sense of being perched on something narrow, but he manages. He crosses his legs as he stablises with a deep breath and closes his eyes. Somehow, he feels calm. Sitting up here with a sense of weightlessness, he feels more grounded however ironic it sounds. His mind wanders to snowy mountains and empty graves.

Solon returned the sword, and nothing had happened since. By all accounts, Eugene's curse transfer had worked and they'd managed to appease the undead monster. Viken and Eugene hadn't even had to encounter it, but Heli is glad. Solon had always been the most skilled in their duels, and if he couldn't bring it down, there was no way the rest of them would be able to either.

If only all his problems were solved this easily. Wouldn't it be great if Eugene could just flip his own curse onto someone else. He has tried to think of some way they could get Lamia off his trail for good, but every idea he has is ripped to shreds just as quickly. He's not sure it will even be possible to shake her off without confronting her in person. Maybe Eugene could come up with another curse. Something so he doesn't have to face her…

As he dwells on some alternate scenarios, deep in his mind something stirs. Something dark uncoils. He shivers as a chill runs up his back and her voice whispers in his ear.

"Do you really think these things are all so easy?"

"Shut it," he mumbles back, and turns his focus to the sensations in his own body, his centre of balance, the energy grounding him to the ceiling. She'll leave if he can only shut her out. All he has to do is find a way to expel her from his mind for good.

"AUGH!"

The sudden shriek doesn't break his concentration as much as the hard object that careens into the back of his shoulder. Just as readily as he had found his balance he loses it, hitting the plush bed below with a slight bounce.

"What are you doing?" Viken shouts, his mouth open as he gapes, a hand pointing to the ceiling.

"I was just thinking." Heli rubs his shoulder. "What did you throw at me?"

"You were supposed to be packing! Eira's getting ready to go home, so come downstairs, and grab your stuff so we can leave."

"I did pack, then I got distracted," Heli explains, throws on his coat and follows Viken back down.

Eira is right where they'd met her, putting the last touches on cleaning the cafe for the night. Mr. Iversen is there too, sitting at the counter.

"Finally got bored of chasing ghosts?" he says.

"Bored, nah. No ghosts either. But I don't think you'll need to worry about any more attacks," says Eugene.

"That's good to hear," Eira says. Mr. Iversen narrows his eyes. "With gratitude."

"I should be thanking you, Mr. Iversen," Eugene smiles. "You really helped out."

"With what? And how about explaining where my sword went?"

"I'll have it replaced, I promise."

Eugene just shakes his hand as they all bid their good-byes and turn back out the door.

In the reception area, Solon is already waiting. His hands are in his pockets and he looks at Heli with a hesitant smile.

"I'll be seeing you then," he says.

"What do you mean?" Heli frowns. "You're coming with us."

Solon shakes his head.

"But what about ice skating? You said you wanted to see everyone again-"

"You know where to find me," says Solon. "I won't go anywhere."

Heli tries to think of something he can say to convince Solon to come along, but Solon refuses.

"I want you to."

Solon's smile widens but his eyes drop to the floor.

"I'm sorry."

"There must be something that can persuade you. Where's Jaan?"

On cue Jaan strolls into the lobby, his bag in one hand and Jakah by the sleeve in the other.

"I already tried, he said he wants to stay," he says. "Jakah is being stubborn too, but he can't live here just to play with the dog."

"I was just saying good-bye," Jakah whines as Frida tags along near his feet, her tail wagging.

"You were trying to put her in your bag."

"Aw, come on."

Jaan lets him go and he kneels down to give Frida a few pats on the head.

"Are we about ready then?" says Eugene.

"Just the last couple things in the room," says Viken. "I'll go get them."

"Alright then let's-"

He's cut off by a deep growl rising from Frida. Jakah jumps back as she lunges for his hand, teeth bared.

"What did you do?" Jaan groans.

"Nothing! Really, I-"

Her growls turn into a high-pitched whine, and a sudden yelp. Eira pokes her head out of the cafe at the commotion.

"Frida, come here," she calls, but the dog ignores her and begins to run around in a circle. With another yelp, she leaps and collides headfirst into a wall.

"What is-"

Solon's eyes are wide as he grabs Heli's arm.

"It's here," he whispers.

Heli returns a confused look. "What?"

The walls shake and something slams into the outside door. He freezes. Another shake reverberates through the building as wood and glass from the door shatters into the lobby. Just on the other side, stands something huge, one arm readying for another swing at the building, the other grasping the hilt of a glinting sword.

While Jakah grabs Frida mid-air before she can hit the wall again, Heli follows Jaan as he makes a quick stride out the door. The monster swings for them once with the sword, and when it misses the pair of them, takes another swing with its giant arm. More glass flies as it smashes a window. Heli grabs the sleeve of Jaan's coat. Across the street, a scream rings out as curious neighbours slam their doors and take cover.

In the streetlights he can get a better look of the monster. Blank white eyes stare from sunken sockets. On its head sits a rusted metal helmet. Under the holes in the degraded leather and woven clothing the skin is a marbled blue and grey. It might be even bigger than it had been lumbering up to its grave. The sword appears to have grown to match the hand that swings it.

"We should get it away from the town," he says.

Jaan nods and raises his arms in the air as he shouts.

"Hey! Over here!"

The monster turns with its dead eyes and with a deep growling makes a lunge for Heli and Jaan. They easily evade its swing, running fast enough to lure it away around the back of the inn, but not too fast that it loses sight of them and turns its attention back to the front door.

As it turns out Solon was correct in saying that it's plenty fast when it wants to be. Just when Heli thinks they've outpaced it, the stench of rotten flesh indicates otherwise. He whips around, just catching the shine of steel and it hurtles down towards him.

He hits the ground the same time a loud crack echoes through the air around them. The monster stumbles back, a new, gaping hole open in the shattered leather armour over its chest. Mr. Iversen stands in the open back exit, his rifle on his shoulder. He lowers the weapon, a look of disgust and confusion on his face. Just behind him stands Eugene, propping open the door.

Though injured, the monster rallies back with a fresh leap forward, over Heli and directly towards Mr. Iversen. There isn't enough time for Mr. Iversen to make another shot, not that the first had any effect. Heli throws himself into the doorway, pulling Mr. Iversen and Eugene through with him, slamming the door shut as the monster crashes into it, shaking the walls.

Mr. Iversen straightens up, stuttering as he searches for words as the door shutters under a series of heavy thuds. They're in a dimly-lit storage room, large bins for laundry are pushed against the wall, and shelves are piled with dusty kitchen pots and pans. Neatly folded linens are stacked in the corner.

"This isn't real," he finally says, pointing at the door. Jaan's voice beckoning for the monster to follow seems to draw it off, as the banging stops. "None of this is real."

"Mr. Iversen," Eugene implores him. "It's just like you said in your story."

"I said not to confuse fiction with fact," he snaps. "There are plenty of stories about these creatures that rise from their graves to walk again, and not a single one has ever been real."

"Look at me," Heli grabs the man's hand, hoping the contrast between both his pallor and body temperature will illustrate his point. He opens his mouth to expose his sharpened teeth. "I've been dead for sixty-five years."

Mr. Iversen pulls his hand away. "That's not possible."

"It's the truth," Heli says. "I've been up here getting by on reindeer blood, I froze to death, but then I thawed, and you saw that thing out there. How do you explain the fact that a bullet hardly phased it?"

Mr. Iversen frowns, but he doesn't respond. He's spared having to explain his denial any further, as the interior door swings open and Eira sticks her head in.

"Pappa!" she gasps. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes, just fine," he mutters.

"Are they there?" Solon emerges from the hallway, grabbing Eugene's arm. Eugene stumbles and he tries to pull away from Solon. Heli follows as Solon leads them through the kitchen and back into the cafe. He doesn't let go until they've reached the solitary sword still hanging and yanks it down.

"Sharpen this." He shoves the replica sword into Eugene's hands.

Eugene blinks. "I'm not a swordsmith."

"You made the first one sharp. Do it again."

"That was a side effect of cursing it," Eugene sighs. "The spell wasn't supposed to do that."

"Do another spell then," Solon says. "The same spell, some other enchantment, whatever."

Eugene scratches his head, frowning. "I can try-"

"Do you mind explaining what you did with my sword now?" Mr. Iversen interjects. "Don't tell me it's the same one in the hand of that thing outside."

Eugene cringes. "It is. I really thought if we returned the identical sword to its rightful owner, we could appease the revenant of the invader in the tale."

"The invader in the legend swore vengeance! He would not wish to be appeased."

Eugene lets out a long sigh and eyes the sword. "Could you really kill it then, with this sword?" He looks up back to Solon.

"Maybe," Solon says. "It's supposed to be the king's sword right? That's the only hope we've got."

Heli spots Jakah with a tight grip on Frida, patting her head as she whines. He turns back to Eira.

"Where's Viken?"

"He ran out after you."

He doesn't wait to see what Eugene comes up with for the sword. He sprints back out the shattered front door. He can't remember seeing Viken when he and Jaan ran around the back, but he's no longer at the front either. He retraces their steps, and sees no sign of Viken or Jaan. It's not hard to see where the undead walker had gone. Snapped and bent tree branches point to a clear path back into the woods. He follows the sound of cracking into the trees.

He tears up through the trail. There was no way Viken was able to keep up with Jaan and the monster, and the path of broken trees just continues on and on.

He finds them when the trees clear. Jaan pulls Viken by the arm as he dodges the monster, trying to fend it off single-handed. He's not making much headway, only able to barely avert the swing of its arms and he drags Viken along. As Heli assesses the landscape, he notices Solon's little hut. The monster is between it and the other two, if they could just reach the hut, at least Viken could shelter inside.

"Hey!"

The creature turns and starts for Heli. It's fast, but now that Heli's not caught off-guard he can tell it still won't be able to match pace with him. He raises a fist, mentally running through the things Jakah had told him, and manages to land a heavy hit on the monster's side. It stumbles back, giving Heli enough time to regroup with Viken. Jaan steps forward to take the monster on without distraction. Without Viken to worry about, he's far more agile than Heli, swiftly dodging each time the monster brings down its sword.

"Why didn't you go back into the inn?" Heli grabs Viken by the shoulder.

Viken stares at him wide-eyed. "You slammed the door and he ran off!" He gestures to Jaan. "If I'd gone back and it came after me going the other way, I'd have been on my own!"

They race for the hut. Viken is panting, out of breath.

"What is that? And what do we do now?"

"Solon was living in here," Heli says. "I think we have to kill that thing, but I don't-"

"Watch out!"

Just ahead of them the huge body of the monster crashes into the wooden hut, smashing in the door and sending shards of wood flying. There isn't much time to stand gaping and the destruction of the structure, as the monster leaps back up and takes a renewed stride in their direction. At least it's slow, Heli confidently tugs at Viken's coat, ready to push him out of the way and get another strike in. The monster seems to be moving even more slowly, almost lumbering towards him, large and clumsy.

Or rather, it had been. As it lunges it shrinks until it's the same height as Heli. Along with the new size comes a burst of speed and Heli barely manages to miss the sword point as it passes in front of his face. He sends it backwards with a solid kick, but it's coming back for him just as fast. He braces for another round when a new large, black shape emerges from the trees.

Solon is back in his human shape before his feet touch the ground. Eugene hits the snow beside him, landing only slightly less gracefully. Solon turns the sword in his hand once before raising it in a challenge to the monster.

"Let's go."

Solon had always been the most skilled in their duels, but in serious combat there's no comparison. Both he and the monster move too fast to follow, weaving in and out of the other's way, dodging and countering.

Heli could just sit and watch, fascinated by the fluid way Solon moves, but Eugene is pulling on his arm.

"Solon can only keep it occupied for so long, come on."

"He can stop it, can't he? With that sword?"

Eugene shrugs. "Maybe, who knows. One thing that should definitely work though, is fire."

"How do you know that?" Viken says.

"I read about it," Eugene says. "In one book or another."

"Then how come you couldn't figure out what it was?"

"I was looking for wolves," Eugene exclaims. "I did make a mental note though, since this sort of undead is more like a ghoul than a vampire. It seems this one is just bent on killing, so we have to destroy it."

He looks around, his eyes landing on the collapsed remains of the hut.

"Got anything to start a fire with?"

"Solon had a stove," says Heli. "There must also have been matches or something."

"Right." Eugene pulls a folded paper out of his pocket. Across the surface is another series of hastily inscribed runes. "Viken, you get a fire going. Jaan and Solon are occupied. I'm going to create a barrier so it doesn't try to escape."

"What about me?"

"Uhh, make sure Viken doesn't die before we have some flames."

He claps Heli on the shoulder and takes off, circling around the clearing, stopping to make marks into the snow.

"Just before, whatever happens to me afterward is fine, I guess," Viken mutters, but he grabs some of the splintered wood.

Heli looks from Viken, rifling through Solon's belongings for something he can start a fire with, and Solon and Jaan, still going head to head with the monster. Neither seem to be making any headway. The monster, whose speed vastly improved after reducing its size, is matching both of them step for step. It shows no sign of tiring, and unlike Solon, who at least winces each time his arm catches the end of its blade, doesn't appear to feel pain at all. Solon lodges his own sword into the monster's arm, to no effect. It frees itself with a quick jump to the side. At this rate, they'll be fighting until the morning sun finally fully crests the top of the mountain and the snows melt into summer.

The monster lunges for him but he sends it back Solon's way with a quick hit. Looking back, Viken has secured a box of matches and is fighting with one, trying to get it to light. He tosses the match aside and tries another.

His glance back is long enough for the monster to land a blow on him, sending him flying several metres, sprawling in the snow.

"Viken, hurry up!" Eugene shouts from across the clearing.

"I'm trying!" Viken yells as a small flame finally ignites on the tip of the match. He sticks it under the small pile of sticks he's made. Smoke spirals from under the twigs, until the fire takes hold.

"Yes!" Viken jumps up and makes a break for it, away from the growing fire. At the same moment, the monster turns its full attention to him.

Heli picks himself up, springing between the monster and Viken, but Solon is there first. With a roar, the monster throws its free arm and catches Sungoon in the stomach, slamming him into the ground. Jaan rushes forward to grab as the monster raises its blade, ready to bring it down and finish Solon off. From underneath, Jaan slams into its hand with enough force to send it and the sword flying.

Flames leap from the little pile to some of the fallen pieces of the front door and wall. Within minutes, the entire structure is a blazing inferno, a column of smoke rising into the sky as the air around them is alight with an orange glow.

Jaan's victory is short-lived. The monster once again grows to an enormous height, its arms thickening like logs and a swift kick sends him flying through the air. Solon doesn't fare much better, as it now is using its arms as clubs and sends him off just as easily as Jaan.

Blank, white eyes now turn towards Viken. He wouldn't never survive a blow of the same force Solon and Jaan had been struck with. Both of them are slow to get up, wincing in pain. It might even finish them off if any of them happen to get stuck in the head. Heli is behind Viken, hands reaching out to pull him to safety. When the monster strikes the snow instead, the ground shakes.

It rears up, ready for another blow. Heli scrambles, trying to think of some way they can turn this around, instead of just dodging and leaping out of the way. His thoughts turn to the fallen sword. He's not sure if he can reach it while still keeping Viken out of harm's way.

Except, he doesn't actually have to reach it.

As the sword rises from the snow it turns and flings through the air towards the monster. Heli had expected it to grow when the monster had, but as it remained a normal size, it's a lot lighter than the force he needs. The blade is nothing more than a blur when it hurtles towards the monster's neck, slicing clear through and continuing on into the blazing hut.

"Augh!" Viken shrieks as the rotting head drops at his feet. He flings it into the fire as well.

The body remains standing, and to Heli's horror, raises its arms again, swinging wildly, still trying to crush them.

"How is it not dead?" Viken screams, as the tip of another blade emerges from the centre of its chest.

With significant effort, Solon and Jaan manage to manoeuvre the rest of the monster forward and it stumbles, falling into the rising flames. With an ear-splitting roar it disappears into the flickering of the fire. Solon falls to his knees in the snow, both he and Jaan gasping for breath.

"You did good," Eugene places a hand on Heli's shoulder. "I wasn't needed afterall." He laughs.

Heli looks down at the King's sword, still in Solon's hand. The steel of the blade is covered in thick, black gunk.

"You sharpened it," Solon slightly lifts his hand.

"Did you curse that one too?" asks Viken.

Eugene shakes his head. "Nope. I tried a protection enchantment. Worked pretty well, I think."

Solon nods, but his gaze is set forward, watching the flames as they engulf the remains of what had been his house.

"Hope you didn't have anything valuable in there," Heli remarks.

"Nah," Solon responds.

Nobody moves until well after the roof has collapsed and the charred wood begins to burn out as the first rays of the sun begin to turn the sky a lighter blue.

As Heli turns to leave, a reflection of light catches his eye. He carefully reaches into the ash and pulls out the monster's sword. The blade is a bluish-grey from the fire, but the leather on the hilt is surprisingly intact and the runes of the curse are as clear as ever. Viken gives him a confused look, but doesn't say anything as he carries back down the mountain.

They enter through the back and Eira jumps as they make their way back into the cafe.

"Is everything-"

"It's gone for real now," Eugene grins. "Really, really."

Eira returns a wide smile.

Mr. Iversen sits at the counter, a cup of coffee in front of him. Jakah is curled up on the floor with Frida by his side. The dog's ears perk up and she runs over for pets from Viken, now her usual calm and playful self. Jakah rubs his eyes as he sits up.

Heli places the cursed sword on the counter in front of Mr. Iversen, who raises an eyebrow.

"You can have this back," Heli says.

"Do you want to haunt us forever?"

"No?" says Heli, confused.

"The curse brings doom to anyone possessing the sword who is not the rightful owner." Mr. Ivernsen points to the runes. "Which one of you finished it off?"

"It was a group effort, ultimately," says Heli.

"You cut its head off," adds Jaan.

"There you go," says Mr. Iversen. "That makes you the rightful owner."

"I'm giving it to you though," Heli says.

Mr. Iversen laughs. "Doesn't work that way. In the time these people lived, a warrior's strength was most important. To truly earn another's prized blade was to defeat him in battle. I will take back the other one though."

Solon places the King's sword beside the cursed one.

"They both need cleaning, but I think the little protection charm will do good," says Eugene.

"You mean it'll do nothing."

"Pappa!" Eira exclaims. "After everything you saw last night, and you still think it's all just myths and fairy tales?"

Mr. Iversen takes a long sip from his coffee cup. "Doing nothing is just fine by me."