The wind smeared Einar's cheeks with sharp, icy gusts as he climbed the hill above the frozen bay. His fingers were numb under his leather gloves and his fur coat too thin for the current frost. At his side walked Freja, with a long braid of red hair sticking out from under her wolf cap. They were both silent, listening to the sound of the ice crackling beneath their feet and the quiet squawking of crows circling over the old, ruined harbour. The village of Skjoldu had long been abandoned. Elders told stories that it had once been the largest Viking harbour on this coast, a place where dragon boats returned with loot and tales of other worlds. Now everything was covered by a crust of ice and snow, and no one ventured here after dusk. Even during the day, the air trembled with something unknown. But Einar and Freja were not like the rest of the fjord's inhabitants. Ever since they had come across an old map fragment hidden at the bottom of a chest at Einar's grandmother's house, their thoughts had been preoccupied with only one goal - to find out what was actually in the vaults of the oldest dock. - Ready? - Einar asked, trying to hide his nervousness. Freja nodded, clutching a rolled up waxed parchment in her hand. - 'If something happens, we run back, do you understand? No heroics. They left the path and descended carefully on the slippery planks of the old platform. Below them, the ice creaked ominously. Einar stopped in front of a huge iron hatch blended into the ground, which was barely visible under the snow. According to the map, this was where something completely different from what they knew from their daily life on the fjord was about to begin. Freja knelt down and ran her hand over the faded runes carved into the metal. - 'It's an Old World,' she whispered. - I will try to decipher them. Einar looked around nervously, feeling someone's gaze on the back of his neck. Tension hung in the air. Suddenly, a strange sound came from underneath the trapdoor, as if a heavy chain was moving just below the layer of ice. The ice began to crack with a thin web. Freja jerked her head up, her eyes widening in astonishment. - It's moving... Before they had time to react, the flap shuddered and began to rise slowly with a clatter, seeming heavier than anything they had seen before. An icy blast came from inside and blue lights flashed. Einar held his breath. From the depths of the subterranean dock came a soft, dragging sound, reminiscent of the echo of long-forgotten songs. They both looked at each other for a split second, not yet ready to take a step down, when something - or someone - moved in the darkness just below their feet.