Thousands of women, elders, and young children rushed out of their warm longhouses the moment the gates slammed shut.

They surrounded the retreating warriors, their eyes wide as they searched the bloody crowd for familiar faces.

"Where is my father?!" a young boy cried out, grabbing the freezing furs of a tall warrior. "He was right beside you! Where is he?"

"My brothers... where are my brothers?" a young woman pleaded, her voice cracking as she grabbed the shoulders of passing men.

The shivering warriors could barely look their own families in the eye.

"The loud thunder from their metal sticks shattered the center of the lake. They fell in the dark water. We... we couldn’t pull them out. The freezing cold was just too fast." one of the veteran warriors whispered.

"You cowards!" an old woman shrieked, falling to her knees in the snow and beating her fists against her chest. "You ran away! You left them to die in the ice! You abandoned our blood to save yourselves!"

Erik slowly lowered the brass spyglass from his right eye, pushing it closed.

"What are they doing?" Halig asked, his teeth chattering. "Are they getting ready to shoot more arrows at us?"

"No. They are fighting with each other..." Erik sighed, rubbing his hands together.

Torstein stepped up, "King Erik, we have our own problems. The sun is almost gone. If we stay standing on this exposed ridge, half of our men will freeze to death before midnight. We need heat right now."

"You are right..." Erik nodded. "Pull the entire line back. Get the men off this windy ridge and move them down to the snowy beach near the edge of the forest!"

"But my King, what if the rebels attack us in the dark?" Torstein worried.

"They won’t." Erik grinned. "They are too terrified of the broken ice to cross the lake tonight. Tell the men to chop up those giant deadfall logs the farmers tried to drop on us earlier. Build massive campfires on the beach. I want the men crowded together! Shoulder-to-shoulder, sharing body heat!"

"And food?" Halig asked.

"Yes, you hungry bitch..." Erik laughed, slapping Halig hard on his back. "Tell the quartermasters to bring out the salted pork and the hard bread! We cook tonight!"

Thus, the frozen army sprang into action. They quickly moved off the freezing ridge and down to the snowy beach.

Using their maces, they chopped the heavy pine logs into firewood. Within an hour, dozens of bright orange campfires were roaring on the beach, pushing back the dark night.

Though the men had just survived a brutal ambush and a terrifying lake collapse, their mood slowly began to lift.

They huddled close to the flames, taking off their wet leather boots to dry them. The rich, mouth-watering smell of fat salted pork sizzling over the open fires filled the icy air.

They laughed, shared stories of the battle, and praised the brutal effectiveness of their new maces.

Later that night, while Halig was happily chewing on a thick piece of cooked pork, Erik quietly stood up from the fire.

He grabbed a burning wooden torch and walked alone back toward the edge of the frozen lake.

Erik stood at the snowy shore, holding his torch out over the dark ice. He squinted, looking at the massive hole in the center of the lake where his men had drowned just a few hours ago.

Something looked different. The dark water in the center wasn’t rippling anymore.

Erik crouched down, picking up a heavy rock the size of a man’s head from the snowy beach. He took a deep breath, pulled his arm back, and threw the rock as hard as he could toward the dark center of the lake.

The heavy rock flew through the night air and landed where the open water used to be.

The rock hit a hard surface, shattered through it like thin glass, and then sank quickly out of sight.

Afterward, Erik stared at the small broken hole the rock had just made.

Torstein walked up behind him, "You should come back to the fire before you freeze your toes off."

"Look at the water..." Erik whispered, pointing his burning torch out over the lake. "The extreme cold of the night... it is already doing its work. The open water is freezing over again."

"That is natural, my King." Torstein said, shivering slightly as he pulled his coat tighter. "By tomorrow morning, the massive hole will be sealed with fresh ice."

"Yes... it will be sealed," Erik smiled, a wicked grin spreading across his face in the orange firelight. "But it will only be one night old. It will be smooth, clear, and flat. It will look exactly like the rest of the lake." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

As such, Torstein narrowed his eyes, "I don’t understand. Why does that matter?"

"Old ice is thick enough to hold an army. But new ice? Ice that has only had a few hours to freeze? It might hold the weight of one careful man walking alone... but if a group of heavily armored men tries to run across it, the new ice will shatter under their boots." Erik explained, his voice bubbling.

Halig came jogging down to the shoreline, holding a piece of half-eaten bread. "What are you two doing down here? The pork is almost gone, Erik! If you don’t hurry, I am eating your share!"

"Halig... my friend." Erik said, walking up and wrapping his arm around the tall warrior’s broad shoulder. "How fast do you think you can run on slippery ice?"

"What kind of question is that?" Halig frowned, taking a large bite of his bread. "I am pretty fast. Why?"

"We are going to use the lake’s new secret." Erik said.

Torstein gripped his musket, "How do we do that?"

"If the ice is paper-thin right in the middle..." Erik whispered, "How do we politely convince my uncle’s entire army to chase us right across it?"