6
I woke in the center of a circle of destruction. Saplings and bushes ripped from the ground. The earth torn where great claws had ripped into it. My hands bore cuts lined with dried blood. The magic healed quickly, but I still ached.
Beside me lay the carcass of a stag, a powerful creature with a giant rack of antlers. A hundred spears would have to work to bring it down. The head lay several feet away from its body. Its entrails spilled in a gruesome feast for ravens.
I stood, stretching painful muscles. The elk wasn’t the only casualty. Carcasses of animals littered the ground. Rodents, sparrows, even beetles, nothing survived the maelstrom of Berserker rage. The earth stank of tainted magic.
At least I was alive. Samuel once told me about a Berserker who, after a great battle, cla
