Oddly rejected, oddly evil, we will head north and flourish (5)
I believe the answer is:
wield
'flourish' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'oddly rejected oddly evil we will head north' is the wordplay.
'oddly rejected' indicates alternate letters.
'will head north' shows that the letters should be reversed in order (in a down clue, some letters go up or 'north').
'oddly'+'evil'+'we'='oddlyevilwe'
The alternating letters of 'oddlyevilwe' are 'dleiw'.
'dleiw' in reverse letter order is 'WIELD'.
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for wield that I've seen before include "exercise" , "Use (weapon, authority)" , "Brandish a weapon or exert power" , "Hold and use (a weapon or tool)" , "Handle - manage" .)