102 AC
POV: Denovan
Five weeks later...
My preparations were finally complete. I had already packed everything. My armor was ready. It was made of steel plates, it wasn't Thenn Steel, but for impact armor, that alloy difference didn't matter much. What mattered is that it was no longer made of bronze, like most of the ones still made in the village. I personally crafted every detail. I forged it slightly larger than my current measurements; it didn't have an absolutely perfect fit right now, but since I was still growing at a frightening rate, I planned to use it for a long time.
It combined the dark steel with the thick leather of the giant polar bear we killed. I had applied oils and dyes to the pelt, so that it was now a deep black, perfectly matching Breu, Horus, Orion, and Kali.
I didn't stop there. I modeled armor for my beasts as well. Breu got bronze adornments and plates to protect his neck and head, besides a saddle lined with the same skin from the giant bear, only his I didn't dye, I left it in its original white to contrast with his black coat. I did the same with Orion and Kali: I forged light bronze helmets adapted to their skulls and a kind of pectoral chainmail.
I might be being too careful, but I don't want to lose them. That's why I went through all this trouble. I made it the best way I could imagine: light enough not to hinder agility, but resistant against blades and claws. And since the cold is the only constant here, I didn't care about the heat the extra metal and leather might generate. Here in the North, they wouldn't die. I wouldn't let them.
After my revealing conversation with Ulfar, I felt obligated to call Valka and Sigorn to talk openly. I told them everything I had planned for the coming years. Sigorn listened to me in absolute silence; when I finished, he just nodded slowly, his eyes shining with something indecipherable, and left the hall quiet and thoughtful. But Valka...
*Sigh.*
It took me hours to convince her. We had shouts, threats of grounding me again, but in the end she gave in. She is smart and knew that it would be useless to argue or try to stop me by force.
However, Sigrid was kept in the dark. I decided to warn her only at the last minute that I would leave. If I gave her time, Sig would find a way to accompany me or sabotage my departure. I know her. In the meantime, her dedication bore fruit. She finally broke the mental barrier and became a true skinchanger with Wind Wing. She became incredibly good at it and, with her, we now had three wargs in the village: me, Sig, and, incredibly enough, Tigas. My father recently revealed to me that the quiet warrior was a warg who shared his mind with his warhorse for many years. I am going to leave alone. I cannot take my father's men on a journey that will take years.
It would be unfair to take them away from their families. My plan is to recruit warriors directly from the wildling clans I subjugate. I was already lethal years ago; now, I doubt anything can stop me in a fair fight. If another giant snow bear appears, I am confident I can kill it alone, without needing my beasts or terrain tactics. My reflexes, my strength, my agility, all my senses, all of this was brutally amplified by my multiple bonds.
I was more a beast than a man now. A beast wearing the skin of a human.
"Are you there, Sig?"
It was late at night. I planned to leave tomorrow, right after the first meal, so I needed to tell her now. Sig is not an idiot. She already suspected I would leave; the forge working day and night and the separated supplies were obvious. And, as Ulfar told me, she never questioned him about it. I don't know if out of fear of confirming the truth or because she didn't want to invade a subject that "was none of her business".
The bedroom door opened.
"Novan?" she asked, a bit confused and rubbing her eyes.
"Sorry for the hour. I wanted to tell you something."
She opened the door wider and gave me space to enter. The room was cold, lit only by a candle in the corner.
"Couldn't it be tomorrow?"
"It's about tomorrow that I wanted to talk."
Her eyes lost their sleepiness instantly. She observed me with the lethal precision of a falcon.
"You are leaving," she declared, her voice losing any trace of softness. It wasn't a question.
"I am. Right after breakfast. My things are ready."
Silence reigned for a few seconds before the storm formed on her face.
"You told Ulfar. You told Father and Valka. And you left me in the dark, as if I were a useless little girl!" her voice rose, laden with hurt and anger. "Am I so untrustworthy?"
"I didn't tell you because I knew exactly how you would react, Sig. You are impulsive. You would want to come along, and I can't take you. I'm going to the edges of the North to deal with murderous clans and cannibals. It's a suicide mission for someone who isn't prepared."
"I am a skinchanger now! I am the best swordswoman in this village after you and Halgar!" she retorted, beating her own chest.
"But it's still reckless," I said, my voice hard and pragmatic. "I didn't come to ask for permission, Sig. I came to say goodbye."
She snorted, her eyes welling with pure anger, and turned her back to me.
"Then go. Get out of my sight, Denovan."
I let out a heavy sigh, knowing I had hurt her, but I left the room without saying anything else. It was better this way.
On the following morning, the farewell was brief. The air was freezing and the sky was gray. Valka gave me a tight hug that almost broke my ribs. She cried silently on my shoulder. Sigorn squeezed my forearm hard, transferring a weight of pride and responsibility. Ulfar gave me a confident smile.
Sigrid was not there.
I looked around and saw her falcon watching me from the top of a nearby house.
*'I'll consider this her way of saying goodbye,'* I thought as I gave a little wave to the falcon, which, as soon as it saw my action, shot up into the skies.
I mounted Breu. Orion and Kali took their positions by my side, their bronze armor clinking softly. Horus took flight to be my eyes in the sky.
I turned my back to the Thenn Valley and began my ride towards the East coast. A few hours passed. The terrain began to change, the thin snow giving way to ancient and twisted trees. I was approaching the dreaded Shadow Forest.
It was then that my instinct screamed. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. It wasn't the cold. It was the unmistakable feeling of being hunted, or, at the very least, watched from very close. I looked at Orion and Kali; they didn't seem agitated by the scent of the forest.
I stopped Breu and raised my eyes to the gray sky. High up, almost invisible against the clouds, there was a small dot circling.
*'Horus, intercept,'* I commanded mentally.
Through my connection, I felt Horus dive steeply towards the invader. When my falcon got closer, his vision was transmitted to me. It wasn't a wild predator or some random warg's falcon, they were familiar feathers.
Wind Wing.
I closed my eyes and let out a loud curse that echoed through the solitary trees.
"Fuck, Sigrid."
I understood everything instantly. She wasn't at the gate in the morning because she had already left before me. She was following me.
'Leave her, Horus. Return to the watch,' I ordered.
I turned Breu to face the trail I had come from and crossed my arms over my armored chest. Orion and Kali sat in the snow, waiting.
It didn't take long. About ten minutes later, the sound of hooves hitting hard on the compacted snow reached my ears. A figure mounted on a brown horse came at a full gallop, appearing over the hill and braking sharply about ten meters away from me, kicking up a cloud of snow.
It was Sig. Her face red from the wind and anger, her black hair messy.
I looked at her horse. There were no saddlebags. There was no tent tied to the saddle. She wore her light boiled leather armor and carried the Thenn Steel sword I made for her, but she had no supplies to survive more than two days in the ice.
"You are an idiot," I said, my voice cutting through the freezing silence like a knife.
"And you are an arrogant bastard!" she yelled back, dismounting from her horse with her hand firmly on the hilt of her sword.
"Look at yourself, Sigrid!" I pointed rudely at her mount. "Where is your food? Where is your tent? Your flints? You followed me to the edges of the Shadow Forest with only the clothes on your back! You would freeze to death in the first blizzard or starve in three days!"
"I would hunt with Wind Wing! I would manage, just like you do!"
"That is exactly why I didn't tell you!" my voice thickened, the bestial aura leaking out of me without me wanting it to. "It was my best decision! I was always right to hide this from you. You have no control. You act on anger, on impulse! You were never ready to come with me!"
The words hit her like stones. The anger on her face overflowed, turning into blind fury.
"I will show you who isn't ready!" she roared, drawing her sword and charging at me through the deep snow.
I dismounted from Breu in a fluid motion, drawing my axe. I did this more out of respect for her than out of necessity.
She swung her sword in a perfect diagonal arc, aiming for my chest. I didn't dodge. I felt her hesitation as she saw the blade approaching me; if she didn't come with everything, she would never have the slightest chance.
I was no longer the Denovan from years ago. My reflexes and speed were not human. Before the blade could even scratch my armor, my right hand shot out. The handle of my axe struck with brute force against the side of her sword, deflecting the blow in the air. Simultaneously, my left hand lunged like a striking serpent, grabbing her wrist with the strength of a steel vise.
Her eyes widened from the shock of my speed, but she didn't stop. She tried to kick me, tried to use her body weight to break free.
This time, I wouldn't go easy on her. I needed to break her illusion before she thought she was invincible and ended up dying in some ditch because of her arrogance and impulsivity.
I twisted her wrist with surgical force, forcing her to drop the sword, which fell into the snow with a dull thud. In one continuous motion, I gave her legs a brutal sweep, using my free hand to grab the collar of her armor and throw her violently onto her back on the ground.
The snow exploded around her when the impact knocked all the air out of her lungs. I stood over her, looking down at her, the shadow of my body covering the weak Northern sun.
"You are dead," I said coldly. "In the first ambush by a band of warriors, you would be dead, because you let anger blind you and guide you. Now pick up your sword, mount your horse, and go back to the village. That is an order."
Sigrid stayed on the ground for a few seconds, panting, coughing to catch her breath. When she finally managed to breathe, she didn't get up. She just stared at me, her green eyes shining with an unbreakable stubbornness, mixed with tears of fury and frustration.
"I refuse," she hissed through her teeth, sitting up in the snow, ignoring the biting cold and the humiliation. "You can hit me. You can leave me behind. But I will follow the tracks of your fucking horse to the ends of the world, Denovan. And there is nothing you can do to stop me."
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, her voice trembling but firm.
"I'm not going to stay in the village alone while you're out there having fun."
"Having fun?" I repeated, incredulous. "I think your understanding of the word 'fun' is very wrong, Sigrid."
"I know very well what is fun, Denovan. And, anyway, I will be good company at least," she stubbornly insisted, raising her chin.
*Sigh.* I pressed my temples, feeling an impending headache.
"You are very stubborn, Sig! Just go back home. I'll be gone for a good few years, you'll get tired of the road, of the dangers, and you won't have anyone to guide you back safely."
"I don't need a guide to go back because I'm not going back. Not before you finish what you are starting," she retorted, finally standing up, although she still kept her distance from me. "I want to see too, Denovan. This whole world that you described. I don't want to see through the eyes of a falcon or hear stories around a campfire. I want to see and feel with my own body."
I looked at her, standing in the snow empty-handed, defying logic and death purely out of her own free will. I stayed in silence for a long time, weighing my options. She would die if I let her wander alone behind me.
"On one condition..." I said slowly.
I saw her eyes light up instantly.
"You will obey all my orders. Without questioning. If you don't listen to me even once, I will tie you up, stop whatever we are doing, and drag you back home. I will forge a cell for you myself, and you will not leave there until I am too far away for you to even think about following me."
She looked at me, a spark of pure irritation passing through her eyes at the absolutist threat. But she swallowed her pride and nodded firmly.
"I will listen to you."
"I will consider that a promise, Sigrid. Do not break it. And do not make me regret this decision," I said seriously, extending my hand for her to pick up her sword from the ground.
A beautiful, wild, and victorious smile tore across her face from ear to ear.
"I won't let you down."
*I hope I don't regret this,* I thought, looking at the gray sky, where the two falcons were now flying together, circling in perfect synchrony.
"Let's go... The first clan is inside the Shadow Forest."
"Yes, sir..." Sig answered, walking to her horse, her tone already filled with amusement.
"Don't call me that, Sig..."
"Hmm," she just grumbled back, feigning innocence.
While I mounted Breu, adjusting the reins, I warned:
"Stay alert. We don't know if we are already being watched. They might have their own wargs, or the forest itself could send something worse at us."
Sig followed by my side. Looking at her horse, stupidly empty of essential supplies, I couldn't help but sigh once again. Well, at least I wouldn't be alone.
I felt several small mental pulses of indignation coming from my beasts.
'I know, I know. I have never been alone,' I mentally replied to them.
And speaking of which... 'Horus, here in the forest I'm sure you can find more owls. Find one for us.'
As soon as Horus swooped over us, screeching in agreement, and entered the dense line of trees, I looked at Sig.
"Keep Wind Wing alert. Horus is going ahead to scout."
I looked back and saw Sig already silent, her eyes closed, her mind connected to the skies.
"It's done," she said after a few moments, opening her green eyes that now seemed sharper.
"And so it begins, Sig," I announced, looking at the dark immensity of the forest ahead of us.
I received a somewhat confused look from her.
"Our conquest..." I started with an epic and dramatic tone. "The legend of Denovan, the Black Beast, and his useless little brat of a sister!" I finished in an annoying and mocking tone.
"Bastard!" Sig shot her hand out to slap my head, but I was already expecting it.
I advanced Breu with a touch of my heels, sprinting towards the Shadow Forest.
"Hahahaah! Come on, or else I'll leave you behind!"
-/-/-
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