Before the Winter Takes Them
120th Vhalar 719
Continues from here
Continues from here
CHAPTER FOUR
Ashling and the search party she was part of had been out in the wilderness for several trials. They hadn't been able to find any of the missing stormtouched children they were looking for. Ashling was the navigator. Disa was a seamstress with subtle fox traits. There were also the dog trainer Tarya and the lumberjack Stieg. Tarya had brought two black spitz-dogs with her. A horse pulled a sleigh loaed with heavy winter tents and other equipment. All the group members were volunteers and their mission was secret. They were looking for potential survivors who had escaped during "The Cure". managed to stay alive in the wilds in winter.
The chance for success seemed low by now and they would soon have to return to Fensalir. In an attempt to save time after a navigation mistake, they had tried to take a shortcut. Ashling had hoped to soon get back to their intended route. But, the shortcut had turned out to slow them down due to difficult terrain. Trying to turn back, they had bad luck and the sleight became stuck. This was when they were attacked by a big and bulky stormtouched man with oxen traits ... After headbutting Stieg and taking out the groups strongest member the attacker got in the way for the scared horse. Halfway knocked-out he sat on the ground looking groggy when Ashling’s spiritual familiar told her to use the stormlight amulet ... and so Ashling stepped forth with the amulet in her hand, telling the others to save themselves ...
The stormtouched man glared at Ashling as she approached. He was a mountain of muscle. Would she even be able to touch him? She believed she must do that to use the amulet and channel the power of the great spirit to him. And would that help him to calm down and regain common sense? She looked at the man with a sinking feeling. It seemed like her chance to succeed was particularly small. I was easy to imagine being knocked out by one hit if he would decide to punch her. How could Kyrie believe that Ashling would be able to do this, one lone healer against a huge oxen brawler ...
The answer was that Ashling had imagined that she was all alone with the problem, but she wasn't. She didn’t even hear Disa move. But, the fox-trait seamstress pounced at their attacker with amazing speed. Before he had time to react, Disa put the bradawl from her sewing kit against his throat. If he would move the bradawl would pierce the big vein it rested against and the man would bleed to death. It was so unexpected that Ashling went as immovable as the ox-man. For a moment they both stared a the small seamstress who had turned into a deadly threat in the blink of an eye.
“Freeze,” said Disa and there was a low hissing sound in her voice.
Ashling wasn’t sure if the threat really would affect the man. But, hearing the way Disa hissed like a scared fox ready to bite in wild frenzy she hoped that they had a chance. She jumped forth and put her hand on his brow, praying aloud.
“Myrkvior help us!”
The amulet vibrated in her hand and a power that was not her own ran through Ashling and into the ox-man via her hand. Ashling herself was only a conduit for it. She felt like a mere connection between something bigger than herself and the one it aimed at...doing something to. Ashling did nothing, added nothing had no control and understood even less. She was only the tool of the healing power, (if it was healing).
At the end of Ymiden she had happened to use the amulet on her patient Nathon. It had made him run away and trouble had ensued. Later he had told her that it had felt like lightning had hit him. It had been very hard to interrogate Nathon so Ashling didn’t know more. After that experience, she had hesitated to use the amulet again. Hitting people with lightning didn’t seem so helpful.
The ox-man seemed to calm down though. Ashling watched his face. He wasn’t a young man. His hair was long, his beard was big and the furrows in his skin were deep.
Old, massive, powerful, strong ... and bad-tempered? A grumpy old brawler gone stormtouched?
“Enough!” he bellowed.
Ashling lifted her hand from his brow. But she held it at ready in case she would have to give him a new dose of the healing touch (or strike him with more lightning). Looking into his big brown eyes she imagined that his gaze had gone peaceful. She wanted to believe that it was so. But, they couldn’t take any risks so she told Disa to keep holding the bradawl to the ox-man’s throat. If it would become necessary Ashling was going to ask Tarya to tie his arms and legs and ...
Ashling vinced when she realized that they might fail to lift the man onto the sleigh. Disa and Tarya might be stronger than she was, but the ox-man looked like he weighed more than they could lift. Stieg was down and out and they couldn’t rely on his strength anymore. Instead, getting Stieg up on the sleigh would be a challenge too. For a moment she felt like giving up but there was no room for giving up. She decided to attempt to persuade him.
“We can all die out here in the wilderness,” she said with her best combination of eídisi doctor steel and sev’ryn healer concern in her voice. “You, me, my group, the animals ... all of us can die here if we don’t find a way to solve this together. I want to solve it. I hope you will collaborate so we all can live.”
The ox-man didn’t answer. He didn’t seem like a man who was looking to collaborate.
She made a new attempt to speak with him. “Let’s solve this for the best of us all. I have no idea why you attacked us. We are only looking for stormtouched ...”
The rage ignited in the man’s eyes again. He blew out air through his nostrils in a manner that seemed aggressive. Feeling clueless and scared, Ashling decided that it was better to be safe than to be sorry. She put her hand back on the man’s brow. Again, she felt the power flow through her like a stream flows in its bed. It ran easier this time, so maybe the first attempt had been a failure? Ashling couldn’t know. She could only watch the stormtouched ox-man and hope for a useful effect.
“Stop it!” he bellowed. “I recall who I am! I remember it now so take that blinding light away!”
Ashling lifted her hand and the power stopped streaming. She was still prepared to repeat the ... amulet treatment. That, and Disas bradawl was all they had to rely on ... or not, as Tarya and the two spitz-dogs had decided to join them. The dogs weren’t nice anymore. Feeling the danger and the threat they showed their teeth and growled. The ox-man stared at them with a certain respect. He seemed more susceptible to persuasion by the dogs than by Ashling.
“So tell us,” said Ashling. “Who are you? And why did you attack us?”
“Ike ... but they call me Ike Bison nowadays, due to ... yeah. You know what happened in Fensalir some trials ago don’t you? They took people away!”
“Yes ... “
“And you are still hunting me. Even here!” Ike’s tone was bitter. “For my own best, you say. I don’t believe a word of your lies.”
“We aren’t hunting you. We are ordinary folks from Fensalir looking to save children. Stormtouched children who may be hiding in the wilds.”
The man glared at her. It was obvious that she hadn’t convinced him that they were friendly. From what he had said it seemed like he believed that the operation named The Cure was still going on. He seemed to think that they took part in it and were trying to catch him. Ashling attempted to explain the situation again, but the man stuck to his own view, stubborn as an ... ox.
For a moment she wondered if the symptoms of the stormtouched had something to do with the afflicted peoples’ personalities. The wolfish Sarina who had saved Ashling in Ymiden had been protective and loyal but also feral. Nathon...fierce, aloof and a fast mover. Each stormtouched seemed to have gained their own set of animalistic traits. Now, this man...
Her efforts to persuade him had failed! Now, she didn't know what more to say to him.
But Disa did. The seamstress’s stormtouched traits were subtle and you might not detect them at first. Looking for heavily changed stormtouched the Ragnari had sometimes missed lighter cases. It seemed like the ox-like Ike had missed these signs too. But Disa, still holding the bradawl to his throat, was going to make him notice!
“I’m Disa Foxley,“ she spat out, the hissing in her voice growing stronger. “I’ve got it too you dumb big ... cow! Got a foxtail under my parka. As they didn’t look under my skirts and red hair wasn’t on their list of traits to look for ... they didn’t see me. There were so many others with animalistic traits that looked more dramatic. Those overshadowed us who still can pass for unaffected. You, for example. You could have avoided capture. You have no horns or anything. The high colour of your face is only what people would expect of an elderly outdoorsman who likes his liquor. You had no reason to run away like a dumb one-bull stampede.“
Disa stopped there but only for a trill. “But I guess that was your reason. Bull traits.” Her voice became a bit less aggressive. “Look, we are trying to save survivors who are hiding in the wilds. We are trying to save people like you before the winter takes them. You should join us, not fight us!”
Ike Bison’s facial expression didn’t change. “Don’t try to fool me,” he said. “Show me that foxtail or else shut up.”
For a man who had a bradawl at his throat, he seems hard to intimidate. Is he dumb? Or is there another reason? Is he...accustomed to violence and death threats?
Disa lovered the tail she had kept hidden inside the parka for added warmth. It was beautiful, red and fluffy. The seamstress wagged it a bit and their ox-like “prisoner” blew out air through his nostrils again.
“Right,” he said. “ You’re a "stormy". Stop pointing at me with that nasty little tool girl. "
“Will you join us and help out?” said Ashling who was eager to come to an agreement. “You have injured one of us. Take his place! If you help us we will help you. What do you say?”
"I'm not making any agreements as long as you use that cursed lightning magic on me!"
Ashling withdrew, feeling worthless at persuasion. They still made the agreement when the stubborn man got what he had demanded and Ike Bison got to his feet. Tarya made the dogs sniff on him and showed them that he was a friend now. The dogs seemed to doubt it, but they stopped growling. While Ike and Tarya worked at getting the sleigh unstuck Ashling examined Stieg. He opened his eyes when she ran her hands over his chest and moaned aloud in pain. At first she feared that he might have gained a broken rib. Despite the cold, she opened his parka to do a closer investigation. Probing his ribcage ligtly with her fingers she found that the ribs seemed intact. But, the man was still not able to sit or walk. After closing his parka again she asked Ike for help to put Stieg on the sleigh.
A bit later they were able to begin the walk back in their own tracks.
They walked at a slow pace, silent and tired. Later, Ashling found the place where she had made them take the wrong direction. They turned right again and this time the terrain was easy.
But, the weather was shifting, The sky was cloudy again. It began to snow and the wind was growing stronger. They had to set up the camp earlier than planned, after day lost on mistakes and troubles. The next day they would turn back toward Fensalir.
The chance for success seemed low by now and they would soon have to return to Fensalir. In an attempt to save time after a navigation mistake, they had tried to take a shortcut. Ashling had hoped to soon get back to their intended route. But, the shortcut had turned out to slow them down due to difficult terrain. Trying to turn back, they had bad luck and the sleight became stuck. This was when they were attacked by a big and bulky stormtouched man with oxen traits ... After headbutting Stieg and taking out the groups strongest member the attacker got in the way for the scared horse. Halfway knocked-out he sat on the ground looking groggy when Ashling’s spiritual familiar told her to use the stormlight amulet ... and so Ashling stepped forth with the amulet in her hand, telling the others to save themselves ...
The stormtouched man glared at Ashling as she approached. He was a mountain of muscle. Would she even be able to touch him? She believed she must do that to use the amulet and channel the power of the great spirit to him. And would that help him to calm down and regain common sense? She looked at the man with a sinking feeling. It seemed like her chance to succeed was particularly small. I was easy to imagine being knocked out by one hit if he would decide to punch her. How could Kyrie believe that Ashling would be able to do this, one lone healer against a huge oxen brawler ...
The answer was that Ashling had imagined that she was all alone with the problem, but she wasn't. She didn’t even hear Disa move. But, the fox-trait seamstress pounced at their attacker with amazing speed. Before he had time to react, Disa put the bradawl from her sewing kit against his throat. If he would move the bradawl would pierce the big vein it rested against and the man would bleed to death. It was so unexpected that Ashling went as immovable as the ox-man. For a moment they both stared a the small seamstress who had turned into a deadly threat in the blink of an eye.
“Freeze,” said Disa and there was a low hissing sound in her voice.
Ashling wasn’t sure if the threat really would affect the man. But, hearing the way Disa hissed like a scared fox ready to bite in wild frenzy she hoped that they had a chance. She jumped forth and put her hand on his brow, praying aloud.
“Myrkvior help us!”
The amulet vibrated in her hand and a power that was not her own ran through Ashling and into the ox-man via her hand. Ashling herself was only a conduit for it. She felt like a mere connection between something bigger than herself and the one it aimed at...doing something to. Ashling did nothing, added nothing had no control and understood even less. She was only the tool of the healing power, (if it was healing).
At the end of Ymiden she had happened to use the amulet on her patient Nathon. It had made him run away and trouble had ensued. Later he had told her that it had felt like lightning had hit him. It had been very hard to interrogate Nathon so Ashling didn’t know more. After that experience, she had hesitated to use the amulet again. Hitting people with lightning didn’t seem so helpful.
The ox-man seemed to calm down though. Ashling watched his face. He wasn’t a young man. His hair was long, his beard was big and the furrows in his skin were deep.
Old, massive, powerful, strong ... and bad-tempered? A grumpy old brawler gone stormtouched?
“Enough!” he bellowed.
Ashling lifted her hand from his brow. But she held it at ready in case she would have to give him a new dose of the healing touch (or strike him with more lightning). Looking into his big brown eyes she imagined that his gaze had gone peaceful. She wanted to believe that it was so. But, they couldn’t take any risks so she told Disa to keep holding the bradawl to the ox-man’s throat. If it would become necessary Ashling was going to ask Tarya to tie his arms and legs and ...
Ashling vinced when she realized that they might fail to lift the man onto the sleigh. Disa and Tarya might be stronger than she was, but the ox-man looked like he weighed more than they could lift. Stieg was down and out and they couldn’t rely on his strength anymore. Instead, getting Stieg up on the sleigh would be a challenge too. For a moment she felt like giving up but there was no room for giving up. She decided to attempt to persuade him.
“We can all die out here in the wilderness,” she said with her best combination of eídisi doctor steel and sev’ryn healer concern in her voice. “You, me, my group, the animals ... all of us can die here if we don’t find a way to solve this together. I want to solve it. I hope you will collaborate so we all can live.”
The ox-man didn’t answer. He didn’t seem like a man who was looking to collaborate.
She made a new attempt to speak with him. “Let’s solve this for the best of us all. I have no idea why you attacked us. We are only looking for stormtouched ...”
The rage ignited in the man’s eyes again. He blew out air through his nostrils in a manner that seemed aggressive. Feeling clueless and scared, Ashling decided that it was better to be safe than to be sorry. She put her hand back on the man’s brow. Again, she felt the power flow through her like a stream flows in its bed. It ran easier this time, so maybe the first attempt had been a failure? Ashling couldn’t know. She could only watch the stormtouched ox-man and hope for a useful effect.
“Stop it!” he bellowed. “I recall who I am! I remember it now so take that blinding light away!”
Ashling lifted her hand and the power stopped streaming. She was still prepared to repeat the ... amulet treatment. That, and Disas bradawl was all they had to rely on ... or not, as Tarya and the two spitz-dogs had decided to join them. The dogs weren’t nice anymore. Feeling the danger and the threat they showed their teeth and growled. The ox-man stared at them with a certain respect. He seemed more susceptible to persuasion by the dogs than by Ashling.
“So tell us,” said Ashling. “Who are you? And why did you attack us?”
“Ike ... but they call me Ike Bison nowadays, due to ... yeah. You know what happened in Fensalir some trials ago don’t you? They took people away!”
“Yes ... “
“And you are still hunting me. Even here!” Ike’s tone was bitter. “For my own best, you say. I don’t believe a word of your lies.”
“We aren’t hunting you. We are ordinary folks from Fensalir looking to save children. Stormtouched children who may be hiding in the wilds.”
The man glared at her. It was obvious that she hadn’t convinced him that they were friendly. From what he had said it seemed like he believed that the operation named The Cure was still going on. He seemed to think that they took part in it and were trying to catch him. Ashling attempted to explain the situation again, but the man stuck to his own view, stubborn as an ... ox.
For a moment she wondered if the symptoms of the stormtouched had something to do with the afflicted peoples’ personalities. The wolfish Sarina who had saved Ashling in Ymiden had been protective and loyal but also feral. Nathon...fierce, aloof and a fast mover. Each stormtouched seemed to have gained their own set of animalistic traits. Now, this man...
Her efforts to persuade him had failed! Now, she didn't know what more to say to him.
But Disa did. The seamstress’s stormtouched traits were subtle and you might not detect them at first. Looking for heavily changed stormtouched the Ragnari had sometimes missed lighter cases. It seemed like the ox-like Ike had missed these signs too. But Disa, still holding the bradawl to his throat, was going to make him notice!
“I’m Disa Foxley,“ she spat out, the hissing in her voice growing stronger. “I’ve got it too you dumb big ... cow! Got a foxtail under my parka. As they didn’t look under my skirts and red hair wasn’t on their list of traits to look for ... they didn’t see me. There were so many others with animalistic traits that looked more dramatic. Those overshadowed us who still can pass for unaffected. You, for example. You could have avoided capture. You have no horns or anything. The high colour of your face is only what people would expect of an elderly outdoorsman who likes his liquor. You had no reason to run away like a dumb one-bull stampede.“
Disa stopped there but only for a trill. “But I guess that was your reason. Bull traits.” Her voice became a bit less aggressive. “Look, we are trying to save survivors who are hiding in the wilds. We are trying to save people like you before the winter takes them. You should join us, not fight us!”
Ike Bison’s facial expression didn’t change. “Don’t try to fool me,” he said. “Show me that foxtail or else shut up.”
For a man who had a bradawl at his throat, he seems hard to intimidate. Is he dumb? Or is there another reason? Is he...accustomed to violence and death threats?
Disa lovered the tail she had kept hidden inside the parka for added warmth. It was beautiful, red and fluffy. The seamstress wagged it a bit and their ox-like “prisoner” blew out air through his nostrils again.
“Right,” he said. “ You’re a "stormy". Stop pointing at me with that nasty little tool girl. "
“Will you join us and help out?” said Ashling who was eager to come to an agreement. “You have injured one of us. Take his place! If you help us we will help you. What do you say?”
"I'm not making any agreements as long as you use that cursed lightning magic on me!"
Ashling withdrew, feeling worthless at persuasion. They still made the agreement when the stubborn man got what he had demanded and Ike Bison got to his feet. Tarya made the dogs sniff on him and showed them that he was a friend now. The dogs seemed to doubt it, but they stopped growling. While Ike and Tarya worked at getting the sleigh unstuck Ashling examined Stieg. He opened his eyes when she ran her hands over his chest and moaned aloud in pain. At first she feared that he might have gained a broken rib. Despite the cold, she opened his parka to do a closer investigation. Probing his ribcage ligtly with her fingers she found that the ribs seemed intact. But, the man was still not able to sit or walk. After closing his parka again she asked Ike for help to put Stieg on the sleigh.
A bit later they were able to begin the walk back in their own tracks.
They walked at a slow pace, silent and tired. Later, Ashling found the place where she had made them take the wrong direction. They turned right again and this time the terrain was easy.
But, the weather was shifting, The sky was cloudy again. It began to snow and the wind was growing stronger. They had to set up the camp earlier than planned, after day lost on mistakes and troubles. The next day they would turn back toward Fensalir.
