V: A Man in Wolf's Clothing

A low rumble, a sound burrowing through the air as well as the ground. Granules of dirt began to move of their own accord. The trees felt the rumbling in their core, traveling from their roots, through their spine, and out the tips of their leaves.

A rumble became a shake. Rocks bounced off the ground. A shake became a quake, a sound became a wave agitating chests, and mixing with erratic heartbeats and contracting lungs.

Wood shattered in all directions. Wood with no leaves, but nails in their place. No sap, but veins of blood staining the dead rings.

Voices rang out through the destruction.

"Monster!"

In a small village nestled in a great forest there once stood a house. That house now lay under thundering hooves and hulking muscle covered in thick fur adorned with massive horns that protruded from the sides of a broad head, reaching out and then curving forward like grasping hands of bone. A hunched back stood above all the village, towering over man, beast, and home.

Hooves stomped and the ground shook, knocking men off their feet. Hapless spears, arrows, and all manner of farming tools rained down from the sky yet failed to penetrate the thick wall of fur.

The quake returned. The mass of bone and muscle crashed through another house. Horns shattering the walls and splintering the roof.

People ran for their lives in panic. A small boy, desperately trying to keep up with his family, stumbled over the ever shaking ground. He could not gain his balance as the ground beneath him failed to keep steady. The creature barreled through the village, getting closer and closer to the boy trying to run on wobbly feet and shaky knees. The boy looked in horror as death came from above baring teeth and spewing hot breath from wet nostrils.

And then his vision was filled with copper hair.

"Elsa! WALL!"

The air rang with a resounding *THOOM* as bone hit ice. A white wall as thick as five men, side by side, appeared out of thin air. The hooved creature stumbled but easily shook off the impact from the unmarred surface.

Anna looked down at the trembling boy in her arms.

"Don't worry. I got you." She picked up the boy and then turned her head over her shoulder toward the woman standing with her arms outstretched and sandaled feet planted firmly in the dirt.

"Elsa!"

"Get the people out of here! I'll take care of him!" As Elsa spoke, more walls of thick ice rose out of the ground.

"On it!" Anna ran with the boy still in her arms. He looked in awe and wonder at the wall of ice behind them and the woman standing between him and a trampled death.

Anna called out to the men still fumbling with their tools and bows. "Come on! Get to the forest! Let's go!"

They did not, or would not hear her. She shook her head and continued to run until she saw a panicked woman running toward her with her arms reaching out for the boy.

"Here. Don't worry, he's ok. Now hurry, get into the forest. We will take care of this." The woman couldn't help but be washed with relief and reassurance at the warm smile Anna gave her as she placed her son in her arms.

She turned with steel in her eyes and speed in her step toward the men still fumbling with their arrows. "Hey! Hello?!" The men continued to ignore her. She huffed and grabbed one by the collar, forcefully turning him to look into her eyes. His own were shaking with fear and confusion.

"HEY! Drop your shit and get out of here!"

"Wha… who…? What can you possibly do against that thing?!"

"If you get out of here maybe you'll live long enough to find out. Now, hurry! I'm trying to save you here!"

Finally, the men all around her registered the voice and broke their gaze away from the perceived monsters before them. The one with his shirt disheveled from her grasp looked at the others and nodded his head before they all made their way out of the village and into the safety of the trees.

Ok, vísundr. I know something is wrong and I don't want to hurt you… but I will stop you.

The great horned creature stood in a box of thick ice. A green light began to speck across its fur. Like fireflies lifting off from its body.

Magic against magic, forces of nature in conflict.

Muscle and fur dissolved into a blanket of green light that weaved into the air and out of the icy cage. The swirling lights gathered behind Elsa and reformed into the towering spirit.

Well then…

The spirit charged. Elsa crouched, muscles in her legs tense and hands already working their magic. As the horns got mere feet away from her, she launched herself into the air with a pillar of ice under her feet. A glowing blue lasso appeared from her hands and encircled the right horn. She rooted the other end of the magical rope into the ground with a spike of ice deep into the earth that then fractaled and barbed in the hard dirt, deeper than any tree root.

The spirit stumbled as the force from the rope yanked its head to the side. It quickly regained its footing and attempted to pull free from its leash.

Gliding on a trail of ice under her feet, Elsa skated around the hulking body with speed as she tethered another horn into the ground. Then more and more strands of glowing blue fibers sailed over its body and anchored.

The spirit struggled under the weight of her magic. Elsa stopped her skates in front of the imposing head and walked up to it.

What's wrong vísundr? Why are you…

Suddenly she sensed it. Her eyes scanned the face before her and landed at the base of its left horn. She reached out with her hand and immediately felt the presence. Something foreign, artificial, embedded into the bone. Her finger traced over the smooth surface until it found the source and she recoiled from the pain sent into her finger.

What in the world…?

She clenched her fist and then reached out again, this time with magic swelling in her palm. A tiny, micro blizzard swirled from her hand onto the base of the horn where bone entered flesh. A small sliver of ice appeared, protruding out of the bone. She pulled with her magic and the ice brought with it…

An iron nail? Laced with magic…

As she pulled the nail out from the spirit, it hung in the air of her blizzard until she clenched her fist once more and the nail shattered under the weight of her cosmic storm.

The spirit once again glowed with dazzling magic orbs and dissolved just as her own magical restraints dissolved around it.

Rest vísundr. I hope I didn't hurt you too much.

The magic swirled in the air and retreated back into the forest.

Elsa made her way toward the treeline where she found Anna eagerly waiting, as well as a whole village of frightened onlookers.

"Is everyone alright?" Elsa said. She directed her question directly to Anna as she kept herself at an apprehensive distance from the villagers.

"Yes. I think so. Everyone seems a little shaken, but it sounds like one person was in that first house that got destroyed…"

"Damn. At least we made it in time for everyone else."

They exchanged solemn glances at each other for the loss of life before Elsa started to turn away. She was halted in her steps by a voice of a woman coming out from the trees.

"Wait! Please, you saved our lives. How could we repay you?"

Elsa's voice was caught in her throat but Anna had no such impediment.

"Pshh. Don't worry about it! We were just passing by and saw what was happening. We couldn't just move on and do nothing. I'm just sorry we weren't able to save everyone."

A burly voice echoed out from beside the woman who spoke earlier. A tall, bearded man, built like a farmer, shot accusing stares toward Elsa who was still standing behind Anna and becoming increasingly uncomfortable under the scrutiny.

"Hold on. I know what you are."

The hackles on Elsa's neck shot up. Anna took a defensive step between her friend and the villager.

"Uh, excuse me?" Anna said, returning his scrutiny with her own stare.

"Anna, we should leave," Elsa whispered from behind her shoulder. The shorter girl refused to budge.

The man continued, "You defeated that monster easily, and those… abilities. Yes, fräulein. I know what you are. You… are a monsterjäger!

Anna's scrutiny turned to befuddlement.

"A what now?"

The woman from before interjected, attempting to avoid any other misunderstandings. She did not exactly succeed.

"A monster hunter. You two must be abenteurerin… eh… adventurers! There is a hunting lodge not far from here. You must have been on your way there!"

A candle was lit above Anna's head.

"Ya… Yes! That is exactly what we are!"

"Anna, what are you…?" Elsa was interrupted by a sharp *SHOOSH* from Anna whipping her head around and then quickly back to the villagers who were standing in both awe and confusion.

Anna returned to her fable, "Yes, we are monster hunters from the Norslands! We have journeyed down here seeking…. monsters! And adventure!" She placed her hands on her hips in a confident pose while Elsa became ever more confused and unsure of what was happening.

"We are a little bit turned-around now since we made this detour. Do you mind pointing us in the direction of the hunting lodge?"

"Certainly, fräulein," the man from before said. His scrutiny from before had melted into a warm smile. Anna nodded intently as he gave directions while Elsa made sure to keep a mental note seeing as how the directions were most likely going in one foxy ear and out the other.

Anna made a quick succession of goodbyes to the villagers, making sure to stop and hug the little boy she had saved. The mother insisted on giving the girls a loaf of fresh pumpernickel that she had baked. Anna weakly tried to refuse but was unable to resist the warm bread.

Elsa waited, impatiently, on the road leading out of the village. She was unconsciously tapping her sandaled foot on the dirt ground and had her arms crossed over her chest. Her tenseness immediately relaxed, however, at the sight of Anna bouncing up the path; a large loaf of dark bread in her arms and a honking chunk stuffed in her mouth.

As Anna saddled up next to the taller woman to begin their walk, Elsa could finally let out her confusion.

"Anna, what are we doing? That vísundr was not a monster, and we are not hunters. Why are we going to a hunting lodge, no doubt filled with all manner of men who specialize in killing things like...well, like me?"

"Relax Els! This is perfect. Instead of a witch and a princess, we will become monster hunters. It's a perfect cover! They already believed your powers were a part of us being hunters. It will be so much easier to move around if people believe we are adventurers! Not to mention… it sounds cool!"

Elsa shook her head, "then why do we need to go to this lodge at all?"

"We have to make ourselves seem legit. I mean, it should be pretty easy. We just go in there, tell everyone we are also hunters or jägers or whatever, and then leave! Easy as cake. Maybe they ask us to hunt down some goblin or something. Nothing we can't handle."

Anna took another wide-mouth bite from the fresh-baked bread.

Glossary:

Norse

Vísundr - Bison