Waking to the morning light peeking through the gaps in between the cabin's trusses, Skadi's eyes flutter open. She needed to move - to start her journey, she knew it. But it was the comfort and warmth of Kaldr and the various furs around her, that begged her to do otherwise. Her list of immediate issues seemed to grow longer with each passing moment she laid wrapped in the pelts.
Her body ached, her stomach was borderline nauseous from hunger, and she was still so drained. It was a task in itself to reopen her eyes every time she blinked.
One thing she knew for sure while laying in bliss, is that the both of them needed a good scrubbing in the hot springs. The two of them reeked. Kaldr, like the smell of musty caves and old blood. Then there was herself, who smelled quite similar, yet the natural musk of a person who hasn't bathed in weeks. It wasn't flattering and she couldn't nearly stand herself.
Deciding that there was nothing to do about it in this particular moment, she sighs heavily as she pulls the furs off her naked body and brings herself to stand on her feet. Locating her Garb by the hearthstone quickly, she stoked the coals slightly and added just one other log to fill the immediate area with a little warmth, ridding the cold that snaked its way into the cabin within the night.
Pulling on her leather britches she relishes in their coziness since being splayed by the hot pyre for the length of the night. Not only did she relish in the warmth but also the dryness, for anyone would be a dead man if the clothes were even the slightest bit damp. Especially in these relentless temperatures this winter had brought with it.
She tugs on her tight woolen undershirt, hooking the sleeve ends around her thumbs and tucking the hem in her britches and repeating the steps for the navy tunic before lacing up the front. Taking the 4 bundles of thick spun gray wool, she wraps her feet, calves, hands and forearms and ties them each tightly, allowing her loose sleeve and pant legs to lay flat against her body, preventing any snags during battle. Also to add another layer of warmth, and Gods' knowing she needed it for this trek up the mountain.
Next she steps into her boots and laces them up too, her tippy toes wiggling in the plush fur inside. With a sigh, she picks up her most loathed piece of dressing, the kidney belt. It was extremely uncomfortable, but it prevented many injuries in the past. Making sure the long blue skirting attached hadn't come loose, she laced it up and stepped into it before pulling it up and fastening the straps securely in the front. Brushing out the woolen skirt, adjusting it in place before she tightened the corset in the back. Her blue eyes observe the wide piece of wool in the back as it fell to her ankles as the front, and thinner piece, stops just past her knees. The slits high and to the belt, making it easier to move around in the heavy material.
Finishing up with her shoulder armor and her gauntlets she moves to a few baskets still on the shelves, hoping some dried meats were left. Pushing them back in with a scowl, she turns towards the wolf who was still slumbering underneath the many pelts on her bed. She would need to eat soon, she could feel the hunger gnawing at her empty stomach as it grew uneasy. She was sure that her nerves weren't helping that situation either. She turns, gathering her seaux and attaching the long knife to her thigh and hanging her small axe on her other hip.
Gods, how she didn't want to make this journey, if only she had her beloved Oleg.
Oleg the Mighty was her giant shire horse and lovable lug. He was a giant! A mighty beast that a merchant had claimed was a descendant of Sleipnir, the all gray 8 legged horse of Odin himself. He was just a colt when she convinced her father to buy her the midnight steed. King Magni was skeptical of course, but ended up caving the moment he looked into the icy blues of his only daughter. He wasn't a soft man by any means, but there was just some things he couldn't tell her no too.
They purchased the colt but then the horse grew - and then continued to grow past the rest of the horses until they had to build his own stall on the end of the stable since he wasn't able to fit his massive shoulders in the regular stall's door. A frown erasing her smile as she thought of her other friend. She was worried for him.
It wasn't the portly King Halfdan she had worried about, it was the other monsters that plagued her mind with terrible things they could do to him. They could be feasting on his muscles at this very moment.
Then there was Eir, her beautiful barn owl. Was she still in her room in the castle? Or was she set free? The poor girl would suffer a sad fate, if she was. She was nearly blind. The cloudiness in her eyes had progressed heavily over the last several months.
There were so many of her friends and family she needed to find, but didn't have a chance in Hel of she didn't replenish her magic. Whatever that cursed stone was around her neck, it drained nearly everything from her.
Picking up her bow, quiver, and her cloak of the white bear, she whistles for her wolf as she exits the cabin.
It was now or never.
Dakarai sits in the control seat as he rubs his long digits over the length of his brow bone, tired of thinking of the options before him. He had read through all the information available to him, the religion, the honor codes, the laws - all of it. He didn't dislike it, some correlations matching his own peoples.
He had a few viable options were he to go separate routes, but he was still teetering on which one to take.
Find her, kill her, and use her blood and body for research - for a cure for the blight running rapid on each planet or, find her, take her as a mate and bare offspring with, hoping that his bloodline would have abilities like herself. Their future reign could be unstoppable.
She wasn't a human, it wouldn't bring dishonor exactly, but he could hear the uproar because of her appearance. Though if she healed his people, they may just accept it.
Their 'marriage' laws weren't necessarily any different than the ones of his Sire and his Sire before that. It wasn't truly uncommon for his family to mate for life, though some of the other tribes didn't think so. Some siring hundreds of children in their lifetime, each with a different mate. Leaving the female to raise and train the whelp.
His father and mother had both trained him and each of his 7 other siblings. Dakarai believed that it was their hard work and dedication that had made great warriors out of all of them. If he chose the second, and he did it right, he could also achieve the results of the 1st by asking her to help once they were a mated pair.
He needed to draw her in and speak with her but how? He knew it needed to be alone - Bashuka was furious with her since she had spit in his face. They nearly ripped into each other when Darkrai explained that he wasn't to kill her if she was found. He couldn't blame him, nor her, really. She had to show she wasn't going to lay down while they established their dominance - an admirable feat.
Sending word for Underhill using his wrist com, Dakarai flips through the information once more, though this time, paying attention to the Titan on the screen. Every planet had one, or even multiple, a being that ruled it all. This one, a Jörmungandr, or as most called it on this primal planet - The World Serpent.
When the beast releases its tail from its, and withers to the shore, it would bring forth this planet's end.
It sounds like another fable to him. Though, if he were to hear what the girl could do without seeing with his own eyes, he would believe it was nothing but a story as well. Palming his face, he waits as he looks up at the massive serpent on the screen. Observing patiently as he waited for the human. He wanted to run his ideas past the human doctor before he did much else.
For being a human, she has certainly gained the respect of many of Yautja, not just the ones on his own planet, but the majority of the others as well. She was smart, not just with her work, but in other practical aspects, and he needed her input on this before he made his final decision.
"Kaldr!" She commands the wolf as she strikes her axe against the hard scaly flesh of the Tatzelwurm. A blur of white jumped, leaping off the boulders above, and tackling the feline serpent to the ground, exposing its neck - the soft flesh. With a grunt she brings down her axe, hard and beheading the last of the Tatzelwurm that had jumped them. Breathing heavily, her vision blurs, knowing that the lack of food was the cause. Her stomach nearly soured at the thought that crossed her mind. It wasn't great tasting meat, but it would have to do.
Kaldr wastes no time in pulling the skin back, ready to devour himself a good meal. Even the razor sharp canines the white wolf bore couldn't penetrate the serpents skin.
Moving to the other Tatzelwurm, Skadi begins to hack at the tail, wanting the back straps which were the most tender parts of the beast. Since the creature was so lean, the rest of the meat would be far too tough for her teeth to chew through.
Standing erect, before she sets to work, she pushes her senses into the nearby vicinity, feeling nothing but the few natural animals of the forest.
Good, she didn't need another fucking surprise. These little bastards had nearly gotten lucky with a meal.
Holding her upper arm to the side, inspecting the damage the gnarly teeth of the vermin had done when they had sank into the flesh. It hurt and their saliva was always full of disease. Once more the white haired beauty closes her cerulean gaze, and focuses her energy, needing this wound gone. With a small groan, and feeling a headache from straining, she opens her eyes seeing her milky flesh through the holes in her tunic. She sighs, knowing that her times of doing that are numbered until she reaches the Dew drops from the Yggdrasil.
Hooking her axe onto her back, she reaches for her seaux, a gift handmade by her father, and slices the skin from the inside, separating the thick hide like butter. Removing the long string of back straps she sections them off before looking for tinder to start a small fire. She would eat her fill and dry the rest as best she could for the remaining trip ahead.
Piling up her findings, she takes out her starting stone and smashes it against the blade of her axe. It was only a few moments after a few before the small fire was going. Skadi sat, building a structure with 2 stones and a flat rock over it, giving it another moment, she lays the back straps across it. Hearing the pleasant sizzle shortly after.
It would only be soon until she had her fill.
A few hours later, the sun, now sitting at its highest point in the sky, the pair trek through the forest hoping to reach the peak by dark. Skadi prays that they could find a cave or crevasse to squeeze into together for warmth before the sun settles for the night. The wind thankfully worked in their favor today and unlike the relentless winds of the mountainous storms like Skadi knew them to be. It was rather calm, almost eerily so. The regular chatter of the forest, not nearly as lively as it should be. Her stomach was uneasy, though this time she was sure it was her nerves.
Exhaling a warm breath in a plume of vapor, she pushes her senses out once more. Something, much bigger than herself, was teetering on the edge of her mind. Swiping her flyaways from her newly woven braids, she pushed her mind harder still coming up with nothing better.
Curse that fucking stone and it's soul sucking abilities!
Where would she be now if the giant hadn't released her? Dead no doubt, or hanging on the edge.
She had prayed to the Aesir to free her from the stone, to give her the strength she needed and days later an otherworldly being stalked in, crumbling it with ease, as if it were a clump of soil. She could only imagine the raw power the Hunter had, or even the smaller ones that stood behind it.
And they wanted to hunt her? By the gods - she had spit in the face of one. She knew she pissed it off when she had flit from the room, it's roar was able to be heard in the upper halls. Not that she particularly cared at the time, she wanted to avenge her father.
The intricate golden armour it adorned, no doubt a symbol of rank, but just what had been that rank? An elite warrior? A king? It had definitely held itself such as so and one thing she was nearly certain of, is that it wasn't female.
The more she thought of the creature, she was in awe of their skin. Reptilian and varying in color from one another, even the patterns had different variations. She always found serpents to be beautiful, even the World Serpent that likes to peep from the ocean speaking his fascinating tongue.
And what of those masks that they wore, what did it hide? What face lied behind it. It's speech, groveled and messy showing that it wasn't human, but it had known her language. It stumbled over her words, but she could understand what was said- and she even had the audacity to correct the one in gold.
How many others were there? How did they get here? She had so many questions, and she was going to gather her answers once her power was replenished. She could naturally restore her powers but the time that actually takes, she didn't necessarily have. It had taken weeks to restore the power when she fought off a few dark elves the last trip through Alfheim.
Fuck, that was another issue itself that required attention after this was over. If she succeeded.
She knew these were the 'hunters from the sky' that her father had shared stories on slaying. No matter the time of day, they could always seem to find you, and despite their gargantuan size, they could move as quiet as a feline while they slinked through the canopies of the trees. Being a classic hunter, the skulls of its prey would be collected. Even going as far wearing it as a piece of their armor, displaying their trophy for all to see.
And that information is all that she had.
Pulling her from her spastic string of thoughts, Kaldr stops, ears erect and forward as his dark nose sniffed the air.
A tired 'what now?' crosses her mind. She really needed her magic replenished, a good meal, and a long fucking nap. Too bad all of that seemed so far out of her reach.
Pushing her senses out, she feels the being moving towards her, and fast. Readying her axe, she waits for its approach. Her wolf, bearing his teeth, growled over the snowdrift with his hackles raised. He certainly wasn't a fan of what was about to rear it ugly head.
It was merely seconds before a Wulver came flying over the drift, landing in the snow. Standing straight on its rear feet as it snarls displaying it's beastly canines. It's long humanoid, yet fur covered arms, and spreading them wide with it's claws erect- beckoning an attack.
Skadi acts first, throwing her axe with all her might and catching the large beast in its muscular thigh. When fighting the man turned wolf, it was best to slow them down, by any means necessary. The speed and agility these foes possessed was just as unnatural as it's own existence.
'Attack quick and attack smart, once it starts really moving, it becomes nearly impossible to hit' her father's words through her mind.
It roared at her, biting at the axe as Skadi called it back. It's sharp teeth snapping together, empty of its target, yet full of saliva. As soon as she felt the familiar wood of the handle in her hands, she spins, sending it off once more with a battle cry. The Wulver jukes to the side with ease, missing the axe entirely. Reaching for her axe once more she catches it and charging at the beast while pulling her other, smaller axe from her belt.
Her eyes glance at Kaldr slinking off to the side. His tactic was to always flank them from the rear as Skadi distracted the front. A tactic they have discovered that worked for them long ago. As long as it wasn't a berserker Wulver they'd be okay, but you never knew until they were close to the brink of death. Or you really, really pissed it off.
Charging through the snow with a cry matching the Wulver's, she meets his attack. His paws, strong enough to crush her skull, swipe at her. Stepping to the side at the last minute and avoiding its razor-like claws, her smaller axe catches it's upper arm as her larger one, now frozen with whatever remaining magic she could summon, slices the back of it's calf. Turning, not nearly as fast as she had hoped, the creature was on her. Her smaller axe caught it's teeth as she swung wildly in panic, avoiding the bite on her shoulder. Using all her might, she pulls the towering beast down while swinging her trusted axe. The mirror-like blade burying itself in the thick muscle of it's upper shoulder. Releasing a cry of pain, the teeth release the smaller blade as it whines and yelps in pain, giving Skadi an opportunity to roll away from the monster and putting some space in between them. She rolls herself once more and over the snow drift, beside them. Spinning, a flurry of powder flying high as her nimble fingers pull the bow from her shoulder while dropping a knee to the ground. Quickly knocking an arrow, she takes aim and releases it as the distracted beast attempts to remove the massive axe from its body.
With precision, the arrow hits its mark, planting itself firmly in its other thigh.
Her hand reaching out, her axe acting as magnet and spinning back through the air and into her hand perfectly. Dropping the axe in the snow beneath her, she pulls another arrow from her quiver, readying herself once more. The Wulver looks at her before letting out an ear splitting roar. It was furious, and it was well deserved since Skadi had inflicted a good bit of pain.
Seizing this opportunity, she adjusted slightly before her fingers released the string. The arrow once again hits its target beautifully, embedding itself in the back of the beast's throat.
The Wulver stumbles, in pain and unsure of what to do next as it thrashes its claws around blindly. Skadi whistles through her teeth loudly, signalling to her partner that it was time to work.
In a flash of white, the large wolf came bounding through the snow before springing onto the back of the towering beast, sending the both of them down the drift. Kaldr lands on his feet as Skadi leaps, her large axe in hand and bringing it down on the beast's neck - over and over, dodging it's swiping claws. Stopping only when the creature's movement had ceased. Dropping to her knees, she attempts to catch her breath. The hot canine breath on her neck as Kaldr checks her over making sure she wasn't injured. Even he must have known her magic was depleted and taking forever to replenish itself. She nearly smiled at her friend as he continued to lick her, realizing the blood from the Wulver had sprayed in her frenzy.
Her chest, heaving in and out as her hands reach out and remove the bolts. Nimble fingers breaking the arrowhead free from the wood and place them in her sack hanging from her hip.
Looking over the beast in front of her, she wipes the crimson staining her fingers across its wiry fur, ridding herself of it. Giving a quick scratch to Kaldr's scruff, she uses the aid of the wolf to haul herself to her feet. Turning she moved to her weapons she dropped previously in the snow, knowing it wasn't the smartest thing but it was what was necessary at the time.
Pushing out her senses, she feels another presence, not exactly near, though too close for her liking in her condition. Spinning she looks toward the snow covered forest, unable to see a presence. Not in the underbrush nor in the open. Flitting her icy blues towards the canopy around her she stills, listening intently for anything to make a sound.
Something big must have been near. The mask of the hunters back at the castle flashes across her mind from her memory as she quickly turns to her right, where she felt the energy the strongest. Seeing only a shimmer in the canopy, her breath was caught for only a second before realizing her mind was most likely only playing tricks on her. Why did she feel a presence though?
Then again, who knows what these beasts were capable of? She knew some reptiles around the lands that could change color variations depending on what they were touching. Hel, even the Loot Lizards from the mountains could make itself completely invisible.
A heavy feeling sank in her gut as she surveyed the canopy once more, not liking it one bit.
She turned to the wolf and situated her weapons.
"We need to move," she whispers with urgency before setting off in a quiet jog through the dense forest, her wolf keeping the pace as he lopes in front of her. "We just dealt with one monster, I don't know if I have it in me to deal with another"
A bit of a badass she is, right?
Do we like?
Do we not like?
Do we see mistakes?
Do we see anything I can improve on?
Underhill's Harry Potter loving husband in the next one XD