The trees of the forest grew high all around her, their tops so thick and so closely grown that they blocked out most of the sun. What little light that did manage to make it through the leaves, filtered down to the forest floor creating stops of speckled light, warming the air, the giving Anna just enough natural light to see where she was going. She found it rather peaceful, and oddly quiet. It was soothing to her ever wary mind, or at least it would have been soothing, if it weren't for Elsa.
"Yes, Elsa," she snapped, dragging her fingers through her shaggy hair, "I am well aware of the fact that we are lost." Anna stopped walking and kicked a rock into a bush. "We are utterly, hopelessly lost. I have no idea where we even are anymore, what direction we're going, nothing," she rubbed her growling stomach, "and to top it all off I'm fucking starving. And might I remind you, your iciness, it was your stupid idea to leave the main road and try to cut through this god damned forest!"
The snapping of a stick drew her attention. Anna spun around only to be met with angry faces and pointed weapons. Two men in what looked to be hunting furs with dark deeply tanned skin and almond eyes of deep brown. The shorter of the two held a carbon fiber spear, leveled at her chest while his companion had an arrow drawn taught in a compact bow.
"What are you doing on our land?" the shorter one ground out.
Anna blinked at the display and raised her hands in mock surrender. "I was simply trying to find the road. I just got a little lost," she placed a finger on the point of the spear and moved it away, "but I am sure I can manage, just let me go and I'll be on my way."
"Liar," the shorter one snapped, his thick black hair bouncing as he jumped back to raise the spear again, "you're here to poach off our land! Take what little we still have," he growled.
The taller one had long since lowered his bow and placed a hand on his companions arm, "Kenai, I think you are being a little to rash. Look at her, how could she be a poacher?" he waved a hand at her, "she doesn't even have a weapon."
"He has a point there," Anna added hesitantly, growing weary of the spear still leveled at her.
"She could easily have hidden them, Denahi! Don't be so dense!"
"Hidden them— do you even hear yourself, little bro!?"
That seemed to be the last straw. The spear was through to the ground and the younger of the two tackled the other to the ground. Their tussle was brief and soon the elder had his brother pinned to the forest floor and, much to Anna's utter disgust, was dangling a loogie over his brother's face.
Anna took slow steady steps backwards to try and get away, but was stopped by a rough hand on her shoulder. Slowly she looked up to feet eyes with yet another man, at least a full foot taller than her. He had the same eyes and facial shape as the others and long hair pulled back into a ponytail and the making a thin beard stretched grew on either side of his chin, stretched further apart by his gentle smile. "Excuse me, ma'am, I need to deal with my idiot brothers," he chuckled as he passed her.
He pulled them apart and wrapped his arms around them, holding them both in tight headlocks and knocking their heads together to stop their struggling. "You to knuckleheads scared off all the game," he held them tighter, shaking them, "Not to mention scaring the life out of this nice lady here."
The middle brother, Denahi, managed to struggle free and brushed the dirt from his furs. "She says she got lost out here," he explained, shooting a glare at his younger brother, "Kenai and I were just going to show her back to the road."
"Nonsense," the eldest began, letting Kenai go, "It's getting dark out. She can stay with us for the night."
The two younger brother's stared open mouthed, "Sitka, you can't be serious."
"Dead serious. You two can carry what little game I managed to get back home, I'll escort her home," Sitka smiled and gestured for Anna to follow him.
The path they walked was worn was years of heavy foot traffic. Slowly, the path began to lighten as they left the forest and came to a vast valley. A small farm house and a little barn was all that remained from what looked like what had once been a nice little community. The valley was bordered on one side by the forest and a wide mountain on another. It looked quaint. Sitka clapped Anna on the shoulder and grinned down at her wide-eyed stare. "Welcome, to the valley of the north mountains shadow."
Anna sat down at the large dinner table while an elderly woman scooped a heavenly smelling stew into large bowls and set them at each place setting.
Once they were all seated, Sitka cleared his throat, "I am sorry for how my brothers treated you, they often get a little over protective and forget who their chief is. You are a guest in our home and introductions are customary. My name is Sitka, met my brothers, Denahi and Kenai." Denahi had the shortest hair of the three, with a small braid with a golden bead dangling beside his temple, while Kenai's hair was longer and had a certain poof to it. "And this is Tanana," he nodded to the silent old woman at the head of the table, nibbling away at her stew, "a sha-woman, she was the only one to stay behind with us when the rest of the folk up and left. She's like our grandmother and she was loath to leave our ancestral home," he chuckled, "she beat us all halfway to the mountain with her shoe when we tried to get her to leave." All three brothers laughed loudly at that and Anna had no doubt that it was true, with just a glance she could see a fierceness in the old woman's eyes.
"It's nice to meet you all, my name is Anna," she found herself smiling at their hospitality.
They were silent as they ate for a long time before Sitka spoke again, "so, Anna, why were you wandering around the forest alone?"
Anna pushed a carrot slice around in her bowl, thinking on her reply. "I didn't want to walk along the main road any longer. It was taking far too long. I had hoped that cutting through the forest would give me a shortcut to the next town, so I can restock, but I lost my way so," she scooped up the carrot with a dry laugh, "I guess I was wrong."
As they finish, the dogs that had been thus far quiet, began to growl and whimper as they slinked away from the door which was shaking from a sudden wind. Sitka shared a worried look with Tanana before he began to hurriedly clear off the table. Anna looked around in confusion as the brothers went about locking the windows and covering them with wooden shutters. She stood and made her way over to Sitka. "Sitka, what's going on?"
He glanced at her and shook his head, "it's time for bed" he said simply and nodded to Denahi, "Denahi will show you to your room."
Her room was just down the hall from the kitchen on its own, the other rooms were on the second floor. The room was rather bare, a double bed, a chair and a small dresser being the only furniture in the room. Simple wood plank walls and floors gave the room a rather rustic feel, that and the colourful woven blanket on the bed. "So this is where you'll stay," Denahi explained, "You would be wise to stay here. Sleep well, Anna."
Anna blinked in confusion as the door snapped shut. She changed into a baggy t-shirt and shorts from her backpack and clicked out the lamp as she climbed into the bed. She rolled over, trying to get comfortable. All around her she could feel Elsa's discomfort. She sighed heavily, pulling the blanket up to her chin. "I know, Elsa. They make me nervous too. We'll be gone soon though, best for all of them," she said with a yawn.
The world twisted and churned in a rainbow of colour. A skeletal forked tree rose high above her as chanting echoed all around. She saw their faces, the three brothers and Tanana changing into those of animal. Fox, eagle, wolf and bear, all towered above Anna, growling and barking and shrieking the chant ever louder. Lights flashed through the sky and as the chanting grew to a roaring crescendo and—
Anna awoke with a silent scream as she sat up, clutching at her chest in a desperate attempt to calm her pounding heart. A cold sweat rolled down her back, turning to ice as it went. Her breath came in heaving gasps as she looked about the roll, recoiling at the sight of the ice. It had been months since she had lost control like that, her choice of solitude doing wonders for her control. She clenched her hand and let out a sigh of relief when the ice began to recede.
She needed air. That one pounding need drove her to her feet and sent her stumbling to the door of her room, she barely registered the intense rattling of the windows the wind was causing. Using the wall to keep herself steady, Anna made her way to the kitchen. Sitka was already there. He looked up at her when she entered and shook his head, his long hair cascading around his shoulders. "You should not have left you room, Anna. Go back to bed and forget this," he insisted.
The younger woman simply ignored him, waving away his warning, as she made her way to the front door. She felt strangely drawn to it. It took all of her strength just to open the door. Outside, shadowy mist swirled around the farm house, propelled by the roaring wind, and standing in front of the door was a man, or at least he had once been a man. A spirit. He was dressed in heavy furs with a hood adorned with antlers and held a spear of bone. The spirits body shimmered with all of the colours of the lights that danced in the sky. The spirit tilted his head, regarding Anna, before raising the spear and gently tapping the tip to Anna's forehead.
Distantly, Anna registered Sitka calling her as she swayed on her feet before falling backwards.
When Anna next awoke, she found herself curled up on a bench with a thick fur tucked around her and one of the dogs lapping at her face. She pushed the mutt away with a laugh and sat up.
"It's good to see that you're awake," Sitka spoke from the stove, dressed in jeans and a plain shirt, "You were out most of the day and I was starting to get worried. I had to kick Kenai out of here to do his work, he was fussing over you so much," he laughed before making his way to Anna with two steaming mugs in his hands, "I made coffee."
They drank in silence, Anna shifting uncomfortably. Finally she set aside her mug and stood up. "I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble last night," she began making her way back to her room, "I'll just pack my things and get out of your hair," Anna called over her shoulder.
When she returned packed and dressed to leave, Sitka was leaning near the front door with a rather smug look on his face. "It's strange," he began.
"What's strange?"
"You've only been here one night, and already Tanana has warmed up to you. She was telling me this morning that she was rather fond of you."
Anna furrowed her brow in confusion, "Okay, so what?"
"I was thinking of offering you a job here in the valley," he shrugged.
Anna blinked at that, "Wait, what?"
Sitka looked down at her, "it's just, even with the three of us working, and this little farm can be quite the handful. Just helping with the fishing and tending to the animals could be a big help," he scratched his chin, "now I can't pay you much in money, but I can offer you hot food, and a place to lay your head and our company." When Anna took a nervous step back and looked down, Sitka leaned down to look into her eyes, "No one should be alone, Anna. So what do you say? Deal?"
She regarded him coolly as she thought, a small smile gracing her lips as she nodded. "Yeah, I think I'd like that."
"Good, now you're going to need some work cloths. You can borrow some from Kenai for now, least until I can get you some of your own." He clapped his hands and shooed her away, "Well go on, get a move on. You don't want me thinking you a lazy worker now do you?"
At that, Anna scurried off, a fierce determination building in the pit of her stomach to prove herself to these men of the land.
The sun was already high in the sky when Anna finally made it outside in a loose pair of Kenai's jeans and a tank top with the silhouette of a Kodiak bear on it. She made her way over to the barn where Denahi was in the process of shearing a sheep. "What do you need me to do, Denahi?" she called over the incessant bahing.
Denahi looked up and chuckled, "well, look who finally decided to wake up, eh sleeping beauty?" he laughed, nodded to the buckets next to Anna, "the sheep need water, think you can manage?"
Anna glared at him lightly, picking up the buckets as she left and hurrying over to the water pump. It was hard going and took some time, but she managed to get the water flowing and filled the bucket, emptying them in the empty trough. "What now?" she panted.
"Would you mind grabbing some hay from the storehouse?" Sitka asked as he entered the barn.
She nodded and took off across the yard. The hay was stacked tightly on the second level of the storehouse. She bit her lip as she looked up at it. Strong as she was, she doubted her ability to get a stack down without falling on her. Anna sighed and glanced to her right. "Elsa? Would you mind?" A strong wind whipped up inside of the storehouse and slowly but surely knocked free a bale. With a grin, Anna hoisted the bale up onto her shoulder and trekked back to the barn, dropping it in front of Sitka proudly. "There, one bale of hay."
"Great job so far, Anna," he praised her before pointed over to the tree in front of the house where Denahi and Kenai were sitting with Tanana, "Why don't you go get some lunch while I finish up in here?"
Anna didn't have to be told about food twice as she hurried over to join them. Lunch leftover stew from the night before and Anna found it to be as good as then. While she eat, she asked the brothers about the farm. "So, what do you two do around here?"
Denahi answered after wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. "I mostly take care of our few work horses and Kenai helps me with the sheep," he sneered and ruffed Kenai's hair, ignoring his protests, "but mostly my little brother here just goofs off!"
"Hey! I do more than just goof off," Kenai tried to defend himself, "I do most of our fishing," he proclaimed proudly.
Denahi leaned closer to Anna and whispered, "when is isn't too busy messing around," he ducked just in time to dodge the small chunk of potato his brother had flung at him. "Sitka does just about everything else around here. He does his best to keep us in line, show us the way and all that," he stirred his stew about in thought, "he would have been a great chief if the others had stayed."
"That's actually something that's been bothering me," Anna level her gaze on Denahi. "When we were leaving the forest yesterday, I saw all the foundations, this place must have been a booming town. What happened?"
"They all got scared off by—" Kenai began but Denahi cut him off.
"They all moved to the city," his cheerful demeanor melted away as he stood up "not all people are suited for life of the land. I have to tend to our horses," he excused himself, hurrying away towards the stables.
Deflated, Anna turned to Kenai, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset him."
Kenai shrugged, "don't worry about him, he is just a little sore about it, that's all." He got up and left as well, "I should get back to work to before Sitka gets angry."
Once they were gone, Anna turned her attention to Tanana. She crouched down in front of her. "Um, hi. My name is Anna… but you probably know that I mean, why wouldn't you? You were at the table last night when I introduced myself and everything and I don't mean to imply that you can't hear of remember or—" a warm hand took hold of hers and she looked up to see Tanana smiling at her. "Thank you, I know I ramble. I can't help it sometimes. Thank you, Sitka told me earlier and I have to say that, I'm rather fond of you to, Tanana," they shared a smile before Anna got up, "I had better get back to work, lest Sitka kick me out," she laughed, hurrying off.
She wandered over to the stable where Denahi was cursing angrily while Kenai laughed. "What's going on?" she asked a soaked Denahi as he climbed out of a water trough.
"Damn stubborn horse," he grumbled "we just bought him from a rancher and the damn thing never wants to go back inside."
"Could I try?" Anna asked, her eyes wide with wonder as she watched the chestnut horse trot proudly around the corral.
Kenai snorted, "You ever dealt with a horse before, Anna?"
She shook her head, "No, but I doubt that I could do any worse than the two of you, and besides, I'm usually great with animals" she said, not waiting for their approval as she hopped over the fence.
"His name is Sitron," she heard Denahi say as she made her way towards the horse, who had stopped his trotting and was watching her sceptically.
More than once, she felt Elsa flare up protectively when Sitron would snort, but Anna made her stay back, she was determined to do this on her own. Step by slow step, Anna inched her way ever closer until finally her hand bumped against his nose. The horse seemed confused as he sniffed at Anna's cold hand. She giggled at the ticklish sensation as she rubbed his snout. "You're really just a big softy aren't you?" she smiled as she took up his lead, "you don't have to put on a show for them, they brought you here because you're a big strong stallion," as she spoke, she slowly lead Sitron into the stable and closed the gate, much to all of their surprises.
"Good work there, Anna" Sitka called to her, "we'll make a fine farmhand of you yet." When she approached he wrinkled his nose in mock disgust, "wow you reek of horse," he jeered, pointing his thumb over his shoulder, "work showers just behind the storehouse. Tanana hates us clogging up the good one with muck, but ladies first, oh great horse whisperer."
Anna was sure that she had never blushed as hard as she did when the three brothers broke out laughing. She thanked him and hurried off.
The shower was little more than an open ring of tin siding with a raised, slated wood floor and a light wooden door with a latch. The roof was a tin cone with a shower head and a pull ring to start the water. After stripping down and placing her cloths out of the splash zone, Anna pulled the ring and sighed at the feeling of the chilly water rinsing all of the dirt and grime of travel from her body. She turned to wash out her hair, only to come face to face with the spirit from the night before. Startles, Anna staggered back, slipping and falling. When she opened her eyes, the spirit was gone and written on the tin wall was one word, 'Axiom'.
"And so the waiter says to the bear, 'what's with the big pause?'" Kenai looked about the table, "then the bear replies, 'I don't know… but my father had them too!'" The three brothers and Anna burst out laughing. They were just finishing a hardy dinner of roast deer and fresh vegetables and were enjoying good conversation.
The joyous mood was broken when the wind began to howl. Sitka frowned as his brothers began to board up the house for the night, "time for bed."
Anna went to her room and waited quietly as the brothers settled in for the night. She stood by her door waiting, and waiting until she was sure that no one would be awake to stop her. After steeling herself, Anna crept from her room and into the kitchen and out the front door. The sky was clear and all of peaceful with the exception of the wind tugging at her cloths. High above the North Mountain, the northern lights danced in the sky.
She held an arm up to defend her face from the dirt and leaves that were blown wildly about by the wind. She squinted as she walked, stopping when she noticed another figure making their way through across the field and towards the mountain. "Tanana?" she called over the wind. The old woman turned and grinned mischievously before hurrying off back on her way towards the mountain as a thick fog began to roll in around the house. "Tanana, wait!" but the woman was gone.
Anna was about to chase after Tanana when a mighty roar ripped through the air. Her fear chilled the air as she turned to see a giant shadowy bear, black as death and its form still as stormy water, loomed up out of the fog. She staggered back in fright as spirit of shimmering light rose up, swinging torches and spears at the ugly beast. The bear was unpassed but the spirits and barreled through them, charging headlong at the tiny redhead.
With a cry of fright, Anna was off, running blindly through the fog in a desperate attempt to get away. The bear was hot on her heels, swiping at her with claws the length of swords. Her breath came to her in short gasps as she stumbled through the field, tripping on stray rock and dips in the ground.
The bear lunged, knocking the fleeing woman to the ground. It was just about to strike its killing blow, when a bubble of ice shot up around its target. Enraged, the bear redoubled its efforts, slashing wildly at the bubble causing it to crack and fracture and then shatter.
Just when Anna thought she was done, the spirit warriors appeared around her in a tight circle, pressing the fog back with their torches. The bear reared back into the fog, red eyes glaring down at Anna as the fog dissipated. As the fog vanished, so too did the warriors, leaving Anna alone in the chilly air.
"Anna!" Kenai's voice drew her attention to the brothers running towards her, helping her back to her feet.
She glared at them each in turn. "What the fuck was that?" she ground out slowly, her voice shaking. When they didn't answer, she zeroed her attention on Sitka. "You have to tell me. That thing almost killed me, Sitka."
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "The settlers called it, Mor'du, the Black Giant."
"All that damn bear wishes for is blood and death." Kenai snarled.
Sitka gave him a look that silenced his youngest brother's anger. "It has tormented my people for generations," he saw the look of fierce determination in Anna's eyes and shook his head. "Anna, just, don't. There is nothing you or anyone can do. You cannot fight a spirit."
"If that beast is here, than there has to be a reason for it," Anna's eyes narrowed, "if this, Mor'du, is here, than it is here for a reason."