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Chapter 10: What Else Can I Do?

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It looked for all appearances like a lone giant riding a mammoth, guarding a mammoth herd. A rare sight. Not unheard of however.

Giants weren't myths to the men in the far northern vales of the Thenn. Giants passed through often. The giants however always traveled in groups too large for the Thenns to assault without heavy losses. This was probably the first time they had ever seen a single giant, alone, and clan-less.

Vera sat tall and proud as 200 Thenn came charging at her. Astride reindeer, with long spears, and bronze armor, they were similar enough to the southern knights and horsemen. They were positive that their charge at the giant and her herd would give them the meat they needed to feed their people for more than a month.

I watched through Vera's eyes as the Thenn grew nearer. at 1,000 yards, they let out their war-cries. The war cry was to leave no doubt of their intention. Few non-Thenn ever heard the sound and lived to tell the tale. The rest of their army was still winding their way down the mountain path that led to the great snow plain and the sea behind it.

At 500 yards, their spears lowered and they formed into a wedge formation. They were the best trained warriors in the north. The Thenns were the largest and most powerful clan in the north. Their spears were feared everywhere.

At 100 yards, the reindeer began to gallop at full speed. I could feel the reindeer's hooves thundering, even in the deep burrow I'd buried myself in for warmth. I, using Vera's body tilted my head back and let out a booming laugh. It had been weeks since someone was dumb enough to face me.

The Thenns let out another, louder, warcry at 50 meters. I continued to laugh.

And then the earth moved in their path.

25 snowbears burst through the snow in a shower of white. the shower soon turned red as bodies of men and deer were turned into pieces of men and deer staining the red snow. The screams of the dying were short and terrified. There was not a hint of mercy on my part.

The Thenns gave no mercy, and why should I?

25 young mammoths began their charge. A good number of the older and uncontrolled mammoths followed. They could run for miles. And run they did. Right at the army who's front ranks were starting to turn around in the narrow passage between mountains.

Vera rode the lead mammoth. It's tusks had been filed to sharp points.

It was utter slaughter. Bodies were crushed and gored. The puny bronze arrows, spears, and swords were pinpricks of annoyance to the stampeding herd of mammoths. There was no mercy for the Thenn, for they intended to grant none. They were cannibals, rapers, reavers, and, cruel men. The only thing they respected was power.

I showed them the depths of my power in a way no skin-changer had done in living memory. Men clashed with the massive beasts and lost utterly. Brittle bronze snapped and broke under the weight of the rampaging skins, sending the insides of men splattering all over the mountain pass's snowy ground.

There was no where for men to hide. The mountain's narrow passage bunched the thousands of men into a column with no more than ten men abreast. There was no escaping their fate.

The bears feasted as the scant few survivors ran back to their valleys and their safety. A few hundred managed to flee up a narrow mountain pass. I let them run. The bears had enough food to gorge themselves full. I had no need for a few hundred more bodies.

The bears feasted as Vera unpacked a sled of smoked tubers for the Mammoths to have a feast of their own. I spent the rest of the day pulling arrow shafts and broken spear heads out of the mammoths. They were thick skinned and hardy beasts. Three had lost an eye, and one had lost both eyes.

I was down to 24 mammoths after skinning the blind one. I could always use more furs in this brutal cold.

The ferocious snowbears on the other hand faced no serious injuries or loses. The beasts were nearly unbeatable by the other northern free-folk. I'd yet to face a force that could face my snowbears, and I doubted I ever would. They were the mightiest creatures of the north.

As night fell, I walked the mountain path looking for wounded survivors among the broken, pulped, dismembered, and half eaten bodies. I found a few hundred. One of them had the tools of a blacksmith in a sack strapped to his back. A smith for battlefield repairs.

I sat near the dying Thenn as he spit and cursed at me. The bears growls shut him up quick. Fang leaned in close over his face and growled menacingly. Drool and blood dripped from his steaming maw. I moved closer to the wide eyed survivor.

"Hello Thenn." I called down as I slid from Fang's back. "I need to ask a favor of you."

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The frozen blood cracked as he shivered in fear, staring up at Fang's gleaming teeth. A sharp slap with my open hand brought the man from his shock and turned his attention to me. "I said I need a favor from you." I repeated.

The Thenn's eyes were hard as he turned to look at me. "Call your beasts off, and I'll do whatever you like." He grunted out with wide eyes glancing between the blood dripping teeth and and my pale face.

Flashing a grin with far too much teeth, I spoke. "I'm glad you are so agreeable." I replied. "I will spare you from the fate of your fellow Thenns..." I trailed off as Fangs jumped atop a moaning form nearby with a snarl and snap of bone and the wet smacking and of tearing flesh.

The Thenn flinched as his kinsman squealed in agony before wet gurgles replaced his cries. "Anything you want." The bronze-smith sobbed as his resolve broke. "I'll do anything."

I smiled. "I don't really need your agreement." I informed the broken legged smith. "I can do it anyway." I shrugged. "Your consent and knowledge of what is happening will help ease things a little."

Vera's shadow blocked out the dim sunlight. The smith's eyes widened as her towering form began to crouch next to us. He screamed in pained misery as his knee-jerk reaction of flinching away from the bearded giant girl caused his twisted and trampled legs to move.

"Hold him down." I gestured to the man.

Two giant hands were more than enough to to hold the now struggling and screaming Thenn down. I considered knocking him out with a blow to the head, but that would defeat the purpose.

"Do you want to be bear food?" I asked loudly. "Stop struggling and listen to what I say, and you will live." I promised.

The Thenn's wide eyes focused on me. "What do you want?" He croaked out before gritting his teeth against the pain of his shattered lower body. "I've already agreed to do anything you want. I'll tell you anything you want to know."

I nodded sagely "All I want you to do is relax." I said soothingly. I looked into his eyes. Eye contact wasn't necessary, but it eased the beginning of the process. "I want you to relax and accept me into your mind. I'll only be there for a short time."

His wide eyes looked into mine, full of genuine fear. "What?" He stuttered.

"I'm a skin-changer, and I need to practice my magic on others to grow in power. Your legs are broken. You are useless to me as a skin to change into in the future. I only want to use your mind to practice." I cajoled. "But if you make it easy for me, and accept me into your mind without a fight, I'll let you live."

He nodded nervously. "I want to live." He licked his lips. "With my legs, I'd be worthless to you." He conceded to my argument.

I looked into his eyes. "Just relax and let me in." I said in the gentlest tone I could manage. Usually reserved for small children and stubborn mammoths. Tension visibly bled out of the Thenn's shoulders as he relaxed into Vera's grip.

I slowly extended my own consciousness at the mind below me. I felt his panic rise from the periphery of his mind. I felt out of my depth as the most advanced mind I had ever began to crush down on my own. A headache began to build.

"Relax, Thenn." I grunted. "Let me in if you want to live."

The miasma of fear clouding his mind thickened as my headache intensified. I moved deeper into his mind. I was Tamerlane the son of Timor. "Relax Tamerlane!" I soothed the panicking mind.

The pain in my skull lessened as I moved deeper into the human mind. I was Tamerlane. I was a cannibal's son. I ate my weakest brother alongside my father. I apprenticed under a master smith until I reached the rank of journeyman smith.

Memories rushed through my head as I became Tamerlane. It was a feeling of utter agony as I expanded my mind far beyond the limits I was previously contained to. So many new ideas and concepts I had never considered became crystal clear.

I expanded my concentration to encompass more than two human minds as the memories, fears, and consciousness of Tamerlane began to overcome the single mind of Veranyr. I was the ferocious beast of 25 bodies, feeding on a slain army. I was a mammoth herd, foraging for the illusive tufts of blood splattered grass in the mountain pass. I was a giant, in love with her father...

I could hear Tamerlane screech in agony as his mind, too, was forced to expand. I had grown not only to be used to the sensation, but comforted by it. Tamerlane's mind descended to madness. I crushed what little consciousness remained to the Thenn bronze-smith and savored the new memories and ideas I'd acquired.

Then I stepped over Tamerlane's twitching body as he foamed at the mouth. I made my way over to the next nearest survivor.

"I'll let you live, if you do as I say..." I lied with a gentle smile.