His feet where uncomfortable in his new, fur lined leather boots, but that was to be expected when one only wore roughly worked pelts as foot coverings for most of his life. He was grateful for them despite his discomfort.
As they not only looked pleasing, they also protected his toes from the cold and kept jagged and sharp stones from shredding his feet as he lumbered down the mountain tugging his tribe's only unicorn.
"When'll we be there?" He turned his gaze to Trunn. She'd been to the fire men's camp before and told him many things about them-aside from his Pa of course.
"Not long now... 'bout half a day." She replied while tugging her stubborn goat along, almost stumbling into Gravik who had a wild, wiggling sow tied to his back.
'We woulda been there if it wasn' for the beasts.' He taught as the bleat of goats and squeal of wild hogs washed over him from all sides.
"If we were headed ta kingshouse it would've been longer. Couldn't 'ave carried so many o' these things either. Not with the old paths and berserkers muckin' about." Trunn added as if noticing his displeasure.
He turned to look at her again, "Can the fire men really make magic paths?" He'd heard much of the fire men in the past moons, it was hard to believe at times... even for a young lad like himself.
Before Gran tumbled down a cliff and bashed her head against a boulder, she told him stories of the long night, the wights and their walking dead. These fire men were different from the fantastical giants and green children which no one has seen for ages.
"Aye... never seen nothin' smoother..." Trunn said over a grunt as she tugged the unruly ram. It seems the beast would rather carry people on its back, not heavy blocks of cheese strapped to its sides. Godir hoped the animal held out until they reached the fire men and they didn't have to stop again. It would be a shame if a blizzard or a hailstorm picked up again.
He couldn't wait to see the Fire men in all their glory. Just moons ago his tribe's local hunting ground was running low on game. His Pa and the other hunters feared going down the mountain as there was a powerful berserker band roaming near their lands and scaring away the critters.
Just like the wights, Godir learned tales of those who reaved through the lands and raided clans. His mother had died to a raid when he was but a babe. These berserkers were the worst kind according to is pa. Where some tribes turned to reaving due to starvation, these fellows relished feeding on their fellow man. Gran said they loved the hunting and killing anybody they came across.
His tribe knew the horrors of the wild men well. So no one was willing to leave on their own. They couldn't form a big group either, as the tribe would be left with only the old and children like himself.
But as the winter stretched on. If they didn't get supplies and goods from kingshouse then their tribe would wither before spring. His father always said: 'If a man didn't eat, then he couldn't keep warm. If he couldn't keep warm then the shivers would seep into his bones an' then he'd die from 'em or be too weak to fight if the wild men came.'
His father and some others banned together and decided to head down the mountain with some of their saved-up furs and cheese the wild men be damned. He remembered crying as his father left. He wondered if he'd ever see his father again. In the time his father was gone Godir could do nothing other than starve with the rest of the tribe and pray to the old gods for his safe return.
Though he had nothing to sacrifice beneath a heart tree, it seemed the gods were merciful and half a moon later, Godir saw his father and the group trudging through the snow. They went down the mountain, and traded with other tribes and even in brokewight town- just outside of kingshouse, unmolested with no sighting of the wild men.
That night was festive, with there being salted meat and black rye bread. There was even more joyful news, chief Shagga told everyone of the markedly low number of berserker tribe raids!
And so, his father and the others again prepared to go down the mountain again. They returned quickly, this time bringing stories of fire daemons invading the island and butchering the people along the coasts! Just as the cannibal reavers seemed vanish another set of grumpkins appeared.
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Now he had to worry about fire daemons riding half rotten unicorns to drag him from his cot. He could only hope the lords of kingshouse could drive them back as they did ages ago.
Chief Shagga once proposed moving the tribe near kingshouse so that they could hide behind the walls of kingshouse should any danger come. Godir thought it a good idea as he remembered his father saying the walls of the castle were tall, made of good mountain stone and built by giants themselves!
But the game was showing up in the lands again and to leave would mean death for many. It was decided they wouldn't leave.
After that, everything returned to normal for a time. His tribe's hunters did nothing but hunt and dry furs for the next trade trip down the mountain. He even helped his father hunt as they had no more fear of the wild men emerging from the trees. In no time, his father left again, with a larger force now as their tribe gathered with the next tribe over just in case they met the fire daemons along the way.
This time, his father took almost an entire moon to return and when he did, he and the others brought wonders with them. The most wonderous of the items being a shiny metal band! They somehow met the invaders after descending. But his pa said they weren't fire daemons like he heard from kingshouse but men who wielded great magic.
His father told him about the encounter in their cot that night. They were just off the mountain when they noticed the path which stretched south to kingshouse was strangely flat and fitted with bits of stone.
Having no choice, they continued down the disturbed path in an attempt to meet up with a nearby tribe. His pa told him of how fast they were able to travel along this new pathway. However, soon they heard screeches of strange creatures quickly oncoming!
Before they could muster any defensive actions, the Fire men rode down the road. His father and the others were shocked at the sight of them and their steeds. Strange men in scale armour, riding large, two-legged creatures which seemed to be giant birds!
Just as they planned to launch an attack, a fellow Stoneborn emerged from among them. He talked with them and calmed the situation to a point. They were taken to a wooden holdfast where with the aid of the fellow Stoneborn, they traded with the Fire men. Where they were given the metal band as a peace gift.
Godir was astonished! To give away metal! A material that didn't shatter like stone or wightsbane when struck, but was almost as sharp. It was something which couldn't be burned or broken like wood and shimmered in the light. If only the band was a spear tip or knife- they would be like the great chiefs and lords who wielded metal weapons themselves!
-Though his pa said the metal band was different than the weapons lords carry around.
The last journey was a moon ago, his father told him that he heard it was the fire men who rid of the wild men and they were even welcome inside the walls of kingshouse.
'I can't wait ta meet 'em!' It was his singular thought ever since his father returned all those moons ago...
(-)
They reached the miraculous stone path a little after half a day. The entire journey from there was exciting to him. The path was wide and had no jagged stones sticking out of the snow. In fact, there was only a light covering of snow covering the path, as somehow it was piled up in mounds at the sides of the road.
Everywhere he looked he could see stoneborn like his tribe carrying wares and heading north. The trees were cleared- making visibility along the pathway easy! He even spotted the famed red tents of the foreigners erected along the cleared treeline!
It didn't take long for him to see a Fire man. In fact, it was a group of them- all bedecked in scaly metal armor riding armoured giant birds too! It was just as they said!
He couldn't get a long gander at them as his tribe continued along the path until they made it to the wooden fort of the fire men. This was the trade centre of the fire men, where both their peoples could mingle! There he saw the Fire men garbed in impossibly well-tailored red pelts, with their short stature, squinty eyes, straight black hair, yellow or orange eyes and beardless faces.
Aside from that the place was filled with life and movement! Wooden stalls were set up, beasts were bleating from their cages, his fellow Stoneborn haggled away with each other over what to offer up to the fire men for barter! He even saw men chasing a clucking bird with a hog's head! He was struggling to take it all in!
"Stick close ta me boy." Godir was surprised! He didn't even realize his tribe had split up and he was being led through the fort by his father. He could only stare wide eyed at the sights, took in the foreign smells and try not to get distracted by the noise.
It didn't take long for his Pa to stop a certain stall. This particular one smelled strange. He couldn't pick out what it was. At the front, there were two men, one Stoneborn and the other a fire man. His pa began talking with the Stoneborn man. He didn't know how his father understood the strange sounding man, while the fire man sat behind him twirling his thin, string like beard hair which grew on his top lip.
They argued over the furs tied to the unicorn. His pa was given a task to get some strange food from the fire men in exchange for furs. After some time, his father and the man came to an agreement, he wasn't focused on the details as his eyes were focused on a strange device in the stall.
The man turned to the shorter fire man and began talking to him in a strange tongue. When the fire man got up, Godir was surprised to see the man was just as tall as himself. He didn't have much time to look at the man as he had to help his pa in unloading the fur from the unicorn.
The fire man's face scrunched up as the piles of furs were placed on the stall's counter. He even grabbed his nose and began speaking to the Stoneborn man in a rushed voice. Godir could barely pick out individual sounds from the fire man's speech and it seemed even the Stoneborn fellow was stumped.
Eventually, the pelts were gathered and placed upon the strange device by his fellow Stoneborn. The fire man opened a box and began removing piles of flattened...things.
Godir didn't recognize what they were however, he could tell the ever-present smell originated from them. The man began to place these flattened slabs on the other disk-like end of the device and with each piece, the other end of the device- the one with the pelts began to rise by some means of magic until the pelt and the slab disks evened out. The two men behind the counter wrapped them in rough pieces of cloth and handed them off to his father.
It was a small challenge to reload the unicorn and secure it. He couldn't wait to ask what the thing they bartered so much pelt for was.
"Come boy." His father called him as they led the unicorn off to meet up with the others. They would erect a tent near the trade centre for the night and head back up the mountain the next day should the weather allow it. They didn't have to worry about the wild men attacking them as the fire men would protect them and keep the peace.