Catherine stood on the bow of the galleon as it rocked against the waves, the wooden structure creaked and groaned as it glided along the icy waters of the northern plain. Her body shaking rather violently despite the six layers of gear she had on her, the cold still found its way past her defenses. She could easily excuse herself to the lower decks to relax by the fire, but she refused the notion, she did not want to make herself look weak compared to the sailors who had agreed to transport herself and Aiden from Athens into compromised lands, she felt it would be unfair to them. On top of the fact that Aiden clearly was unbothered by the cold, standing proudly at the stern of the monster they rode near the helmsman, admiring the six borealis dancing across the skies above. She wished she could take the time to absorb their beauty, but was only focused on not freezing to death.
She thought of a trick her father taught her last winter, about imagining her body as a furnace, and to picture a burning fire inside it to channel her powers and almost trick the body into warming itself up. She scoffed at the idea then, but now she was more than willing to try it. She counted to four, imagined a fire in the pit of her stomach, counted to four, exhaled. Nothing. She repeated the process, imagining her body warming up, counting to four, nothing. She breathed out. Counting to four she imagined a roaring fire, big enough and dangerous enough to burn down the ship she was standing on, her body started to warm up a bit from the inside out, the snow gently hitting her body began to evaporate as soon as it hit her clothing. She exhaled, and a small flame burst from her mouth. Out of panic, she quickly covered her mouth with her hands, hoping not to alarm anyone on deck. Thankfully there was no pain, no burns on the inside of her mouth itself. Looking around, it seemed no one else had noticed. She let out a sigh of relief, and a mountain of “steam” emerged.
Laughing to herself, she thought internally, “Well, at least I’m not cold anymore.”
She turned back to look out over the water, now that she was no longer in danger of becoming an ice cube, was shocked when she saw Aiden standing there with his back turned to her.
“Mentor…”
“Be more careful when using your gifts like that, young one.” Aiden replied, not chiding, not out of anger, with utmost sincerity in his voice, “You are among friends now, be wary when in the wild. Not everyone takes kindly to us.”
Catherine nodded, “Yes Mentor.”
Aiden nodded, still not looking in her direction, “Do you know why we are here, where we are going?”
Catherine shook her head, “You didn’t tell me.”
“We are going to visit a settlement of people called the Runeborn. They are isolationists, raiders, a violent and noble people.”
“Like the Spartans?”
Aiden shrugged slightly, “A bit, yes. A raven approached one of our Bureaus in Megaris and told us of a potential Abnormal within their ranks. We are going to verify, nothing more. Do you understand? ”
Catherine blinked, “What else would we be doing?”
Aiden bent down on one knee to get eye-level with the eight year old, “Young one, you will find many regular humans look at us with disgust, apathy. They see us as child abductors and brainwashers. Many members of humanity do not want us taking these children and teaching them to be Gods, as they are afraid if one of them Ascends, they will turn dark and cause harm. Or worse, their people will be disfavored compared to others.”
“Oh.” She could only reply, “So what makes this so special?”
Aiden smiled, “Their leader, King Dormin is an old friend of mine from before I joined the Brotherhood.”
“And if this person is an Abnormal, we aren’t taking them back with us?”
“Depending on their powerset, their age, how far along they are. Maybe yes, maybe no. But I do not intend to bring another back with us.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The note specified the person we will be meeting is only nine, if they are an Abnormal we cannot take them until their Rite of Passage into adulthood is completed when they are thirteen. We must obey and go along with the laws and rituals of each individual people, no matter the circumstance.”
Catherine nodded, “Got it!”
Aiden stood up and looked out at the ocean once more, “And Catherine, these people as I said, are isolationist, they reject modern technology. Do your best not to upset them, do not bring up anything that would go against their culture.”
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“Yes Mentor.”
Aiden leaned over once more, drawing the mask over Catherine’s face above her nose, “And keep that up, don’t need you catching a cold, your parents would kill me,” he said jokingly
Catherine could only nod as the ship slowed to a halt against a patch of ice. Catherine followed Aiden down the ramp to be greeted to a small village, two dozen buildings all made of stone and wood, plumes of smoke emanating from each chimney like a forest fire, the building in the center a massive concoction with dozens of men, women, and children partying and celebrating, goblets and cups smashing together, crimson liquid splashing everywhere.
Catherine nudged Aiden’s pant leg, “Mentor?”
“Yes, young one?”
“What are they celebrating?” Catherine whispered
“Either the yearly Winter celebration, or that one of their own is an Abnormal.”
At that moment, a fairly large set man stepped out of the largest building flanked by three others, weapons in hand and approached Aiden and Catherine, the three followers had helmets that obscured their faces, leaving their intentions unclear. The man in the center wore a large brown-black thick coat over his body, but he did not appear to be wearing a shirt, leaving his belly open to the elements.
“King Dormin.” Aiden said, offering his hand for a handshake
Dormin’s stoic face turned jolly as he lunged in for a hug and shouted something in a language she could not understand, and Aiden started mimicking as they conversed, leaving Catherine standing beside them lost and confused as her ears started ringing in pain, as she struggled to understand the words coming out of their mouths. Catherine only stood there for what felt like an eternity as the two older men droned on and on in, once again, a language she could not understand. All of a sudden, Dormin pointed at Catherine with his thumb, and Aiden’s eyes widened for a moment.
“Ah, this is my student, Catherine.”
“Your student… I thought you Brotherhood types trained a group at once.”
“I elected for a one-on-one approach with Catherine.”
“She slow?”
“Not in the slightest, no. I feel my teaching works better this way. Besides, she keeps me on my toes enough, can’t imagine trying to teach four at once.”
“An early grave is where that’ll lead you.” He said to Aiden, and he turned to Catherine and gave a respectful bow, “My name is King Dormin of the Runeborn, and you are?”
Catherine returned the gesture while removing her mask to talk clearly, “Catherine Tharros of Athens, sir.”
“Ah, sir! Ya taught her manners Aiden?”
“She lives with her parents, Dormin.” Aiden replied stoically
Dormin blinked, confused, “Alright then. Now, can we get on to why you’re here before Ragnarok!?”
Aiden nodded, and indicated for Catherine to follow, as they entered the great lodge, Catherine once again gripped Aiden’s pants and whispered, “What’s Ragnarok?”
“I’ll tell you later, Catherine.”
As they made their way through the great hall, Catherine’s senses were assaulted by noise that was somehow disguised with the wooden walls, along with the smells of a thousand foods, species, and various alcohols littered among the tables. Thankfully she wasn’t hungry or she would’ve gladly sat down and gorged on the delicious looking food herself. Aiden, Catherine, and King Dormin moved to a back room where a young boy with blond-red hair sat on a mini throne waiting for them. He aired a certain smug attitude just from the evil grin on his lips, and the way he leaned back in his mini throne, he couldn’t wait to rule, to be given power being imagination.
“Well who is this before me, father?” the boy asked
Dormin frowned, “Sit in the chair proper boy. This is Aiden Aldrich of Domar. Mentor from the Ichor Brotherhood. Show some fucking respect!”
Catherine eyed the King’s sudden outburst of anger and swearing, switching to Aiden who indicated for her to sit back. She nodded and removed herself to the shadows.
The boy simply leaned forward, repositioning himself so his head rested in his palm, “And are you here to take me away? Train me so I may become a God to rival that of Thor?”
Aiden sighed, “No, currently I am here to see if you are as your father thinks. Now tell me, why do you think he is one?”
Dormin smiled valiantly, “Just the other day, his sister and he were in a sibling fight, bruises were given, teeth were broken, and knives were cutting!” He said with a laugh, “But as they were getting patched up, the nursemaid noticed the blood on his bandages were burning gold!”
Aiden nodded, “Alright, I have a few questions for you…”
“Arne.”
Catherine started zoning out a bit, when she noticed something odd, if he was Abnormal, his wounds would’ve healed by now… but he was still covered in scratches and bruises, the poor stitch work showing through…
Catherine poked King Dormin in the hip, “Yes Catherine?”
“May I ask where his sister is?”
“In the next room, why?”
“I’d like to ask her some questions myself, sir”
“Be my guest.”
Catherine bowed and excused herself. Opening the door she found a girl around the same age as Arne sharpening an ax on a spinning stone, her hair a deeper shade red than her brother’s, and not a wound on her body.
“What is it?” the girl asked harshly
“You are the sister of Arne?”
“Name’s Liv. Now what do you want?”
“Well my name’s Catherine and I’m with the Ichor Brotherhood.”
“Fan-fucking-tastic, why are you here?” Liv said, standing up, ax in hand.
Catherine raised her own in defense, “I mean no… quarrel? Just wanna ask a couple questions.”
Liv’s eyes lowered, “Speak.”
“You fought with your brother the other day… but his wounds are still there. But yours are gone. Unless he’s a terrible fighter, and didn’t land a single hit, you should have just as many wounds as he does, no?”
Liv nodded, “So.”
“That means you healed, and he didn’t.”
“Do not make me repeat myself, girl what the fuck are you talking about?”
Catherine lowered her mask to give Liv a smile, “I think you’re an Abnormal, not him!”
Liv rolled her eyes “And what makes you think I didn’t know that?”
Catherine, confused, “If you know why aren’t you saying anything?”
Liv shrugged and got back to sharpening her ax, “I wanna see the look on his face when he gets the news himself. Little bitch.”
Catherine stepped back into the other room as Aiden was finishing talking to Dormin and caught eyes with Catherine, he waved her over as they exited the room.
“And what did we find out on our little investigation, Catherine?” Aiden asked
Catherine smiled at him, “I think it was the sister who’s the Abnormal, not the brother.”
“Well, I tested his blood, didn’t burn gold so he’s out, and she’s the only other option.”
Catherine deflated, “Oh…”
“Still, you did a good job deducing that which the King could not.”