Chapter 077. Vol 3 - Frozen Stone:
Ivano felt so much more secure now that he was back in his normal armour. Thankfully, and a little strangely, the Clansmen hadn't torn or set it on fire. Instead they had carefully folded it up and made sure it remained clean and in top condition. Did that mean the whole trial was just a show? A formality that had to be run through first? Ivano brushed such thoughts aside. There was no way Arnkel could know that Vestar would change sides so quickly once he had heard the Goddess of Prayer may have returned. And Mord and Ulfheid certainly seemed to want him dead.
“Ivano.” a voice came from his side. “Keep moving.”
Ivano looked to the source of the noise. It was the Gruff Clansmen, one of the two who had escorted him to the meeting of the Great Chieftains. He and the younger Clansmen were travelling with Ivano as well to make sure he made it to Brenningr, even though there were another six heavily armoured Clansmen from the Blood Axe Clan. These two weren't going to make much of a difference.
“You know that you two aren't going to be much help.” Ivano replied. He didn't know their names yet, nor had they offered them.
The Gruff Clansmen shrugged. “We have our orders and we're going to follow them.”
Ivano looked back at the other Clansmen. They were better armoured than most Clansmen Warriors, or the soldiers of the lowlands, he had seen before. Each wore the thick furs over and underneath their armour, but the metal armour was what caught his attention. Ivano, and the two Clansmen, wore steel and iron chain mail. That was enough to stop most arrows and took out most strength of an axe strike. The six Blood Axe Clansmen, however, their exposed metal armour was a strange mixture of the dull grey of the steel chain links while there were many segments that were made from a strange blue metal. Ivano had only seen this metal a few times in his life, the most important time was in Bebbezar. A rare metal called Chelium; an incredibly light and strong blue metal that becomes stronger the longer the metal was worked. He had no idea where it was mined or how it was forged but he knew it was quite rare. Ivano was surprised at the quality of the Clansmen that were being sent with him. He got the inkling feeling that they were going to be coming with him beyond Brenningr.
Now that he was no longer worrying about his immediate future, and having his head removed from his shoulders, he could actually look at the town of Rangarvellir. Arnkel's words rang true, they became even more true the further he looked. The city was in a very bad state. While some of the buildings were starting to fall apart, nothing that Ivano hadn't seen in a thriving Clansmen city, it was the people that surprised him. Old women trudged through the icy roads, through its encumbering mixture of ice and mud, overloaded with withered and sickly looking game and what passed for a meager yield. Ivano wanted to help but there were hundreds of them. It was a poor state when the elderly women had to do such work. Even the orchards that he could see were using slaves to pick what little food was available. The slaves wore very little and their fingers were swollen and starting to turn purple. It appeared to be a constant struggle to keep themselves moving. The Beast-kin slaves were doing a little better, but not by much. How strange it was that the human slaves were envious of the Beast-kin's natural fur coat. Either side of the road the few stalls sold sad fish and pathetic looking vegetables. The sellers looked utterly despondent just like the few buyers, especially with prices so high. Even the children, who Ivano expected to be running about in a mad burst of energy, drudged through the mixture of snow and mud. He felt a small pair of hands brush against his thigh, immediately smacking away the source. A child yelped and ran away, a flash of anger on his face that he had been caught trying to steal.
“Do you want us to get him?” one of the escorting Clansmen asked.
Ivano shook his head. “Look at him. He's all skin and bones. I doubt he'll last the night if he doesn't get food and somewhere warm to sleep.”
The child continued to run away and disappeared behind a building. Ivano continued walking in silence until different people started to fill his view. Either side of the road sat despondent looking Clansmen, seemingly uncaring that the snow was building on their heads and around their bodies. Many were tattered and raggedy, most had missing limbs and eyes. Clansmen warriors that had lost horrendously in battle and had been cast out of their homes for being deformed. Now that they could no longer fight like before, and couldn't find any other sort of work, they had no choice but to beg for money or food. Most had a crudely carved wooden sign infront of their near frozen hands stating how they were wounded and why they should receive pity. Judging by the empty wooden and clay bowls, and tattered bundles of rags they weren't doing well. He could only see a few copper coins, and those were being eyed off by terrifyingly crazed and hungry Clansmen.
Ivano's eyes were dragged to one sign held between two middle aged Clansmen, the words were a little hard to read but it said something that he knew to be impossible. Both men were missing an arm. They way they sat it looked like they were joined at their stump of a shoulder. When he stopped so too did those escorting him. He looked down at the sign.
“Are you saying that you both lost your arms in a Chimera attack?” Ivano asked.
Both men looked up. The accumulated snow fell off their heads in great sheets, even their eyelashes were frozen and covered in a light smattering of snow. When they blinked the ice cracked and shattered free.
“Yes.” they replied in unison. Now that they were being spoken to they appeared quite alive. One of the men looked down at the meagre offerings in the bundle of clothes. He held up the three copper coins, encased in snow, and frowned deeply.
When the man moved Ivano spied a large axe resting behind him. Judging by the colour of the blood on the head it was relatively fresh. He couldn't see any more blood in the snow, but he guessed that someone had tried to steal their meagre offerings.
“In the Clan's territory?” Ivano asked.
Both men frowned and glanced at each other, a spark igniting behind their eyes.
“That it was, good Chief.” the other man said. “A ferocious battle where we managed to slay the beast, but lost our arms to strike the killing blow.”
“The rest of your hunting party took the credit for the kill, and denied us our rightful prize.” The first man continued. “And now we are here.”
Ivano nodded. “You know that Chimera's are extinct? The Qaiviel Kingdom wiped out the last of them before even any of us were born?”
They said nothing and held his gaze.
“What are your names?” Ivano asked.
“Arlid.” the first Clansmen said.
“Arvid.” the other Clansmen nodded weakly.
“So how did you really loose your arms?” Ivano asked, much to the growing annoyance of the Clansmen escorting him. “I mean, I've lost my freedom when I failed my kill.”
Arlid and Arvid glanced at the Clansmen warriors surrounding Ivano, their eyes lingering on the Chelium links in their armour.
“They're to make sure that I make it to my destination and I don't run off.” Ivano smiled at the men behind him, who looked like they were a few moments from ordering him to keep moving. “So how did you loose your arms?”
Arlid sighed and scratched at the stump. “Ice...”
“What?”
“Ice Goblins.” he said weakly, Arvid looked weak at hearing it said aloud. “Ice Goblins. We were guards on a caravan heading towards Rangarvellir. We just make camp for the night when, out of nowhere, thirty of those little bastards came running at us. We could barely see them, there wore white wolf fur coats that made it impossible to see them against the white snow.”
The man seemed incapable of going on further. Arvid groaned weakly and continued for his weak comrade. “We managed to kill them all, but they killed everyone except for Arlid and myself. Even we didn't manage to get away with it completely unscathed.” He moved to show the flush stump.
Ivano nodded. “They like to cover their weapons with their own shit. I guess that your arm started rotting after the battle?”
Both men nodded. “We had to cut them off. They had already started to turn green.”
If the Prayer Goddess was still around, and the priests could still work her magic, they could have healed your arms. Maybe even bring them back completely. That Grand Mage, Anton, was able to heal me...I'm pretty sure that I had a broken back along with my blindness. I wonder if that means that he could regrow an arm? I'm a little annoyed that I won't be able to find that out for some time.
“And no one from your family, or any of your friends, would take you in?”
Both shook their heads. “Our home is quite poor, the land is very hard to work and the animals are few and far between. If you aren't fully abled, like we aren't, you can't help and are only a burden on their food supplies. So they kicked us out.”
Both men looked down quite despondent. Ivano felt a pang of empathy and sympathy for these two men. They hadn't been raiding the low lands, the Thieves Kingdom's, but it instead been trying to make a honest living for themselves by protecting traders from the horrors that infested the Deweth Clans.
“Can you still fight?”
Arvid smiled, reaching for the bloodied axe behind him. “That we can. That we can. Had to take the hand off of some little bastard that thought that they were going to try and steal what little we had.”
Probably one of those kids. Some of them looked like they might have been missing a hand.
“Well, we're heading to Brenningr to join in on a raid into Bebbezar.” Ivano looked to the Clansmen guarding him, they understood what he was alluding to. “By the sounds of things the journey might be… A little rough in some places. A few extra hands, and axes, would be a great help. There might even be some wealth and honour in it for you if you are willing to join.”
Both men looked at each other, then to the Clansmen surrounding Ivano, and shrugged. They slowly stood up, the snow falling off of them in great sheets. They still wore their armour and thick furs, that explained why they had and frozen to death in the snow, and it looked to be in relatively good condition. Ivano didn't know if they would be actually good fighters but a few extra hands wouldn't hurt. It would also help to have a few people on his side, for bringing them out of their hell, that he could reasonably guess were not under the control of one of the Great Clans. Anything to help him survive and make it back to his wife and children.
“Alright.” Arlid said. “Lead on.”
---[]---
Ivano was a little disappointed that they weren't offered fit and young horses that were adapted to the extreme colds of the land. They were offered older horses. Not that they were weaker, they were just more tempermental and refused to listen to their commands as readily. It seemed that the Clansmen warriors were not too impressed by Ivano picking up two, essentially drifters, into their little group. It meant that there were not enough horses for all of them. Arvid and Arlid were fine with resting in the cart that would carry their supplies. They had enough to reach Brenningr so long as they didn't take any major detours. Ivano told them quietly that if they tried to sneak any of the food supplies they would be dumped in the middle of nowhere and left to fend for themselves. They didn't even try to offer a counterpoint, they understood perfectly what was expected of them.
He was shocked to see the state of the city wall as they left Rangarvellir. Even though there was only a slim chance that the city would be attacked the wooden and stone wall was in a particularly bad state. Giant holes had emerged in the wall that had been filled by compacted snow. The wood appeared rotten in most places and he could only count a few dozen Clansmen on the wall. Ivano shook his head. Anyone or anything could just climb up the snow, or simply shovel it away and make a ramp and then they would be in. There was essentially nothing to stop beasts or monsters from attacking the people within. The Clans were in a terrible state if this was their capital.
They travelled in silence for some time, on an old stone road covered by a thick layer of snow. It seemed that nobody had come this way for the whole of the day. The snow wouldn't have had time to cover their tracks yet. This was another reason why the Clansmen needed to change. The emphasis on raiding and pillaging the Low Lands meant that peaceful activities, like trade and farming, suffered immensely, so too did their cities and villages. Their lands were nowhere near as wealthy as they thought, most of that wealth was locked in the chiefs that raided the most successfully, encouraging others to do the same and ignoring their lands for the promise of easy wealth. Why work when you could take it from someone else? And everyone was trully begining to suffer from this way of life.
The white snow covered pines and ground travelled seemingly endlessly once they left sight of Rangarvellir. However, despite the trees, Ivano barely saw any signs of life. Even the land appeared to be slowly dying. Occasionally he saw the odd track from a wolf in the snow but that was all. No signs of the herds of game that he remembered as a child. He hoped that it was just like this near the larger cities where they had over hunted the animals and the more remote areas would be fine. Like his home. It would be sometime before since Ivano could see his home. He wondered what his wife and two children were doing. It would still be a few more days before he should have arrived back home if he had succeeded. They would be terribly upset to know that he was about to head back into the fight again. Normally he would spend a whole season with them before heading back out but that wasn't an option this time. He knew that Arnkel had, unsubtly, threatened his family. There would probably be Clansmen warriors on the way there now, and his family wouldn't know. There was no way for him to get a message out without the others seeing, perhaps his two new friends could do something once they arrived at Brenningr, but that was something that he would have to figure out at a later date. His wife wasn't some weak princess from the lowlands. She was more than strong enough that she could beat him if she had to, and his children were pretty tough as well. He hoped they would be alright as he sent them a silent prayer.
Finally, when the sun was straight above them, they found the first signs of human life. Resting in the middle of the road was a large merchant cart, pulled by two massive Ox creatures and eight men around it. It appeared to have thrown a wheel and the men were trying their best to get it back. When they looked up they waved them over.
Ivano heard a groan from the two new men at the back. Both were sitting on large crates full of food, but it was the weapons that they held tight in their hands that concerned Ivano.
“That's not right.” Arvid said quietly. “We shouldn't help them. Keep moving and don't stop.”
“Indeed. We should keep going, with our weapons out to scare them off.” Arlid added. Ivano could barely tell the difference between the two, so he was almost guessing at who was who.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Why shouldn't we help?” the younger Clansmen asked. He had been silent this whole time and looked quite nervous and unsure of himself. Ivano guessed that this might have been his first time leaving Rangarvellir.
“Foolish boy.” Arvid hissed at him. “Look at the wheel. Just look at it.”
Ivano strained his eyes as hard as he could. The thrown wheel looked perfectly fine. Was that was the duo were getting at? When he glanced back both nodded.
“They need help.” the young Clansmen said again.
“Something doesn't seem right but we can't just ignore them.” Ivano said. “Everyone keep your eyes open and your weapons ready to fight. But don't look like you're going to fight.”
Everyone nodded, even the young Clansmen, as they slowly approached. A Clansmen at the cart smiled and moved forward. “Hello.” he began, Ivano's mind grating underneath an obviously forced tone. “We're glad to see you. We threw a wheel and we're struggling to get it back on. Can you give us a hand?”
Now the gruff Clansmen looked back at Ivano. He didn't look to happy about helping them.
“How did you throw the wheel?” Ivano asked.
“We hit a hole back there.” the Clansmen trader looked back at the cart. “It's a bit heavier than we first thought to lift it back up.”
Eight big people can't lift it? And you haven't taken the goods off the back to make it lighter? Those two are right, something's up.
Ivano looked behind the cart. If the cart was heavy enough that eight people couldn't lift it, it should have thrown up stones and dirt behind the cart on the same side as the broken wheel. The snow was completely flat and undisturbed, no sign that dirt or stones had been mixed with the snow. Even though it was lightly snowing there was no way for that to have disappeared. None of this was sounding good.
“I see...” Ivano trailed off. “We-”
“What's with those tracks?” Arlid said, pointing his free hand to the side of the cart. Along the side of the road, and up into the pine trees nearby, were tiny depressions that looked like they had been filled in poorly. Those trees, with their low and thick branches covered by snow, looked perfect to hide an ambush.
“Yeah.” the Gruff Clansmen spoke up. “That-”
The cart Clansmen clicked his tongue and, faster than Ivano had seen done before, drew and threw a small axe at the Gruff Clansmen. The axe struck his unprotected face, a tiny spurt of blood and he fell off his horse.
“Told you!” Arvid said. “Bandits!”
Both brothers jumped out of the cart, their axes ready to fight. Ivano had guessed that their axes, which were designed to be used by both hands, would be too unwieldy to use. There was no time to test that out now. As the Gruff Clansmen fell to the ground the younger Clansmen cried out in shock. Ivano's escort looked equally surprised but recovered quickly, bringing their horses into a run and charging at the Clansmen Bandits. Ivano remained where he was and got off his horse. While it may have been a little cowardly to say so, he didn't want to die fighting some bandits, especially when he still wanted to see his family again. Arvid and Arlid remained near the cart, because they had not been ordered to move or they wanted to protect the food he didn't know. Ivano doubted they were a part of this. He had talked to them on a whim.
“What are you doing?” Ivano said to the Young Clansmen. He simply remained staring blank at the dead Gruff Clansmen. Ivano reached up and pulled the man from his horse, the beast emitted a terrifying scream and fell over. Another throwing axe struck the horses neck, sending the beast into a blind panic. It bucked wildly and ran away to the opposite direction of the trees. Where the covered tracks came headed towards.
As Ivano looked up the trees shook violently and snow poured off their branches. A screaming horde of Clansmen Bandits came thundering down towards them. Ivano knew the look in their eyes, there was no reasoning with these fools. Only one side would be leaving here today.
Ivano took out his axe, it felt a lot heavier in his hands than normal. His time in the dark and wet cell had done more damage than he first thought. Arvid and Arlid readied themselves to fight, so too did the Young Clansmen but Ivano felt he was running on rage rather than something more reliable.
“Just us four?” Ivano asked aloud. He looked over at the cart with the other Bandits. The Clansmen Warriors were doing quite well against the Bandits. Their superior armour, strength and weapons were winning the day, though they didn't seem to be used to fighting on horseback. They kept their distance, to keep stray swings from chopping off their legs, but none of the bandits had fallen yet. They would do better by fighting how they knew and on foot.
“Kill them!” a Bandit from the trees yelled. He, and ten more Clansmen bandits ran down through the snow, cheering and screaming as they charged.
“Well...” Arlid smiled. “At least we won't be dying freezing to death.”
Ivano smiled bitterly at the twin's bravado. At least they would go out in a small blaze of glory, though Ivano wanted to survive no matter what.
A pair of younger bandits broke free from the charging group and raised their axes to strike, rage and spittle flying out of their mouths. These were much smaller than a double bladed axe, not that they were small by anyone's standards. Ivano readied himself to take a step back, what he normally did when someone tried to strike him with an axe, when Arvid and Arlid dove infront of him. With a speed that Ivano had never seen of one armed men, they swung their large axes towards the stunned younger Bandits. The axes tore through their armour and into the flesh bellow. Great spurts of blood erupted as the two bandits crumpled to the ground, their chests twisting in odd ways. That gave the others pause, even the man Ivano guessed to be the leader.
Who are these two? Are they gods that have taken human form for their own entertainment? Whatever. I'm glad I picked them up.
Ivano glanced over at the Clansmen guards fighting the cart Bandits. They had finally decided to dismount and were fighting on foot. A few Bandits had already fallen and the others were not doing so well. They had not expected to be fighting actual warriors, probably some poor merchant that was trying to make a living without violence. Ivano turned back to the remaining Bandits. Now that they had gathered in once great clump their confidence returned, their wild smiles came back even more wicked than before. Ivano didn't know if they could beat them, but if they could hold until the Clansmen warriors had dealt with the other Bandits they would easily win. Arvid and Arlid retreated to form a line with Ivano and the Young Clansmen.
The Bandit leader smiled and rested his leg on the Gruff Clansmen's corpse. Ivano felt the anger of the Young Clansmen. Ivano guessed that the Gruff Clansmen was his father, maybe an uncle of some sort.
“Are you just going to stand there like a rock or are you gunna fight?” He spoke a slow and deliberate way, though Ivano thought that it might not entirely that deliberate. He seemed to have the appearance of a man that wasn't too bright.
“We can wait.” Ivano said with a smile. He didn't offer any further words. He was playing for time, something that he was sure that the others would soon realise. He just needed to wait for the other bandit's to be killed. Judging from their screams it wouldn't be that much longer. The Bandit Leader appeared to realise this as well.
“Fine. Just give us your food and gold and we'll be on our way.”
“What about the cart?” Ivano asked. “Is that yours? Or, if I go looking, will I find some dead merchants and traders underneath those trees up there?”
The Bandit Leader looked behind him and smiled. “Well, you guessed right.” He shrugged, his ragged armour clinking with every movement. “But I think that you knew that already. And that we were going to kill you anyway.”
Another scream erupted to the side as another Bandit fell. It appeared this Bandit Leader didn't really realise that he was running out of time. Instead he began to stomp on the Gruff Clansmen's corpse, trying to elicit a response. Ivano, Arlid and Arvid did nothing, while the Young Clansmen tried to burst into an attack. At the last moment Ivano grabbed him and held him back from his charge, one arm gripping around his waist. It only served to amuse the Bandit Leader and his fellows.
“Hold on.” Ivano hissed at the Young Clansmen.
“He killed my father!” he screamed back.
Ivano wrestled with him back as the bandits started to encroach upon them. Their backs were against the cart and they had nowhere to go, not that they were thinking of running away in the first place.
Five Bandits struck at once, their rusted and old axes swung that their heads. Ivano dived forward and tackled one of the bandits, throwing him back and stunning the surrounding two. The Bandit looked very surprised, his rancid and wet breath was only a few inches from Ivano's face. Ivano ground his teeth and struck the man in his groin with a small axe. The man howled in pain, dropping his weapon and clutching at his crotch as he rolled about on the ground. Arvid and Arvid quickly dispatched the bandits striking them with a single strike. Their large axes and smaller frame, due to missing one arm each, made the bandits underestimate them, for which they paid dearly. The Young Clansmen brutally finished off his bandit by slicing open his neck and stabbing repeatedly in the open wound with a small blade retrieved from his wrist. Ivano can feel the anger radiating off the young man. He hoped that it wouldn't consume him even though it would be totally understandable.
Now the Bandit Leader looked quite afraid as Ivano regrouped with the other three men. There were only two of the bandits with him, and the screams from the bandits at the cart had stopped. They all looked over and saw the Clansmen warriors were returning. They were bloodied, and looked a little wounded, but they were ready to fight. The Bandit Leader had no such intention to fight. He simply turned and fled towards the tree line, leaving the two other Bandits momentarily stunned before they tried to run as well.
The Young Clansmen shouted angrily and threw an axe at the back of one of the bandits. It struck him square in the back, the man gasping for breath before falling face first into the snow. He tried to run forward but Ivano held him back. He didn't know if there were any more bandits lurking in the shadows, or that he could actually win against the larger Bandit Leader. He flashed Ivano an angry look but began to calm down, his thoughts turned to his dead father, lying in the bloodied snow.
“Are you alright?” one of the Clansmen warriors asked Ivano,
“Yeah.” Ivano looked at his axe. “First little fight I've had in a while. Would have been easier if I hadn't been thrown in a wet and dark cell.”
The Clansmen warrior simply shrugged and looked at the dead Gruff Clansmen lying on the ground. They said nothing and proceeded to collect the scattered horses and started to loot the dead. Perhaps there was something valuable on them, or at least to tell them where they came from.
Ivano looked down at the Young Clansmen, the grief palpable on his face. “What's your name?”
The Young Clansmen sniffed and whipped away tears forming in the corner of his eyes. “Erik” The Young Clansmen replied. "I wanted to go with him. I begged him. And now..."
Ivano reached out for Erik's shoulder. It was trembling and shaking. He turned around and looked straight at him.
"Why did you stop me?" there was an anger bubbling in his voice. "He was the one that killed my father!"
Ivano had been lucky in that regard. His father had passed away peacefully and so had his mother. He knew he couldn't possibly understanding what Erik was going through.
"You're no good to your father if you're dead too." Ivano spoke quietly. "He would be furious to see you only a few breaths later. That man was a lot bigger than you and I don't think that you could get away with it. Now you can at least burn your father properly."
Erik nodded, tears streaming down his face. He opened his mouth to speak when the branches above them, where the bandit leader had ran, smashed and broke apart. It sounded like a charging horde of knights were about to descend upon them. They all looked up and saw the Bandit Leader running down towards them. Ivano raised his axe to fight, even Erik barred his teeth, but something was wrong. The man was fleeing, his arms flailing wildly about without any weapons. He ran past them, sweat pouring off his face as his eyes had contracted to tiny dots, and continued through to the other trees on the other side. Ivano glanced at everyone as they began to look worried at one another.
"Get ready for anything." Ivano said, not that anyone needed his words.
The trees began to shake and rock violently as something big and heavy came towards them. Ivano started to feel rather ill and worried. Out of the trees his fears were realised.
“Fucking hell.” one of the Clansmen warriors yelled. “Stone Men!”
Giant men, taller than even the largest Clansmen by over a half, emerged through the snowy trees. But these weren't men, not in the normal sense. Each wore a solid brown stone like armour that encased most of their body, a large black pauldron on their right shoulders. Their faces though, that's where the horrors started. The skin was grey and blue, devoid of life. The cheeks had sunken in, their skin taught and their lips had receded so their teeth were always barred. Their eyes too looked hollow and empty, a milky uniform yellow that held no iris's. A black and brown stone helm covered these sunken and dead looking faces. Their boots and gauntlets were black and made from the same material as the rest of their armour. Ivano knew from experience that their armour was exceptionally hard, not as strong as Chelium but far stronger than any steel or bronze. In their hands they wielded a large mace and shield made from the same brown stone.
Ivano had fought these monsters only a few times in his life. He had no desire to fight one of those creatures, let alone over a dozen.
“What are they doing here?” Erik asked.
“They're drawn to dead flesh.” Arvid replied. “But it doesn't make sense. The battle is only been a few moments. So where...”
His thoughts were answered by a fresh Stone Man emerging from the woods. In one hand he had the frozen remains of a half a man, dressed like a clansmen trader. The blood coursing through him had frozen solid, so too had the guts that had tried the spill out from the Stone Man's grip. At least they knew why the Stone Men were here.
“Guess those bandits killed those traders early in the morning for the Stone men to have smelt that.” Ivano said quietly. “How many of them are there?”
“I count twenty.” Arvid replied. “More shadows are coming through the trees.”
That was simply too many for them to fight. Even if there were twenty Clansmen, armoured like the warriors escorting Ivano, he doubted they would win.
“We need to run.” Ivano said, much to the disgust of the Clansmen warriors. “There's no way that we can win this. We've got enough horses, we're just going to have to leave the supplies behind. ”
“What?” one of the warriors shouted back. The Stone men were not waiting for them to decide or to finish their chat. They started to descend upon them, wading through the snow like it wasn't even there. Even the Stone Man with the dead body advanced, eating and trudging behind his fellows, all in silence other than the groaning of their stone armour grinding against itself.
Ivano wrangled his horse and readied to mount. “I have orders to get to Brenningr, and so do you. And none of you will be able to do anything ever again if you're eaten alive by Stone men. We'll just hunt for some food when we're safe from these things.”
That got everyone moving. Except Erik. He remained by his father's side as the Clansmen readied the horses and Arvid and Arvid hopped into the back of the cart and dumped all the supplies. The supplies would, hopefully, distract the Stone Men long enough for them to get away.
As Ivano mounted his he looked at Erik, standing defiantly over his father's corpse with his axe ready to fight. There was no way he could take down one Stone Man, let along the thirty that were encroaching upon him.
“You have to leave!” Ivano shouted. “If you don't want to die you're going to have to run. It's not honourable but you have to do it.”
Eric did nothing save brandish his axe at the Stone men. They barely even recognised his presence as they moved towards them. They didn't consider him a threat. Arvid rushed off the back of the cart and reached Erik's side. The young man turned towards him, only to receive a punch to the gut. Erik bent over and Arvid took the boy in his arm, handing him over to his brother who threw them into the back of the cart. Arvid went down to his father's corpse and moved a small chain around his neck. The Stone Men were now only a few dozen feet away. When Arvid hopped onto the cart Ivano whipped the reins and got the horses moving as fast as they could. The Stone Men quickly disappeared behind them as they raced through the snow. They were not renowned for their speed, thankfully.
They travelled onwards, for some time, before they even thought of slowing. Ivano was sure that the others would try to mock him, saying that he was a coward, but he had actually fought some of those creatures before and he had no intention of dying out there. And then being eaten by a seemingly soulless monster. Finally, when the sun was directly over their heads, they decided to stop for a moment. They were still some distance away from the nearest village but they needed a moment to get their heads together and work through what just happened to them.
The Clansmen Warriors simply hopped off their mounts and sat in the snow, some finding a snow covered pine tree to rest against. Erik said nothing and simply looked at the simple metal chain in his hands. That was all that remained of his father. Ivano doubted they would be anything left for to bury or even burn. The Stone Men never gave up of meal if they could help it. Ivano simply dismounted his horse and rested against the cart. He took several deep breaths to being to calm his heart, his hands were shaking violently as he ran them through his hair. Arvid and Arlid, strangely enthused by today's events, came up to Ivano, a strange grin on their faces.
“I'm glad to know that I'm not about to become food for those dead creatures.” Arvid said.
“I think that goes for all of us.” Ivano replied. “I'm wondering why those creatures are so close to the capital. They normally live on the extreme north and the far east of the clan's territory, not this close. We'll have to warn the towns and villages that we passed that they are on the move. Though why they would be moving...”
Ivano wondered what was making those creatures roam far beyond their normal reaches. Was something stirring them up, and forcing them out? He had no idea.
A grumble in his stomach brought him back to the present. “I haven't eaten anything in some time. And I told you to dump the food so we could get away. Looks like we'll be going hungry for a little bit longer yet.”
Arlid looked around and pointed out a bush covered in snow. Ivano could see many small purple berries covered in a sprinkling of snow. “We can eat those. It won't be the same as a good wolf or a rabbit, but he was going until we reach the next town.”
Ivano nodded and motioned for them to start. He turned his attention to Erik, still staring at only thing that remained of his father. Ivano tried to open his mouth to speak, to say something to cheer him up a little bit, but all Erik did was turn to him with a burning hatred. The young man must have wanted to die there, defending his father's body, even though he must have known deep down in his heart that it was ultimately pointless. At least it would have been a honourable end. He decided not to say anything and turned to the endless snow behind them. The Stone Men, even if they gave chase without stopping to eat the numerous corpses, would still be some distance away and probably wouldn't even reach them by nightfall. They would probably wander off in search of more food rather than take a long and ponderous chase. He sighed loudly as the duo returned with the berries. They ate some, just to prove that it wasn't poisonous, before Ivano gave one a chance. They were good but not enough to sustain themselves. Sometimes he thought that the Low Landers, the thieves Kingdom's, had things a lot easier than they did.
Nevertheless, grumbling about it wasn't going to make anything better. He took another deep breath and readied himself as best he could for the remaining trip to Brenningr. It had barely been half a day...