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Elder Ragna looked out at the group of mixed age children. Today they were gathered around his home as it was lectures not practice.

"Alright," His voice silenced the many conversations, "A repeat for some of you, but news to the younger ones. We have newcomers to the town, and her father is a Thegn Warrior."

At this a few turned their heads to look at the pale-eyed girl up in a tree. They had been talking about her dismissively before, but now... Everyone wanted the chance to become a Warrior.

"Because of this, I felt it was important to talk about Megin and Wyrd." His words silencing the growing buzz, "While Wyrd is the power of Fate, it is in a lot of things. Even the hunters will gather enough to extend their lives slightly."

He lifted his hand to show faint golden sparks flickering around his hand, even in the noon sun. Ingrid's eyes tracked the power and could see the trick, but she didn't speak.

"Megin, and Seidr by extension, are Wyrd transformed into something more specific. Megin is the power of the flesh, while Seidr is the power of the elements." He stopped giving off light, and held up two ancient stones. One held the Valknut, the symbol of Odin, and the other Yggdrasil's twisting branches and roots.

"The Valknut, is Megin, while the Yggdrasil is Seidr. With the rumors that both symbols explain the process of creating their related energy from Wyrd." His gray eyes roamed the group, "But do not think you can unravel these secrets without a master of either craft. Many, MANY, have tried and failed.

"Though we know that, for Warriors, it comes down to something they call the Heart."

---

The waterfall of golden energy fell into Ingrid with the force of true water. The impressions of futures and past events swirled into her mind. Before she managed to focus once again.

He had bewitched her. She knew that with cold clarity within the light. His words befuddling her mind to give her true name.

If she had more time to curse him she would have. Instead, she focused on her rapidly beating heart.

While it beat and moved vital blood around her body. It would do the same for the Megin and more. First was the weave.

She begun by pinching a string of Wyrd at one of the outer points of the first triangle in her mind's eye. Then, she extended the string to the next point of triangle until it was complete.

Pulling the string across to form the point of another triangle, and fixing the whole structure to share sides. Before continuing to form the third and final triangle.

Each set of three became harder as she completed the inner set and moved to the outer three sets. This pattern would determine how much Megin she could convert at once, as well as how pure it would be.

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Her father had warned her about stopping at the first or second set. To him, it was only a proper Warrior Heart if she could complete the third ring of triangles.

This was called the True Heart Technique. At least by her father's words, and was something that most Warriors didn't achieve due to a lack of focus and Wyrd.

Ingrid had plenty of Wyrd. Though she had a feeling it was due, in part at least, to the deal she had made with that creature. Now she just had to ignore the mounting strain.

Until the Heart was set, she wouldn't get the Megin she needed to heal the various wounds in her body.

Usually, the frozen moment of time would have given her the time she needed. Yet, her father's explanation wasn't holding up to the reality. Something else she felt was Ruadhán's fault.

Pushing away the distractions she focused past the frustrations and pain. The third ring was over half done, and she had plenty of the golden light to go.

So focused was she that the third ring was done in a blink. The pain was reaching through the meditative state she had cultivated with her father.

So much Wyrd remained, and she wasn't sure if she should attempt a fourth ring. It would be a gamble, and if she ran out of material it would be a serious problem.

An incomplete ring would prevent her from becoming a Warrior and could kill her. She could leave the energy to be converted into Megin, but she would need all the power she could.

With a deep breath, she tried to pull the strings into another set of triangles. The energy resisted the shape, and seemed to twist in her hands.

The reaction brought a cry to her lips. A wet feeling appeared across her body, and Ingrid found various cracks in her spiritual form.

The pain and blood broke her calm, and pulled up memories of smoke and shuddering hands. The faces of the dying asking for mercy, the fall of bloody axes.

A sudden chill and taste of blood brought her clarity. With a deep breath and a scream she twisted the strings into a tangled circle around her Heart.

Like a snowflake at the end of spring. The pattern she followed appeared within her mind for only a second, and then vanished into the depths of her mind.

It was all she could do, and the feeling she got was one of stability. Perhaps not the path her father had followed. The ring was something beyond the True Heart Technique, but it felt just as strong.

Pulling the main strings towards herself. She set the heart to wrap around the one of flesh and blood. The complex patterns twisted and folded to create a red-gold pattern.

As the first drops of rain registered with her once again. Time returning to the point she left, and the cold shock of water on her skin.

A new pulse of power flowed into her cooling skin. It was like the sun in the summer and the smell of trees. The last of the Wyrd was refined into Megin by her new Heart.

The flowing warmth soothed the aches and pains. And, she could feel the wounds beginning to close. It would take time to recover but she wouldn't crippled.

Then something reached out from her cold, left hand. A tendril of red that formed into a cone at the tip before launching out into the dark rain.

Uncertain of what it was, Ingrid carefully pushed herself into a sitting position before looking in the direction it flew. The sight was something from nightmares.

A red cap with sharp teeth was chewing through the body of the Beast. Golden sparks flickering around it with each chomp, and most of the creature was already consumed.

She remembered the words of Ruadhán and her deal. His cap was inside her blood or body apparently, and it would consume the bodies of those she killed.

In another moment the bear was gone, and the cap seemed to stretch back towards her. Her left hand lifting to grab the bloody cloth against her will.

The next second a pulse of Wyrd flowed into her body. Less than the waterfall from before, but a significant amount.

Enough to see her Heart brighten slightly. Enough for her to suddenly crave more.