Elizabet opened her eyes, finding me looking at her, a broad smile on my face. It was still predawn.

“Good morning, Elizabet.” I murmured. “How did you sleep?”

Elizabet wrapped her arms around me, holding me close. “Fitfully. I’ve been worried about you, you know.”

I returned the embrace. “I know. Blainaut told me. I’m sorry for worrying you. I had to exorcize those demons.”

She nodded against my chest, content that I was there. “I understand.” She toyed with my new necklace. “So, what’s this?”

“That? Well. That is going to require some explanation. I think it best to wait until we are all awake and ready to hear. Thaddeus needs to know about me, as well.” I said, taking the opportunity to caress her back, which elicited a shudder.

“Mmm.. I think that’s fine.” Her hand began to wander south. “So, does that mean that I have you all to myself, then?”

I grinned and kissed her forehead, my beard tickling her nose. “Unfortunately not. The kids are inches away, and I’m not inclined to do anything with them here.” I took her hand, interlacing our fingers. “You may just have to wait until they are safely home.”

She pouted, but relented. “Okay. I will abide by your wishes.” She looked up at me through her eyelashes. “Master.”

I turned scarlet and swallowed. “Let’s, ah… let’s just enjoy where we are for now, yeah? I, um, I don’t want to do or say anything untoward, you know. Haha.”

She scooted up to eye-level with me, a smirk playing across her soft features. “If that’s what you want…” She then pushed me gently down, and held me to her chest. “I’d like to enjoy you here, then.”

Who was I to argue?

An hour or two later, the boys woke up and dressed themselves, heading out to take care of their business. Elizabet and I were dozing in each other’s arms. Or, we were until Ahte-naah called my name from just inside the tent.

“Mr. Ivor! Mr. Ivor! Get up, get up! There’s something out here you should see.”

Groggy, I stirred, leaning up and away from Elizabet’s warm cleavage. The resulting cool breeze caused her to grip me tighter to her, accompanied by a shiver. “What? What is it, son? What’s going on?”

“Come look! You’ll want to see this! Both of you!” Ahte-naah’s excited chatter woke Elizabet, who looked up and nodded.

“Okay, kiddo. We’ll be out there in a moment. Let us get dressed first.” She yawned widely, and started to extricate herself from the tangle of limbs we had become.

Ahte-naah rushed back out, and we set to dressing ourselves. I, however, got completely lost in what I was doing as I watched Elizabet, who gently reminded me of my task. I shook my head and hurriedly dressed, wondering just what was so urgent.

As we walked out of the tent, we saw the others -minus Thaddeus- staring off into the south. There, not a hundred yards from our camp, was the largest herd of deer I had ever seen. They milled about the hill I had used as a meditation spot, nibbling on tender grass. The largest buck I had ever lay eyes on stood at the pinnacle of the hill, staring straight at our camp. His antlers seemed to weave into and out of each other, unending. He let out a shrill warning cry and stamped twice, and all the deer stood to attention, scanning for potential threats.

Thaddeus emerged from the tent he had shared with Blainaut, and scanned the horizon. Upon seeing the herd, he exclaimed “There’s dinner for the next year! Let’s get a few!”

As he attempted to step beyond me, I stuck my arm out, taking hold of his shirt, never removing my gaze from the buck. “Not these deer, Thaddeus. These deer are to be left alone. Besides, not even I could fell one of these, I don’t think. Best to let them graze as they will, and leave after they’ve gone.” I looked him in the eye. “Trust me.” As I returned my gaze to the herd, I lost sight of the majestic buck. “Where did he go?”

Elizabet looked at me, confused, “Where did who go?”

“The buck. The big one with the wild antlers. He was just on top of the hill.”

“What buck? There’s just a bunch of does and fawns. And there was never anything on the hill. Are you sure you’re okay?” Elizabet turned me to face her, concern evident in her eyes.

“But there was a massive buck up there. His antlers seemed to weave into and out of themselves. I’m not imagining things.” I looked back at the herd. No bucks were evident.

Elizabet gently took my cheek, and turned my face to meet hers. Softly, she spoke, “Ivor. Honey. There isn’t a buck. I think we would have all seen it, if there were.”

I blinked rapidly, shaking my head. “Okay, then. A sign is what it is.” I sighed heavily and scrubbed a hand over my face. “Well. Let’s get some food in us, yeah? And Thaddeus? I think you deserve to know what exactly you’ve gotten into. And all of you deserve an explanation for last night.”

We all nodded, and I began taking out the foodstuffs from my bag, and setting up the cook fire. While I worked, I explained my origins to Thaddeus, about how I was yanked from my world, and deposited here.

“And that leads us up to yesterday.” I sighed as I flipped the meat in the pan. “Yesterday, I simply realized that in less than three days, I had killed almost a dozen people. Before, I’d only killed deer, rabbit, squirrel, and the occasional coyote and boar. The most I’d ever even hurt another person was breaking a sparring partner’s arm during training. And now, I’ve killed a dozen. I felt terrible. Still do, actually. I don’t like taking a life. I’d much rather help someone learn and grow.” I snorted, staring into the embers. “So I did the only thing I knew to do. I ran. I secluded myself into a tiny little hole, and let myself feel the harm I’ve caused. Then I went into a meditative trance to truly clear my mind, and that’s when I…left? I think ‘left’ is the best choice of words here.” I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. I found myself back in that place with my patron. Back where I got my gloves. But, instead of just meeting with Freyr, I met with my whole damn pantheon of gods and goddesses.” I looked at the three boys. “Including The Great Mother.” Their little eyes got huge and their expressions worshipful. “I apparently was yanked from my home and placed here, in order to make all of the species in this world free. I am by no means the strongest, nor the fastest, nor even the smartest. What I do have, according to The Lady Herself, is a set of qualities that set me apart. Makes me the best person for the long task ahead, I suppose. I drank to a pact with all my gods and goddesses, as well as The Great Mother, to do exactly that. And to bring my deities fully to Chaia. To spread their worship across the planet, so that hopefully, hopefully, they can live on in a world of magic long after I’m gone.” I smiled at the vivid memory. “And Thor Himself gave me this symbol. It is Mjolnir. A symbol of his great and mighty hammer that slays the giants and the unworthy. He said that it would guide my arm in battles. I’m not sure what that means, but I’m willing to trust that it will. He also Marked me, just as my patron did.” I held out the back of my left hand, showing them the two faint scars there. “At some point, my entire pantheon may give me a boon. I won’t count on it, nor will I beg. I will, however, accept it when it comes time.”

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I stared into the dying fire, having cooked all the food, and sat there, remembering. I shook my head, looking up at everyone. “And that’s got us up to today.” I smiled at the shocked faces.

“What? What’d I do now?”

Blainaut simply shook his head, and began to take down his tent. “My friend, you have dined with gods, and received their boons. You have been chosen by the Great Mother Herself. You must not realize how rare that truly is. I suppose your gods must visit you daily on earth.” He placed his tent, chair, and sleeping bags near the fire.

“Actually, no. My gods have never even said hello to me or anyone else, really, in millennia.” I shrugged, and put away Blainaut’s things as Elizabet and the kids took down our tent and sleeping bags.

I climbed into the cart, walking by a slack-jawed Blainaut, and began stuffing the meat and the pelts back into my bag. As I fit the last pelt inside, I felt a touch of resistance. I figured the Bag was nearly full, and decided to make a new one, and expand the old. It would wait until later today, after our journey.

Looking out towards the hill, I saw nothing but tracks. The herd had moved on somewhere in the midst of my tale. “Okay, everyone. Anyone who isn’t walking, should get into the cart.” The kids immediately clambered up into the driver’s seat, and Thaddeus hopped into the back. I released the Dome, and we started off, back towards the Lizardfolk Territory.

In this manner, we covered several more miles by noon, where we stopped for water and a snack. Thaddeus opted to try and push the cart for a while, but gave up when he could barely budge it.

“I wonder…” I looked over at Blainaut, who was rinsing his face in the river. “Blainaut? What is your largest beast of burden that I could find around here?”

He wiped his face on his shirt. “Beast of burden? Around here? Let’s see… Probably one of the Uror.”

“What is a Uror?”

“Remember the Dire Bear? Think of that, mixed with a very large cow. Docile, usually. There’s probably a herd within a league of where we’re standing. They’re literally everywhere that isn’t ocean.” He shrugged.

“A Uror, huh? Okay. Let’s see what I can find.” I rubbed my palms together, and knelt, laying them flat to the ground. Fixing the idea of a Uror in my mind, I whispered “Seek Uror.”

My consciousness expanded and raced through the ground, whizzing by rocks and trees and small animals in its search. Unexpectedly, I found a herd of them some five hundred yards away, thankfully on this side of the river. I retreated into myself, and looked up. “They aren’t far. About five hundred yards that way.” I pointed off to the southwest. “How do I catch one, and use it to pull the cart?”

“Oh? Well, just offer some food and magic to them. One will take you up on it, and you’ll have it, then.” He replied.

“Awesome. I’ll be back in a bit.” I sprinted off in the direction of the herd, my excitement growing.

“But- Okay. He’ll learn. He can only entice one per herd, and when he fails on the first, he will need to run away quickly. They can be quite temperamental.” Thaddeus added.

I smelled them before I saw them. It was pungent. A mix of marijuana and the smell of horse. I slowed down as I met the scent, and walked cautiously toward the massive beasts.

They were indeed tall. About seven feet at the shoulder, and happily grazing on grass. They resembled gnu in shape, but had the paws of a bear. They had horns reminiscent of that of a Bighorn Sheep, and brayed like a donkey. As I approached, a large bull trotted up to me, its head lowered.

I took a half step back, and pulled my gloves on. It might not do much good, but I wasn’t leaving without one. The massive beast stopped a couple of feet from me, and tossed its head. Keeping my eye on it, I reached into my Bag and pulled out the bag we were keeping the foraged food in, opened it, and held it out to the creature.

The bull snorted and snuffled in the bag, finding every bit of it a delectable morsel of food. After learning from Elizabet over the past few days, I knew how to finally channel magic without a purpose, and formed a small, blue orb over my outstretched hand.

It sniffed the magic, and cautiously licked at it. Finding it agreeable, it ate my magic in a single bite, and knelt.

“What? Do you want me to climb on?” I hesitantly reached out and patted the monstrosity’s furry head.

“Of course I want you on, you moron. How else are we going anywhere?” I heard a rough voice echo within my head. “I’m Walter, by the by.”

“Well. Hello, Walter.” I clambered atop the massive animal, and pointed out my cart in the distance. “See that, and those people? Head over there, please.”

“On it, boss.” Walter lurched forward, and covered the distance with ease and a speed that belied his size.

As we trotted up, I saw Blainaut and Thaddeus’ jaws collectively drop. “Ivor. That’s a sire. How? How did you attract a sire, of all things?”

I patted Walter’s neck and scratched behind his ear. “Everyone, meet Walter. Walter will be helping us for the foreseeable future. Walter, meet my family.” I introduced everyone by name, and they all came over to pet the creature.

“I don’t know, Blainaut. He was the first to come say hi.” I shrugged and hopped down, reaching into my bag for a cured pelt.

“You have the dumbest luck, man. I hope you know this.” He said, his hands on his hips and a bewildered smile plastered across his face.

I smiled and nodded, and got to work crafting a harness from the leather, with instruction from Walter.

An hour later, Walter was comfortably harnessed, and firmly attached to the cart. We all climbed up, Elizabet joining me in the driver’s seat. “Walter? If you would, please. Take us south to the Lizardfolk territory.”

He grunted, a plume of steam bellowing from his nostrils, “You got it, boss. We’ll be there in about five hours!” He took a couple of steps, building momentum, and was off at a leisurely trot.

I turned to the group inside the canopy. “About five hours, and we will be in the Lizardfolk territory!” Smiles were seen plastered across the faces within the canopy.