I smiled and nodded. “Sure, bud. Let’s get the fire going again, yeah?” I answered.

“Wait. Are we not going to eat the rations we were given?” Liss-ran asked, perplexed.

“Sure we are. But, I was thinking that none of us here would mind a nice, thick, juicy steak right now. It’s been an eventful day,” I said with a nod.

Liss-ran thought for a moment, then relented. “I suppose. Is there anything we can do to help, Ivor?”

“Go find some herbs or things to eat with it, if you want. I thankfully have some salt and pepper in my Pack, so that won’t be an issue. I wonder if there’s a garlic substitute here…” I said, trailing off, lost in my thoughts.

Liss-ran snorted and herded the group out of the tent, leaving me to my musings. I snapped out of my reverie and noticed that I was alone. I shook my head and went out to rekindle the fire.

Once the fire was lit, I dug around in my Pack for my pan, and set beside the fire to warm up. I took a decent-sized chunk of the skin-wrapped meat out of my Pack. I opened it up, and began to carve five generous steaks from the large muscle. Once I’d finished, I sat in my chair, and simply watched the beauty of the fire as it consumed the wood.

After some time watching the fire, I heard footsteps approaching the Dome. I stood, expecting to see one of my Haarthuu friends. I did not.

I saw a young woman, her face hidden within the confines of her hooded gray cloak, striding purposefully towards me. The opening to her hood was locked on my face and followed me wherever I moved, and she walked with sure, confident steps. I reached for one of the daggers that Loki gave me, and she gave a firm shake to her head.

Realizing I was dealing with one of my gods, I instead grabbed another of the chairs, and sat it down beside the fire. Idly, I wondered if I had once again unknowingly slipped into a trance as I watched the fire.

Hearing her step into the Dome, I stood, offering a seat with a smile. “Welcome, my Lady. To what do I owe this pleasure?” I asked.

She sat, clearing her throat. I turned away, digging into my Pack for the water pitcher and a pair of earthen cups. I filled one and handed it to her.

As she reached for the cup, the cloak slipped from her left arm, and I spied the blackened, shriveled flesh before she hastily covered herself up.

“Lady Hel, please do not be concerned with frightening me or offending me. I accept you for all that you are. Are you thirsty?” I asked soothingly.

She stiffened momentarily and nodded. Keeping her left side hidden within the recesses of her cloak, she took the cup and sipped daintily.

“Thank you, Ivor. It is rare to be welcomed among you mortals. Most run in fear the moment they catch sight of my… deformity. And yes, you’re still watching the coals. Your friends are foraging a few hundred yards to the north, and won’t be back for a while,” she said, her voice sounding at once honey-smooth and gritty with dust.

“I thought as much. Lady Hel, I am nothing like the other mortals you’ve dealt with and are still dealing with. I accept your visage for what it represents: Finality. You are the ultimate finality for all to see. When I die, I will be happy to be welcomed by your embrace. I just hope it is far off. I have much to do, yet. Please. Don’t worry about me, I accepted my mortality long ago,” I said with a smile.

She drained the cup and held it out with a shaky hand. I refilled it and set the pitcher down. I heard her take a breath, then she reached up with her left arm and drew her hood back.

The right side of her head was that of a beautiful young woman. Her black hair was bright and shiny. The piercing, bright amber eye shone with hidden laughter. Her red lips were raised in some sort of a half-smile, as if she were fighting the urge to laugh or cry. I marveled at how beautifully blemish-free and supple her cheeks were.

Her left side told the story of Death. As the skin transitioned from live to dead, it paled to white, then gray. It wrinkled as it got closer to her ear, appearing to dry out to near dust. Her hair on this side faded to silver as it got closer to her ear. The once-bright and piercing amber eye was cloudy with cataracts, deeply set within a sunken eye socket, the skin heavily lined and marked with liver spots. Her lips were set in a rictus grin, the skin pulled taut across her cheek. I could see her teeth, browned and yellowed with age.

“Hello once again, my Lady. I am pleased to have you at my fire. How may I assist you?” I asked kindly.

“The One-Eyed was right. You are quite different. I apologize. I’m not used to having a mortal be comfortable in my presence.” She took a moment to compose herself, breathing slowly. “I must admit that I don’t truly have any particular need of your skills. I simply wished to meet the one responsible for bringing us to a new world where we might thrive. It has been so long since we could fully stretch out across a world. I-I wanted to thank you for agreeing to help us, Ivor,” she said, her cheek reddening.

I smiled and shook my head. “You are most welcome, my Lady. I appreciate that you thought enough of me to see me personally. Before I die, that is.” I smiled broadly. She giggled then, a soft sound reminding me of the final breath of the dying. “I know that my future here will be filled with peril, long stretches of discomfort and sorrow. I will be fighting every step of the way once I leave Haruma. I know this. I look forward to” -I reached out to her with both of my hands, and She hesitantly filled them with both of her own- “finally resting in your realm once all this is over for however long I may do so. Yours will be a most welcome sight at the end of my journey. For the longest time, all I’d wanted was to rest. I’m getting some now. I know it’s just to let me adjust before my true work begins, so I’m looking forward to seeing you again once I cross Gjöll Bridge,” I said quietly.

Hel sat there, seemingly stunned. Slowly, she removed her hands from my gentle grip. “Thank you for the hospitality, Ivor. I must return to my charges,” she said as she stood. I stood with her and escorted her to the edge of the Dome. "Your right hand, please?"

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I offered her my right hand. With a long, pointed nail of her left hand, she carved her sigil into the back of my right hand. "I pray you never have need to call upon me. While I can help you, the cost will be dire," She said softly.

She looked up and faced me then. Gripping my shoulders gently, she kissed my cheek. “Be safe, Ivor. While I would gladly welcome you to my Hall, I hope I don’t see you again for a long time.”

With that said, she turned, drawing her hood back over her head, and walked out of my campsite, fading into nothingness after a few feet.

“Ivor? Hey, Ivor! Wake up!” Liss-ran shouted in my ear. I jumped back, shocked by the loud intrusion.

“Thank The Mother! We’ve been trying for the past five minutes to wake you. You were staring at the fire like someone possessed. Are you okay?” Piri-thak asked.

“Sorry, everyone. I guess I got lost in the fire. It’s really quite beautiful.” I smiled and looked once more at the fire, which had died down to hot coals.

“Well, the pan should be plenty warm. I can cook two at time, so the ladies get fed first, I say. How do you like it? Pink? Cooked through? Bloody? Raw?” I asked jovially.

“Cooked through, please. I don’t care for my meat to be too tough, either. Do you think you can do that, Ivor?” Liss-ran asked.

“Well, I can try. I’ve never cooked this type of meat, so I’ll do my best. What about you, Piri-thak?” I asked, sorting through the steaks I had cooked, trying to find one that might be able to fit Liss-ran’s request.

“Pink, please. I’m not terribly picky as long as it isn’t leather-hard,” she said with a shrug.

“Alright. I’ll do that.”

I fished in my Pack for the Dire Bear rib, and scraped out a little marrow and dropped it onto the pan, where it sizzled and liquefied quickly. I set the meat into the pan, and turned to look at the bounty they brought to me.

I saw some of the tubers I had grown accustomed to eating, and directed Kilik-ma to peel them. Tren-sun showed me the herbs, and I tasted each, selecting a couple and setting the rest aside. Liss-ran handed me the other foods and explained how they were prepared. I tasted them, and determined that one of them would go well if they were baked with the tubers, so I Shaped some thin-walled containers out of the earth around us, and deposited the vegetables, some mushrooms and herbs and a tuber with some water into each. I sealed them shut with a couple of small vent holes and laid them in the coals to bake.

I cooked the ladies’ steaks the way they had requested and sat them onto a small table three feet above the firepit that I Shaped specifically for that purpose. Warning them about letting them rest and cool, I got the orders from the others and cooked the appropriate steaks.

“Once those are cooked through, the rest should be good to go. I’ll make mine once you four are taken care of, and all will be set,” I said with a smile.

“We will wait for you, Ivor. It’s only right,” Kilik-ma said, and the sentiment was echoed by our companions.

“But your food will get cold, guys. Are you certain?” I asked with some concern.

“Sure! Even if it’s not piping hot, I’m certain it will still be delicious,” Liss-ran said soothingly.

“Well, if you all are sure,” I said, turning my attention to the rest of the meat. I selected a rather thick cut, and butterflied it twice to make sure it would cook quickly. I seasoned it liberally with the salt, and waited for the other two steaks to finish.

Once I pulled the other two steaks out of the pan, I scraped more marrow in, and let it render out. I gently laid my steak in, and checked on the five little ovens I had placed in the coals. None of them smelled burnt, so I was happy with that. While we waited for my steak to finish, I Shaped five sets of dinnerware from the ground and poured everyone some water. I flipped my steak, waited for a couple of minutes and tested it. It was done. I plated the meat, then removed the smaller ovens with Hands.

I cracked each little pod like an egg over the plates, and well-roasted veggies fell out. The Haarthuu laughed at this display, and we all sat down to eat a well-deserved meal after I added some wood and stoked the fire.

Once we had finished, I Shaped a pit, stacked the dinnerware into it, and filled it in. No need to do dishes, anymore. We sat around the fire happily stuffed and chatted into the evening until one-by-one, the Haarthuu had trouble keeping their eyes open. I suggested bed, and we all went into the tent to sleep.

Liss-ran curled up in front of me, Kilik-ma in front of her. With Tren-sun behind me, Piri-thak’s arm wrapped protectively around him, we slept like the dead.

The days passed like this until the day before we were to return. We had seen no other hunters after that first day, thankfully. We did, however, manage to take four more deer, several boar-like creatures, a large predatory cat the Haarthuu called a Sanquit, and a relatively small female Dire Bear. There was no way all of it would fit into my Pack, and once I felt the slightest bit of resistance, I stopped. I certainly didn’t want to run the risk of destroying all my work.

This left us in a conundrum. I certainly wasn’t going to simply leave anything we had killed. We had no room left for the Sanquit, Dire Bear and four of the wild boar.

“Were we overzealous, Liss-ran?” I asked uncertainly.

“Maybe a little. I didn’t think you’d be able to hit the Sanquit, honestly. They’re rather quick,” she replied.

“Could you make a cart again? The Elder said you arrived in a cart pulled by one of the Uror,” Kilik-ma suggested.

“Huh. That’s a good idea. It’ll need to be much narrower than the last one, but since I’ve done it once, I should be able to do it again without much difficulty. Let’s go find some wood! Any deadfall is fine. I’ll need some curved pieces as well as straight ones,” I instructed.

“Can’t you just make them all what you need with your magic?” Tren-sun asked.

“I could, but that takes more energy. Finding what I need in nature would be best. If we can find wood roughly in the shapes I need, I’ll use less energy, and get more done,” I clarified. My companions nodded their heads, and we all went off to find wood.

An hour later we returned to the camp and I sorted through the piles of offerings. I saw plenty of straight pieces, some were exactly what I’d need for certain bits, and very little that curved enough for me to use. While not a surprise, it disheartened me a little. I shrugged and got to work.

I repeated the process I had used to make my first cart, springs and all. It took a little more time, as I had to stop frequently to rest and eat, but in the end, I had a cart that was just big enough to fit the last six of the animals, plus the Haarthuu.

“Well, there we go. Took awhile, but we have a cart now! I can load it up and we can leave today, if you’d like, Liss-ran?” I asked our leader.

“Will it hold much more, Ivor?”

“Not much, I’m afraid. I doubt the springs will hold much more than these six and you four. In fact, I’m going to take the Dire Wolf out and add it to the pile so I can get my camping gear back in here. They’ll take up roughly the same amount of space,” I answered.

“Do it. We leave today.”