While his party waited to see what Kaden had planned, he considered all the different ways he could control Frost, and the one he truly wanted. “I want to kill the Ice Dragon, but I’m not going back in unprepared.”
“Restraint,” Ashi said with approval.
After three helpings of soup, Sara slowed. Eve continued removing [Grievous Wounds], and explained to Sara all the things she’d missed. The arrival of the ships. A negotiated docking fee that Eve felt was probably robbery but not worth risking the goods over. The eager first-trades and how lone runners from different clans had arrived over days, mostly looking for status cleanses, but a few [Life Affirment] potions used by pregnant women.
“Kaden, convince Trella to take a break,” Sara said. “I doubt she’s slept well in two weeks. Have her brew healing potions, or mana potions, or [Agony Cloud]. If [Fire Soul] really does require a breakthrough, I don’t think she’ll reach it exhausted.”
The [Falcrow] willingly took his message.
And Trella was less than charred when she arrived, though her face glistened with sweat. “You need mana potions? Or agony clouds?”
“Neither.” Kaden lifted her over the sleeping [Ulf]. “I need you at your best. I want to explain what happened. What I learned about Kai. How I wound up in the Ice Domain, and what I learned there.”
And with the four listening, he launched into his tale. “The problem with Kai Fen isn’t that he’s unreasonable. It’s that what he wants he doesn’t need from us. His own people dislike what he’s become, but they’re not willing to war with him.”
“May I speak?” Guzan, the old Beserker, and entered the groundhouse without Kaden even noticing, which didn’t say a lot for the [Ulf’s] future as a guardian.
Kaden dipped his head.
“I am old, old enough to remember the discord before. We have a saying. Children born in war crave peace, and those in peace crave war. What Kai Fen has done is give a voice to the discontent. Even your hammer cannot end discontent.” Guzan sounded ashamed. “It is a mark of pride to be a strong warrior. To hold up before others. To lead a clan and make a name so proud the ancesters hear and respond. But war is only one season.”
“How many are the discontent?” Eve asked.
“It is hard to say. Peace favored the Resyr, so we listened to our own desires more than their needs. If we had not, perhaps the accord would be unbroken.” Guzak was a man drowining in regret, but regret didn’t ward off blows or staunch wounds. “We are traders and crafters, and our prosperity benefited many. But not all.”
Crafters. That was what Kaden had ignored. He launched back into his story, of the bracers. Of the choice the System offered him, and the desperation that had led to entering the domain. Trella watched with amusement as Kaden spoke of the [Ulf] and the boss battle.
But the real treasures he withheld, instead taking out the [Ulf Stalker] hides. “Can your people make gear for Trella like mine? Something to make her shadow based stealth more effective in the snow?”
Guzak took the hides. “Perhaps. These are not the hide of an [Ulfen]. They will not contain the same power.”
That was fine. “Talk to me about what you can make, we’ll work out a deal. By which I mean you’ll be negotiating with Sara. I feel bad for you.”
Once their host was gone, Kaden explained the rest of the story. “So many scorpion steaks. And this.”
The others studied the decapitated tail-lure, which still read garbage.
“Does your crafting skill tell you what it makes?” Eve asked. “[Identify] glitches.”
Trella examined it thoroughly. “It’s not a re-agent, it’s definitely a crafting material, and I’d bet it’s shape-shifting weapon like the [Needful Cloak]. Sara can give you the loot-gen rundown, but it’s powerful.”
“Excuse me?” Sara asked. “The what?”
Trella looked to Ashi first. “Ok. We were the first people to discover the black fairy challenge in the fire domain. Our reward was way, way more powerful because of that. Similarly, any dungeon that hasn’t been run accumulates more powerful loot until it breaks. Domain monsters are most likely similar. It’s going to hold bosses and treasures that no one’s seen or gathered for a century or more.”
“And Fangwood,” Eve said. “The first reward for the Fell Woodsman was an actual Vichorean Assistant. Did you know ours is tiny and weak? Theirs build structures, but our mana is too thin”
“Frost doesn’t advance in the domain,” Kaden added. “That’s reason enough for me to go back.”
That launched a whole different discussion, as Kaden explained about how it had adopted a size and shape to make hunting the village a challenge, but that choice left it vulnerable, and it would probably err on the side of survival next time. “The armor is impenetrable, but Thorn Caster does at least one point every time, and inflicts poison. And the [Levicon Blade] can’t fail to cut. So it went from being the hunter to being prey and didn’t enjoy the experience. I tried to cut scales off, but what I got wasn’t what I expected.”
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Kaden showed the strip of actual scales he’d cut, and the flesh. “Only the thin one has the mana in it.”
Sara sat up, looking at each. “Lord Suridev would call this barely a dragon at all. Deadly, yes. Dangerous, yes. But clever like Suridev? Powerful like the fire dragon Alev? Majestic like Oceanus? No.”
Trella listened to the story of the [Ulf], and the domain. “Are you bringing him home?”
“I don’t know yet. He’s not built for hot summers. Our winters wouldn’t even bother him, but our summars would be miserable.” Like Explodius, not every beast was meant for a holding, even one on the edge of the wilds.
“May I have the scorpion steaks?” Eve asked. “I do love cooking them. I know you’re probably tired of it.”
Kaden wasn’t so tired as unaffected. Nothing tasted great. “I want everyone to rest tonight. I’m going back to the Ice Domain to hunt. It lowers my [Frost] and it keeps me from worrying about what’s going to happen when it runs out.”
“No.” Trella said. “If you’re going in, I’m going in. I already used five of your essences. I can usually avoid exploding, even if the potion doesn’t stabilize. What if this Ice Dragon is waiting the moment you show up?”
Kaden couldn’t prove it wouldn’t happen. But it wasn’t likely. “The domain is huge. There are dozens of entrances and exits. The dragon won’t be waiting at all of them. And if he is, I’ll kill him. This time, I’ll use every option.”
*Don’t.* Trella tapped out. *Please. You’ve been gone for two weeks, I had no idea if you were alive.*
It was easy to give in to the dull cold. Easy to ignore her plea, but this was a coal in the depths of his soul that hadn’t gone dark. Nothing blazed anymore, but that connection remained.
Against the cold inside and out, Kaden swore an oath, not to the system, but to himself. It would be the ember he held on to until the end.
###
Kaden woke before dawn and slipped out of the groundhouse with the [Ulf] at his side. Trella slept deeply, and she needed it. The sun filled the sky with red and orange streaks painted across thin clouds high above. The wind was warm and gentle, and Kaden loved every moment of sunrise. Except the part where people rose and joined him, ruining the isolation. Drokor arrived just after dawn, with a sled filled with crystaline antlers and ivory teeth a foot long. She spent half an hour giving orders to the traders, then with a glance, waved for him to join her.
“How do you like our mornings?”
“Can all your people shapeshift into [Ulf]? Ulf-Fen. [Ulfen].” Kaden had no patience for games. “Did you know who it was I killed and skinned? Kai Fen recognized I was wearing his brother.”
Drokor coughed. “It’s easy to forget when I look at you, that you were not born among us. You have the look of the Skan, their hair and chin. Did I ever think you would go to their village and bargain? They say a warrior challenged Kai Fen. That he walked out of the dark, looked Kai Fen in the eye and ask for more brothers. With every telling, the feats grow greater. He rode an [Ice Dragon] or killed it with a single arrow from his bow. He spoke with it as a friend, mastered it like a pet.”
Lies were lies. Kaden didn’t care. “What clan did this ‘warrior’ come from?”
“Some say the Fen, others that he wore Yun armor, still others that he was son of the old Resyr chief, lost to the [Frost] a century ago. What do you say?”
Such a legend had advantages. “I don’t know this man. Let Kai Fen find him. Let him worry about where he is and when he will return. My Quest, my Party, they’re right here.”
“The resurrected have journeyed home. Their clans will be stronger. Their warriors more careful. Enemies Kai Fen discounted will no longer be weak enough to ignore, and eager for revenge. What do you want from this?” Drokor’s voice revealed nothing, but [Read Emotion] showed worry.
“I’ll tell you the same thing I told Basu Fen: I don’t want to rule anything or anyone. I want peace to settle in so heavy I can hunt in the Ice Domain without worry. I want Trella to learn a dozen new potions and Ashi to figure out how to fly and not fall. I want Eve to teach you new recipes and learn from you, and Sara can make a dozen new deals with every clan. That’s all.”
His answer took the tension out of Drokor. She smiled. “Today, I want you to learn from us. Your lover works hard at [Fire Soul], but you can buy time. Your weapon is deadly, but if we fought with such weapons every time we fought, we would all be dead.”
Beserkers truly were quick to battle. “And?”
“It’s time we kindled your soul. Be ready after breakfast.”
The truth was, Kaden was curious.
###
Trella lay in the snow, stretched out, bleeding, while Eve worked to heal her, removing shards of crystal from Trella’s face. “Perhaps don’t try that again?”
“Have to,” Trella said. “My [Alchemy] skill doesn’t work like the class. I get indications when I’m close to doing something right, and I finally got that indication. I’m making so much progress.”
Kaden waited as a pair of Beserkers approached, a man and women, both shorter and wider than Kaden. The man smiled a toothless grin and held out a hand. “Gunar Resyr. This is my little sister, Yrda. Drokor says you got no passion.”
“I’ve got plenty of passion. I control my urges, but I’ve got mountains of passion.”
The [Ulf] lay on its back beside him, but huffed disagreement.
“No dodge skills, no attack skills,” Gunar said. “When we fight, it’s to settle things, not tear the other person’s jaw off or punch through their spine.” He flexed his fist, and ice spines errupted from the top and bottom of his fist. “Think I can’t kill with this? You’re going to learn to fight with your fists. Or you’re going to learn to be unconscious. Come.”
For the first time since [Frost], Kaden smiled with true pleasure. He’d always wanted [Brass Knuckles] and always had reasons to make other choices. “I have a couple of talents I can’t turn off. One of them makes it near impossible for you to regain health or mana. The other makes it damn near impossible to kill me in one hit.”
“Good for you.” Gunar didn’t seem worried. “How much experience do you have fighting like this?”
“None.” Kaden wasn’t worried. “How do we start?”
Gunar looked to his little sister. “Let’s figure out where to start. No using mana skills, let’s see you punch. Also we’ll see you take a punch.”
Kaden steeled himself for a blow. He’d seen Trella fight and had no illusions about women being capable. Yrda let loose a short shout and drove her fist into his gut, then struck again, striking Kaden right in the chin.
She winced and turned away, gripping her hand, while Kaden let [Fortress of Stone] absorb the pain.
“My turn.” Kaden didn’t threaten, he simply punched. And winced as bones broke in his hand.
“Healer!” Gunar called, not laughing. “Taking a punch, good. What did you do?”
Eve came running and sighed. “I’ve barely got [Grievous Wounds] at bay and you’re out here breaking your hand? Like this!” She made a fist, her thumb alongside the fist. [Life Endowment] repaired his bones and left him stronger. “At least you have a teacher. Go on, I’ll keep everyone on their feet unless there’s a lab mishap.”
“Only bones,” Gunar said. “Pain is part of the process. Now, stand like me. Make a fist like me. And let’s see if we can make you not an embarrassement.”