“You think we can leave after the trials?”
“Not all of us,” Arvid shook his head. “The truce of the gods only protects us on the first island. After that, everything will devolve into a bloody battle. The few who survive will become gods or champions worthy of a royal welcome back in their homelands.”
“Sounds like you have it all figured out.” The seeker sighed as he kept staring into the slowly burning fire.
“I’m not one for planning things ahead but having goals is a good thing. But that’s enough chatter for now. We should get some rest. I take it you will leave early in the morning?”
“As early as I can wake up.”
“If I don’t wake up by that time then good luck out there!”
“For you as well.” Einar clasped hands with Arvid to shake on good luck.
The two of them retreated for the night, the giant falling asleep soon enough. The sound of the sea and its birds woke Einar from his slumber, the youth finding no sun on the horizon. Although it was slowly getting brighter, it was still likely a good hour before the sun would rise above the sea in the distance. The seeker got up from his bedroll and quietly broke camp, putting away his tent and other belongings. Looking toward the fire, he found Arvid sprawled out on a bedroll not far from the dead embers, the warrior slightly snoring. Einar sighed and looked around, finding a few people moving about in the village already. He drank some water and ate the leftovers of the previous night’s dinner before heading toward the forest.
“Einar!” He heard a familiar voice from behind, Fólki walking toward him with Herleif in tow.
His cousins looked tired and annoyed as they reached him, the young woman speaking up first.
“Are you heading off again?”
“That is the plan.”
“Don’t come back,” Fólki stated with a stiff tone. “I know you think you can do as you want now that we’re outside the kingdom, but that will get you killed.”
“Is that a threat?” The giant looked at his equally tall cousin, his eyes glowing up along with his crimson hair.
“A warning,” the man said with a surprisingly caring tone. “No matter what, you’re still one of us Arnessen.”
“Many people think your behaviour is a direct challenge against Princess Brinhildr’s authority,” Herleif spoke from the side. “Some of her more zealous followers think that you’re a threat to her. That you aim to get us killed by the God-marked of the other kingdoms. Heard some of them whispering about trying to poison you later on, even if it would get them killed off by the gods.”
“I see,” Einar nodded with a sombre tone. “Don’t worry. I don’t plan on sticking around. Whenever I come back I will only stay for as long as it takes to talk with Arvid or Rúna, then I’ll leave.”
“Good,” the woman said with a sigh of relief. “Grandfather asked us to watch over you but it seems you don’t need our help.”
“That doesn’t mean we won’t knock you on your arse if you get in our way to godhood.”
“A race to see who becomes a god first?” Einar asked with a challenging smirk.
“You bet,” Fólki agreed as the two clasped hands for a shake. “May the best one win.”
“I aim to.” Einar said with a cheeky grin before giving a nod to Herleif.
He then turned around and left with a lighter heart than before. ‘Those two might be pricks, but they’re still family and they know it.’ The seeker thought to himself as he passed the line of trees. After walking a good hundred or so yards through the forest, Einar began to run forward, leaping up through the air before turning into his raven form in a burst of black mist. He flew above the trees and made his way along the path while enjoying the freedom of flying. Slowly he began to feel the familiar tug on his spiritual strength, prompting him to land and shift back to his true form.
Two hours of travelling later he reached the mountaintop from the previous day, finding no one else around. ‘It seems no one else found this place yet.’ He thought to himself while resting a bit. The early morning light brightened the forest’s crown and Einar used his bronze looking glass to plan his next scouting expedition. That’s what Arvid called it during their idle talks and he found it to be a fitting name. Far ahead on the right side of the path that led further inland, the seeker could see what seemed to be a ruined tower where the trees grew sparse.
It was the closest point of interest, not far from a clearing half-circled by jagged rocks similar to the place that housed the first trial. Judging the distance by his current travel speed, he estimated it to be a good three hours away. For most other people, half a day or more. ‘If I travel to both then I’ll have to sleep in that jagged clearing.’ The young giant thought as he put away his looking glass and leapt off the side of the mountaintop. Turning into his raven form he flew above the ancient path for a while, looking left and right in hopes of finding anything that was worth his attention.
Along the way, he found several wolf packs, a few bears and strange beasts that looked like overgrown cats with stripes of amber and black. Amongst the many wolf packs, he only found two that had pack leaders like the one from yesterday. He decided to take a more hunter-like approach and landed on the thick branches above the unsuspecting wolves, summoning his bow after resting a bit. A faint bluish arrow formed on the bowstring as he pulled it back and aimed at the large beast’s neck. The arrow flew down without a sound, striking the wolf in the side of its neck. The beast lurched to the side from the impact and the pain, searching for its attacker before a second arrow struck it in its left foreleg.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
By that time the pack leader found its attacker, growling at the seeker that stood atop the thick branch while summoning another arrow which he fired at the smaller wolf, killing the animal in a single shot. His next shot missed as the beasts wizened up enough to dodge his arrow, prompting the giant to dismiss his bow and get down from his hunting spot. The seeker turned into a raven for a moment to slow his fall, dropping atop the large wolf from a few feet high with an unsheathed sword. It tried to lunge at him with an opened maw, but it only made way for the large sword. Einar hit the ground and rolled in the thick undergrowth while his opponent fell back, trashing for a few moments before it grew still.
The seeker drew his twin axes the moment he got up from the ground, half a dozen smaller wolves attacking him from all sides. He swung and kicked until nothing moved around him and then he looked at the aftermath of his short battle. The pack leader lay on its side with the hilt of the sword still sticking out of its bloodied mouth. The giant stepped beside it and pulled the weapon free while letting out a relieved sigh. Today’s fight ended up a lot better than the previous one but he couldn’t let it go into his head.
After wiping the sword on the beast’s fur, he sheathed his weapon and pulled out his drinking horn the familiar golden red mist floating up from the wolf’s carcass as the one from yesterday. The body visibly shrank a bit as it got drained of its blood and mystical essence, but the glowing lines on its fur were still intact. Einar drank the nectar his horn distilled from the head-sized golden red cloud and felt raw strength spread across his body. He could feel his muscles tighten up, growing firmer and somewhat bulkier. ‘Could it be... a blessing of might?’ He mused, thinking back on his battle with the previous pack leader.
The nectar seemed the same, but he didn’t get anything out of that one. Could it be that he needed to gather more of the same to gain a boon? Not knowing if what he thought was true or not, the seeker decided to put the matter aside for the moment as he put away his drinking horn before stuffing the large wolf corpse into his world eater pouch. Using his mind’s eye to peer inside the bag, he could tell it was one-fifth full. ‘I’ll have to find a way to expand the pouch or I’ll run out of space to put these into.’ Einar mused while looking around to make sure he didn’t miss anything of value.
The space between the trees was wide, filled with bushes and plants, some of which he recognized. There were a couple of healing herbs yeah same before back on Bear-rock Isle and in Wolfhold. The seeker gathered and fed them to his drinking horn, one of the cloudy gems lighting up to show that he had another mouthful of healing nectar to fall back on. With nothing else to do there, Einar turned into a raven and flew away. During his journey forward he had another run-in with a similar wolf pack which he hunted down, earning yet another large carcass.
When he neared the ruined tower, the seeker caught sight of a bear unlike any he had ever seen. Its fur was grey and it had two different glowing sigils on its body that was thrice the size of the black bear he fought back home. The beast was in the middle of a feast as it tore into what could have been a deer or a stag, although it was hard to tell at that point. ‘That looks like a mighty beast.’ Einar thought as he flew closer, landing on a tree not far from it. A part of him wanted to hunt down the bear. To challenge it to a battle worthy of tales, but the more rational side of him knew that it was likely beyond his capabilities.
He carefully examined his surroundings hoping to be able to form a plan to injure or at least momentarily trap the bear. They were in a small glade surrounded by giant trees. The could-be deer lay on the side of a small stream with the bear standing firmly on the ground beside it. Einar found no means to lay a trap for it, not any crevice he could lure it into in hopes of trapping it. Would his arrows even pierce its fur? The seeker was sure that the bear could rend him apart with a single swipe of its large claws and he wouldn’t be able to fight it using his sword or his mystical spears since the bear’s limbs were about the same length as those.
In the end, he decided to try his luck using the arrows. If the beast was impervious to them, he would simply fly away. He summoned his bow and pulled out a few real arrows from his world eater pouch. After the first few spirit arrows, he would likely have to switch to the real ones to preserve his spiritual strength for the raven form. The first pale blue arrow he let loose cut through the air silently, embedding itself into the beast’s barrel-sized neck. It sank in a few inches, a testament to both the bow’s and Einar’s power but it did little else than make the peacefully feasting bear angry. It let out a low roar as it began to look around for its attacker, the second arrow on its neck just below the first one.
The beast looked up at the branches high above it, seeing Einar as he aimed an iron-tipped arrow at it, the bear not reacting fast enough to dodge it. Even with three arrows in its neck, barely any blood trickled down on their shafts and the fur around the wounds. ‘Damn beast! How strong is its hide?’ He growled in his mind as he watched the bear rush toward the tree he was on. ramming it with a great enough force to make the tree violently shudder. The seeker had to grab onto a branch to steady himself but that was the least of his worries. After seeing that it couldn’t shake off its attacker, the beast swiped at the tree’s trunk, ripping out a good one-tenth of it with a single swipe.
‘Not good.’ The young giant thought as his quarry chipped away at the tree, making it creak and groan under its onslaught. Soon enough the tree couldn’t hold on and began to tilt to the side. Einar quickly jumped toward the next large tree, turning into a raven for a few seconds to fly to safety while the tree fell with a deafening thud. The next tree was somewhat larger and thicker than the previous one and the seeker celebrated his momentary safety by shooting another arrow at the bear, hitting its left forelimb.
The beast road at him before rushing toward the tree but this time, instead of ramming it, the bear jumped at its trunk with claws at the ready. Einar watched in horror as the bear began to climb up at a fairly decent pace. He shot several arrows at it before summoning a spear of ice which he aimed at its head, missing by a few inches as the spear struck its right shoulder. A pained roar broke free from the beast as it slipped down a few feet before steadying itself once again with a renewed hatred in its eyes. It began to climb upward once more, undeterred by the arrows and spears hurled at it.
When its giant clawed arm was getting dangerously close to the seeker, Einar unsheathed his sword and willed it to grow to its full length before so swinging it downward with all his might. The blade cut through the air before slashing into the bear’s paw, earning a pained beastly scream as it yanked its paw back, its grip slipping on the tree’s trunk. It fell, limbs flailing and crashed into the rocky ground.