"Mama," Ingrid and Freya had tears streaming down their cheeks as they watched their mother step onto the snowy grounds. "Mama, please don't leave!" They called after her but she didn't even turn. Iskra knelt between them and lifted them into her arms turning them away from their mother just as she glanced back at the house with tears in her eyes. Iskra nodded and Revna jogged beyond the tree line and out of sight.

"Iskra..." Ingrid cried as she nuzzled her head into her sisters neck. "Why does Mama leave?"

"She's making the world a better place," Iskra stated.

...

Thyra and Rune sat at the table with Iskra. Fell was still out consoling the twins and keeping them away from the room that his parents and Iskra sat in.

"Do you know what happened to her?" Iskra asked. "Where was she found?"

"By the time we got to her the animals had..." Rune paused, "She was found about a day north of the village. I'm sorry lille venn." He reached out to put his hand over hers, but she pulled back quickly.

She rolled her eyes trying to fight back the tears, "I'm not a child. Don't call me that. I just want to know what happened to my mother."

"We don't know what happened," Thyra stated. "Like Rune said, the animals made it impossible to judge what had killed her. It could have been an animal."

She shook her head, "It was no animal. Mother would have been able to take on a pack of wolves without breaking a sweat. If an animal killed her, we would know about it. I need to find out who did this to her and why." The young woman stood quickly.

"Iskra," Thyra tried, but the girl was already out the door.

The young woman marched across the snowy ground. She could feel the anger and fear rising up. Without thinking she swung her right arm out, punching the tree in front of her. She felt the bark crack the skin along her knuckles. Before she could acknowledge the pain, she swung with her left arm achieving the same result. She felt the tears building and she sunk to the ground. She reached for her necklace and her body froze.

"Don't take that off," she heard in her mind. She was suddenly a young girl again gazing up at her mother. "Søta, you know better than to take it off."

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She was gazing at the snowy ground again, her knuckles bloodied. "Mama, what happened to you? Why couldn't you have just stayed home?" She released her necklace and hugged her knees to her chest. "Mama, I don't know what to do."

Rune stood about twenty feet away, "You take care of your sisters." He stated as he walked up to the young woman. "You do what is right, what is good. You make sure that those little girls don't lose hope."

She sniffled, running her hand under her nose. "How do I do that?"

"I think you have to figure that out for yourself," he stated as he crouched beside her.

...

Iskra reached for her shield as she grabbed her pack and her Warhammer. The note was scrawled and left on the table for Thyra and Rune to find when they awoke. She couldn't bother them with goodbyes. She was never good at goodbyes. She opened the door quietly and began walking into the cold early morning air. It was mid Spring, but snow still fell.

She was only about 60 feet from the front door when she heard the it open quickly behind her. She turned to see the twins rushing down the stairs in their nightgowns tears streaming down their cheeks.

"Don't go!" Ingrid cried.

"You can't leave us!" Freya added.

Lights in the house suddenly came on and Iskra knew that she wasn't going to get far. She dropped her shield and Warhammer, scooping her sisters into her arms. They wrapped their small arms around her neck as she closed her eyes. The door opened again, this time Thyra and Rune stepped out into the snow flaked ground.

"Iskra!" Thyra's eyes landed on the shield and Warhammer that had been discarded, the note in her hand. "Please come back inside." The woman's voice cracked slightly as she stepped out onto the snow. "We need to talk."

"We've done enough talking," she replied. "It's time for me to help support this house."

"There are other ways..." Rune tried as Iskra set the girls down on the front steps. "Please, Iskra. Your mother didn't want this."

Iskra's eyes flashed, cold and icy, "She told me that I should always follow her. That is what I am doing, is it not?"

Thyra reached out to wipe the snow from Iskra's shoulder, but the younger woman took a step back. "I know, you are hurting Iskra... Please. Don't go. Not like this."

Iskra sighed, "I have to go. There's something I have to do. I don't know what, but I know it's out there and not here." She glanced at Rune, "You told me to do what is right, what is good. Well right now, I need to bring back some light into this world. I can't bring back light when I am already surrounded by it. You have to step into the darkness to let light shine." Rune took a step back, nodding slowly.

Ingrid and Freya glanced up to their sister then at each other. Ingrid reached out her hand and Iskra took it and squeezed lightly. She knelt down to be at the level of the twins. "You two, take care of each other. Got it?" They nodded tears building once more. "Listen to Thyra and Rune, and don't go getting yourselves into too much trouble." She stood her eyes landing on Thyra. "I have to go."

The woman sobbed, "Lille venn..." Iskra took a step forward and wrapped her arms around the older woman. "I promised her... I would give you a good, normal life."

"And you did!" Iskra wiped the tears from Thyra's face. "But now it's time for me to do what I promised. I promised I'd follow her."

"But..."

"I'll be fine," she stated.