Year 102 A.C.
POV: Denovan
One week later...
"Chief, until now you haven't told us which clan we are going to."
"Well... I'm not very good with names. We are going to one that stays near a frozen pond. We are almost there; in a few more hours, maybe we will spot their settlement."
Korr's countenance changed from curiosity to disbelief.
"Chief... I think it's better if we don't go to them..."
I turned my face to Korr and became curious. The lad was somewhat brave, and now he was afraid?
"Are they that scary? Lads... tell me what you know about them."
"If we are going to the place I'm thinking of, we will meet the Bone-Ice..."
"Quite a name, Korr... now tell me why you are trembling just mentioning them," I said in a relaxed tone.
Thormund interrupted, speaking loudly, not appearing hesitant at all: "Don't listen to what Korr is saying, chief. They are just good warriors."
"Good warriors who use the bones of their enemies as weapons and armor," Korr continued.
"Quite macabre..." I said.
"I only heard them talking about enemies... what are you talking about, Denovan? I already told you to translate for me," said Sig, interrupting our conversation.
"They just said that the clan we are going to is known for using bone weapons and clothes... bones of defeated enemies."
"Hum... was that all? You talked so much."
"Ah, Sig, I won't translate word for word for you. If you don't want to be left out, try harder when I am teaching you."
"Tsk."
"There is nothing to fear, Korr. Things will be resolved calmly."
"That will be impossible, chief. They are warriors who do not fear death and live only to die in battle. They will not submit so easily."
"That is true, chief. The greatest danger would be if they sent a horde of warriors upon us, but it would be a legendary battle, chief..."
"Haha, you're excited, huh, Thormund... if they are not immortal, we can win, whether they are many or not."
As much as I said that, I couldn't ignore what Korr had just said. Warriors who do not submit easily can be good... but good only for their leader. For me, a challenger, I don't know if it will be that simple. If I can resolve it through a duel, everything will be easier, but I don't have a good feeling about this.
"We are not that far from the Bone-Ice tribe, so stay alert."
Sig and the other six warriors nodded. Upon saying this, I sent both Horus and Nix ahead to explore and watch the surroundings. Nix was already with many black feathers; it already looked like another bird, and not the brownish and harmless owl from before, which a bit scared Korr and the others, who had never seen a change of this type.
I commented to them, very quickly, about what a true warg is capable of. They were incredulous. I said that with the blessing of the gods everything was possible; some who don't know me better might think I am a devotee, but it is just easier to explain it that way. After that, they started to listen better to my orders and treat me with more respect. This was good; if they were rebellious, they could cause chaos during the battle or at another time.
A few hours later...
Nix gave me a mental pulse. They were close, and it seemed they already knew about us. Forty warriors were coming in our direction, a few minutes away.
"Lads, they already know about us... prepare for battle, many are coming." "And I think they have some skinchanger with them; they have known about us for some time, so stay sharp."
"Yes, chief..."
"Sig... prepare yourselves. They have a warg and many warriors coming."
I already had my axe unsheathed. Orion and Kali guarded me, one on each side.
'Horus, return, keep an eye on our surroundings'
'Nix, follow them'
I commanded them mentally.
As the minutes passed, the atmosphere became increasingly tense.
"They are here," I said, serious.
Orion and Kali were growling low while looking at the surroundings.
"You don't need to be shy... we were waiting for you," I said in a loud voice, looking directly at the trees they were in.
From there, the Bone-Ice began to come out. There were many, and I felt more fear for my men than for myself.
"You are in the lands of the Bone-Ice. Are you seeking death?" said a powerful warrior, covered in bones. An elk skull served as a helmet, giving him a somewhat threatening aura.
"I come here with a proposal for you... can we talk in a more appropriate place?"
"You talk like the crows of the Wall, dress like one, and come to talk about a proposal... bastard," said the man with the elk horn. He continued: "And you, men of the Free Folk, following a crow? It seems you have already lost your reason," he said revolted.
Thormund cut in, indignant: "Don't say things you don't understand, bone-man! Our chief is not a crow, he is a Thenn!"
I give a slight nod to Thormund and continue speaking: "I am Denovan, son of the Magnar of the Thenn. I am going to Hardhome and I wanted you to join me."
"Bronze bastard... you are brave. To enter our lands with so few men and seek to give us orders," he said, approaching closer and closer to us. His men followed him closely, becoming more and more numerous as they came out from the protection of the trees.
It won't be easy. I start to approach him, still mounted on Breu.
"The Thenn don't only use bronze... we have reached the age of steel... You still haven't told me your name."
"You are not worthy to know my name, bronze bastard."
"This scoundrel," Thormund muttered, grinding his teeth beside me.
"If you don't want to die, turn around and leave our lands... I don't want trouble with your Magnar..."
Totally refusing his consideration, I approached with Breu, having my saber-tooths by my side. I see several reactions from the men seeing the black beasts approaching.
"Are you the chief of the Bone-Ice? If so, I challenge you to a battle... let the winner take all, as the ancient customs say."
I see the man get even more irritated. His hand gripped the weapon he carried even harder, showing how furious he was.
"Warriors, attack this bronze bastard who wants to conquer us!" he bellowed with anger and already shot in my direction. He used a somewhat sharp bone sword.
I sigh.
"Stay together!" I shouted the first thing that came to my mind, and Breu, feeling my emotions, shot off at full speed.
Kali and Orion also didn't waste time. They were even faster than Breu; even with their light armor, they overtook us quickly. In the blink of an eye, Kali had already jumped on a warrior. The man had no chance at all, dying instantly with the saber fangs in his jugular.
Thormund, Korr, and Sig, and the rest were approaching on foot, right behind me, at full speed and with weapons in hand. I had talked to Sig before the battle for her not to use her horse, as it could die or be very hurt, since it had no armor or protection.
But I and Breu were one. The death rider himself. We were a charge; Breu trampled them while I cut them down. Kali and Orion killed those who wanted to catch us from behind.
It was my first fight... no, this was not a fight. Men died with my every advance; it was a massacre. I felt nothing killing them, I didn't feel disgust, nor pity, nothing... I gave them a choice, and they caused this to themselves. On the contrary of these feelings, I felt my blood boil. The intoxicating sensation of being so close to death was dangerous.
An arrow tore through the sky and went toward my head. At that moment, I was without a helmet; mine was with Sig, because, for fear that something like this could happen to her, I left it with her. The arrow was close. I didn't realize until it was two spans from my eyes; I ducked my head to the right with such speed that I ended up unbalancing and falling from Breu.
I sigh. "I am intact."
Upon saying this, the bone sword of the man with the elk head comes fast in my direction. I am still on my knees on the ground; my axe is clumsy, but even so I raise it fast.
Clang!
"Already on your knees, bronze bastard?"
I was in a bad position, with no way to put strength to get up; the soft snow didn't help. Feeling my need, Horus descended rapidly from the sky, hitting in an instant his maximum speed, a bit more than 300 km/h — and went straight for the elk warrior's wrist.
"Piaaaa!"
"Haaa!" he roars in pain as the sword flies out of his reach.
I seize the moment and get up, coming face to face with the warrior, who was even larger than me. With all my strength, I move the axe; with both hands on the handle, I decapitate the man's head, which falls with the helmet and the head as if they were one.
I look to the side. My men and Sig are at a very large disadvantage. Even with Orion helping them, I start to move there, but I am quickly surrounded.
"YOUR LEADER IS DEAD, WILL YOU STILL CONTINUE FIGHTING?!"
"We are not cowards!" shouted a young warrior in a dash.
I deflect his blow with my axe and give a hard kick to his knee, which destabilizes him. When I am ready to finish him, a spear cuts the air behind my back, in the direction of my shoulders. Only it never hit me; Kali was already dismantling the man with claws and teeth, until nothing was left.
Breu gave kicks and looked like a bucking bronco, jumped to all sides, shooting against anything that moved.
"I only see senseless death... do they not give up?"
I moved across the battlefield toward my men while shouting:
"STOP FIGHTING... WHY DO YOU CONTINUE TO FIGHT? YOUR LEADER IS DEAD, AND YOU CONTINUE TO DIE? AND FOR WHAT? USE THAT HEAD WHILE IT IS ON YOUR NECKS! ARE YOU GOING TO ABANDON YOUR FAMILIES TO DIE WITHOUT YOU? WHAT WILL BECOME OF THEM?"
Little by little, I saw some paying more attention to my words, but it didn't seem like they were going to give up so quickly.
Two more warriors came simultaneously in my direction, the bone spear of one of them coming straight for my face, the most vulnerable place of my armor-filled body.
I hit the axe on the bone spear and break it in the movement, the other warrior is already practically on top of me, I raise my shoulder to protect myself with the steel plate.
The bone axe hits and ricochets, I take advantage of the movement and swing the axe with force, cutting the man's arm, and in an instant Breu was already close to me and jumps on top of the warrior who is without an arm, giving kicks and ends up killing with a blow to the head.
The man with the broken spear looked at me with apprehension, but even so started again for the attack and three more men were approaching to help him.
"YOU CONTINUE KILLING YOURSELVES FOR A LEADER WHO REFUSED AN HONORABLE CHALLENGE... WHAT WARRIORS ARE YOU?"
I wanted them to stop, I didn't know if Sig and the others would survive. And also what was the use of recruiting a clan without warriors and that wanted to skin you for having killed one of their own.
Seeing that their movements were slowing down the pace I continued.
"IF YOU DON'T STOP, YOU MIGHT KILL MY COMPANIONS..." I continued with anger in my voice "AND IF YOU DO THAT, I WILL KILL YOUR FAMILIES AFTER THAT, SO STOP WHILE I AM STILL GIVING YOU A CHANCE"
They gradually began to stop, some warriors looked at me with anger but with apprehension, my armor and weapon bathed in blood, Kali and Breu by my side were red as well, Kali received a spear blow on the hind leg, Breu seemed fine, his hooves shone in red.
We were, whether we wanted to or not, intimidating, and after almost a minute they stopped fighting and looked at me. They were afraid, but not of me, but of what they could lose if they continued fighting.
"Collect the bodies of your men and escort me to your chief... a true leader fights for his men, so that they do not lose their lives in a senseless way," I say, looking them in the eyes.
Upon approaching my group, I see everyone stained with blood, and I miss two of my men, so without asking I look around and see them fallen on the ground. Now, yes, I feel guilt; all the fervor of my blood begins to decrease.
"Dammit..." I say, looking at the two lying with empty eyes in the red snow.
I approach and close their eyes. After a moment of contemplation, I look at my sister and say: "Are you hurt?" I come close to her and start checking her; she has a lot of blood on her body, but apparently it is blood from her enemies.
I look at my living men and ask: "Are you hurt?"
Harhold looks at me with a sad countenance and says: "We are all fine. Just a few light wounds, the bronze plates you made us use helped us a lot..." He continued with a low voice while looking at the bodies of our colleagues: "But not enough."
"If it weren't for the arrows of these cowards... they wouldn't have died," said Korr with more anger than I imagined he was capable of.
"Let's cremate them... leaving the bodies here is bad. The ice specters might come to be born from one of them."
The men looked at me confused. "Wasn't it just a story, chief?"
"It is never just a story, Korr. The legends are there because they are a way to warn people in the future..."
"You are crazy, chief. These things are just stories. We should bury them as the customs command."
My tone changes to the cold tone of command: "I am not joking, Korr. Just do it. You might not understand, you might have never seen it, but this is for the sake of our future. A burned ally today can be one less enemy in the future. Imagine having to fight against your own family and friends..."
They looked at me with apprehension. I knew that was very sudden, but it was a thing that had to be changed. "Nobody would like that, right? So just say your goodbyes soon and then we will burn them."
I checked Orion, he had several scars, and for sure one of the biggest factors of the survival of my men, he fought bravely, and his armor, was marked in several places, cuts in his jaw, I don't know how a wildling managed to cut there and in the parts that had no armor, he for sure would be incapable of fighting for a few weeks, Kali limped, but the cut was not deep, a week and she was whole.
Just them was not enough, I needed more men, more beasts, if something of this type happened again, I would send a horde of beasts on my enemies, beasts with armor, I will not let my allies die, whether human or beasts.
"I need steel..." I sigh. "If I couldn't get it with the tools of the Thenn valley, now it won't be possible."
A few hours later...
I said nothing to the Bone-Ice about burning the bodies. Our relations were already not the best; managing to convince them against their customs was something that would backfire.
At this moment, I am sitting at a table, with my men and Sig right behind me. In front of me was the leader of the Bone-Ice; he had a far from friendly countenance.
I look into the eyes of the man who has not yet introduced himself and extend my hand. "We started badly, chief of the Bone-Ice, but we can start over. My name is Denovan" this time I choose not to introduce myself as the son of Sigorn, as is usually done, they always draw second conclusions.
The man hesitates for an instant, but I hear a slight sigh and he extends his hand, taking mine firmly.
"We start over then, Denovan, son of Sigorn. My name is Morn... but know that the 12 men you killed will not be revived just because we start over."
I look confused at him. He knows my father's name? someone from the battle warned him about me being the son of the Magnar? but how does this guy know his name?
I decide to ignore this, and say in a cold tone.
"And neither the two of mine who died by the arrows of your people."
The atmosphere was tense, but both Morn and I decided to ignore everything that happened momentarily.
"Say quickly what you want and leave. We don't have time."
"I am going to Hardhome and I want your people to go there when the time comes, and to follow my orders when they arrive there."
"HAHAHA... you kill my men and now you want us to follow you of good will? Do you think we are cowards, that will lower our heads just because you killed some of our warriors? You are just a crazy brat."
I sigh.
"We never sought this. Your elk-head man who..."
"Ketor... that was the name of the man you killed."
I look at him momentarily, I don't like being interrupted but I continue: "Ketor who decided to attack us. A man without honor, who decided to kill his men instead of honoring an individual combat. We wanted to talk to you, simple as that. His pride that caused this to your men..."
"I am giving you an opportunity, Morn. One to have better clothes, weapons, and armor, and to give more food to your people."
"You saw how 8 men managed to hold a horde of more than 40 men. We had better armor and clothes."
Ignoring everything I said, he spoke: "Don't talk as if my men had been defeated only by better weapons and armor. We have already killed crows, we have already made raids on the Wall! You defeated us because of those black beasts... and of you, who killed more than half of my men alone."
"That is not important no..."
"The death of my men is not important?! What..."
BAM! I gave a heavy punch on the rustic wooden table, making the wood crack and silencing the clan chief in the same instant. I looked deep into his eyes.
"Don't interrupt me again, Morn!" I said, my voice coming out cold and dangerous, while I ground my teeth. This guy was already getting on my nerves.
He recoiled a bit, and I breathed deeply, forcing the irritation to go down.
"What is important is not how your men died, Morn. They died on the battlefield and in a fair way. They died like true warriors, with weapons in their hands. We honor that," I continued, now in a more contained and pragmatic tone. "What matters now is food. Clothing. Armor. Steel weapons. Houses warmer than these torn tents."
I pointed out of the cabin, to the freezing wind that howled.
"I am offering you all this. You don't need to lower your head to me like a slave. I want you to come with me to Hardhome. I want us to build together a real city so that we can grow together, as a single people. And we won't need to kill each other by the thousands trying to climb that damn Wall of ice... We can build vessels capable of crossing the open sea. We can sell, buy or even loot in places where the lords of the South will never dare to follow us to this frozen desert."
Morn's countenance changed slowly. The irritation and wounded pride gave way to a deeply pensive expression. Finally, he was evaluating the proposal not as a resentful warrior, but as the leader that his clan needed him to be.
"And why would you give us all this, Denovan?" he asked, distrust still crawling in his voice.
-/-/-
Thank you for reading, leave a comment and a review to help me improve my writing and this story as a whole, and if you liked it give me your power stones.
If you want to support me even more, go to my Patreon, there are updated images of how I imagine the characters and for now, eight advanced chapter.
Just remove the space and put it on Google, I am sure you will find
patreon. com/ cw/ DanLyn.