Ch4
Gertrude POV
Gertrude watched as her sons Dan and Sven took aim with their slingshots, magically crafted from sinew and bone. Their faces were etched with intense concentration, eyes narrowing as they focused and tried to hit the target under the tutelage and watchful eyes of their savior, Erik the healer.
'But he's not just a healer' she thought glancing at the bone white slingshot – an organic weapon that seemed almost alive in his hands 'Flesh weaver would be a more fitting name'
She remembered how Erik had fashioned these the two slingshots from the flesh and bones of the auroch – a massive temperamental beast that he had found and slain with the help of his animal companions. Somehow, using what she could only describe as some kind of flesh magic, he had simply plucked the sinew out from the bull's flesh as easily as one would pull a stray hair out of a soup. Then with a few simple movements, he had molded its bones as simply as one makes dough and easily reshaped them to form the handles of the weapons. Thus in a few moments he had crafted two magnificent slingshots for his brothers to play with.
He had also crafted a bone white spear for her that he had then infused with something black he called carbon fiber and claimed it be almost as strong as steel. She had yet to test his claim but she believed him given his honestly and crazy magical powers
Her thoughts drifted back to her sons practicing with their strange new toys, their pellets missing the target by a wide margin. She chuckled softly. 'At least they're having fun,' she mused, though her smile was tinged with amusement and fondness. 'Even if the wizard is arming them with magic stink pellets.'
Not only was the slingshot made from fleshy magic but its ammunition was also a unique thing.
The pellets were an oddity - made from some rubbery material that popped on impact were filled with the nastiest smelling liquid she had even smelt. Worse was that when one got some of that smelly liquid on them, it clung to anything it touched for days no matter how much you washed and scrubbed it He had called it skunk spray.
He had demonstrated its effectiveness when one the wolves of his pack was being unruly and tried to bite her younger son. A single pellet and the poor beast fell thrashing where it stood vigorously scratching and its nose and rubbing it on every surface around to no avail. Even his pack avoided him like the plague for the next few days.
'Combine the slingshot with the skunk pellet and you have an effective weapon to stop enemies in their tracks' she thought as her sons missed the target again ' provided my sons can aim it right'
They had made camp as dusk fell. She had cooked the fresh meat , the air tinged with the scent of cooked meat—Erik's beasts had brought them fresh kills. Gertrude's mind drifted to the impending journey home.
'Tomorrow we'll reach our village' she thought as she smelt the ocean breeze in the air as they were very close to the coast where her fishing village was located.
As she ate her thoughts inadvertently wandered to her family.
' They'd be worried sick ' she thought worriedly 'Some of them are probably out there even now looking for us. Henrik's the best tracker and warg in the village, maybe he found the trail I was leaving' she thought in concern as there was no sgin of him 'but then why hasn't he found me yet.'
She worried for Henrik, her husband as she ate absentmindedly.
Erik left her sons to their practice and came over the campfire. He sat down and started eating from the mound of food that was on his wooden plate. He always ate as much as half a dozen people would, devouring food with a voracious appetite. It was amazing seeing him gobble down food in one go that would have fed her whole family for a day or two. She had noticed he was a little bulkier than before as well.
"How can ye eat so much?" she asked curious. They had been travelling together for over a week and this was the first time she had felt comfortable enough to talk to Erik casually "do ye have an extra stomach or two in there?'
Erik paused for a moment, the look of surprise on his face at hearing her start a conversation. The surprised looked quickly turned to one of amusement at her question
"After all you've seen me do, that's the thing you ask?" Erik asked chuckling
She pouted at him laughing at her.
"To answer your question, Actually I only have a single normal stomach. I simply use my powers to quickly absorb the food and drawing its energy to strengthen my body making it tougher and bulkier. A tougher body with greater energy reserves means I have extra energy to mold flesh and fight more effectively"
Gertrude nodded thoughtfully. He did have a tall and very muscular body. She blushed a little, unwilling recalling the sight of him going for a swim, naked in the freezing waters of a river yesterday.
"So, it's not a power gifted by the old gods?" She asked focusing on the conversation "Is that why you need so much food?"
"No. Definitely not the Old gods" Erik replied between eating his food "Have you ever experience them doing something this dramatic?"
"No" she said shaking her head negatively "But who else could it be? No other gods are of nature and healing"
"Maybe" he replied.
"So How'd you become this …. flesh weaver?" she asked "If not the gods, when how…..."
"Flesh weaver?" he repeated the name humming thoughtfully "It's a fair description of my abilities but I would prefer Life weaver as my abilities include plants and flesh both" He pondered then nodded to himself "Life weaver it is. I like it. Thank you for finding an appropriate name for my abilities. As for your other question … It was a divine being that gifted these powers to me. So, it was a god possibly one of the old gods"
"Oh" Gertrude replied not sure what to say to that "Well it doesn't matter whoever gave them to you so long as you use it for good. Like when you saved us from the wolves. Thank ye for that"
"Will you stop thanking me already? You have thanked me daily! It is more than enough.It was the right thing to do" he shrugged before change the topic of conversation "So …tell me about your village?"
And so, she told him everything about her wonderful little village and all the people that lived there including her family, their traditions and the place she called home.
Later, they all retreated into their separate tents. Gertrude lay in her bedroll beside her children, feeling a mixture of safety and longing. The beasts patrolled the perimeter, keeping watch, yet her mind drifted to her family—what dangers might be chasing after them, what fate awaited her.
Early next morning as they sat by the fire and ate breakfast, she broached a topic that was on her mind.
"Erik" she asked "Are you a Crow?"
"What?" he asked confused before understanding dawned "You mean a man of the night's watch?" and she nodded
"I was one. I have left it since I have awakened my powers."
"So, yer a deserter?" she asked
"Not exactly" he answered "You see I was born among free folk that lived near the Wall. They died in the last long winter trying to keep me alive. The Night's watchmen found me and took me in. They saved me, raised me and trained me. So, I served them for the last few years. But now that all my teammates are dead, I barely survived serving them, I escaped so that they would assume I was also killed by the snow bear that killed my patrol team."
"That's good" she said smiling in relief "So you're not really a crow or a southern kneeler. You are one of us that has returned. But that still leaves us with a problem"
"What's that?" he asked curiously.
"We free folk have a long history of hatred with the Crows. If you come to the village dresses in all black people will not trust you even if you have saved me. Some might just attack you"
"Hmm. You make a valid point. Let's see" he said as he put one hand on the tree he was leaning against and closed his eyes in concentration. Slowly right in front of her eyes his black clothes started turning green and, in a few minutes, he wore green clothes under his chainmail. Then he put his hand on the chainmail and it too gained a greenish tint. Finally, a green cape grew out from his shoulders and flowed behind him. The tree withered slightly and several leaves turned brown and fell.
Her children gasped and pointed in awe at his clothes.
"Green man" she muttered recalling the tales of holy men that wore green, had headdresses with horns and rode elks.
"Better?" He asked
"Yes" Gertrude managed, her voice trembling with awe and a hint of fear in her shocked state at seeing him changing his clothes so easily. She felt equal parts fear and awe at the amazing powers and what it could do to the living tree. What it could do to her.
'No, this is wrong!' she reprimanded herself squashing the irrational fear 'Erik's never used his powers to harm us. After all he's done for us, he doesn't deserve fear but admiration at his restraint and good use of his powers'
"Why green?" she asked.
"It's easier when I'm taking Chlorophyll, the green stuff from the trees" he said "Besides I like green and it suits the whole healer thing I have got going"
'He's starting to look and sound like a Green man that grandma told stories of.' She thought remembering the tales of wise holy men connected to the old gods 'But they have been around for several centuries. I will talk to him about it later. He grew up with the Crows so maybe he doesn't know our folk lore'
Soon they got back to eating chatting amicably.
Erik suddenly stopped eating and quickly got up.
"Can you please pack up the camp after you're done eating?" he asked as he quickly walked over to his horse "I will be back shortly"
"Alright. But why? What happened?" She asked in alarm at his sudden shift of demeanor "I'll fetch my spear."
"Calm down. Everything's alright. There's no danger "he replied as he hopped on the horse "My animal friends just spotted something quite interesting. It's galloping away from us as we speak so I have to be quick if I want to catch up to it. I'll be back by the time you're done packing the camp."
He quickly turned to leave singing strange words that sounded like 'Gotta catch em all'
Gertrude frowned. "Is that… some kind of incantation?"
He just laughed as he rode off.
They continued their breakfast then packed up the camp.
It was almost noon when he returned.
Her children gasped and pointed at something behind her. She whirled around quickly and stopped in shock at what she saw.
"By the old gods" she gasped stunned
Erik had returned but he was not on his horse. He was siting leisurely atop a massive elk that was calmly striding towards them. As it came close, she saw that it was twice as tall as herself from head to toe. It's massive and dangerous looking antlers gleamed white in the sun were almost as wide as it was tall. She had heard of these massive elks in stories only as they had not been seen by her generation. It stopped close by and Erik had to jump down to get off its back. Another smaller female elk shyly followed behind them.
When the giant elk stepped into view, she forgot to breathe. It was like something torn from the oldest tales—massive, regal, its antlers gleaming white in the sunlight.
"Gertrude, boys" he greeted "I'd like you to meet Kahuna, the giant elk"
The boys hesitantly moved forward and petted the massive elk who in turn gently leaned down to greet them and smell them. Gerturde however was still in a state of shock at seeing a mighty beast she'd only heard of in old tales
'He's a green man' she thought 'Old god's chosen. They have sent these Giant elk's our way. Everything he does is exactly what green men were known to do. His actions echo the old legends. Only he doesn't know that'
And in that moment, watching the creature bow its head to her sons, she realized: maybe the Old Gods still watched over them after all—and that maybe what she was witnessing was the beginning of something grand that the old gods have planned for them all.
"Come along now we can get to your village even faster now" Erik said
"What?" she asked to stunned to speak, her eyes still glued to the giant elk twice her height.
"Now we have more than enough beasts for everyone to ride" Erik explained with a smile "You can ride Luna, my horse while the children can ride the female giant elk" seeing her look nervous at the idea "Don't worry they are both under my control and while the Kahuna is bit temperamental, the female elk is quite gentle once you get past her skittish nature"
Gertrude nodded slowly, overwhelmed by the wonder and the power surrounding her.
They worked together to utilize their new mounts effectively. Erik used his flesh crafting to craft saddles with a retractable rope ladder at on side as the giant elks were too tall to climb unaided. Once finished they distributed their camp supplies and essentials onto the three beasts and started the journey towards her village.
Author notes
A comment hinted that they wanted to see bio tinker powers used to make super powerful creatures. They will be formed later on in the story, that and so much more. For now the MC is starting up cautiously and in a medieval society that means subtle enhancements that don't stand out or he could be subject to irrational fear.