The frozen wind of the far north blew with the tone of a low moan, or was it the moan of the people of the clan as they trudged through the heavy snow. Toward a destination they could not picture in their minds or in their hearts. As the freezing cold, bit through their flesh to cut at bone. To freeze their blood. To devour them as one devoured the meat from a Clefthoof or HoofBeast.
Amongst the clan of outcast humans, sent away from their homes by one who had once given them their freedom, and left to die in the cold north, a young girl watched as all around her, her people trudged through the snow. Her young body shivering, legs slowly going numb. Only the drive to survive, and to find greener pastures were the only force keeping her alive.
On the clan moved, spurned on by their Huntmaster, and then after a Snow Beast had taken his life in an ill fated hunt for food and warm furs, spurned on by his successor, a hard eyed and ill tempered hunter. And yet even as they walked, all around them death became their constant friend and companion, ever at the back of their minds.
The cold took some. Their bodies giving out, and laying flat in the cold to be swallowed by the snow. And others taken by the wilds, the savage beasts of this frozen world alien and unknown to them. Some with long arms and legs, and ran like hunched over humans using their knuckles which ended in sharp claws and whose white fur allowed them to hide in the snow before leaping upon unsuspecting prey. And others of great size and many claws and teeth. And sometimes wolves as tall as a grown man, who constantly trailed them to feed on the weak or the dead.
But still, the girl pushed on. Until at last, when the clan had lost almost half their numbers, did they find salvation.
The snow, giving way to dried grass. And the roar and crash of water against rocks. The sound of birds, sounding over head. And the smell of salt in their noses.
The cold was weaker now, but still present. But the dried grass, made excellent fuel for fire. And the sea provided the fish in which they could eat. It was their paradise, the place they would soon come to call home, and the man helped the girl as they felt the cold lighten. Beyond the dried grasses, past a small grove, stood the ocean, bold, powerful, and strong. He laid her down by a recently created fire, the heat causing her shivering to weaken, saw, in the grove of trees, a small pond. When he leaned forward to look at the pond, the smiling face of the Fire Man greeted him.
The man quickly rubbed his eyes, a light tingling feeling spread through him as he realized. This was were they were meant to be, this clan. It was definitely, truly, their paradise. He smiled and walked back toward the shivering people and began telling them what he had seen. Various cries of protest echoed through the people.
"He abandoned us!"
"We were banished!"
"We'll die here!"
The man shook his head, "No, we will prosper!" The new-leader of the clans didn't bother protesting, after all, he knew this place was their best hope. It would be later, but he would be taking care of this upstart. It was nothing more than a matter of time.
-6 Years Later...
Asger remembered those days with a vivid detail, those days back when they had first started trying. Some of the growers had tried their hands are making things come from the soil. A few things did, most notably potatoes, but most of their crops had not. The clans had worried something fearsome about what they would do for food, that is, until they found that fish were plentiful here and that many of the wild grasses and other vegetation were good for eating and various other necessities.
Because of this, and after the return of groups who had found no better land, the clans had chosen to settle in their current home, using the coastline as one side and breaking down rocks to create a sort of wall to shelter the other sides. Thankfully, due to the location they had chosen, there were cliffs as well, allowing them to create proper shelter below the cliff-tops from the higher winds above.
The winds from the sea proved to be less bothersome than they thought, after sealing off caves to create shelters for those more susceptible to the cold first, and then breaking into other caves to create new shelters. Perhaps most beneficial was the discovery of a nearby cove, one with a high ceiling that allowed them to put a dock in, and a shockingly large one. This, of course with the constant passing of other ships, had led them to the desire to create their own. Two years after their arrival, they had sent out a few ships, most of which had returned with some supplies.
With a hefty sigh, Asger looked out at the shipyards. Their ships weren't the best, and they knew it. They had seen what the other species had made and that had inspired them, though they needed something suiting them so they had gone for it and made a fleet of ships. It was only recently he had figured out the true story behind what their ships had been doing. Raiding, pillaging, and some had secretly brought back slaves.
He had freed some, and promised them freedom, but at the cost they help him man his ship and sail it off. They had all heartily agreed, as had those he found later. It had led to a ship with a rather large crew, but looked undersized due to the small amount of humans staffing it.
He finally, after reminiscing about the past with the Fire Man and reviewing his plans, made his way towards the dock workers, "How is it going?"
One of them looked up, "The ships have been holding out on voyages, so we should be good travelling far distances." The man rapped the side of one of the ships with his fist, "We also have that new design finished, so you can test it when you need to, Asger."
Asger nodded, "Good, I was planning to go out and trade for supplies soon," he looked towards the new ship with a hint of adoration. It was his pride and joy, a ship he had proposed and helped design, the BrannSpyd, a name he himself had come up with. Nothing special, he thought it sounded neat.
"Brilliant idea," the clan-leader responded as he approached. As usual, the man had two bodyguards with him, as well as his chosen weapon. Hard-eyes, those of a soulless man, met Asger's. "Perhaps you can take them with you," he said, referring to the so called criminals. These men, and women, were nothing more than those who had spoken out against their tyrannical leader.
"A good idea, I should think," Asger nodded, "Put them to use for the good of the clans." Asger kept eye contact with the leader and focused on that tugging sensation he had been feeling. When he felt it rise, he had a flash of a vision. All the rebels would be sent with him, and a spy would join them. The man was planning to destroy their ship, and thanks to this 'magic', Asger knew exactly that. He had used it before, but it seemed his need to take his leader down a notch, a need made of rage and powerful emotions, had helped this ability on.
"I'm glad to see we are in agreement," the leader smiled, nothing changing in his hard stare.
Asger simply nodded, "If you can bring them out now, we can go out immediately." A mere nod had more men dragging the prisoners out in ropes. They all looked starved, and shivered from the cold. None wore their furrs, as they should be. Asger's stare darkened.The men handing him the lead on the rope and he walked up the gangplank, noting the sy he had seen earlier at the end of the rope. Thiis fact was made obvious, for various reasons.
If you're going to send a spy, at least disguise the fact better. He winked down at one of the men below, getting a subtle nod in response. New ropes, better clothes, he mentally laughed, Its so blindingly obvious, you could be on the liver and know it. He kicked the gangplank down and cut all the ropes. The people stood there, looking at him in expectance. It was a small lot, but definitely what he needed to finish off the crew.
"Alright men, get this lot trained and get the rock up, we sail as we can," Asger nodded towards the others on the deck. They immediately dispersed, a few walking up to the ex-prisoners and pulling them off. "You," he called out to the spy as the man attempted to slink off, "Come with me." He motioned towards the back of the ship, stepping out of sight.
The spy reluctantly followed, "Yes sir?"
"What did you do to end up in the rocks?" Asger asked, making eye contact with the now clearly confused man.
"The rocks? I... I tried hitting Feltin with a rock," he answered. Asger raised an eyebrow, he hadn't heard about such a thing in awhile.
"Ah, you sure you weren't planted there?"
The man gulped, "No sir," was the typical and predictable response. The discomfort made it even more strikingly obvious.
"So you were sent her to kill all of us on the ship?"
"No!" the man protested. He shifted nervously and Asger looked out at the docks. He looked back at man, pulling on the tug again. A few images flashed before his eyes, mostly notably the plant extract the man planned to use to light the inside of the boat up and drilling a few holes in the hull. Asger grabbed the man and pulled out the small sack.
"I think you're lying," Asger smirked, "But, we won't be returning anyways. Doesn't stop me from throwing you off my ship."
"What? You'e not going back to your breeding little horse then?" The man hissed, speaking of the girl Asger had rescued, one he had basically adopted as his daughter. The young girl had lost everyone, everyone except him, it seemed.
Without a warning, Asger's foot connected with the man's stomach and he fell towards the edge of the boat, with a final shove, the man went overboard, "If you make it back, tell your leader we won't be back, not until I can save the rest. If I have to kill him, so be it, but you can be damn sure I won't be letting him go n for much longer." Asger pushed an empty barrel overboard and it bobbed up by the man with a splash.
He didn't let the man below speak as he returned to the main deck, "Problem is taken care of. Let's get as far as we can, quickly," he nodded to the man at the wheel and the ship shifted to the north. Its wake left the man bouncing in the water and the ship receding rather fastly towards the horizon.
Asger's promise to the spy rang through his own head. There had been something disturbing about what had happened to their people. The men had become burlier and meaner, they had even begun taking advantage of their women in disturbing ways, and there was a secret brothel out of the lower decks past the docks. This brothel specialized in all sorts of women and females. It had infuriated him, and he had made to leave it a present, one he hoped would end the practice.
Smirking, he made his way below decks, and opened the doors to the storage. Unlike his brethren, he had purposefully spoke to a trader who had arrived at their port and worked for a very very long period of time learning the languages he could, and despite how broken it was, he was reasonably sure he could get the message across.
"We left. Come out. We sail to homes," he said to the horses and various creatures gathered in front of him. The room was incredibly crowded, and it was no surprise because they had made out with a vast majority of the slaves that had been gathered on the Decks. They all made past him, breathing the air as deeply as they could. Once they had cleared out, he called out, "Brynn!"
The girl appeared at the back of the room, near a crate. She was much smaller than him, but she had become quite the woman. He was proud, very proud, "Yes father?"
"We've left the Decks, its safe for you to be out now," he said.
She grinned, "Really?"
"Yes," Agser smiled back. She hugged him giddily and raced out past him onto the upper decks of the ship. He could hear her whoop in glee. He chuckled, she had been a handful once she had become healthier, but it seemed to have been worth it. Asger laid back onto a crate at the back of the room sighing contentedly. "We're free at last," he said out loud, "And its a pretty wonderful feeling."
A shuffling from one of the crates stopped him. Cautiously standing, he called out, "If anyone is there, I've told you that you can go above decks and there is no longer a need to hide." Asger waited and the shuffling just continued. He approached the other side of the room, listening intently for the sound. When he found it, he tapped the crate. A moment later, it tapped back.
Tap. Tap.
Tap. Tap.
Tap. Tappy. Tap. Tap.
Tap. Tappy. Tap. Tap.
He frowned before grabbing one of the hammers that the craftsmen must have left behind, luckily, and began smacking the side of the crate off. Once he had opened it, he looked inside, the light from the candle on the wall, a makeshift lantern if you would, flickering gently. He peered into the darker spot, barely picking out the figure of a person.
A second later he was pinned to the ground by a grungy looking woman. She grunted and sputtered at him, her eyes showing only the barest of intelligence. Forcing himself not to hit her, he tried speaking, "Hello? What were you doing in a crate?"
She growled. Asger pushed her off and scrambled to his feet holding the hammer in front of him for protection. She glared at him menacingly and Asger felt that tug again. Embracing it, he threw it at the woman before him. She was blasted back into the crate. He waited before cautiously moving over to her to check to see if she was alive. When he touched her neck, feeling to see if she was breathing, he felt something like a roaring river racing over a waterfall, like the waves crashing against the cliffs, but further there was something else.
It felt... right. On an instinct, he threw the wind at the mind he felt and pushed away as much of the darkness as he could. He felt the tug again, pushing its way from the woman to himself. It took but a moment, but soon many things flicked through his mind. Giant structures lying destroyed and something glowing within, visions of a war of some sort, but most notably, he saw the Fire Man.
Asger's mind cleared, and felt even clearer than he ever remembered it being. The woman gave a sigh underneath him and he felt her relax. He thought about the pictures he had seen, most notably one he felt was far north, past the Decks, and immediately knew he had to find it. It could be something very, very important.
Author's Note
Well, here is the first chapter.
