Author's Note

Back again, my friends, sorry for the weight, but I'm back at school and working full time. I got some time off for fall break and promised myself that I would work on this story. Updates are going to be slower than usual and I'm sorry but I will try to provide good chapters as fast as I can.

Until next time read and enjoy.

Helga's cloak: https://www.amazon.com/Fanteecy-Renaissance-Medieval-Winter-Gothic/dp/B07X8XCS23

Season of the witch begins

On a lone road in Equestria, a luxurious cart was being pulled by two giant war beasts and guarded by a dozen Stonehoof soldiers who all grumbled as the cold winds blew in their faces and snow came down by the bucket full. They headed towards a large camp near the town of Appaloosa per the king's order. Still, given that the former railroad that ran there was destroyed during the beginning of the Stonehoof attack, it would be at least another few days before they would see hide nor hair of the location. One of the unicorn soldiers finally spoke up to the commander who was leading the party.

"Commander, the storm is getting thicker by the second. Should we stop and make camp?" He asked, trying to keep his vision clear of the flurries that assaulted his face.

"No," The caribou commander spoke. "We can still see, and we keep going until we can't."

"We may have to stop anyway." A voice spoke, and another caribou pointed to several fallen trees that now blocked their path.

"Hm, get the axes and clear a path," The commander ordered before giving the driver a signal to stop. As the carriage came to a halt, a knocking came from the door that leads inside, making him walk over and slide the panel from the observation door, letting him see inside. "What do you want, witch?"

"Why have we stopped?" Helga asked as she stroked her sleeping daughter's hair while the both of them shared a heavy fur blanket.

"Fallen trees, we'll be on the move again in an hour tops." The commander answered.

"A wise leader would take this time to make a camp or face conditions that would make a frost giant shiver," Helga said with a smirk looking at him through the small sliding door. "But whoever said you were wise?"

The commander growled, slamming the door shut, and joined the group to see how long it would take to move the lumber.

"Mother?" The young cow mumbled as she stirred in her sleep.

"Yes, my child?" Helga answered. "What is it?"

"Are we almost there?"

"Almost my sweet, go back to sleep."

"Can you tell me a story?"

"Of course, Sigyn," Helga answered as she thought for a moment. "How about a story of home?" She asked, getting a murmur of approval from her child. Thinking for a moment, Helga let out a deep breath and began to remember the home she had left when she was a little more than her daughter's age.

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The land knew two seasons: cold and colder, but every so often, there was the rare occasion of sunny and almost warm. Helga recalled that it was on one of these days that she had met the bull who would be the only one to know her flesh and always have her heart. She remembered the fields, the village, and she remembered the mountain, the mountain that he came down from.

It was a day like any other. The various creatures of the village set at the base of the great Steel Mountain were thriving due to the legend of one of the founders performing a service for the Æsir and Vanir gods. Blacksmiths forged weapons so solid and sharp they were said to cut through anvils like air, harvests were always plentiful and lush, clothes were made of the softest and warmest pelts imaginable, the small village rarely knew strife. The life Helga knew was one of hard work, prayers to Odin, and love. Her father was a herdsman. He brought in mammoths for the village for work, fur, and occasionally tusks while her mother was….well she did it all: baked bread, sewed clothes, chopped wood, fixed problems around the house, and still had time to be a mother and wife to her family. Helga helped with the garden and took care of the mammoth offspring when needed. On this day, Helga was unlike today; she was young, beautiful, her coat was alive with dark brown chocolate color. She still possessed both her eyes tending to a few adolescent mammoths when there was a commotion in the middle of the village.

"Calm on Baasu, give me your hoof," Helga commanded a mammoth about twice her size. The young mammoth gave a defying trumpet, backing away from the caribou cow. "Oh, you big baby, come here!" She said, stomping towards the mammoth. As Helga continued to approach, another mammoth wrapped its trunk around her waist, pulling her back.

"Idaa! I'm busy; we'll play together later!" Helga cried, trying to wriggle free. As she tried harder, a third and larger mammoth came to her rescue, putting her down and acting as a buffer between Helga and Idaa. "Thank you, Bhuma, now Baasu, come here, or I call for Daud." She threatened, still approaching the young mammoth who plopped down laying on his belly when he heard the name. "That's a good wooly boy." She laughed, rubbing his head like a loving pet. As she began cleaning the beast's large foot when she heard dozens of villagers run by up the main path that led up the mountain, causing Helga to halt her work as one of the villagers stopped and called over to her.

"Wooly-woman! Come on!" The villager shouted. "Black-Tusk is coming down the mountain!" Helga ignored the unflattering nickname and quickly dropped her tools as she ran after the growing mob. They ran further up the mountain to a large stone totem that marked the first marker up the mountain path. Helga pushed her way through the crowd as best she could until she was a row or two behind the front and could see a small wagon pulled by a pair of large rams and led by a caribou that could be mistaken for a bear. As he came closer, everyone began to part and made a path for him to pull his cart through before he came to a stop near the middle of town, where there was a well. After he pulled the bucket up and started filling a few jugs, he turned and scanned the crowd before finally speaking.

"You all do know it's rude to stare, right?" The large caribou asked.

"It's just been a while, Tabor." One of the crowd said. "You don't usually come down from the peak for anything.

" Well, I had someone bug me to no end," Tabor answered, moving to the back of the wagon and opening the curtain. "Boy! Come on; you bothered me all night to-WOAH!" He cried as a young adult caribou jumped out of the wagon, securing a satchel across his chest, and was about to take off and explore the village until Tabor grabbed one of his antlers, stopping him in his tracks. "TAD I SWEAR- I'm leaving in three hours and be back at the marker before then," He scolded the caribou. The latter nodded to him as he let him go, and Tad took off. "AND STAY SAFE!"

Helga watched him run off and marvel at almost everything he saw. His action made Helga chuckle as he seemed to be encapsulated by a stall in the middle of the market selling carved wood figures. With the excitement over, Helga made to return to her chores and her day. After finishing cleaning mammoth toes, it can be time to milk some of the various mothers of the herd, but as she started on one of the females, a noise behind her made her stop and turn.

"GAH!" " AAH!" Helga screamed in surprise as well, as the person behind her did the same and jumped back a bit. It was the young caribou who had come down the mountain with Black-Tusk, who nearly dropped the journal and pencil he was holding.

"Give a girl a heart attack. Why don't you?" Helga exhaled, trying to calm her racing heart?

"Sorry, sorry, I was just curious and didn't want to disturb you." Tad gasped for air himself. "I wanted to see how such beasts are tamed."

"Well, first off, we don't tame our mammoth family members; we try for something more mutual, and second," Helga explained, standing from her stool. "If you're curious, then I'll teach you." She said, pushing him down onto the seat.

"What?!" Tad said in surprise as Helga guided his hands to the teats of the female mammoth. "I've never done anything like this before; I don't know how to even-." He tried to ramble.

"Just breathe and keep in mind that a gentle hand goes well with a steady one," Helga told him and began helping him with the initial motion. "There now, just keep that up until the bucket is full."

Tad kept up the motion for a few minutes, getting a few approving sounds from the giant beast. Soon the bucket came close to overflowing, and Helga replacing it, continued to watch Tad take to the chore as a fish takes to water. As he continued, the mammoth's trunk reached back and started petting Tad's head affectionately and making soft noises of appreciation.

"Hey," Tad laughed. "Hey, cut it out." He squirmed as the female mammoth tickled him. "What is she doing?"

"You're doing an outstanding job." Helga laughed as she grabbed a few cups from a cupboard. "She wants to let you know that, gives some insight to what kind of a husband you'll make." Helga suddenly stopped at what she had said without thinking.

"Oh yeah, I'd be a real catch," Tad snorted. "Built like a fishbone, lives on the peak of a mountain, and is a natural at milking mammoths." Helga snickered before handing him a cup full of fresh milk from the bucket.

"Smells like writing charcoal, hair needs to be brushed and likes long moonlit walks on the cold beach," Helga said, pulling up another stool. "Does that sound about right to you?"

"Oh yeah, I'll have to beat them off with a stick when you describe me like that." He chuckled, taking a drink from the cup. "Damn, that is good stuff." Helga nodded in agreement as the two began swapping stories and looking through some of Tad's journals full of drawings and notes. Time seemed to stop for the both of them like the entire world could just fall away, and they wouldn't notice.

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"Oi which!" A voice outside the carriage yelled as someone banged on the side.

Helga sighed and answered. "Yes? Can I help you?"

"We're making camp." One of the older caribou opened the door. "Let's go before I freeze to death." He snarled.

"Of course," Helga said. "Sigyn, get up, dear." She said to her daughter, who stood up still groggy from being half asleep—bundling her daughter in the blanket and pulling on an old cloak with a fur collar. Helga stepped off first and helped her daughter as the warrior began to lead them to a makeshift camp with several small-sized tents for the other warriors, with one large one that would be for Helga and Sigyn.

"Mother, I had a vision on the carriage." Sign spoke. Helga led her into the tent and set her down on a small bed that the soldiers prepared for her with her mothers not too far away. "Through steam and a beam of light, blood will flow from a bastard's sight."

"Hmm, strange indeed," Helga said, spotting a large brass tub that was steaming hot. "We'll talk about this after you bathe. I will be gathering my herbs from the carriage." Sigyn nodded as her mother left and grabbed the youngest of the caribou soldiers having his stand guard at the entrance of the tent, giving him strict orders not to let anyone but her pass him and not to let his eyes wander.

Sigyn looked at the young warrior who met her gaze before turning around, knowing that if he looked, the witch would flay him alive just to prove she wasn't joking. Sigyn walled to the tub before beginning to undress, revealing a body untouched by any but her mother and had not been known by any creature of either sex. Stepping into the tub, the female caribou began to wash herself of any grime she had on her and general hygiene. As she continued, she didn't notice a knife cutting a small hole in the tent about five feet away from her and the tub. On the other side of that hole, a stallion crouched and looked through the makeshift peephole and watched Sigyn with a creeping smile.

"Hey, come on, move." A caribou said, trying to shove him so he could get a look.

"Shut up, or you'll get us caught." The stallion replied, continuing to peep.

"You said I'd get to look too." The caribou growled before shoving the stallion away and looking through the hole just in time to see Sigyn take a bronze pitcher and pour it over her head. "By Freya, she is a prime piece." He muttered as he watched.

"Yeah, now move," The stallion said, shoving the caribou away. "My plan. I get to look longer." He snapped, putting his eye to the tear again. As soon as he looked through, an object met the stallion with a fearsome blow to his face that made him stumble back from the hole, clutching his eye and screaming in pain. The cries of pain alerted the rest of the Stonehoof, who quickly ran to his aid and found him on the ground, blood gushing from his right eye and black bruising on his face.

"What happened?" The commander asked before seeing the cut in the tent and began to get an idea. The commander walked to the entrance of Helga's tent, where the young bull that was guarding it was no longer there. Stepping inside, he found not only him but Helga and her daughter, the latter of whom was dressed in a thick robe and appeared to be attempting to read the palm of the male caribou's palm. At the same time, they sat cross-legged on the ground, and her mother brushed her hair with a Dane ax close by, with the back end having a spike that still dripped red with blood. The commander approached them before speaking. "Mind telling me why one of my soldiers now might be short of an eye?"

"Bastard looked where he shouldn't have," Helga answered simply without looking away from her task. "Anything to tell the bull, my child?"

Sigyn thought for a moment and traced the lines off his palm before speaking. "A golden sun shines on his future while his calling is to a city made of precious stones; he will suffer first though and see his heart broken before mended together again by a creature with as many faces as the sky has stars."

"What does that mean?" The young caribou asked.

"It means to get back to your post, or I shove my boot up your arse." The commander growled as he grabbed him by his antler and dragged him to the tent's opening. "And you," He pointed at Helga. "You're on thin ice as it is, Which." He warned as he walked out.

"He seems tense," Sigyn said, getting a laugh from Helga.

"He'll lighten up when he's dead," Helga said as she pulled her daughter's hair into a ponytail. "Which if my vision is correct should be….now."

Just as quickly as she spoke, they heard the sound of steel meeting flesh as the young caribou came running in with several arrows in his shoulder and one in his leg. He didn't address them, only turned to face what threat may come. Just behind him ran in three warriors, each in very odd armor. One was in armor that looked like it was made of plant reeds and wore a blank mask while carrying an odd-looking spear; the next was nearly double the size of the first warrior and had a large club with iron studs on it with a mask covering their face that looked like a beetle's face; the last was a tall warrior in armor that looked strong and light and looked to be made of material similar to gold while his helmet resembled a stag beetles pincers, he stood in the middle of the two other warriors; he carried a large curved blade over twelve feet in length on his shoulders. The tent had quickly become a powder keg, and the four warriors were made of sparks. Helga decided to splash some water on this before it got out of hand.

"Well, here I have royalty in my tent and no tea to serve." She said as she walked between the two groups. "King Thorax, would you please have a seat while I prepare some." The warrior in the gold armor stepped forward and removed his helmet, revealing the golden face of the one changeling now reformling Thorax. His face is the same as when he changed into a reformling but had a large scar through his left eyebrow. Handing off his weapon and helmet, Thorax stood before her and spoke.

"How….how do you know my name?"

"That is best discussed over tea, perhaps with milk as well." Helga smiled.