Tanya,
Pest control is not the most glamorous job, but it was a Job, and one I could do with a skill I had acquired living at the feet of the mountain. Hunting wolves was not hard either, with the campaign I led to clean up the valley my wolves already had the basic understanding of how to work together to probe and find the weaknesses of enemy packs. And with help of the ravens that task became easier, as well. Over the course of an afternoon, I had located two packs and their relative disposition, now all that was left to engage them.
Leaving Thengir and his forces behind I moved quickly, riding ahead in the hope of catching the wolves out in the open and forcing an alpha fight.
Bringing them to combat though proved harder than I believed as the lesser wolves, as I mentally referred to them, were more numerous than my own so finding the pack was not hard, but they had their own system to secure their territory. When they saw my wolves coming they simply ran for it, my larger wolves and they must have a history of combat and they wished to avoid a fight with them. Their strategy was to simply run, which I had assumed would not be as effective as it was but considering they fled in all directions the few wolves I found were not really part of any pack structure I could take control of and I was forced to put them down.
Running was a reasonable strategy and it worked the first time, the second time not so much. On the second day of my hunt, I had several of my forces flank around their sides of the second group I knew was in the area allowing me to drive them into a canyon I had scouted during the night. I had also waited for Thengir forces to catch up as they would be needed for this new plan
With Thengir at one end and me at the other, I had the lesser wolves trapped and attempted to bring them to heel, after all, they were just wolves of smaller scale. I fought near horses-sized wolves, human-sized ones couldn't be that hard.
At least that is what I expected as I walked into the canyon with the wolves, spear at my side but not lowered at a threatening angle. I was carrying cooked meat and hoped that by appearing as friendly as possible I could simply woo the wolves to my side.
This proved a miscalculation as the wolves attacked me together, charging out from behind the rocks of the canyon where they had been hiding and attempting to murder me.
Thankfully I had chosen my ground well as the wolves could really only come at me two at a time, so after I killed the first pair with my spear, the ones that came at me had trouble getting over the bodies of those I had already killed. By the seventh wolf, my own wolves were at my sides and this seemed to tame the beasts. They fell back, scared of the larger wolves.
Knowing now that they would not be brought under control through alpha tactics, I was left with very few options. A beast that could not be tamed was useless to me, so I let my wolves off the leash and let them rampage through the lesser wolves.
It was bloody and a waste of some potential, but not something I could do much about. If the beasts could not be tamed they would remain a threat to my employer's interests. The best I could do in this situation was to rescue the wolf pups from the massacre. Perhaps, if they grew up among my pack or humans I was working with, they would be tamer and more manageable.
Over the course of an hour, my wolves worked their way through the valley, killing the lesser as we went. With each new group, I hoped they would be reasonable, that they would submit, but they didn't. When my wolves dispatched them I would look through what was left for pups, find them, and load them up into the saddles back on of my wolves.
Watching their parent die would probably not endear me to them, but I hoped they were young enough that it would not matter. They seemed to not be as intelligent as my own pack, so most likely they would forget... By the end of that day there my forces came out of the canyon to see Thengir's forces holding the line over piles of wolf bodies. If I had to guess it was a similar number to my own pack's kills so somewhere around 300 wolves were dead that could have been useful but had been too dumb or stubborn to take the out I gave them.
Shaking my head in disgust I walked up to Thengir. That valley was clear and the lesser wolves were dealt with. He nodded, looked at my face, and looked at the dead wolves before patting me on the shoulder. I smiled at that, he seemed to understand my disgust at the waste of their potential.
Pointing to the dead wolves he held up two fingers before shrugging. I smiled at that, there were two more packs out there. Assuming the ones I scattered regrouped at some point that meant I would have two more chances at getting these lesser wolves under control. I would have to be better and do better with diplomacy, perhaps things could be still turned around.
Waving Cunning over I reached into his saddle pack and pulled out one of the tamer pups, one that hadn't attempted to bite me, and presented it to Thengir. His eyes lit up as he reached out and took the wolf pup in both his arms. Cradling it in one arm he began to pet it, trying to put it at peace.
Looking around at the warriors who were watching the scene, I noted a few making some sort of sign that looked a bit like a hammer with their hands. That raised my eyebrow but it was not something for me to worry about. What I needed to worry about was properly compensating the men who helped hold the line for this little fight.
They killed half the wolves so I went through saddleback and pickled out the 50% tamest wolf pups and randomly handed them out to the warriors. They all seemed to take the fact that I was handing over the care to them in stride and smiled, taking their new ward with equanimity.
Probably because they thought if they didn't the wolves behind me would take offense and come at them, but that was a worry for another time.
Once wolf pups were handed out I signaled to Thengir the direction I believed the pack I scattered would regroup in and started to head to my wolves to mount up again. The day was still young and I had a second chance to be diplomatic about this.
Tanya
Tracking down the other known group took less time than I expected, then again coming to an understanding of how quickly my wolves could move compared to others was still something I was wrestling with.
The wolves had taken up a position on a hill to the extreme north of what I was thinking of as human territory. It was a defendable position if I had ever seen one, though not a city that could be used for ambushes. The slopes were just steep enough that it would be a bit of climb to get up it and, by the large number of boulders I saw on slopes mixed with the trees… It was very likely these wolves had developed a tactic of using the boulders as weapons, rolling them down at anyone that tried to invade their hilltop fortress.
It was a terrible thing to attack, but also the perfect environment for attempt number two. Launching an attack up that hill would result in injures, so that was just out, which left talking. Considering the last pack had preferred to fight to the death when pinned somewhere they didn't want to be, having this pack in a position of power, controlling a place that made them feel safe, maybe the way to get a dialogue going.
Ridding on Fierce I tapped the raven on my shoulder "Go find Thengir, lead him here at a leisurely pace." I had no idea if that would work but considering the Raven took flight and headed in the direction I believed Thengir would be coming from I would assume it had. With that handled, I signaled for my wolves to half circle the hill. I wanted to give them an out in case they decided to run, as it would be better for them to run than for me to have to do another extermination mission.
Plus the more the wolves felt like they had an option, the more likely that they would be willing to hear me out. Patting Fierce on the shoulder we began the ascent, heading up the wooded path to the top. Last time I had been a bit foolish and prideful when I attempted to take the last pack on, this time I would be more careful.
Ascending to the top of the hill I found something I did not expect. From the bottom and at a distance this hill had looked like any other tree-covered hill, with boulders and bushes breaking up the ground.
Up close that was not what I was looking at. What I thought was just a cover of trees hid stone walls. Old stone walls, 8 feet high, with crenulations running along the wall. The wall was old and looked like it had seen heavy abuses, with a couple of broken-down areas where something had knocked them down. Otherwise, it was in good shape, as even in those areas I would have to climb to gain entrance. In front of me, right on the path, was a gateway that had seen better days, the wooden doors hanging off the wall of the entrance by a few rusted metal hinges.
I Stepped off Fierce as there was no way I could ride him under the low arch of the entrances. I would have had to double over and I would rather look somewhat impressive when I met the wolves. Taking the saddlebag off Fierce's flank I pulled out some smoked meat and walked through the gateway.
As I opened the door I didn't know what I had expected, besides the rusted metal stressing and making noise. That I expected, and got. What I did not expect was the wolves sitting around a stone bench where an old man with a long white beard and an eye patch over his right eye ran his hand over their shoulder, petting them and seeming to be attempting to comfort them. He wore a simple green and brown cloak and had a spear at his side, with strange writing on the shaft.
The man looked up and smiled at me, pointing to the bench across from him and motioning me to sit. Well, this was not what I expected but this was a step in the right direction. If this man had already tamed the wolves to this will then I really just needed to negotiate with him, which would be easier if we could talk.
"I doubt that Tanya," the man said in Japanese without a hint of an accent. "Since you arrived you have been rather mistaken on a lot of things. You have done a wonderful job making the world fit your worldview, but not everything you see, hear, or smell is as it really is. Even your history is suspect, Rusted Silver." the man said with a smile as he petted one wolf head.
The assault, unexpected, knocked my legs out from under me and I sat heavily on the stone bench. I wanted to ask how he knew my language or what he was talking about with that 'rusted silver' phrase, it sounded familiar but I couldn't place it. But I led with the most all-encompassing question. "Who are you?"
"What would be better questioned, but I'm afraid such answers are best left for your mind to unravel." then he chuckled "But it doesn't mean I can't be cryptic and hint at the answer. I'm something that has watched over the people and animals of this planet for a long time. I was created to serve one purpose, modified to serve another purpose when the first died, and found yet another when that next one died. And your coming is signaling another change in purpose is coming, one that could see great things for this world or cast it further into the darkness we now enjoy.'" the man setting patting the head of the wolf.
"That's not very cryptic; that's more just leaving out details" I pointed out, hoping to push for a better answer than what I had gotten.
He simply smiled and said, "what can I say, programming is hard to fight."
That raised eyebrow, "programming?"
He simply smiled but said nothing. From that, I could take that he was not going to tell me more, or perhaps could not tell me more.
"Alright then. If you can't tell me about yourself, can you tell me about myself?" I asked, my eyebrow raised.
"I could, but you are on a journey of self-rediscovery, so taking that from you would be a shame. I simply thought to step in and give you a hand with the wolves. I saw how that last fight pained you, even if you tell yourself it was necessary, and the quicker you are set on your path the better this world will be."
"Thank you, I guess,' I said before a thought occurred to me, "you say you can't tell me who I was, and you can't tell me who you are, am I to assume you can't tell me who sent me to this world?"
Immediately the old man's smile faded, "It's not a who, it's a what. And no, it's not Being X."
"Who-" a massive headache hit and memories flooded back, of conversations with that so-called god dressed in a toga as he attempted to judge me after the train had hit me, while he had the gall to complain about having to do his own job. I would be astonished at the laziness of that so-called god's work ethic if I wasn't trying to hold my head together.
"Yeah, that's what I expected. Unlocking the memories for yourself without someone poking at it will be easier. It will take longer, but you have time." The bearded man said as he stood up from the rock he had been sitting on.
"These wolves will listen to you, now. There is only one pack left to hunt, and if you approach them as you did these you should be able to get them to listen to you. Do good for this planet, White Silver, it needs someone who can do more than I can do." His voice had taken a rougher edge to it. "And stay out of the tunnels under the mountains, what lies beneath the surface of this planet has no empathy for those who live in Midgard."
I looked up from my pain just in time to see him turn away and disappear. One moment he was there, the next he took a step and he was gone as if he had never been there to begin with.
If I didn't have a massive headache I might try to ask the world what the hell that was about, but as it was I just filed that under not my problem for now. Taking out the jerky I handed the food out to the wolves, gaining their trust if not their loyalty. Once I was sure they would not attack me, I went about trying to figure out what to do about them.
When I came with wolf pups that had been easier, integration overtime was a soft sale. With these 100 or so lesser wolves that lived in this run downhill fort… Well, they would be set in their ways and unlikely to join with humanity even in little things.
Then the best option was… Looking to Fierce I smiled and moved over to him, taking the saddlebag full of food off his side and leaving it open in front of him. The other wolves looked at the food with barely restrained hunger but, tapping my foot to get their attention, I pointed at the wolves than at the food, then to Fierce. What I wanted to convey was that if they wanted food they would have to submit to Fierce as their alpha, I wasn't sure they got it as one wolf broke and tried to get the food.
Fierce smashed its head into the ground under its paw, holding it there just inches from the food. A tense moment, but none of the other wolves moved to attack. Another wolf came forward slowly and took one piece, before backing away its head bowed. Then another. After the third Fierce let the wolf who tried its luck go and it did as the others. Smiling I signaled to Fierce he needed to stay here and keep control of these wolves while I would go down the hill and get some of the pack to join him. Hopefully, with a small group of my wolves to keep these lesser wolves' urges in check, I could keep this pack from causing any trouble for the humans.
Nodding his understanding I petted him on the shoulder and moved back out the door I came in, heading back down the hill. Once there I detailed 20 of my wolves to head back uphill to keep an eye on them. With that wolf group, two-handled there was only group three left if Thengir to be believed. Where this third group was I didn't know but I figured Thengir would have a good idea, so mounting up on cunning I gathered my wolves and headed in the direction of my employer.
King Thengir of Russ, eastern shores of Asaheim
The Kingdom of Russ, North East territory
Fenris
"Traitorous neighbors and fools! Who starts a war at the start of winter!" I muttered keeping my head down as another wave of arrows pattered off my housecarls' raised shields. We had been making good time trying to catch up with Tanya as she was making good time toward what we assumed was one of the wild wolf packs when the first volley of arrows came out of the trees and killed my horse and 40 of my men. Since then the situation had degraded, I was relying on my Housecarls to keep their shield up while we attempted to make our way to a nearby village. The position we had on the road was untenable and the bastard had archers hiding behind trees and bushes every mile.
I was peeved, the alliance that had kept the peace in Helwinter had not been broken in 20 years, and some moron had decided not only to break it but to try and kill me! I could see the plan, if I had died Russ would be disorganized in the winter, and perhaps the wolves that young moronic lord stirred up would finish the Russ off. It was a simple plan, but it would not to come to pass today. I had been through this tomfoolery before.
My Housecarl were the best trained on Asaheim, if not all of Fenris. They knew that my life was important for the survival of Russ and they would sell their lives dearly before they let some crap archers take it.
Getting back but keeping my head low I tried to consider who was responsible for this assassination attempt. Part me wanted to blame the young fool who stirred up the wolves but, though he may be a moron, I doubted he had a death wish. Stirring up the wolves before a hard Helwinter and then trying to kill one of the major leaders on Asaheim, that would get you hunted down by the other leader.
No the person behind this would most likely be someone in my ballpark, someone with a lot of strength in case their plan fell through and blaming the young fool didn't work.
Farthegn, then. That bastard controlled a good portion of the western shores, just beyond the mountains that spanned the continent of Asaheim. Most likely he heard about the young fool's mistake and saw this good opportunity to sow chaos in the eastern shores. Once everyone was weakened he'd march in with his army and claim control of this side of the continent.
That was the kinda warlord Farthegn was. He had watched him take over the other side of the continent with interest but had never had a good opportunity to deal with that possibility.
Well unless there was some opportunistic moron among his own people trying to kill him, something he would run down to be sure. He had a reason now, and once Helwinter was over he'd make that bastard pay. Didn't matter what favor he had to call in, he would gather every lord on this side of the continent and make sure that Farthegn was defanged.
Another volley came out of the trees and I ducked low as a few more of my guards fell dead. At the current rate, I believed we would make it to the nearby village. From there I would have the manpower and position to deal with the assassins if they didn't flee, but it would be a close-run thing if they kept getting lucky shots off into the weak points of my warriors' armor.
Holding the wolf Tanya had given to me I rubbed its head for good fortune, we would need some of that by the end of today, "Sire, look!" one of my warriors shouted over the sound as metal and wood met. Looking down the road I saw the roadblock in my plans for survival. Rather a large one.
There were narrow points in the road where the archers had set up a wooden barricade, an 8-foot high wall. To get past that we would either have to break up the formation to get around or over or loosen up the formation to take it apart. Either one would be a disaster, but they had not left it unguarded. Standing behind the wooded wall weres a dozen archers who were loading some odd contraptions that looked like a bow with wooden crosses. They pointed them at us and I ducked down just in time as the bolt cast from the strange bow ripped through the armor of my front line,
I heard word of something like this, a weapon found on the western coast. Farthegn really wanted this little murder plot to succeed if he shipped some of those over the mountains.
Well, then… My choices had been thoroughly limited. I could not waste time trying to climb the wall as that would expose us to the fire of the regular bows, and I could not stay here as the crossbows would cut us down 12 at a time. There was really only one choice.
Drawing my sword in my right-hand, wolf pup in left for good luck, I called "Men of Russ! Take that wall!" My order was followed to the letter as the shield square formation dissolved into a headlong charge toward the wall. Men at the edges were shot down by bowmen and the crossbowmen unleashed another volley into the front line, but the pure pressure of the charge and hate toward our tormentors carried us forward.
Like a wave, the line hit the large wall and flowed around it. What lay beyond it I didn't see as I was headed toward the center of the line and hit the wall, staying in what little cover it provided from crossbowmen.
My men had taken on forts of such size before, so even if there were no entrances around the sides my man knew taking the wall was important. Already they were working in teams to help each other get up the wood wall. The tree used in its construction, having not been properly cleaned, had plenty of handhold to uses.
"Form up to defend the rear!" I called, knowing as long as we were smashed up against this wall our back was an open target and that was something that we needed to mitigate.
The archers in the wood knew this as well and arrows began to increase in the volume of fire, each shot looking for a weak point in my men's armor. not all would find one that would kill, the rate by which my men were falling was increasing.
Then a noise broke the air, a loud howl that broke through the sounds of our battle and sent a chill through everyone's bones. The arrows slowed, then screams came from the east, followed by more howls. More screaming and more howls at a steady rate, moving closer from the east, continued as my man did their best to try to take the temporary tower and get to the crossbowman. Then the bowman who had been hiding ran out of the woods, quickly followed by Blackmaneds. The wolves showed no mercy as they rushed out of the trees, biting deeply and ripping Limbs from the humans who let them come into the biting distance. A moment later the chosen of the Allfather came, riding out of the wood astride her wolf and sword made of bone in one hand, slashing at the people who had been filling my men full arrow not a moment ago.
An Archer turned and fired arrows at her only for her to strike arrows out of the air with her sword and direct her wolf toward the man who tried to shoot her, his head did not stay on his body after one good bite.
With the enemy behind us now busy with the monsters of the mountains, my men could now focus on taking the tower. A few already found their way in, from the look of it, as one of the crossbowmen fell from the tower next to me with an ax buried deeply in his chest. After a few moments, his companions followed suit, being thrown or falling out of the tower man by man, only to be stabbed or chopped by those who had not found their way in. With the wolves clearing the area of the bowmen… I would say we won.
A cheer For Russ went up as the men realized the threat was over, a small celebration before they went to work searching the bodies for loot and seeing if there were was anything to do for those who had fallen in the fight. Stepping out of the group my man I moved to thank Tanya for her timely arrival that clinched us victory over the forces that had tried to kill me. Then stopped to watch her as she dismounted and started to care for her wolves.
She was proving to be Allfather sent, and a small part of me dared to hope that she was, but it was always possible that the rune priests had simply misplaced one of their numbers. They always seemed to have a connection with the ravens of this world.
But her height was abnormal enough that she could be a child of the Allfather and the control of the wolf brethren had not been seen outside of legends. If she really had slain the Black Demon of the mountains, then well that would cement her as Allfather sent, something that would create great change on this world.
The question was how best to use a demi-god, that was what plagued my mind. Right now using her to make sure wolves would not be an issue for this winter was fine but someone with so much potential could serve many roles, and to leave her in a role of wolf whisperer would be a waste.
I admit what I wanted was clear to me, someone to take over and lead Russ after me, someone to take over my watch of the Russ to guard them 24 months out the year and lead them to greatness. But I worried about the potential candidates currently in the running, warlords of minor statures, hunters, and heroes of the north wastes with a modicum of fame. The ones who I knew of were Ill suited, more caring about personal glory than the people they would rule.
So watching Tanya get off her wolf and start tending to the wolves she guided, caring for the wounds, checking they were in good condition instead coming to me to gain fame… It was inspiring. It spoke of a loyalty to those she guided that I had not seen from potential rulers in a long time.
Smiling I made up my mind and approached her, sheathing my sword and patting her on the shoulder as she seemed more worried about a wound on the wolf's side "Men! Bring me bandages and help our calvaries tend to her wolves." I called as knelt down next to her to offer any help, she smiled and reached over to pet the head of the wolf pup I still carried.
Loyal to her people, caring for her charges, and fierce for her allies. She would make an excellent next king, and if Allfather had sent her to me I would be a fool not to see that she accrued the fame and abilities needed to lead them.
Chapter 8, Legend Building 1
Tanya
Eastern shores of Asaheim, The Kingdom of Russ, Northwest territory Fenris
14 months since awakening in the pod
Damn was it cold outside, I thought as I sat in the woods surrounded by a motley crew of my wolves and valuable human volunteers who learned to show the wild animal enough respect to not get snapped at. Not many were foolish enough to take the wolves as something tame that would deal with human bullshit, but enough fingers were missing from those who fucked around that anyone who continued to work with them had to be the cream of the crop, which made them valuable assistants I kept an eye on.
And I needed all the assistants I could get my hands on with tonight's prey. There was a monster in these woods, something that was playing hell on the civilian populations and since the fearsome thing on the planet tended to be wolves and I was the king's wolf manager that meant I had to volunteer myself to deal with the monster. Granted I also had the best chance of surviving of the local adventure stalk, my altered biology was too useful a tool not to abuse it for my own profit. And now that I was part of the system of this world I had access to enough tools and supplies to really have some fun.
But I get ahead of myself. It had been two months since I met the king in the woods. At the time I didn't know he was the king, of course, but things had been looking up ever since then. After the fight against the assassins that tried to take him out, which at the time I simply took as brigands trying to kill my employers, he had invited me and my wolves with him to a nearby town.
The town had not been a splendid place, simple wood sheds with tree logs embedded in the ground and sharpened to keep out the animals, but it had been enough for the king and his men to feel safe and party. They bought out all the booze and meat they could get from the village and shared not only among themselves but with myself and my pack too. Watching some wolves and ravens stumble around drunkenly had been entertaining but I had made use of that time to talk with soldiers and did the best I could to learn the words for meat and alcohol, weapons and armor, and anything else I could get.
By the next time I talked to the king in the morning, I was able to have a few words mixed in with our pantomiming, and what words they were. Figuring out that he was a king had not been hard, the amount of money he dropped the night before was a sign of wealth, but finding out he wanted to hire my services on a permanent basis had taken a bit.
I would have been a fool not to take such an opportunity but I had endeavored to clarify my contract on the matter of my pack. It was through them that much of my possible success could be achieved and to abandon them would be a foolish move.
Thankfully the king was also interested in my potential to train the wolf pups I handed out the day before. That had not been in my plan when I did that but I was glad I did as it secured another way I could raise my worth in this society. It was a simple contract that we then entered: I, as the leader of my wolves, would work to train up the next generation of wolves so that they would be able to help humanity and would bring down any other mountain wolve tribes that entered his territory, something I was more than with familiar with thanks to my time on the mountain.
In exchange, he would pay me a good stipend so I could build myself a little home near his castle and feed my wolves. It was a damn good starter deal so I shook on it, thinking I could improve on my options later if need be. With my future secured I traveled with his housecarls back to Castle Russ, setting up my wolves in an abandoned barn outside the castle grounds. And thus began the processes of integrating myself into this medieval society.
Something that proved not hard at all. With funding, I was able to pay for a woodcutter's time, and with the help of my wolves for transport, I kept the costs down. I was quickly able to build myself a modest house with some help of the locals. And then I had to talk with a lot of tradesmen as my unusually large frame required specially made furniture. By the end of my first month, I not only had a warm home to call my own but also had had enough interactions with tradesmen of this world that I could speak the language well enough that I felt I could communicate adequately. Well really I felt that way after the first week but I thought I could make myself clear with more eloquence by the end of the month.
By the start of the second month, I had a secured a good enough home and stable income which meant it was time to expand. I didn't know how long my biological clock had on it, maybe I would have a human standard of 100 or maybe more. On the other hand maybe all those neat tricks I had came at the expense of my lifespan and I only had 49 years left on my life. I didn't know and as it was I could not sit back and depend on the king's stipend
So the second month was divided between two pastimes, Wolf training and helping the human housecarls who came by my home to learn how to train their wolf pups so that they were loyal to them and able to hunt.
I would take my wolves out and hunt the megafauna, bringing down beasts and letting them eat their fill. I then brought back the furs and bones and what meat was left back to local markets, supplementing my income. This money I used to secure more resources for myself, commissioning armor in the colors the king used from the local armorer in order to show my loyalty as well upgrading my arsenal. Often my elkhorn weapons were sharper than the metal tool I had made, but they could and would break in a fight so having professionals create a real sword for me, as well some chainlinks to go under the leather I commissioned, was a necessity..
It had taken time for the sword to be created, the blade after all had to be adjusted to my size. Since I was tall enough that a two-handed sword could be wielded with one that meant it was nearly 4 feet long, not to mention I'd let a bit of my inner nationalist come through and had them create a single-bladed sword. The style here was European, with one blade on both sides, but I had them create something closer to a katana, though not properly made as there had been several alterations in the design. Having something I could keep sharp without having to worry about breaking it would do wonders for my hunting of animals.
I had asked for a simple tool and, besides my requested design choice, it should have been rather plain. this however turned out to be not true and I was a bit surprised to find that the craftsman had taken initiative on his own and etched a wolf into the cross guard of the blade. It was good work and I had been prepared to give him extra for that little mark of ownership I could use in an emergency, but he refused and said something about how a chosen of the Allfather deserved the best and it was an honor to make the best. I'm not sure what that was about but free sword upgrade is free sword upgrade so I was not about to turn it down.
Yes, using their faith in some supposed god-like being to my advantage was a bit underhanded, but they weren't demeaned. I may not have faith in their god but I believe that he existed since I suspected that I had already met him. The old man I met in the fortress and his teleportation trick, who was he and what he was about I didn't know but I suspected he was not a god, not like the damnable Being X at least.
Being X was some parasitic entity that preyed on the hopes and dreams of people while he did nothing for them and simply shoved them onto their next reincarnation in life. He had abused whatever power he had to create a world or place me in a world destined for war to try test my convictions, to force me to believe in him.
This Allfather hadn't demanded anything, he asked to help his people in ways he could not which implied he had some ability to help them already but at the same time acknowledged limits. People did seem to think of him as a god but it was worth considering he had been around a long time and had tried to help, seemingly in an advisory role.
I doubted he was either God or even a god, I suspected the old adage that any sufficiently advanced sciences will appear as magic to those who can not figure it out was in play. He was long-lived, had the ability to teleport, and had mentioned programming. Factor in a few pieces of evidence I had that humanity had once been more advanced than they were right now, such as the tunnel that appeared to have been bored Through the Black Demon's mountain and Russ Castle having a large amount of poured cement used in its construction near the older section while the new section was using bricks cut to size… I believed it was reasonable to assume that I was dealing with some highly advanced AI.
What this AI's original purpose was, I didn't know. It apparently had been modified several times by its own words, but seemed to have a goal to help humanity which was okay in my book. If it wanted to selflessly help the people of this world I was not going to complain if folk thought of it as a god. Though I suspected there may be more to the story, and answers probably laid in that tunnel network he warned me from going into.
At the moment, that was not my concern. I didn't care what secrets it hid as long as they didn't affect my life, and if there were monsters down there… Well, I was paid to hunt monsters attacking humans, not monsters leaving them alone by living in faraway tunnels.
Besides the conundrum of religion on this planet, the only other major thing that I had happened in my time setting up my new life was the constant number of shieldmaiden knocking down my door.
Fenris was a harsh planet, humanity survived here by luck and giale, which meant everyone fought and no one quit. So i had suspected that female humans of this planet would have a military leaning, but this had led to them also having a certain… boldness in their opinions.
The shield maidens in question were wives of the housecarl I had given wolves to, and they had heard the story I was some wild woman from the wilderness. I had not mentioned the whole being taken in by the wolves things but they seemed to have decided that I must have been raised by them. They had gone out of their way to "turn me into a proper woman of Fenris". They did their best to teach me how to care for my hair, which I will admit I hadn't done much for. Wolves didn't care if I looked professional and I didn't have too much time to do more than make sure I didn't have monster gunk in it.
They took my wild mane of bedhead and turned it into an interesting affair, most of it was tied up into a ponytail at the back but some had been swapped down to the right side of my head, with two braids coming down the side. It wasn't exactly something I would have gone for but this was apparently the social norm and when in Rome best do as Romans do. The only real issue I had was that one of the locks that were meant to be swept down to the right slowly raised throughout the day till it was nearly straight up. It reminded me a bit of an ahoge, something I'd rather not have on my head as everything else looked a bit professional to men. So I worked hard to keep the lockdown throughout the day and I hoped it would just go away in time.
They also suggested that I start looking for more 'Russ' styles of armors and things I could add to my gear, some I did implement as appearing as Russ as possible would allow me to secure my position quicker.
This is how I got myself in my current mess. There were monsters that needed to be killed. And I knew that if I did it would show my usefulness to the king outside of the wolves taming I did. So when the king invited me to a feast and brought up the subject of an attack along the border that needed to be dealt with I stood up and offered my services right away.
So here I was outside, not warm in any way, with a bunch of men who wanted to also prove their worth to the king and had jumped up to offer to help the moment I had done so. From my pack, Fierce and Cunning were here along with 25 wolves that I trusted to work well with my human forces. Though I accidentally changed their names when the king had asked me what I called them while noting my dependence on them. Being that I mentally referred to them by adjectives for so long It seems that I told him the names I used in Fenrisian, which was Freki and Geri. Everyone around me had then used that name when referring about them and well… Freki and Geri was a bit better than Fierce and Cunning, so I went with it. They didn't seem to mind, they liked the head pat they got for doing their job well.
And the plan for today's operation was simple: we waited. Fenris was a hell world when it came to the environment and the creatures. Yes, we could go hunting the monster in its habitat, tire ourselves out, and be slowly picked off as it chose its battles. Or we could look at a map of the territory it had been going through to determine its general direction, rush to the town that it was probably going to attack next, and build a small line of people who checked up on each other every couple of minutes.
That is what we had done, not even a terrible strategy really. We were out in the open, camping and pretty much having a merry time. Someone had brought a little alcohol though I had demanded that everyone only drink sparingly, since we didn't know how long we would be out there. Though I had to promise we would drink our fill after the kill.
There had been some grumbles but as long as they got a little alcohol every once in a while no one seemed to complain too much. And we needed to be sharp because, as I said, the monster had no enemies. It would be brave, it would be bold, and it would attack.
Humanity was not the top dog amongst the species on this planet, it was just one of many and not even near the top. So a monster like this, who lived its times in the mountains fighting other monsters just as vicious as itself, should see us as nothing but gnats. This was an unfortunate truth but something we could use to our advantage.
I had placed myself in the volunteers willing to be live bait for the monster, and yes that was a dangerous prospect but one I was willing to accept. I trusted the wolves to have my back, and if things really went South all the wolves here had saddlebags strapped to their sides that the humans could grab on while we ran for our lives.
Hopefully, that wouldn't happen but you never know with unknown mysterious monsters. I mean, for all I know I was about to fight Godzilla. Though most likely it was just one of the many massive wolves I kept seeing up in the mountains looking down into our little valley while we lived at the mountain's feet.
At least that's what I thought to write up till I heard a massive tree be thrown through the forest into a couple of other trees, knocking them over.
Getting up from a log I had been sitting on I signaled at my wolves to circle the area and tried to wave over the volunteer humans so we could form some sort of defense.
Whatever we were fighting or about to fight could throw trees and it was big. As far as I've seen wolves couldn't rip trees out by the roots, so who knew what monster we were dealing with.
"OH, alfather… NO! It's an Ice Troll!" One of my volunteers screamed before he turned tail and fled in the other direction.
I wanted to ask what he was talking about and what an ice troll was but he was gone faster than I could get a word out. And with the rest of volunteers looking like they were ready to bolt at a moment's notice I figured asking questions and getting more information on the exact nature of the beast would frighten those who were less scared into actually running. Better to appear competent and in control of the situation than confused and having no idea.
Morale is a fickle thing and can easily be broken by one wrong word, and I needed the morale up for whatever this creature was. Drawing my sword I waited for whatever this thing was to come closer. The sounds it was making told me it was at least moving in our general direction and I saw a few trees topple at a distance.
I was starting to wonder how slow this damn beast would be when the smell hit me. I don't often think about smells as a tactical advantage, preferring to use my eyes and hit the target in the light of the day. But I knew that my ability to smell was far superior than what it should be.
I could tell which of my volunteers had bothered to get themselves a good cleaning in the last week and that was a bit of knowledge I'd rather not think about most of the time. I could even tell Freki and Geri apart simply by the smell of their fur, which was mildly impressive.
The smell I was smelling now was familiar, very familiar in fact to something I had fought before, but not a wolf. No, this smelled of Yeti but somehow worse. It was an ugly decaying smell, something that reeked of death and wet fur.
Having that few moments of extra knowledge of where the beast was coming from was invaluable as I was able to immediately point in the general direction it was coming and say loudly to the men "it comes from that way, move to your prepared positions and ready your bows."
The men hearing my voice seemed to at least respond and immediately moved behind trees and raised their bows, a few of them lighting the end of javelins with pitch.
I was unfamiliar enough with the beast that I had no idea if that was actually effective or not but I figured at the bare minimum the trees were wet enough they wouldn't catch on fire and burn the whole forest down around us. Any flames they put out in the general direction of the creature would at least backlit it and make the next shots and throws more accurate.
Holding the blade in both hands I waited, watching the woods. The banging had stopped but I knew it was out there, probably trying to determine what would be the best avenue of attack if it was sentient.
Or if it wasn't maybe it was simply counting its chickens before they were hatched. Either was possible since I had no idea on the level of intelligence of these creatures.
Said creature obviously had decided that it had enough potential strength to win any fight that happened and came charging out that thicker part of the forest I had been pointing to. I was tall but the thing charging me was absolutely gigantic, standing somewhere close to double my height and covered in white fur. In its left hand it wielded a tree trunk as if it was a massive club and in its right, it had a giant boulder.
So at minimum it had the intelligence of a great ape and the body of a giant, not something I was looking forward to fighting. Not something I would ever want to fight, in fact. I considered making a move to step away but the volunteers worked against me in this aspect as they were witnesses. Unless I was willing to waste valuable human resources that were already training to work with my wolves I didn't want to upset my status in their eyes.
Taking a breath I calmed myself, steadied my hands on both my blades, and waited. The beast was charging directly at me without a care in the world, seeming intent on smashing me with that tree. I stood my ground and waited till the last moment. Something interrupted as someone thre a flaming javelin directly into the beast's face.
If I was a more shallow human, or a fool, I might have been insulted that someone had just taken the first strike. as It was… Well the beast immediately took its eyes off of me and whacked the trunk it was carrying into a tree resulting in shards of wood being sent in the general direction of the man who fired the arrow. I heard a scream which told me that someone was injured, hopefully not the guy who just bought me the moment of time as I already owed him a thank you for the opening. With a couple steps I was beside the beast and, remembering the few kendo lessons I had in my youth, I slashed the back of the creature's leg open.
A thing I regretted as I saw the blood start sizzling on the metal blade, there was probably no way around the fact I was going to need to take my sword in for repairs. But considering the roar, and the fact that it went down to one knee, it seemed that my money had been well spent.
The beast turned to try and face me, bringing the tree down to where I had been standing, but I sidestepped out of its path and then slashed up, cutting the underside of its arm then dodging back to avoid the spray of blood.
The smell off of the things seemed to just get worse with each cut, I didn't know if they just naturally stank inside themselves or if the chemical acid just smelled that bad but I could swear I could see the area around the creature distorting with the odor.
Then the mega yeti, or ice troll as the volunteer had informed me, was down to just the rock it was carrying in its other hand and one good leg. It attempted to get back up but apparently, I'd cut a lot deeper than I thought because I heard a sickening crunch and the leg shifted in a way that implied to me that the bone had broken.
Careful to avoid the ass, I moved up behind it and slashed the blade along the last leg as deep as I could. I cut in fact too deep as when it reached the other side I was missing half of the blade.
It looked like the acid had eaten through portions of the blade, causing it to snap inside the beast as it hit the bone.
If I ever fought another one of these things I was going to have to make sure to have plenty of spare swords, or spare spears. Something I could easily replace because that just cost me half of my budget for a month.
Stepping back I saw that the beast was not going anywhere, both its legs were ruined and the arm that I had cut was not strong enough to pull it in any way. It attempted to throw the Rock at me but, well, I had faster reflexes and was able to dodge out of the way.
Looking at the men who had volunteered to help I simply pointed the broken sword at the creature and said "Burn this monster!".
That seemed to break the silence that seemed to have fallen into the clearing and they let loosed their arrows into the creature, which seemed to penetrate enough to cause it pain but wasn't really killing it.
Shrugging I went to the camp and grabbed one of the six barrels of alcohol I purchased as reward and carried it to the beast, ripping the cap off of it. Careful to stay out of its range of its broken arm I dumped the contents onto its back where it quickly got set alike by the flaming javalins buried in its sides. The screaming was not exactly great, however it did wonders to remove the smell
Having accomplished that I sat back and let the men pepper it with a few more arrows. There was not much more I could do. I could let my wolves chew on it but its heart was buried somewhere deep in its chest so it wouldn't die quickly. I would need a spear to be able to get at it and with its chest on the ground, I would have to penetrate through its spinal cord or find some way around it.
So the best option to kill the thing was to simply let it burn until it took so much damage that it could just not recover.
It took some time but, after 5 minutes, it stopped screaming. About 5 minutes later the volunteers stopped shooting it with arrows.
Carefully I stood up from the tree I had been leaning against and walked over to inspect it then had one of the volunteers hand me over his sword. With careful movements I sliced its head off, just to be sure it was dead, and then handed it back with a promise to pay for a new one when we got back to civilization.
And with the monster killed I had time to check up on the wounded volunteer that had first shot the beast. Walking over there I found that he was alive though his upper arm had been penetrated by a wooden splinter the length of his lower arm. He seemed otherwise all right so I called over Geri, pulled out medical supplies, and got to work carefully bandaging him up. Pulling the piece of wood out right now would just make sure he'd bleed out quicker, so the best option was to get him to somewhere warm where he could be operated in safety and with whatever local drugs they had to numb the pain if possible. Once I was sure it was secure I helped him up onto Geri's back and told my wolf to take the wounded man to the nearest village.
The wolf noted his understanding and immediately set off, with the wounded volunteer holding tightly onto the saddlebags that made a makeshift saddle. I should really investigate how to create a saddle and see if I could make something for my wolves, they were big enough that the average human could definitely use them as a Calvary animal. Just needed the right equipment.
King Thengir of Russ
Eastern shores of Asaheim, The Kingdom of Russ, Fenris
I smiled as I listened to the news reports coming out from my kingdom, it has been 3 months since I had recruited Tanya to my kingdom's forces. And she had proven herself more than adequate as a wolf handler and was showing herself to be a proper King candidate with every day.
For the first month I had been a bit worried as she had not done much more than deal with the last remnants of the wolves, bringing them in line and helping a few of my housecarl train their own animals. Besides that, she had seemed stuck in her own project of building a nice little house. I had been there and it was a rather simple affair, effective but not exactly a place built for a king. It was right there, humble really and that was a good sign that she was well and truly what I was looking for in a replacement.
But I had slowly been pushing for her to get her legend growing. Starting last month I had started to talk about problems the kingdom was facing with certain monsters coming down from the mountains whenever she was in the room.
I assumed she was looking for things to fight and so, since that is where she was from originally as far as I could piece together from our conversations, presenting an opportunity for her to go fight these creatures thus seemed like the perfect bait.
And, starting with the ice troll, she had taken the opportunity. Every time I'd mentioned there was a problem she'd volunteered to go take it out, often with a big smile on her face as if she was a conquering hero. And the nobles and housecarls ate it up. The best part was that she didn't even cause too much problems when anyone wanted to come to witness her fights. The only demand she ever made when someone wanted to go with her was that they had to be ready to fight as well.
Something that every man of Fenris was already willing to do, but nobles didn't normally go out and do adventuring unless they were the ones in charge.
Something about Tanya was so charismatic that even the most stubborn Noble was willing to go see what she was up to. Since Lord Tyr, who had taken a wound fighting the ice troll with her on that first adventure, had received some of the credit thanks to Tanya's willingness to share a lot more nobles were volunteering to go with her.
Having the opportunity to claim you rode and fought with a chosen of the Allfather was an intoxicating possibility for many nobles. And I would not be surprised if a few of them wouldn't try to prove their worth to her in hopes to attract her as a wife. It was inevitable: where young men went, hormones would cloud their judgment.
Hadn't happened yet, or at least Tanya had not brought up any incidents to my concern, so I wasn't worrying about it just yet.
What I was more worried about was the spring which was coming in 3 months. Now winter would be over and we would be entering a time of normality, when that happened it would be possible to send a force across the mountains to deal with the treacherous king Farthegn. By then I hoped that her legend as a monster killer would have grown so wide that I could name her as the commander of the expedition across the mountains to deal with him.
There was a chance she would say no, but she seemed to like a fight as long as it was for a good cause and that treacherous bastard had tried to break the peace. What better cause would there be than bring him down?
Even if there was always a possibility of failure they should at least create enough damage on the other side of the continent that the treacherous bastard would not be able to pull something like this again for the next decade. And if she did succeed she would have proven herself worthy to not only myself but to anyone who may want to challenge her.
I'm sure someone like the young fool or any other of the minor Lords on this side of the continent might eventually try prevent her from taking what I was about to offer, but I had a good feeling.
Tanya would become a Russ and she would lead my people well after I was gone. With the legend sprouting around her now growing quickly with each monster she fought and killed, I doubted that anyone would have the courage to go against her when she officially became a Russ.