Rested with his snow-burned back towards the roaring flames.
The unusual fires burned the gray coloured wood that crackled and charred giving an ashen flame's glow and bathing the sleeping figure in a silver light
The blue and black marks covering the rest of his body were wrapped in cloth that did not match anything they had brought with them. Ren's eyes shifted wearily as he got up to his feet and walked over to him.
Reaching down to him, a firm hand could be felt putting pressure on his back. With Ren facing away from the group that was huddled near the crackling fire, they could not see the strange item he pulled from the satchel on his belt.
Once he was done, the First Sword got up and sat back in his seat, waiting for something to happen.
The group all waited alongside the First Sword, until they watched as the hunter rose from his slumber, feeling as though he had been taken over by flames that coursed through his veins, a sensation that border between ecstasy and pain before quickly subsiding leaving him gasping for air as his breath steamed in the freezing air.
Gallard dropped what he was carrying and rushed over to the hunter, doing his best to drag him closer to the life-giving flames.
"I'm all right, I was just resting…"
"But you weren't moving…the only sign that I got of you even breathing came after the First Sword approached you, I think he did something after touching you" Gaining his full attention after what he said.
"Both of you should calm yourselves, and you, hunter needn't worry. I simply shook you away. Now are you going to tell us where we are, and why that beast is here" Pointing at the mouth of a cliff hanging high above them in the canyon.
From what Gallard could remember, the creature has been circling above them before perching nearby at the start of each morning.
"Each morning…how long have we been here?" The hunter wondered, looking around at the camp that was noticeable more
Each night spent there, the bird grew more curious, flying longer above them, and perching even closer.
Turning to the beast that seemed a little different through the milky haze of his exhausted eyes. The cold of the surroundings had faded into a dull warmth as his body gave into the weakness and his world was swallowed by darkness.
"Hunter! Hunter!" The external voices sounded with little strength to pull him from the depths he had fallen into.
As if it had caught a scent of fresh prey, the giant beast descended on the camp, but doing so with barely a noise from the flap of its wings. They were swept up in a storm of blinding feathers before they parted as the beast took to the skies, carrying the hunter in its talons.
Despite the obvious danger of traveling through the endless stormy lands of Thrymheimr, both Gallard and Ren understood that the hunter was their best chance at returning to Middenheim.
Entrusting the last of the surviving knights to watch over the camp, Ren lit a torch with the ghostly flames and chased after the beast.
While Gallard would have joined the pursuit, the amount of ground that Ren was able to cover in his initial sprint as the beast rose higher and higher above the canyon, he understood that he would only slow him down, and instead was struck with a different idea.
After having to bear the wash of the storms passing over him at least four times, Ren continued his march. Occasionally, the First Sword would pull out his blade, gazing at the runes carved along its blade before marching against the layered ,mounds of snow.
His path brought on through no storms though it made the howls of vivid shapes in the distance much clearer. With the sense of danger closing in, Ren continued to push on ahead feeling only the change of the winds, again he felt the intense blizzard change into freezing rain, while his vision cleared, making his path that more visible.
Drawing out his blade once more, his vision shut off completely before the darkness passed, allowing him to wake up. In front him was the entrance into another valley, this time marked with gigantic statues of two beings.
From within the way ahead, he could hear rushing winds, the First Sword stumbled in, trying to shake off the frost hindering his limbs.
Keeping himself from falling by using the walls as a guide, the warmth coming from them was enough to bring about a sleep.
Passing out again, he awoke again, he was in a different place, now standing in front of a rushing waterfall, streaming down a rocky peak that extended past the mouth of the valley.
"What!" He tried to recall what brought him there when he noticed his wounded arm. Two lateral cuts against his hand. Instinctively, he drew his blade, but now the part of the runes no longer possessed their azure glow.
"It was twice already…" He sat back, before taking a deep drink from the water, quenching his thirst. With the realization of what was happening, he got comfortable and simply waited. This time a whistling wind came by before the darkness fell again.
With his gaze now greeted by the sight of impeccable greenery and a forest of auburn colored trees rising high into the gray-scaled skies.
A stinging sensation came from his arm, without even looking, he already knew that he was once again scarred. Removing his cloak with the intense humidity of the place he now stood, he drew his blade once more, and stared at the remaining faded runes.
The subtle glow sparked his senses, and like a hound that has caught a scent, he moved with impressive capability.
Running through the forest, with his gaze turned up, he would find the silhouette of something that shared the same hue and with that he discovered the bird beast's nest.
With a firm grip and a display of his returning strength, he threw his blade, and with a piercing shriek.
When he reached the source of the cry, he discovered the frightened bird soaring into the air, as it searched for him, Ren appeared above it and drove his sword through its wing, downing it.
His broken edged sword was readied as he rode the beast into the dirt. After taking to the ground with a heavy crash, he stood on its head and its wounded wing, before raising his sword. He would have slayed the beast if Gode hadn't leapt down from the nest.
Falling between them to protect the bird. Using cloth from his shirt to stem the bleeding, confusing Ren who watched the exhausted hunter frantically work to stem the bleeding, even calling to Ren to focus and help him.
After Gode managed to stop the bleeding, the creature began to heal but to their surprise, the beast began to molt, losing its feathers and beneath the mound was a pale skinned lady, with thick curly hair that was enough to cover her entire alluring form, with a darkness that resembled the night sky and eyes of the deepest blue.
When the beast turned lady came to, she was once again in the safety of her nest. Resting atop a bed of auburn and golden feathers, she drew in the cloak that was wrapped around herself, before getting up and began searching for her clothing.
Strangely, the first thing she did was sniff the air, hoping to catch the scent of the hunter, only to find that it was still close.
The bird was close enough for the hunter to grapple and tie up., with Ren standing and helping to subdue it. The bird eventually relaxed at the touch of the hunter.
"I am going to remove your restraints, however I will expect your cooperation. You brought me here, and I don't know why, can you help me understand that?" The beast lady nodded, before letting go of his arms.
True to his word, much to Ren's shock, he cut the restraints, and allowed her to dress herself before they spoke. Sitting down against the trunk of the gigantic auburn tree, the hunter silently wondered how Ren was able to find them, but before he could speak up, the beast lady returned with a concerning vigor.
"I am now proper. You wish to speak to me, yes?" While it was quite obvious, through the confusion that arose after being snatched by her, it was now plain to see that she was twice as large as them, a frame fitting a giant despite the elegance of her striking beauty.
"Please, you may call me, Sosrylgr. What would you have me use as your name, hunter?"
"He is known as Ren and I am Gode."
"Then what brings you to Jotunheim, Gode the Hunter?"
"We were pulled in by the winds of your realm while we tried to traverse the Elemainn Forest.
"Those woods are forbidden to the mortal and have been so for some time. Could you not tell from all the signs that were placed. Surely none of your kind believed they could best the beast's we've scattered across the forest" She said, with a tone that felt mocking
"You speak so callously. You think had we known, I would have left my warriors to enter such a trap"
"Well if they had heeded Hunter Gode they would have survived, he did warn them against attracting any of the bears, did he not?"
"How could you possibly know any of that? Were you just watching us, waiting to see us die at the hands of those monsters?"
"No. I did however discover the truth after I learnt that the Gateway I use to leave my home, was compromised by outsiders.
"One moment, are you suggesting that the Elemainn Forest has a gateway that you use from this realm?"
"Yes, how else would I leave Thrymheimr to venture into Middenheim."
"Then allow me to make a request, aid us in leaving this place. You can decide what spoils we've collected are yours for the taking, we simply cannot remain here for very long."
"If it means you are removed from my home, I shall aid in whatever capacity I can. But you must regale me with tales from Middenheim. It was some time anyone had time to, or that I could journey through the world amassing stories."
It took some convincing but the lack of malice or cruelty in the hunter's eyes was easy for the bird to tell, as she found that his touch did not frighten her.
She was hesitant but Gode convinced her to join him at their camp with Ren expecting an explanation of what she was doing to him during him chasing her.
They were to return to the camp on the condition that Gode spent a day in the forest, to recover. While they would have refuted, their bodies spoke for them when they felt the full mercy of their fatigue and her magic.
"Worry not, for we are bound by an oath, and will see me return you home." Gode felt her voice fade into whispers the moment he locked eyes with her.
"Like snow under the bluest moon" He let out, faintly.