The Hour of the Bear
Kairn passed through the woods swift like the wind, now he was the hunter, taking the shortest route to anticipate the moves of his prey while being unnoticed, verifying from time to time the position of the Vanirs.
His spirited chase continued till dusk, when the procession stopped.
The woman stood up with her arms raised, facing the dying sun.
Kairn observed from afar the warriors kneel in front of the sleigh as the woman intonate a chant.
Her argentine voice filled the air with an arcane thrill that sent shivers down the spine of the young Cimmerian, evoking
superstitious terrors in his soul and profane desires in his flesh.
The last echo of the otherworldly words vanished, engulfed by the impending darkness, and the warriors begun to prepare for the night.
They lit a fire and consumed a silent meal while the bears crouched in their place,asleep.
Kairn patiently waited as they, one by one wrapped in their furs inside the improvised repairs they made for the night.
Only the woman and the two colossi seemed unaffected by sleep, their eyes pointed on the flames of the fire camp as seeing something denied to others.
Then, as obeying some sort of order or maybe a whim the woman begun to dance on the pile of severed heads on top of the sleigh.
A mellifluous dance, which lasciviousness increased as the flames of the fire grown higher crackling and fizzling.
Kairn observed as she laid her body voluptuously over the trophies collected by her men.
With her legs obscenely spread in front of the fire she toyed with the heads as a child would do with a ball.
Holding them in front of her face mockingly, making them roll around as she moved haphazardly, cuddling them onto her breasts.
It was like where was no end to her depravity as she slowly lowered one of those down her body, pressing the purple
lips of that dead mouth against her skin, an obscene parody of a lover's kissing, until she reached her nether parts, holding tight with her thighs she begun to rock back and fro.
From where he was Kairn could hear her laughters and little screams of joy while engaging in that revolting display of
necrophilia.
With his disgust and his desire stronger than ever he averted his gaze from that sight and ventured into the night.
Not far from there was a location that offered the perfect opportunity for an
ambush, he should have to be there in time for the preparatives.
Until that moment the warpack avoided passages that could hide a number of enemies or expose them to a volley of
arrows or launch of spears, and there were always scouts controlling the surroundings before the sleigh's passage.
But not far from there was a rock boarding the road from which they should have to pass, enough for a single man to hide.
He reached the spot making a large detour, using some fallen branches he canceled his tracks after him, reaching the back of the rock, then he dug a tunnel in the snow accumulated under the rock' s protuberance.
Carefully he closed the hole from which he entered and proceeded to the forefront.
Now only a layer of iced snow separated him and the road passing near the rock, he poked a hole large enough to have
sufficient visual to see their approach.
Curled up inside the snow he covered as much as he could of his body with the bear fat he was carrying in his bag, as
protection from the cold and as a way to cover his odor.
After this he wrapped himself in his bear fur and waited in the half sleep state he
learned while waiting for his prey during long hunts.
When dawn broke up he was still calm and relaxed with his eyes ajar.
There was no tension in his body and his breath was almost imperceptible even when the Vanirs appeared.
He was still like the rock repairing him while the procession passed few meters in front of him.
Then was the turn of the bears driving the sleigh, in that moment spring steel muscles fired up into explosive action.
The entire body of the Cimmerian erupted from under the rock in a crystalline cascade of snow and ice, his sword draw an argentine arc in the air that became crimson halfway as the blade severed the head of one of the guides, with a fluid,
continuous motion Kairn grasped the axe of the man he killed and jumped in the midst of the bears.
A human vortex that the eye could barely follow, he cut the restraints with the axe while wounding with the sword the bears on the muzzle, sending them in a frenzy.
Quickly he escaped the claws and fangs of the raging beasts that begun to attack the Vanirs.
One of the warriors appeared in front of Kairn, trying to prevent him from fleeing, without losing his impetus the Cimmerian impacted at full force against the body of his opponent lifting him off the ground, using the momentum of their falling bodies Kairn struck with the axe he was still holding, the blade broke while cracking open the helmet and the skull of the Vanir crushing his head, splattering blood and cerebral matter around.
Instinctively the Cimmerian got away from the dead body returning on his feet with a capriole, frantically scanning his
surroundings.
Behind him were the warriors that prior to the attack were at the forefront of the procession.
In front of him was the path to the sleigh, and the woman, without a second thought he rushed towards his objective, passing without any care through the warriors battling the bears.
Only animated by a furious lust Kairn avoided with lupine agility the assault of beasts and men alike, that managed only to
graze his skin.
With a final sprint he jumped right in front of the sleigh.
He saw her erupting in a mad laughter , with an ironic smile she mocked him making an inviting gesture.
Enraged he looked angrily straight at her face.
And then their eyes made contact.
Looking into those glaucous eyes was as posing the gaze upon a barren wasteland of ice, cold, desert and completely alien.
Kairn in that moment felt that he was moving through molasses, even if few meters separated them it took all his strength to proceed.
And then the two colossi calmly advanced towards him, their enormous axes ready to deliver the fatal blow.
He tried to move aside with a titanic effort, but to no avail, full of frustration he locked his eyes with hers, those eyes that had him enchained, and that now were trying to pry open his soul.
Something stirred in the depths of the Cimmerian consciousness, uncoiling its viscid spires.
Kairn suddenly was filled with repulsion at that mental contact.
And the cry of the woman pierced the terse air, her body convulsing with revulsion, she looked at him with an inhumane horror in her eyes.
This stopped the colossi for a moment, enough for Kairn to feel the blinding pain of the armband revitalizing his dulled
senses.
The blade of the axe that would have killed him only managed to cut a lock of his hairs, lowering his body he sunk deep the sword in the exposed leg of the giant that had been caught off guard by the sudden reaction of the once semi-paralyzed Cimmerian.
The blade severed muscles and ligaments as the surprised colossus crumbled in a pool of his own blood while the wound continued to bleed profusely.
Seeing this his companion committed a fatal mistake, rushing to help he lost balance exposing himself to the merciless blade of Kairn, that struck using both hands the unguarded neck of the adversary, decapitating him almost completely.
At that point the wounded colossus throw himself over Kairn pinning him down with his sheer mass while firmly grasping the neck of the Cimmerian with one hand.
Kairn struggled as the giant lifted the armed hand ready to hit, helped by the slippery terrain of muddy soil comprised of
melted snow and blood on which they were fighting he managed to twist the giant's arm making him dive face on in the mud.
Without hesitation Kairn jumped on the back of his opponent firmly grasping the hairs and stabbing the exposed throat with his knife, repeatedly.
The young Cimmerian left the red haired colossus gurgling in the mud, suffocating in his own blood, turning his attention at the battle between the bears and the other warriors, the corpses of men and beasts littered the road, the snow transformed into a brownish red pulp.
As far he can see there weren't enemies in sight.
Now he could give all of his attention to the prey for which he embarked in such a dangerous endeavor.
His gaze pried the horizon from end to end when he spotted a faint movement, an argentine flickering that at first tricked
the eye, Kairn's heart begun to beat faster, her, it was surely her.
His nostrils dilated like the nostrils of the wolf smelling his prey, ready to launch after her.
At that point he heard in his ear the faint hiss of the Serpent.
"Give her to me,give her to me untouched."
The insinuating tone faded away, with its allure of many unspoken promises.
Kairn observed the figure in the distance, running in the direction of the northern mountains, her advantage wasn't enough for impeding him to reach her.
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A)Chase her and reclaim your prize.
B)Offer her to the Serpent when you capture her.
C)Capture her and present her to your village, untouched, the offering of such an important hostage may regain you their favor or even more.
D)Leave her alone, obviously there's something strange and dangerous about her, content yourself with the weapons of the dead and the flesh of the beasts.
In this case you can do two things:
1)Continue your travel to the north.
2)Go back to your village, with this victory over such an enemy your status of pariah could change, even if you will
remain taboo.