Power Play: Act 1 Svartalfheim (Ragnarok on Ice) (4 page)

Shivers went done my spine.  Geirrod was one of the worst of the ice giants and his release from his forced captivity at the hands of Thor and Loki was not welcome news.  I hoped we would not come across his path, as I do not know many that would be able to stand against him and survive.

“All of this happening at once only adds to the feeling that we are headed towards another dark time.”

“Be that as it may Rumil, we do have a task to complete and we should not get too ahead of ourselves.  Worrying about an ice giant will bring us no closer to finding Drexler.  Should the time come that we need to concern ourselves with him, then we will cross that bridge.”

Ustin was right; I needed to focus on my task at hand.  “Well said my friend.  I think we have rested enough out in the open.  Let us make haste and get into the forest.”

We quickly regrouped and made our way down the trail.  For the second time in a short period of time we were lucky and there was no sign of any ice giants.  When we reached the forest, the moon was high and the cold was getting unrelenting.

Ryle pointed out a nice clearing that we could use to set up camp.  Quickly going to work, we were able to get a fire going.  It may draw the attention of the dire wolves, but without it we would likely freeze to death.

“I think we should discuss our plans tomorrow.  In my opinion, we should head towards the cabin the three of you discovered on your last journey into the woods.”

Gretta seemed displeased by this.  “My lady, from here we would have to go directly into dire wolf territory.  This time of year, with food being even scarcer, they are much more aggressive.”

“And if I might add,” this time it was Ayr, “that if we go west to avoid the wolves, we would end up in the domain of a rather large and powerful forest troll.”

Both scenarios were not ideal.  “We continue straight ahead.  Wolves are much easier to outmaneuver and outrun if needed.  A troll is one creature I would prefer not to have to deal with.  Even in ideal situations, much like an ice giant, it is a losing proposition.”

It was settled.  In the morning, at first light, we would head south to where Sif’s cabin retreat was.  Why in all the realms she would need such a remote location I did not understand, but it could be where our friend was held.  With our route in place, we all tried our best to rest.  Sleep did not come easily for me, and before I knew it, the sun was peeking over the horizon.

I looked around camp and saw that everyone else also was awake.  “Let us eat a quick breakfast and continue on.  The more area we can travel during the day through wolf territory the better off we will all be.”

We each grabbed some dried boar meat and some bread.  It was not much, but when traveling quickly, you had to pack light rations.  Ryle stamped out the fire and we were ready to go.

Ryle took the point position and given directions from Ayr, he would lead us to the cabin.  Hopefully his tracking skills would keep us clear of any danger, both from animal and possibly Aesir.  The rest of us fell in behind, ready at a moment’s notice to defend each other should we need to.

As the sun continued to rise, the weather warmed a bit; this made it easier to keep going at a torrid pace.  I had instructed Ryle that once the sun gets to its highest position that we should stop for a break.  My thoughts started to drift back to my first encounter with Sif.  The hate in her eyes still made no sense to me.  What had our people done to her to deserve such treatment?

“Everyone, halt!”  Ryle’s command was barely an audible whisper, but the urgency came through clearly.

We all stopped and immediately grabbed our weapons.  “Is there something ahead?”

He shook his head no.  “They are all around us.  I apologize Lady Rumil; I did not see the trap until it was too late.”

That is when we heard the sounds of wolves howling.  It did not take long to confirm that we were surrounded.  It would appear the dire wolves had not shown themselves until they could form a perimeter.  These creatures were much smarter than most give them credit for.

“What are we to do my lady?”

I thought for a second.  They still had not attacked and were keeping their distance.  We were not their normal prey and so it seemed they were taking their time before they made their move.  “We use what time we have to prepare ourselves.  Ustin, Ayr, any suggestions on how to defend an attack?”

They looked at each other.  Ustin nodded and Ayr took that as his turn to speak.  “Once they are confident they can overtake us, they will come in all their numbers.  Chances are they will rush in and a good marksman will be able to pick them off, giving the rest of us time to thin the numbers.”

I took the hint.  “I can get a better vantage point from the trees.  I can provide cover to you.  Ryle, how many do you think we are dealing with?”

He closed his eyes and took the scene in.  “Between ten and twelve I would wager.  It seems that this pack is a bit smaller, but from the sounds I am picking up and the old tracks we have seen, the wolves might be a bit on the bigger side.”

“It seems we have some work to do.  I have twenty arrows in my quiver and will take as many down as I can.  Let us all support each other and come out of this alive.”

I could not say anything more; loud howls rippled through the forest.  The wolves had decided it was time for dinner.

I had taken my position in the trees.  Below me, my four squad members had decided on the diamond defense.  I had my first arrow in position and ready.  Before I had gone into the tree, Ryle thought the alpha of this pack was at the north side of our spot and would be the first to charge.  Our hope was in putting the alpha down, the rest would back off.  With dire wolves, however, that was a fairly unlikely chance.

Sure enough when the howling broke, I heard the thunder of the charging wolves echo through the forest.  Pointing to the north, it did not take long for a very large, grey wolf to come into my sight.  Lining up the shot, as soon as he passed the last tree in my way, I let the shot go and its mark was true.  The arrow hit right between his eyes and the wolf fell, dead on spot.

Whatever euphoria I had at a clean shot left when none of the wolves even stopped in hesitation.   The alpha being killed meant nothing to them and if anything they charged even faster.  I got off two more arrows and put both wolves in my sight down, but the rest were on top of us.

I did a quick count and eight wolves were snapping and clawing at the four elves below me.  Being so close and now with them engaged, I had to line up my shots even more carefully.  My first target was a rather angry looking wolf trying to bite off Ryle’s arm.  I was fortunate and the shot buzzed right by his head and directly into the wolf’s eye.  It fell in pain and Ryle brought his dagger down to finish the job.

With that immediate danger gone, I turned back and saw two more dead wolves courtesy of Gretta’s dagger.  Ayr was defending against two more and Ustin was in the process of finishing off the two that were attacking him.

“AHHHH!!”

I turned back to the scream and saw that one of the wolves had surprised attacked Ryle in the back.  It looked as if he was running to help Ayr when the wolf launched on him.  Without thinking, I let loose another arrow and the wolf fell to the ground dead.  Even still, it looked as if the damage had been done.  I hopped down from my tree and ran over to him.

“Ryle!  Ryle!  Stay with me!”

With Ayr and Ustin finishing what was left of the pack, Gretta also ran towards the young elf.  “I am coming Lady Rumil.  Keep him stable!”

When I got to him, I saw the wolf’s claws had ripped his back to shreds before I could pick it off.  I rolled him over and saw blood coming from his mouth.  “Ryle, please, stay with me!”

He coughed, more blood came up.  “I am sorry I failed you.  I should…have been…more…vigilant.”

“It is not your fault!  It is mine for asking so much of you.  We are the ones who failed you.”

I was crying and Gretta pushed me out of the way.  She did her best, but as I looked in his eyes, I saw the light fade as he passed on to the other side.  “No…Ryle I am so sorry.”

Ustin and Ayr killed the remaining wolves and had quickly come over.  I heard them talking, but none of the words processed.  Ryle was the youngest of the group and now he was gone too.  Two were now dead on my watch and another captured by a hostile target.

“I am not fit to lead.”

Ayr came over and sat in front of me.    “Do not say that my lady.  Young Ryle knew the dangers and we all did what we could.  Had it not been for his warning, we may have all perished.  You do him a disservice in not honoring his memory for saving us.”

His words were like a slap in the face.  “But if I had paid more attention…”

“If we all had paid more attention to the signs we so blindly missed, he would still be here.  Every one of us deserves blame in the young elf’s death, including him.  I did not know Ryle very long, but he would be the first to agree with me.”

I looked over at Ustin, who also was struck by grief.  His brother Tymon had looked up to Ryle and I could only imagine how hard he would take it when Ustin told him.

“We must take him home, when we are finished.  Is there a way to hide the body so it will remain undisturbed?”

Ayr and Ustin went over and took out Ryle’s sleeping roll.  They wrapped him in it and with some rope, tied it together.  With the body protected, they dug out a spot in a nearby snow bank and carefully covered it back up.  It was close enough to a tree that Ustin took out a dagger and notched the name Ryle in Druhir.  No one but a dark elf would know what it meant.

“Thank you, everyone.  I wish we had more time to mourn, but we should continue while we still have light.”  Even as I said the words, my heart was heavy with loss.  I resented being the leader right now; I just wanted to mourn the loss of a friend.

“We must continue south Lady Rumil.  If we make haste, we should make it to the next clearing before nightfall.  There we should be better protected from attack.”

I nodded at Gretta and got up.  With one last look over where Ryle was buried, I made a promise to him that his death would not be for nothing.  I would find Drexler and I would make the Warrior Maiden pay.

After the attack by the wolves, the forest had grown quiet.  It was so eerie how a place filled with life could make absolutely no sounds.  We had slowed our pace some, without Ryle leading and tracking we wanted to error on the side of caution, but Gretta informed me we should make our stop in the timeframe set forth.

The closer we got to our destination, the more I tried to put everything that had happened so far in the back of my mind.  To do that, I focused on my target.  “What should we expect the closer we get to Sif’s cabin?  Does it have any traps or barriers set up?”

“Lady Rumil, when we came upon it, nothing out of the ordinary appeared.  It was only after the second nightfall we were there did we discover Sif entering the residence.  We waited two more nightfalls, but she never appeared again.  I can only assume she came to be out here on the orders of Odin.”

Ayr was right.  Whatever caused Sif to engage us that night must have been on order from Odin himself.  “I think it is best if we understand there may be more than one Aesir present.  If that is the case, we may have no choice but to fall back.”

“A wise and excellent plan.  With the situation hanging on by a thread, we do not want to give Asgard any reason to attack Svartalfheim.”

Ustin was right.  As long as this was personal against Sif for taking one of ours, we should still be able to make Odin see reason.  However, if more than one Aesir is here and we attack, the results could be disastrous for us and Svartalfheim.

“The clearing is just ahead.  We will camp there tonight and prepare for our final leg of the trip.”  Gretta pointed ahead of us.

I saw the snowy spot through the trees.  It was not overly big and seemed to be in a good location to see everything approaching.  I was looking forward to stopping; the day’s travel along with still holding on to the pain of Ryle’s passing had left me very tired.

The closer we came to the clearing, something caught my eye.  “Does anyone else see that red spot in the snow?”  I pointed to an area beside a tree, right before the forest opened up.

We all slowed down, almost to a stop.  Walking a little off the trail, the four of us made our way over to where I saw the red.  That is when the smell hit me.  It was the smell of blood and decay.

“Lady Rumil, I do not think it is wise for you to see this.  Let us take care of this from here.”  I wanted to see what had happened, but Ustin stopped me.  “Please my lady, it will only make the situation for you even worse.”

With that, he and Ayr went over and inspected the scene even closer.  Judging by their reactions, I knew we had found Drexler.  Gretta started to cry as they brought the body up from under the snow and broken limbs it had been under.  Judging by the amount of red I saw, it looked as if he must have lost a lot of blood.

“Drexler, what did they do to you?”

I caught a glimpse of his broken form as they laid him down.  Bruises covered his face and arms, with a slit across his throat.  It was obvious that he had been beaten and tortured before finally killed.  This was by far the most brutal and disturbing scene I had ever witnessed.

Ustin took out his bedroll and just as they did with Ryle, he and Ayr properly wrapped him up and gave him the dignity he deserved.  My mind was racing and heart pounding; I found relief only after I moved away and vomited.  It was not the scene that had done this to me; it was the act that had happened.  To do this to another living creature sickened me to no end.

“Why would anyone do this?  This is excessive and brutal…”

Gretta came over beside me.  “I would guess they wanted information.  Based on the bruising patterns, Drexler was tortured until he either told his captor something of value or refused even in the face of death.”

“I had just hoped we would be in time to save him.”  A third death on my hands, caused in some way by my actions.  No, not by mine, this was the work of Sif.  It was her actions that caused this pain.

“It is getting late in the evening my lady.  With Drexler’s body recovered, I suggest we make camp tonight here and in the morning make our way back to Svartalfheim.  We will recover Ryle’s body on the way back as well.”

I waved my hand in acknowledgement.  I did not wish to speak anymore about the situation; I had some thinking to do.  While I was starting the fire for us, I went over each situation again.  I needed to learn from the past and use it to avenge my fallen teammates.

“Tomorrow will be a trying day with the travel.  I suggest we all try to sleep and recover our strength and our wit.  The forest still provides many dangers.  I will take first watch and we will rotate with the cycle of the moon.”

“I agree Ayr.  We will need all of our strength to survive what lies ahead.”  With my mind made up, I crawled into my tent and lied down on my bedroll.  I just needed to wait to make my move.

I must have dozed off; as I felt a hand touch me and I awoke with a flinch.  “It is your watch Lady Rumil.  Morning is not that far away now.  Wake me if you need anything.”

My eyes focused, Gretta came into view.  “Thank you and I will.  Now rest and let The Norns watch over us.”

As I got up and into position, it did not take long for her to fall asleep.  I would wait until as close to dawn as I could before I left camp.  I did not want to leave my friends unguarded in the night. 

While I waited for the moon to get closer to the horizon, I went about making sure my weapons and provisions were intact.  I had collected most of my arrows from the dire wolf attack, so I had eighteen usable ones.  My dagger was still sharp and I had enough dried boar meat and flat bread for at least three more days.  I was as ready as I would ever be.

Time did not dally around and soon the moon was as close to the horizon line as it could get before the sun would wake the others.  With my pack ready, quietly I got up and made my way out of camp.  I crossed the clearing and just as I was about to enter the opposite side I stopped.  Someone was behind me.

“Rumil, are you sure you want to do this?”