Chapter 2
2291words
Trinady stopped writing and looked up at his company. “Are you sure you wouldn't prefer advice on your sword arm?” Trinady replied, void of all emotion.
The boy dropped his arm and his sword dug into the soil with a dull thud. “Really?”
“I was born with lycanthropy, so I can change at any time.” Trinady replied, going back to his writing. “Tighten your grip and keep your wrist firm, but flexible.”
“Look at me, getting' swordin' advice from a werewolf.”
“Lycan.” Trinady said sharply.
“We don't really like that word.”
“What word?”
Trinady tilted his head and rolled his eyes up toward the boy, calling out his foolishness without a single word, and nearly a minute of silence passed before someone finally spoke.
A third man walked out of the forest, grinning like a fool. “Trinady, Jathom, you shant believe what just happened to me.”
Trinady did not look at Bertrum. “I can smell the wood nymphs on you, ser.”
Bertrum and Jathom both wore the full armor of the city guard from Brhams, while Trinady wore a simple leather jerkin. “Can you smell what I did with them?” Bertrum asked proudly.
Trinady and Bertrum stood before the “Queen” as she fidgeted with her long black hair, waiting impatiently for their third member.
“Is he always this punctual?” she asked, visibly irritated.
Bertrum sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “My apologies, your Grace. He's a bit... slow.”
“Clearly.” she hissed.
After several minutes of awkward silence, and awkward glanced from the “Queen” directed at Trinady, a guard entered the room, Jathom stumbling in behind him, falling onto his elbows. The guard turned to him, easily picking him up from the floor and shouted “No lollygaggin'!”
Jathom rose to his feet and responded honestly with “I ain't gaggin' no lollies, ser, honest!”
Bertrum rolled his eyes and Trinady remained motionless the entire time, his hands clasped together in a relaxed position in front. The queen sat up straight in her throne and cleared her throat.
“I brought the three of you here for a singular reason.” the “Queen” started off with a bored tone in her voice. “The three of you were all instrumental in defending this city from its assailants, and I would first like to express my gratitude for your bravery. Bertrum, you defended my life, and although you arrived too late to save my... husband... you did save my life, and for that you have my gratitude. Jathom – stand up straight, please – you kept my children safe, and for that, you have my eternal gratitude. And you, Trinady, fended off the leader of the ruffians who dared to attack our precious home, and for that, you have my gratitude.”
A lot of gratitude going around here. Trinady thought to himself.
“However!” she blurted out loudly. “I did not bring you here solely to express gratitude for your actions. Your skills in battle and your... special talents...” she looked directly at Trinady. “Have made you perfect candidates for a job that must be completed forthwith. Stand up straight, boy. There is a creature nesting outside the city walls, and as you know, we must keep the rabble at bay, and this particular creature is attacking our supplies and shipments. I need you to track it down, and I'm sure I do not need to tell you what to do when you find it. Have I made my wishes known expressly?”
All 3 men nodded, and Jathom leaned awkwardly.
The trio found themselves standing outside of an interesting cave. Interesting because the entrance was completely frozen over, which was unusual in the intense summer heat. Trinady sniffed the air around the entrance and coughed as the cold penetrated his lungs.
“What's this all about?” Jathom asked, tilting his head curiously. “Never heard of a monster that could make ice.”
“It's obviously magick.” Bertrum retorted. “Witches. Has to be.”
“But we came 'ere to hunt a monstrosity, not a witch.”
“Witches are monstrosities.”
“Shush.” Trinady chimed in. “I smell animals here. Can either of you get through the ice?”
“On it!” Jathom shouted, drawing his sword and gripping it tight with both hands, lifting it high above his head and swinging it down hard into the wall of ice before him, shouting gallantly as the tip of his sword pierced the frozen barrier, followed by a few moments of silence, which was soon followed by Jathom turning to face his peers with a sad expression. “I'm stuck.” he said wryly.
Bertrum cursed and approached to assist the young man in pulling his sword from the ice wall.
Trinady had decided to examine the wall more closely, and upon further inspection, discovered a hidden entrance, disguised by and optical illusion, whereas from a distance, it appeared to be a solid wall of ice, but upon closer inspection, the right side of the wall was further back than the eye perceived.
“We can get in here.” Trinady stated. “The entrance was hidden. Are you guys...”
Trinady turned to see both of his companions pulling comically on the sword protruding from the ice, and the sword itself not budging from its new home. He took 3 steps toward them, grabbed the sword by the pommel and pushed it down hard enough to crack the ice wall, seemingly effortlessly removing the sword from its now former home and sliding it into Jathom's scabbard before patting him on the back.
“Let's go.” Trinady said sympathetically.
The trio made their way into the cave, lighting torches as the darkness became overwhelming, and the deeper they went, the colder it became, snow and ice covering the entirety of the inside. It wasn't long before they found a large cavern, which, when lit up by the torches, looked more like a frozen forest. The pine trees growing beneath what used to be a hole above them, now sealed up with more ice, were completely white with snow. A frozen stream ran down the middle of the small forest, and the snow glittered golden in the light of the flames.
Trinady sniffed the air once again, his eyes turning yellow as he adjusted to the darkness, and without a moment's hesitation, he quickly pushed his companions down and ducked as a large ice missile narrowly missed his head. In the dark, Trinady could barely see their attacker.
“A non-human traveling with two humans. Can't be a coincidence.” a deep voice rumbled crudely in the darkness. “Looking for your friend? I know she doesn't hunt alone.”
“I'm afraid I don't know what you mean. We came here to-”
The hidden enemy did not deign to learn of their purpose, instead choosing to go on the offensive, lunging at the trip from the darkness, his large fists striking quickly, but not as quickly as Trinady was able to dodge, helping his companions maneuver away from the raging man, who was shockingly fast for his girth. He was tall, muscular, and had a large belly with and equally large white beard, and he kept swinging his fists, narrowly missing as Trinady dodged, but getting a little bit closer each time he swung. Trinady did his best to dodge and deflect the blows, knowing that taking a hit would be bad, even for him, and to make matters worse, frost was emanating from the man's fists, chilling the air in his immediate vicinity to drastically colder temperatures than the already frozen cave had to offer.
“You will not interfere!” the man shouted, his voice grating and deep.
From seemingly out of nowhere, a sword came crashing down on the man, but was stopped by the man's arm, covered in a barrier of ice. The man slowly turned his head and glared at Jathom. As Bertrum drew his sword, the man held out his free hand, and as his hand moved from his front to his side, a long white blade appeared out of thin air, materializing entirely out of ice, and he gripped it firmly, quickly deflecting Bertrum's blade.
Trinady drew his sword and swung, anticipating the recoil of connecting with the man's frozen blade, but the man did not deflect the blow, but instead dodged it, throwing Trinady off his balance, but only for a moment, as he would perform a less than graceful pirouette just in time to dodge the man's strike.
Bertrum swung again, aiming for the man's head, as Jathom swung low, aiming for the man's legs, while Trinady swung for the man's spine. In what seemed like an instant, the man had deflected Bertrum's blade with his own, gripped Jathom's wrist, and redirected Trinady's blade with his foot, leaning forward with his leg arched up behind him, and before anyone could strike again, a powerful gust of icy wind shot out from the man, sending all three men rolling away.
The man seemed even more enraged than ever, and with a deep growl, white fur began growing from his hands and face, and in a matter of seconds, the man's body had grown disproportionately large, his face grew into a long white muzzle, his fingertips became elongated claws, and his limbs became massive.
Bertrum cursed and raised his weapon.
In the middle of the cave now stood a massive polar bear, snow blowing around it like a tornado. Trinady knew he had no other choice, and quickly removed his jerkin and the shirt beneath it before beginning his own transformation.
The polar bear turned and glared at Trinady.
“Stay back you two!” Trinady shouted. “This is between us beasts now!”
Jathom and Bertrum watched in awe as the polar bear and the werewolf exchanged blows in rapid succession, the bear seeming invincible, as every strike from the wolf seemed to do absolutely nothing, but every swing of his robust forelimbs seemed to disrupt the very air. The pair slowly made their way closer to the trees, and soon, they both had disappeared in the frozen foliage.
Trinady narrowly evaded a swipe from the bear's massive paw, his foe becoming more and more enraged as time passed, and the more that time passed, the more exhausted he became. He landed next to a tree and winced as pain shot through his legs from all the leaping and dodging he had been doing for the entirety of the battle. It was, unfortunately, enough to slow him down.
The strike came quickly, but Trinday was able to avoid the claws. The pads of the massive paw struck his hip and sent him tumbling through the snowy little forest and into an adjacent tree. He sat motionless for a few seconds before he noticed what the bear's claws had done to the tree that was previously behind him, and with all of his determination, he leaped into the tree above him, disappearing into the frosted pine needles, and a few moments later, he returned to the ground, no longer in humanoid form, but as a complete wolf.
Trinady howled, and waited for the right moment, standing close to one of the trees, and as the bear – completely enraged – swiped at him, he leaped out of the way, letting the infuriated were-bear take large portions of tree trunk with its claws. Deftly, Trinady hopped from tree to tree as the bear spun and swung wildly, its eyes black with pure adrenaline and rage. Time and time again, the bear swung and missed. Time and time again large portions of the trees' trunks were removed by the powerful claws of the increasingly enraged mammal. Slowly, but surely, the trunks were chipped away until 2 trees slowly began to fall. The bear looked up in shock to see a large pine falling toward him, and leaped out of the way, only to be crushed by the second.
Trinady cautiously approached the bear, who seemed to be unconscious beneath the large spruce.
Several minutes of silence had passed, and Jathom and Bertrum stood outside of the small cave forest, hesitating to interfere with the battle they were privy to. In the poorly lit cave, Bertrum fumbled in the darkness to find his torch, which had gone out during the row, while Jathom sat on a rock, resting his chin on the pommel of his sword.
“D'you think he won?” Jathom asked, only a hint of concern in his voice.
“Who the bloody hell cares?” Bertrum retorted with annoyance. “We're going to die in here if we can't see where we're going!”
“Use your tesla stone!”
“I don't have one!”
“Why not? Queen Valyria gave me one before we left.”
“You?” Bertrum almost sounded disgusted. “Bollocks! She gave one... to you?”
Jathom shook his tesla stone and it glowed brightly, illuminating the cave surprisingly well. “I guess she likes me more than you.” Jathom stated arrogantly.
Movement in the trees caught their attention.
It was Trinady. Over his right shoulder he held his shirt and leather jerkin, and with his left hand he was dragging something through the snow. On closer inspection, that something turned out to be a chubby nude man, face down in the thick blanket of snow. His ass was pale and hairy.
Jathom and Bertrum could clearly see a large number of scars covering Trinady's body from the waist up, some seemed large enough to have killed the man, yet the muscle toning of his body was impressive nonetheless.
“We'll talk to him when he wakes up.” Trinady stated, his exhaustion apparent.
