Stone Circle fallen through the stones

He'd managed the mountains in good time, though he took care to weave his way through the terrain more mild to his eye. Vasya praised every god he knew when he set foot upon the other side, feeling as if a literal wall had been placed between himself and the shitshow in Akashingo.

And now—

Nyet, he murmured in disbelief, staring upon something he never thought he'd see with his own eyes.

A ring of stones, high and proud. The elders had spoken of such things, but in the abstract—of tales long ago. The rocks held power and magic, or so they'd said. Places of great importance, especially to priests.

And as a man born to be a Svartravn priest, he found himself utterly breathless and enchanted at the sight of them.

So enchanted, in fact, that he failed to realize he'd crossed a border, and was well into a pack's territory before he realized with a start, and every hair upon his body stood erect.

he IS trespassing! he'll try to explain himself but he can be knocked around a bit in the misunderstanding

Arrax will be bark bark snarl until someone more level-headed appears lol

The lone, dark figure stood out amongst the green backdrop of the highlands, catching Arrax's eye as he crossed the territory. While Kvarsheim was not hurting for food, nor did they have pups to protect, the Cairn still felt a surge of defensiveness, appalled at how far the stranger was able to get into their territory.

Determined to catch the man before any of the Kvarsheim leaders could appear, Arrax charged towards him as fast as he could to close the distance, aiming to snag the scruff at the stranger's neck and pull him to the ground.

He had let the last trespasser slip from his grasp; he wasn't about to let this one do the same.

he is quick and fast, the bite of an axe beneath a winter day. he must channel that now.

as arrax grappled with the intruder, eivor lunged in from the boy's right, intending to seize one of the hindlegs. dumped to the earth, the trespasser would collapse with the young drengr's teeth in his hide.

eivor was calm. the man did not seem to present a threat beyond his intrusion, but arrax did not appear to know this, and so the punishment for this man would be the anger of a promising sentry.

It was a mere boy that accosted him first—a big near-yearling, but still a boy. He took the assault in stride, trying to wriggle his way out of Arrax's grasp, but then a second wolf appeared on the scene, and he was outnumbered.

And it was this moment where he knew he fucked up.

Wait! he cried out, sandwiched between Kvarsheim wolves. Please, no. I mean no harm. I was drawn by stones, stones—

Here he jerked his chin toward the sacred circle, glancing between the two, if they would let him be. He was already feeling the sting of several bites and bruises; it was clear he had intruded on their territory.

How could he have been so careless?

He felt the strain of muscle beneath his teeth as the intruder tried to squirm away, but the fight was quick to leave him as another appeared – Eivor, Arrax noted, pleased.

Her own strong jaws found his leg and they held tight as the man yelled, pleading. Arrax's ears lay flat as he resisted the urge to sharply tug on his fur to silence him, as one might do with the hide of their prey.

Golden eyes met the green-grey of the stranger's own, the whites visible as he motioned to the circle of stones. Arrax couldn't care less for the monument; to even acknowledge it felt like a knife in his side, heart still pining for his original home.

Readjusting his grip on the man and leaning his weight onto his shoulders to keep him pinned, the boy deferred to the elder drengr to decide the trespasser's fate.

"what do our stones mean to you, foolish one?" eivor chuckled once she had released him. she lay across his haunches, lifting her head to regard arrax with a look of pride for his apt handle upon this moment.

"speak fast," the tall shield commanded, her claws digging with deliberate harshness into his side. 

kvarsheim was only as kind as its guardians wished to be.

He was pinned, and it was only his fault.

Vasya winced at the teeth and weight upon him, and tried to find his words.

It—it—it—gods there, he stammered, searching in vain for the word. Nothing came to mind from his mother tongue, but then from his training—

Hörgr! he exclaimed, eyes wide. Hörgr. Sacred place. Important.

But they'd kill him, if he made no sense. Vasiliy closed his eyes, preparing to meet his ultimate fate amid the fangs of these wolves.

Like his father, Arrax was a practical wolf. Of course, Solveig had told her children of their culture; of traditions and alters and Old Gods. The boy had listened and learned, but remained unsure of the stories his mother recited – he had never seen physical proof of these Gods.

Even the strange stone monument of Kvarsheim had him unconvinced, and Arrax lifted his lip in a snarl as the man stammered beneath them, eager to be rid of him and his nonsensical pleading.

Yet, the single word – hörgr – was enough to stay his fangs for now. Arrax stared at the man dubiously before looking back to Eivor, a single brow raised.

"Hefur þú komið hingað áður, innbrotsmaður?" he murmured sternly in his mother's tongue, testing the man.

ohoho, what is this? the stranger shouts in a voice we both know.

arrax chose an intelligent mercy as eivor trusted, accepting the odd change of events with a firm tone that demanded answers.

altar. indeed these stones held the ancient energy of this long-time settlement, but why had it called to this wisdomless man?

curious, she maintained her hold in silence.

Words spilled suddenly from the boy's muzzle that made all the sense in the world. He would be relieved if he was not in the precarious position he found himself in now.

Nei, aldrei, he insisted. Ég er prestur. Ég heiti Svafnir Svartravn.

His breathing was coming hard and fast, and Vasya steadied himself, murky eyes shifting back and forth between the two wolves. Ég er vinur, he promised.

For all that was worth.

I am using Icelandic, since that's what it translated Arrax's speech to! Let me know if that is wrong

"vurtu kyrr," eivor warned the man as arrax stepped back.

she too released her hold, though she stood over the strange man, intending that he remain upon the earth.

glancing to the boy, she loosed a howl into the wintry air, asking that @Sven or @Ujurak appear to handle the question of a priest who spoke their language and possessed an interest in the standing stones.