King Elk Forest blood and bone

They had split up. Matej had not been very convinced of the idea and it had only been the assurance that Freyja would protect his sister while they were separated from one another. Of course, he did not have the abilities of the Seers. He could not directly communicate with the Gods, it was not his talent. He was a Berserker — not a Seer; but a forceful gust of wind on an otherwise windless day and he was convinced that the goddess had heard and would take up the task. Confident that the queen of valkyries would not allow harm to befall his sister, the guardian had agreed to the split though he headed into the direction of the Wilds with unbidden haste. It made him nervous, being parted from her. He prowled like a beast through the night, his coat of ash gray and platinum silver cut through the shadows that had blanketed the lands, guided by Mani's softer light where it touched upon the shadowed lands.

The forest he had shrugged into was lush, towering, tall ancient trees that stretched heavenwards, their thick canopy above working to shield him from Mani's guiding light. “þakka þér, Mani.” The Berserker murmured quietly to the moon in the guttural language that was his native tongue. Any of Saga's trails had no doubt ran cold by now but the Gods would not lead him in the wrong direction and with that assertion firm in his mind he continued through the King Elk Forest, glacial eyes fierce as they swept the shadows that writhed around him, his ears alert for noises foreign to the serenade of the night.

It was the wind that whispered to her, and it was the wind that carried her. South it blew, stirring her as she slept beneath the stars. Again she had gone ranging, discovering the beauty of the earth with every step. Beneath the stars, beneath the clouds, she danced on the wind that drove her. Starbuck had grown confident, joy bouyed by her encounter with Saga, sure that any day the girl would show up on Donnelaith's doorstep. In another time, Starbuck would have remained homebound, awaiting the world to send her what it would, be it sign or friend.

South the wind whispered, and south she went, until she came upon the forest. It was old and powerful. The fragrant air lay stagnant, the forest's magic and might unstirred by the winds that had brought Starbuck here. The stars were masked by the old forest's canopy. She was in the jurisdiction of another power, now, but she was unafraid. On she delved, certain that she was meant to do something here.

And so her eyes fell upon the wolf, from whose lips fell foreign, unfamiliar words. Hello? she called tentatively, unsure if this wolf was mortal or a beast magic made corporeal.

This hyper vigilance was rewarded by the sound of softened footfalls against the bracken covered forest floor, his ears swiveling to the side, before they slicked back to rest at half mast atop his skull. The footfalls were drawing nearer to his position and the Beserker's steps slowed, ceasing only when the tentative sounding hello breached the silence between them. He inhaled deep and exhaled slowly, taking in her scent as it faintly wafted towards him, calm. She was a sylph of a thing, her narrower features telling of a coy heritage. Matej recognized the tongue she spoke in easily enough, but then again he had not earned the name Asgrim “the chief of tongues” for no reason. “Hello,” He replied after a few seconds, his voice accented heavily with the lingering wont of his native tongue.

The closer she came, the less she feared that this was a creature not of her ken. He seemed to be a mortal beast, and a beast indeed. He was large, much in the way that Lærke was, but he did not seem so friendly. With her call he stopped, then took pause as he took her in. She, too, took the chance to look upon him, but found nothing to surprise her. He was very present, very much of this earth, and in some ways this calmed her and in others struck her nerves. But he answered, his voice thick with the accent of the northmen, the same one she had heard in her packmate and in the stranger, Saga. Hello! she piped, instantly more trusting of him for his heritage. You are not the first man of the north that I have met. Do you have kin in these wilds? Ever inclined to be helpful, she wanted to be able to aid him if he sought family.

In the end she could not help him, and they parted ways. From time to time on her trek home she wondered what more she could have done.