Lyric The Fair

Truce with Validian

A bitter wind blew through the trees, forcing Rissa to grip her horse's reins a bit tighter. The past couple of months had flown by faster than she could have anticipated. Luckily, they were able to tend their crops a lot more closely with all of the extra hands they had. Several slaves had come back with them, all being placed in the fields as that was the most important project at the time. As the winter months grew nearer and the cold wind came down from the mountains, Rissa took half of the slaves out of the fields and paired them up with a few of the tradesmen in the village, having them repair any homes or buildings that needed it. So far, they were ahead of schedule, only a few homes needed repairs now. So, Rissa had taken half of those slaves and sent them into the woods to hunt and gather as much wood as possible.

Of course, she would need to separate a few to begin fishing as well. A small party of Ulfheðnar had taken the Eagle path to the mountains, charged with getting ice. Of course, the sea would freeze and they would be able to harvest ice before the snows hit but, may as well get ahead of the season. She shifted in her saddle a bit and looked out across the forest at a tall hill. Atop the hill was a solid mass that looked as though it were a rather large snake sliding across the hill with ease. Rissa smiled.

Noir had brought her wolf pack to the Ulfheðnar and Nuxvar, several of the adults finding and latching on to people throughout the village. A few had given birth to their own litters of pups and those little beasts were attaching themselves to various children. It seems only natural for the Ulfheðnar to have wolf familiars and Rissa could not be more pleased with the situation. Everywhere you looked, there was a wolf, standing ready to defend their humans. Rissa had even asked that an entire building be erected for the wolves, the bones of the structure stood strong already. The walls would be going up in the next several days but for now, they were off on one last large hunt before the snow came.

The party behind her was large, some on horseback but most were following on foot, their heads swiveling back and forth to look for any movement whatsoever. Several had asked permission to break away and hunt smaller game, rabbits, squirrels, and the like. The larger animals were starting to hide for the winter so, there were not many put and about but there were still enough to make hunting worth the time. They already brought down two deer and were on the trail of what they believed to be a bear. They had been following the trail for quite a while without another sight of the bear. Rissa raised her hand and, using two fingers signaled Frandril forward.

"Yes?" He asked as his horse fell into step beside Rissa. Rissa looked at him out if the corner of her eye. His posture had greatly improved as did his body. The belly that he had was gone and replaced with a solid mass of muscle. His shoulders had leveled themselves out and his back stood straighter than ever before. He had cut his hair short, keeping just a light fuzz on the top of his head. His beard had grown a fair amount as well, now extending from his chin in a braid that was roughly six inches long and lay lightly against his chest. His arms were still thick and hard with muscle but had still managed to grow larger somehow. A few new scars shine brightly on his skin, a reminder of the few times he grew too confident and took the sharp edge of a training warrior's blade. He had become a fine man, a near-perfect example of what the Ulfheðnar stood for. Rissa could even see him as marriage material, should she ever require a husband.

"Were the fishing supplies packed and brought along?" Rissa asked. She didn't need to ask this, they were told to bring it, and they hardly ever disobeyed her. She knew that somewhere in the crowd of slaves and villagers behind them, were the fishing supplies, ready and waiting.

"Yes. I have had a couple collecting worms they see. Other bugs as well for bait." He said, straightening his back as his horse hopped over a fallen log.

"Perhaps we should take near half of the group and have them fish. This bear is far too good at hiding. We need to have ought of use from this trip."

"Aye. Shall I lead them?"