Lost Bloodline 5 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“How are you settling in with the family?” Koda asked as he and Finna tramped through the snow.

Well, he tramped.

Despite her much larger frame and obvious strength, Finna trotted along on top of the loose powder as if it was solid stone, leaving not a single track behind her.

“I’m doing just fine, actually,” Finna answered with a grin. She had her bow out and strung, with an arrow at the ready while they traveled away from Silverstone and the homes of the Ivory Spear tribe. “It’s a bit of an acclimation, staying in one place for this long while I have a physical form. But having any form after so long as a spirit is a blessing.”

“I’m glad that it’s going well for you,” Koda replied as he clambered over a boulder that was hidden by the thick blanket of snow on the ground.

What had melted off weeks before was now replaced in the wake of the winter storm that had come in, and they were effectively sealed into the valley right now. The pass and the road down the mountain was thick enough with snow that even passage on foot would be difficult. Doubly so as the storm clouds were only taking a breather before hitting the valley once more.

“I walk the world once more, beside one of my favorite sister-spirits and her family. A family that I am looking forward to my chance to join as well,” Finna teased in amusement. “Hearing you lot going at it like a warren of rabbits every night bodes well for your stamina and being able to keep up with me.”

“You know,” Koda said as he ducked under a snow-laden branch carefully to not dislodge its moist burden, “if I wasn’t already used to Arthene’s innuendo, I’d have been surprised at that.”

“Both Arthene and Calandra are working to build up your resistance to such bawdy comments,” Finna replied, threading around the same tree with ease. “I would be upset with losing the opportunity to tease you, but getting to witness your growth is worth it in balance.”

“Are you sure that you aren’t jealous?”

Koda’s return-fire tease caught the lapine woman by surprise and she tripped, leaving a mark in the snow for once but managing to catch herself before falling flat.

“And if I am?” Finna replied once she had her balance again, giving a haughty sniff as the pair continued to thread through the thin trees that butted up against the edge of Silverstone village.

“Then I’d remind you not to be,” Koda said with a smile and a shrug. “You are already part of the family, your respect for my desire to get to know you before we jump between the sheets makes it even easier to connect to you.”

“You can thank Thera for that,” Finna said with a long-suffering sigh. “I observed your interactions with your mates alongside her long enough to know how you would have reacted otherwise.”

“Oh? Did you two spend a long time spying on me?”

“Depends on what you consider to be spying, dear Aegisclaw. You are the prime champion to my Lady, and her eyes are on you always to ensure you have the best chance you can get to survive. Her own survival relies upon it as well,” Finna replied, her voice unusually sober.

“I can’t complain about that,” Koda said, sighing gustily before he continued. “I know that Thera is counting on me continuing my bloodline—”

“And she knows that your true affection and connection to your mates is the driving force behind your fierce determination,” Finna interrupted, waving her hand to reassure him. “Do not feel pressured to rush yourself. Sure, you may fulfill the task by spreading your seed as far and as wide as possible, but it would also increase the risk of being discovered. Emotions are mercurial things, and all it would take is one jealous lover deciding to turn on you to bring it all crashing down. Far better to focus yourself on a core group that you can trust and love wholeheartedly.”

“That’s not going to stop Thera from throwing more of her ‘wayward daughters’ into my path, is it?” Koda asked dryly, using the term that the goddess herself had chosen to describe the primal spirits that were even now waking from their long slumber in the spirit realm.

“Most definitely not,” Finna answered with a broad grin. “In fact, I would expect one or two more to turn up here soon, to make the most of your time during the winter.”

“I’d prefer if they didn’t risk themselves traveling in this,” Koda said, gesturing to the piles of white clinging to the trees and the ground all around him. “I’d hate for something to happen to one of them because the environment is against them. We’ve got enough threats running about with the Crooked and those elves.”

“Ah yes, the elves,” Finna sobered again abruptly. “The presence of the elves and them acting as representatives of the Wild in this area will bring more strife, and with it a greater chance of my Lady being discovered.”

Koda didn’t respond, as this was something that they’d already discussed after the trio of elven ‘traders’ that had stumbled upon Koda and the girls while they’d been returning from a supply trip to the nearby larger town of Amberpost a month previous.

The trio had been posing as traveling merchants, something that was patently ridiculous given that they were coming on foot over the plains in the winter, but Koda had decided to entertain them for the moment to try and learn more. And also because he’d had a feeling that they would have just followed him at a distance if he hadn’t.

It had only taken a day in Silverstone before the leader of the trio had approached Kris Dewclaw, the headwoman of the Ivory Spear tribe and leader of Silverstone, with an offer to ally with his people who apparently had moved into the lands south of the mountains and across the plains. Threats had also been made that the elven forces were currently battling a large army of Crooked, and could easily allow the twisted creatures access to the plains and the northern lands where Silverstone lay.

Kris had refused, as the elves had been all but demanding Silverstone switch to paying its taxes and allegiance to this unnamed elven faction. An act of treason against the baron who held these lands and had originally allowed the establishment of Silverstone.

The elves had been ordered to leave the valley and surroundings of Silverstone, with Kris preparing and sending a report to the baron’s representatives in Amberpost. They’d debated on whether it was a good idea or not to inform the baron of the events, but it was eventually decided that it would be far better to be up front about the attempted subversion than to hide it and potentially draw even more attention.

“Yes,” Koda agreed with Finna’s earlier statement. “We’ve done everything we can at this point, and will just have to keep a wary eye out.”

“Not everything, if your plans for the village are anything to go on,” Finna replied, her tone lightening to a teasing one.

“Which plans?” Koda teased right back. “The ones where we train the villagers so they never have to be victims again? The one where we plan and build defenses both around the village and at the pass to see trouble coming? Or the talks of what to do if we are discovered and have to flee?”

“Any one of the three could be seen as radical,” Finna shot back, gesturing with one hand to their left suddenly.

Koda saw the gesture and followed its direction to spot the time-grayed bulk of a partially- fallen pine tree still precariously supported in the boughs of two more.

“That one will do nicely,” Finna said, glancing over to check that he had seen it and receiving a nod in return.

The two of them angled towards the wind-felled tree to check it over while Finna continued to elaborate on her previous point.

“Arming and training the peasants could be seen as a threat against the rightful lord of the land. Same with building defenses without the lords bidding. Planning an exodus, no matter how remote or unwanted, is a rather extreme thing to be considering at this point, but also intelligent to consider.”

“We don’t have the numbers to risk being exposed right now,” Koda said with a shrug, arriving at the base of the waist-thick pine tree and studying the splintered wood that still hung on to the base despite having likely broken months, if not years, before.

“Which is another reason why I’m glad that Headwoman Dewclaw told the elves to take a hike,” Finna said, pacing around the half-fallen tree while studying the branches above. “I think we can jostle it enough to fall, but it would be better to finish cutting through the stump to ensure we can guide it down. Just don’t go underneath the trunk.”

“I know about widowmakers,” Koda replied without any heat or irritation. “They are dangerous for hikers and I did a lot of that in my past life.”

“You have quite the collection of odd knowledge from your past,” Finna complimented him as she finished her inspection of the tree and stood back to give Koda room.

Unshouldering the axe, Koda carefully folded back the bison-hide cloak to let him swing without impediment. He took a moment to stomp a clear section in the snow as well to ensure he had good footing.

“All the strength in the world isn’t going to help me if I slip and bust my ass,” Koda muttered, getting a light laugh from Finna.

“And it would be such a shame to put another crack in your posterior,” Finna quipped before snorting in laughter at her own joke.

“I’m more worried about not hearing the end of it from Sienna and the girls for getting more injured from the snow than fighting a troll,” Koda replied before swinging the axe back and taking a light chop at the tree trunk.

The iron blade bit deep into the ancient wood, Koda’s vastly improved strength more than up to the task of powering through the wood.

“Your mates worry about you as much as you worry for them. Which is another reason why all of them were glad that you had Calandra with you when you and Kris met with the elves,” Finna settled against a tree, the pale snow glimmering around her while a very faint flush marked her cheeks. The blush was only obvious because of the pale colors of the snow surrounding her.

Rather than call attention to it, as Koda had a sneaking suspicion that Finna counted herself amongst those numbers, he instead diverted the conversation onto those same elves. He’d been meaning to get more information and Finna was the most traveled of his companions.

“What can you tell me about the elves? Do they have a primal god like the beastfolk, humans, and trolls?” Koda asked, swinging the axe back and carefully taking aim before sending the thick blade into the tree trunk with a grunt.

Finna hummed quietly in thought for a moment before she answered, her long ears perking up before drooping forward in front of her face slightly.

“The elves do not have a direct deity, no. But they are considered favored scions under Lady Daphne Whitebark, she who heads the fae.”

“Fae? Like fairies and the like? Or are they more Brothers Grimm?” Koda asked, taking another solid wack with his axe. The tree shuddered and groaned, sagging slightly but not coming free of its base just yet.

“I don’t know who the ‘Brothers Grimm’ are, Koda. But the fae and the faeries are about as alike as a troll is to a goblin. They might look similar in some ways, but are entirely different creatures,” Finna replied dryly. “And neither of them appreciate being compared to the other. Faeries and sprites are minor nature spirits, while the fae are ancient clans of elemental beings. Though they do not align with the traditional four elements, instead they tie themselves to light and darkness in constant conflict with themselves.”

“And this Lady Daphne?” Koda asked before taking another measured chop. This time his axe blew through the rest of the stump, having cut the final chips of wood still connected. The tree groaned and shifted before pulling free of the overhead branches and crashing down to land in a billow of snow.

“She heads the Wild faction, just as Golieas heads the Stalwart,” Finna answered, turning to shield herself from the flying snow until it cleared before continuing. “The Wild is the faction that my Lady was part of, but they also turned their back on her when the Crooked first appeared. I do not trust them to not also take the same opportunity we fear from Golieas.”

“Good to know. So we have two competing factions that we have to watch out for, one which we are currently hiding in their lands, and the other that is apparently trying to invade?” Koda asked, setting to work limbing the tree with quick and easy chops of the axe. Each blow removed a branch from the trunk as he walked the length of the tree.

“Three, actually. The Crooked are considered part of a third faction many call ‘the Devouring’ as they lay waste to everything in their path. They, along with the trolls and the Tyrantborn, make up that faction. Well, it’s less of a faction and more of a label that was slapped onto them during the conflicts to group types of enemies together,” Finna answered with a sigh. “Calling them a faction implies that there is some kind of guiding force controlling them, which I dearly hope is not true.”

“The Crooked are enough of a pain without having some kind of guiding power over them,” Koda agreed, pausing to take a second swing at a particularly knotty branch that didn’t give at his first blow. “What about these Tyrantborn?”

Finna’s shudder of revulsion told Koda all he needed to know, but the lapine spirit continued after a moment to steady herself.

“The Tyrantborn are a menace. Some would argue they are worse than the Crooked, given that they seek only to devour resources and reproduce in massive insect colonies. Thankfully, they rarely are able to escape their first and only conquest, the planet formerly known as the Roaring Lakes, but are now known as the Broken Lakes.”

“Oh, I recognize that one,” Koda said, looking up from his work to find that Finna had been following behind him, collecting the branches he cut and bundling them together under one arm. Her bow was secured once more in its protective leather case to give her both hands to work with. “That was Ormi’s world, right?”

“Yes, the former world of the drak’nar. I don’t know how it was that the Tyrantborn were able to overwhelm Ormi’s people, Thera wasn’t able to discover it before she sent me through to you. Just that they played a part in that world’s loss hundreds of years ago and have been squatting on its corpse since,” Finna said, her nose wrinkling in disgust at the idea.

Wanting to change the subject anyway, Koda asked her the question that was really on his mind right now.

“What about the dwarves?”

Finna’s disgusted look vanished and was replaced with a thoughtful one for a moment before she answered.

“The dwarves are currently allied with the Stalwart, as you know. They joined that faction in the wake of Thera’s ‘fall’ at Chandra’s behest, seeing it as the best path to revenge on the Crooked. But they used to be part of the Wild faction, back in the ancient times.”

“What defines the two factions as different? I can guess based on the name, but I’m curious what the official line is,” Koda asked, diverting slightly from his digging in a moment of curiosity.

“The Stalwart believes in the rule of law and a strict system of position and responsibility. While the Wild believe in a more ‘might makes right’ system, where the weak are culled by circumstance or conflict to allow for a healthier whole to survive,” Finna answered with a shrug.

“Both have their benefits, and downsides. The Stalwart tend to be too focused on organization and castes, while also overreaching themselves to ‘make all equal’ in the law. Many view the Wild as being ruthless for focusing on personal strength as a deciding factor, forgetting that the intent is to embrace one’s nature and test yourself against the harsh worlds we live in and prove we are worthy to survive on our own merits.”

“They both sound like they had good purposes at one time that have stagnated or twisted themselves,” Koda said quietly, getting a nod of agreement from Finna.

“It was part of why our Lady had begun distancing herself from the Wild previously. Thera’s commandment to her children is to be free to grow strong and be good custodians of the natural world. The Wild still had strata and ruling classes, and those were focusing too much on personal power at the cost of the world around them.”

“Which also kind of explains why the Wild weren’t too quick to jump to her aid,” Koda said quietly. When he saw the scowl on Finna’s face, he was quick to continue. “It may have looked like she was getting ready to confront the existing power structure, something which that power structure would have not been happy to see. Not saying they were right to, just saying I can understand why they might have held back, thinking that the Crooked might be enough to teach Thera that she was better with the faction than striking out on her own.”

“And it all fell apart before anyone could intervene. I’m sure a similar mindset was what stayed Golieas and the Stalwart’s hands,” Finna growled and Koda couldn’t argue with that statement. It made sense in a bizarre and dark way.

To lighten the mood, he turned back to his earlier thoughts and asked another question about the dwarves.

“Now, I know I could ask Calandra this, but I’m curious what your take on it is since you know the world better: what are the odds that we might be able to talk Chandra into breaking with the Stalwart to form a new faction with a returned Thera? I don’t think the existing two would welcome Thera back regardless, and it would be a blessing to have allies. This is a very long-distance goal by the way.”

The question surprised Finna so much that the rabbit-eared woman stumbled again, this time dropping her bundle of branches and nearly falling on top of it.

Koda was quick to turn and catch her, his strength making the weight of the primal spirit negligible as he set Finna back on her feet a moment later.

“You definitely do not have small goals,” Finna chuckled breathlessly as she brushed her hands off on her pants and bent to collect her branches. Koda spotted the puffy fluff of her rabbit tail wiggling above Finna’s bottom, and couldn’t help but wonder if it was as soft as it looked.

“When I was brought to another world to save a goddess, I decided small goals were things of the past. I needed to dream big with a start like that,” Koda replied, getting a curious look from Finna before she straightened and spoke.

“First I’d heard of these dreams, though. What else would you be dreaming of?” 

The question was simple enough, but Koda’s response really threw Finna through a loop.

“Reclaiming the Moonlit Realm. My goddess should have her home back, and my family deserves the safety of such a place.”