Lost Bloodline 4 - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

As was commonly the result of making plans, fate liked to interfere with them. Less than a day after Koda decided to head out to the Silent Plains tribe, and a full three days before they departed, snow blew in from the high mountains.

The carpet of downy white material came down in droves and froze the ground solid within the first day. Whether or not they had planned it, construction was done for the year unless Sienna intervened with her earth magic.

Rather than complain about it, though, the village seemed to be excited. As soon as the snow appeared, the villagers completed the last few doable tasks before settling in for winter.

The merchant, Halvor, cut his visit to the village short to flee ahead of the snows, as his cart was not ready for the winter mix. It amused Koda quite a bit that the merchant was forced to sell off his wares without nearly as much haggling, as he had clearly wanted to drive the prices up, too.

Cyrus and the Silent Plains hunters finished their trading early and held themselves ready for a break in the storms, knowing that it was going to be a slog to get back to their village as the snow piled higher and higher.

When that break finally came, Koda and his wives made ready to head out with the hunters, aided by supplies and equipment loaned to them by Kris on behalf of the village.

In the last two months, Koda had fully transitioned away from his Earth clothes. Fur-lined leather pants covered his legs, while a dense leather vest lined with more fur wrapped around his chest. Sturdy boots made in the village specifically to fit his feet kept the wet out, and over it all was his bison-hide cloak with a hood. He could fasten ties inside the cloak to keep it shut against the wind or if he needed to move quickly.

Sienna and Calandra were similarly garbed, with full sleeves rather than vests for their tops. Calandra also brought along her quilted gambeson and the chainmail shirt she’d been wearing, though Koda knew she hoped to have the smiths forge her a more comprehensive set of armor as well.

Arthene, however, was the outlier to the women in Koda’s family.

Unlike Sienna and Calandra, who bundled up against the cold, Arthene seemed to revel in it. She kept her bear-hide wrap skirt and brief bodice, exposing vast swathes of her pale skin to the chill breeze and the kiss of the falling snow. Her only concessions to the weather were a pair of knee-high leather boots, and her own bison-hide mantle, though she left the mantle folded over her shoulders most often.

“Why should I fear the cold? My kind may be more sluggish during the winter, but we do not sleep away the cold season in warm dens,” Arthene had responded with a wide grin when Koda asked her about the choice in her garb.

She had truly looked like a goddess to him at that moment, with a crown of snowflakes adhering to her wild mane of brown hair, giving her a celestial appearance.

Now, though, Arthene’s bratty side was showing more.

“Still don’t understand why the hell I needed to be here,” Arthene grumbled, even as the wind blew her long hair out in a banner behind her.

“Because the rest of us are cold, and Koda is insane,” Calandra growled. “You hear that, Koda? You are insane!” Layers of furs muffled the dwarven woman’s words; they were piled high enough that only her nose and eyes poked out of the mound.

“No, I’m not!” Koda called back with a laugh. “I’d say you lot are the insane ones for being under all those layers!”

“I’m mated to a madman,” Calandra continued to grumble, turning to bury her cold nose into Arthene’s soft bust, as the wind whipped harder around them.

“You love it and you know it,” Sienna countered from her spot on the other side of Arthene, mirroring the dwarven woman by snuggling into the primal spirit.

Calandra didn’t respond verbally, instead worming a hand over to poke Sienna hard enough that the wolf beastfolk yelped in surprise.

“Now both of you, no arguing on the sleigh or you’ll knock some of us off,” Samira said, coughing and having to spit out a strand of Arthene’s hair that had been swept back into her face.

“This feels very wrong,” growled Cyrus. “You should not disrespect the champion in this manner.”

“He doesn’t view it as disrespect,” Samira replied with a laugh, the caracal woman twisting to smirk back at Cyrus who sat behind her.

To accent Samira’s words, Koda let out a whoop of laughter from the front of their convoy.

A moment before, a crest of snow had been blown up into the air in his wake, and the sleigh jolted briefly before the runners settled onto the packed snow once more.

“I worry we won’t survive the trip back to your village,” Melia murmured, her tone high with worry.

“Oh, live a little, Melia!” Jordan cajoled with a laugh, matching Koda’s whoop of excitement a moment later as the sleigh juddered once more. “How many people can claim that they traveled with a champion in this day and age? And how many of those can claim that a champion took it upon himself to draw their sleigh?”

When Kris had seen just how much snow had come down, she’d offered to lend Koda one of the village sleighs for the trip out to the Silent Plains. He’d almost declined the offer, though, as the horses trained for it would have been slower than he was. Then he hit upon his current idea.

The snow crunched sharply underfoot as Koda propelled himself forward with a rapid pumping. His heart thundered and his pulse sang in his ears as the wind whipped past him. The harness that they had modified for him bit tightly into his shoulders, but now that the sleigh was moving, it wasn’t nearly as hard to keep it going.

Of all the benefits that came from downing the troll chieftain, this still has to be the coolest! Koda thought with a grin as he towed the loaded sleigh and its eleven passengers over the snow at the speed of a car.

Normally, the sleigh would have required at least four animals to pull it, and would have moved far slower over the uneven ground of the plains. But Koda’s troll-bolstered strength allowed him to plow a path through the deep snow without hesitation.

He didn’t do it alone, though. Koda could feel the magic of his mates racing along beneath and behind him. Sienna used her earth magic to check the ground and snow for anything that might make him slip or fall, using a gentle tremor to reveal crevices ahead of him. And Calandra’s wind magic lightened the load of the sleigh, allowing the overloaded transport to move despite the weight.

His mates were working hard for him, doing all that they could to support and aid him, so he put his all into making the most of their help. Despite the wind, the flying snow, and the chill in the air, Koda’s heart sang with the simple joy of running.

Another crest of snow burst upwards as he slammed into a waist-high drift and scattered the windblown powder in all directions. Beneath him, the frozen layer of snow crunched merrily under the pumping beat of his thick boots.

“It still isn’t right,” Cyrus protested from the sleigh. “It is far too cold to allow the Champion to keep doing this!”

“You saw him fight that troll before, Cyrus. You know that Koda regularly does things people believe to be impossible,” Samira countered.

The confidence in her tone made Koda smile even as the wind finally hooked his hood and whipped it down, sending his long black hair billowing behind him.

“Still—” Cyrus protested, worry thick in his tone. But this time it was Arthene who interrupted the older man.

“If this is enough to break your ability to believe in him, Cyrus, then I cannot wait to see how you react when you realize just how far our mate’s aspirations run, and how high he will reach to achieve them.”

Koda didn’t need to hear Sienna and Calandra voice their agreements; he could feel it in how their magic redoubled around him. The support of his lovers, both current and the one wriggling her way into his heart, buoyed him up like a boat at sea.

Hair whipping in the wind, Koda let out a joyous bellow that echoed across the plains before crashing headlong into another drift of snow, sending it scattering before him, not missing a single beat as he charged onwards. Distant movement to his right drew Koda’s attention to the shaggy forms of a far-away herd of bison. They had broken into a run to get away from his group, startled by the noise.

You really are incorrigible, Thera’s voice floated through Koda’s mind as the echoes of his exaltation faded over the snowy landscape. They are not wrong, though. Acting as a beast of burden is beneath you.

“There are many things beneath me, but that doesn’t lessen their fun!” Koda replied aloud, blowing great clouds of fog out with each breath. Despite his burden and speed, he did not struggle to breathe, and the chill of the air had no hold on his steaming form.

That is also true, Thera sent him with a tinkling laugh. I would worry that Arthene is a bad influence on you, but if anything, you have been a mitigating influence on my wildest daughter.

“She makes every day a joy with her energy and love, just as all my mates do,” Koda replied, knowing the goddess could and would hear him.

The singing of the sleigh’s rails through the snow made a bright counterpoint to the pounding of his boots and the crunch of the snow for several long moments before Thera responded once more.

You really are a marvel, Koda Aegisclaw. I can only attribute whatever confluence sent you to me as luck long overdue.

“And I’m happy you got lucky with me, in more ways than one,” Koda huffed out, only realizing the other connotations of his words when Thera’s deep laughter echoed within his mind.

The black-haired champion fought against the blush that the throaty noise threatened to bring to his cheeks, but a small smile creased his lips at how happy Thera sounded despite the innuendo.

Again, I would worry that Arthene was influencing you, but she isn’t. You are just that perfect of a match. This sort of banter and excitement is going to amuse another of my daughters who is finally stirring from her long slumber.

“Oh?” Koda shot back questioningly. He had to pull the sleigh into a curving path as the snow ahead of him shifted and fell inwards, revealing a deep ravine that the deep snow had hidden. “Going to play matchmaker again with one of your wayward daughters?”

Oh dear Koda, my First and highest Champion, Thera purred. Her mental tone sent a thrill of desire down Koda’s spine that promised he would have to exercise some of it later with his mates. Sweet Koda, Thera continued a moment later, there will be no trying in that matter. She will love you as easily as Arthene did once she meets you.

The goddess’s amused laughter chased him across the plains, echoing from deep within his soul so that he could not escape it.

But Koda found, as he turned the idea of another ancient spirit like Arthene joining him over in his mind, he didn’t want to escape his fate.

“Surrounded by love,” Koda murmured with a smile, before he crashed through another bank of snow to send it sailing overhead.

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“That had to be the single greatest rush I’ve ever experienced!” Jordan whooped, still excited a full hour after they had come to a stop for the day. “And we covered so much ground. At this rate, we’ll make it back to the Silent Plains’ village in a day or less.”

“Less,” Samira said with confidence as she sat back from the small fire pit, a billow of smoke following her. “Koda, how are you feeling?”

“Like I ran all day in the snow,” Koda groaned from where he lay on the frozen ground, his head pillowed on Sienna’s lap while his wolfish mate stroked his hair gently.

The sun was dipping towards the horizon now, and the group had taken shelter in a stand of trees tucked into the bend of a wide river. Overhead, the snow-laden branches created a solid roof, while the thick trees and deadfall wood would provide more than enough firewood to keep them warm.

“Oh, get up, you silly man,” Calandra said with a laugh, kicking Koda lightly in the thigh. “We all know that you only stopped because Sienna and I were wearing out, not because you were tired.”

“Wait, what?” Melia asked, turning to look at the dwarven woman in confusion while Koda pretended to wince and groan at the blow, only stopping when Sienna silenced him with a kiss.

Calandra shot Cyrus a questioning look, and he shrugged at her.

“She may have forgotten, or not realized,” the cougar beastfolk said with a wave of his hands.

“Koda could probably have done all of that without our help, but Calandra and I were aiding him with our magic,” Sienna answered when Calandra sent her a questioning look, clearly deferring to Sienna as the first of Koda’s mates. “Give me a minute and I’ll be shaping a shelter. Cal, could you clear the snow from this area?”

“Sure thing, Sienna. You’ll just need to get our lump of a husband off the ground first,” Calandra replied with a grin.

“I don’t know. He looks rather comfortable there,” Arthene laughed from her spot by the sleigh. “I bet he would make a good mattress to keep the chill from the ground away from us!”

“Not sure if I want to avoid that fate or embrace it,” Koda teased right back, wiggling his eyebrows up at Arthene, who blew him a kiss.

Before Melia could ask for further clarification, Koda scrambled upright and pulled Sienna off the ground like she weighed less than a feather and up into a princess carry.

Calandra wasted no time, conjuring a firm breeze that blew the snow away from the frozen ground in a wide swath. The small fire that Samira had built flared higher as the breeze fed more air into it, making the caracal woman hiss in surprise before she threw more wood into the blaze to keep it from burning up all its fuel.

“Sorry, Samira,” Calandra said contritely as she continued to work, ignoring the astonished looks from Melia and Jordan as the two unfamiliar hunters watched the magic in action.

“It’s fine. It just surprised me. I should have known that you two were going to make a nice shelter for us.” Samira laughed, obviously already having forgiven the dwarven woman.

Calandra quickly had a space cleared, revealing the frozen earth. It was studded with winter grass and frozen leaf litter from the trees overhead, in an oval shape that was about twenty feet long and two-thirds that wide.

“Think that’ll be enough space?” Calandra asked, glancing at Sienna.

The wolf beastfolk nodded from her spot in Koda’s arms. Rather than fight her position, Sienna had happily settled into Koda’s chest, snuggling under his cloak for warmth while she waited.

“That’ll be fine,” Sienna said before she squinted her eyes and focused.

The already wide eyes from Jordan and Melia grew even wider as the ground abruptly shifted and swelled upwards. A dome formed of packed earth bowed upwards and a hole appeared in the leeward side, where it would be shielded from the constant wind. Within seconds, a shelter made of frozen earth appeared before their eyes.

“Well then,” Arthene said, to break the silence. “Let’s move the furs from the sleigh in there. Bring in any goods that you don’t want freezing overnight as well.”

“Samira, I made sure there was a firepit in the center and a vent up top for smoke,” Sienna explained as Koda carried her towards the entrance of their shelter. “You just have to bring in a few coals to get a fire going inside. We won’t need a big fire to warm the inside with how many people are going to be sleeping in there.”

“Got it!” Samira chirped brightly, scooping up the pile of branches and sorting through to find two she could use as tongs to carry a bit of burning wood with her.

That motion got the other hunters moving, and Cyrus barked orders to his people, splitting them between bringing the blankets and furs in from the sleigh and gathering more firewood.

“Showing off a bit there, aren’t you?” Koda teased Sienna gently as he ducked into the darkness of their shelter.

“Maybe a bit,” Sienna murmured, leaning up to kiss the underside of his jaw. “Every bit we do casually like this will only add to your reputation, my mate. Melia and Jordan will carry that news to their tribes and spread it further. Isn’t that the main reason we are going to this tribal meeting?”

“Yes, but you still enjoyed showing off,” Koda countered with a smile, shifting his grip on the woman in his arms so he could lightly pinch her bottom through her leather pants.

Sienna let out a happy groan at the sensation and wriggled closer to her.

“Maybe just a bit,” she murmured into Koda’s neck. “But it’s not like you weren’t doing the same thing earlier today.”

“Guilty,” Koda laughed, bending to steal a kiss from Sienna’s lips before the others came in behind them with all the bedding and furs needed to stay warm in this winter wonderland.