The Wrist of the Mountains

"I know we expected it to be cold, but where in the hells did this ice-wind come from?!" Virra asks through chattering teeth.

"Pretty sure this wind is the opposite of hells-sent!" Terra responds as she bundles up in a thick cloak.

The group are all hunkered down, trying to conserve as much body heat as possible as they're currently being battered with torrential wind crashes into them.

The aforementioned wind also combines with the snow from the tips of the Skygrabber Mountains, creating literal blasting pneumonia with a sprinkle of frostbite which grows more prominent with each second.

"We need to get inside! This wind's gonna freeze us solid or slow us down enough to get eaten!" Kyuala shouts to Virra.

The group begin looking frantically, trying to find any sort of place to get out of the hellish blizzard that has begun to encompass them. Eventually, the newest addition to the group begins proving her worth as she spots something in the distance.

"Looks like there's an opening to the left! Let's hope there's some shelter there!" Clarva calls out.

"Alright! Get ready! We might be busting in on some sleeping animals!" Virra replies as she turns the cart whist the others hold on with frozen fingers.

After two more minutes of riding, which felt like two hours for the group, they eventually come to the opening.
Immediately, Kyuala and Clarva disembark, both feeling the need to take the lead and scope out any potential threats in their new accommodations for the night.

The two colossal members of the group share less-than enthusiastic looks between each other, but the situation is too dire for any sort of bitching at the current moment.

The two walk inside the cave, and Clarva summons her shields as a precaution whilst Kyuala pulls out her axe, both ready to attack at a moments notice. The duo doesn't see any signs of a beast as they step in, but even the most novice of adventurers know that the dangers of a cave lie in the back.

The two then start venturing further in, leaving the others to deal with the equipment.

"Hey! Are we sure letting those two go in alone is a good idea?!" Amilia asks.

"I know they don't like each other, but they wouldn't do anything to jeopardize us, especially in these conditions! I'm pretty sure I even saw Clarva jittering!" John says as he grabs the box of provisions.

"That wasn't her! It was those rocks we kept rolling over!" Terra adds.

Virra takes slight offense to Terra's comment. "Hey! Next time we have to go up a mountain through a damned blizzard, you can drive!"

The group have a small laugh, but the cheery moment is ruined by the spikes of ice that seemingly fill their lungs with every breath.

Back in the cave, the other two have made their way to what could be described as a den of sorts. They look around, still feeling the cold wind on their backs as they make sure the area is safe. They can't see anything immediately, but they both know that wouldn't last for long.

Suddenly, in the middle of the room, a large red creature climbs up through the floor.

The beast is a combination of a giant preying mantis and a bear. The front half is the head of a mantis with its two forelegs ready to strike, but the rest of the body is the bear part with four more powerful legs on the ground. The entire body is furry, but the mantis part is less so than the back half.

The mantibear lets out a trill which would terrify a normal adventurer, but Kyuala and Clarva are far from normal. The two women then share a look, and without a word to one another, know what they must do.

The mantibear then rushes forward, trying to defend its home, swinging its forelegs in a bicycle motion like Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat, but the legs are suddenly stopped by Clarva's shields. Kyuala then swings her axe, but the mantibear leans its head back to avoid being decapitated, so Kyuala switches targets to its left foreleg.

Kyuala's axe then slices through the leg, and it drops to the ground, causing the mantibear to let out a loud shriek as green blood begins spurting out.

The mantibear lunges back as it lets out a second loud screech, obviously injured and absolutely infuriated. The mantibear's eyes lock onto Kyuala, deeming her the bigger threat of the two, and decides to go an the attack against her.

The beast charges forward, its paws almost bouncing off of the ground as it gets ready to strike with the remaining foreleg. On the other hand, Kyuala stands her ground. She knows exactly what the mantibear intends to do, but knows it won't get to do it as she sees Clarva moving.

The mantibear is just a few seconds away from barrelling over Kyuala, but before it can get within ten feet of the green warrior, Clarva crashes into the beast with the **** of a speeding truck.

The mantibear slams against the ground, sliding across the floor like a stone skipped against ice. A streak of green blood precedes the beast, leading to its current position on the ground.

The **** of Clarva's collision was enough to send the beast sliding close to thirty feet with enough **** to shatter every bone in a regular persons body, and she didn't even have a long run up.

Kyuala starts walking over to the mantibear with her axe at the ready. As she gets closer, Kyuala sees that the beast is obviously dazed, most likely dealing with the effects of a concussion, if beasts can even get concussions anyway.

Kyuala eventually comes up to the head, and looks at the mantibear. The beast's arm begins slowly moving in a bicycle attack from a few moments ago as a last effort to defend itself.

Now, whilst Kyuala doesn't feel bad about killing the manitbear, being a hunter and all, she does understand that it was just defending its home. She also knows that not finishing it off now would be prolonging its suffering, and that's something a true hunter abhors.

Kyuala then brings her axe up, and in a flash, brings it back down again, completely beheading the mantibear in one swift swing.

As Kyuala looks down at the mantibear with its green blood coating the blade of her axe, Clarva walks over to Kyuala as her shields vanish. "That was a good fight. You know how to adapt on the fly. I respect that."

Kyuala just turns her head towards Clarva. "I can say the same. Being able to pick up speed that quick for someone of your size is impressive. Let's just hope any future skirmishes go as well as that one did."

"Let's hope not. I want to see how you fare in a long fight." Clarva responds with a half joking, half truthful tone, and actually manages to crack the briefest of smiles from Kyuala.

"Alright. I'll go grab the others. Try to put the carcass in a corner so we aren't resting near it. I don't exactly wish to eat next to a rotting beast."

"Aye. It does have a stink to it. I'll see if I can harvest anything from it though. You never know when bear fat will come in handy." Clarva replies before pulling out what looks to be a large hunting knife.

Kyuala simply marvels at the giant, not expecting her to be a hunter given her size, but keeps any comments to herself before heading to the group.

A FEW HOURS LATER:

The group are huddled around a fire that they created in the chamber, trying to get as much heat back into their frozen bodies as possible.

The soup in the pot that sits above the fire is bubbling as the group grabs themselves a bowl. Clarva obviously has the biggest problem as the bowl is more like a cup to her, but appreciates the soup nonetheless.

Next to the pot is a skewer that is currently cooking the meat from the mantibear that the large duo killed earlier.

The chunks of meat are large, so they're obviously meant for Clarva, but as the chunks fully cook, the half-giant says, "Help yourselves to the meat by the way. There was plenty in that beasts behind after all."

"Ass meat? That's my second favourite kind." Amilia says as she grabs a piece before sinking her teeth into it before it even has a chance to cool down.

Kyuala also grabs a piece of the mantibear meat and tears in, finding herself incredibly surprised by the taste of the meat. Kyuala has had bear before, but mantibear is something completely different.

The meat itself is incredibly tender due to the sweet juice softening it up, and the meat is so tender that it almost falls apart just by picking it up.

Kyuala's face obviously shows her enjoyment of the meat, and Clarva notices. "Mantibears are fairly rare, so I'm not surprised you haven't had them before. They're also tough to kill for regular adventurers, and even the ones who do aren't experienced in proper skinning, so the meat usually goes to waste anyway."

"Do they always hide in cold temperatures?" John asks.

"All the ones I've seen were in cold places. My guess is that the bear instinct within them tells them to find some place to hibernate."

"So, you're a hunter?" Terra asks.

"That I am. Braxxas taught me while I was young and still smaller than him. That was before I was seven anyway." Clarva replies.

Amilia then asks the next question. "How the hell does a giant go hunting? Ain't no way you try creep around the trees and shit."

Clarva chuckles. "You would be right. I have a friend that would use her magic to make my footsteps silent. Once, I even managed to creep up on a deer from behind without the poor bastard even knowing. The spell doesn't stop sticks and leaves being crushed under my boots, so I use a spear to keep at a distance."

"Wait, do you use regular sized spears or your sized spears?" Virra asks before continuing. "Cause I'm pretty sure there'd be nothing left if it was the latter."

"Regular sized." Clarva answers before chuckling.

Just a couple seconds later, Kyuala asks, "This friend of yours. Is she a member of the Guides as well?"

Clarva quickly replies, "She wasn't. She was just my friend. The first friend I had after..." Clarva then goes quiet, obviously hesitant to continue, so she goes back to eating.

A few quiet moments pass as the group continue eating as one singular question forms in every one of their minds. Lani then looks at Clarva and wants to ask, but obviously feels a little intimidated and worried about asking.

Eventually, Lani pushes down the feeling long enough to start speaking. "Clarva..."

"Yeah?" Clarva glumly responds.

"Uhh... after what happened?"

Clarva stops eating, and the group all notice a change in her expression. The half-giant then places her slab of mantibear meat into her soup before taking a breath.

"After the giants you're seeking kicked me out and left me to die in the wild... the day after they killed my dad."

The air is sucked out of the room as the group all freeze in place, even Amilia stops mid-chew after hearing what Clarva just said.

"They killed your father?" Kyuala asks.

"Obviously, there wasn't proof, but I know fine well what happened. They caused a damn rockslide that destroyed an entire village, because me and my dad escaped from them. That day, they picked me up, acting like they were so scared for me, and what the fuck was I gonna do? Go against them? They took me back to their fortress for one whole measly day, before their new leader threw me back out the fucking door before it even had a chance to properly shut."

Clarva goes back to being quiet, but her face shows that the anger she's held for years is still as prevalent as ever. Clarva then goes back to eating, trying to calm herself down for the moment as getting angry right now wouldn't help anyone.

The chamber goes silent once again, apart from the slurping of soup and the crackle of the fire.

The awkward quiet begins to get to Amilia who eventually blurts out. "So, is that wind gonna calm down any time soon or what? Cause I don't fancy turning into a fucking icicle before we knock on the front door of giants."

"The wind should calm down in a few hours. The mountains usually follow a pattern when it comes to the weather. The wind will fade, but the freezing cold will remain."

Clarva then takes a sip of her soup continuing on. "We have to be careful of rain though. The rain here will pelt you like rocks, and sometimes the air is so cold that the rain will freeze before landing. So, if you don't wish to be bruised to all hells, I suggest we put up that covering."

Virra then adds. "We managed to get the cart inside, so we're safe from it being soaked by the time we get going again."

"How long do you think the blizzard will ask?" Lani asks Clarva.

"Knowing the blizzards up here? We're better off getting some sleep. It's probably the safest place to rest up here anyway. The beasts that live on the mountains aren't stupid enough to travel through that wind, but it's probably best to put up a ward, just in case."

"Can do!" Lani then flies out of the chamber and heads to the entrance to beginning putting up the ward as the others begin grabbing their sleeping bags.

SOME TIME LATER:

Most of the group have drifted off to sleep as Amilia, Terra, Virra, Lani and Kyuala are happily dozing away. However, John is struggling to do the same, even with the warmth of his big spoon aka Kyuala against him.

John opens his eyes, and sees Clarva is sat by the dwindling fire, gently prodding it with a stick as her mind seems to be somewhere else.

John then decides to go speak with the half-giant since he can't sleep. Carefully, he lifts Kyuala's arm up and wiggles himself out of her embrace before getting out of the sleeping bag.

Clarva stares into the burning embers, lost deep in her thoughts. As she mulls over the current thought, she sees movement on the left of her peripheral vision. Clarva then looks and sees John shuffling towards her.

"Hey." John says, keeping his voice low to avoid waking the others.

"Hey." Clarva replies as John sits down. "Can't get any sleep?"

"Nah. Usually I'm out like a light when she's got her arms wrapped around me, but not this time apparently." John then looks at Clarva. "What about you?"

"I'm not tired. I've spent the past two weeks sleeping and shitting in a cell, so I figured I can stay up a bit longer."

"What did you do to end up in the cell anyway?" John asks.

Clarva chuckles. "Some rich fuckwit decided it would be best to test me. He figured that he could bed a half-giant, so he tried sweet-talking me. Once he realized that wasn't gonna work, he decided to slap my ass. It felt like a fly had landed on me, but I really hate flies, so I punched him."

"How far did he fly?" John asks.

"Like ten feet." Clarva replies.

"Must've been a light tap then."

Clarva lets out a quick laugh, amused by John's attempt to cheer her up. Soon after that, Clarva is then met with another question by John. "So, what were you thinking about?"

Clarva doesn't immediately answer, and John notices her expression change into one of tempered anger. He knows just from looking that she doesn't wish to speak about it, so he decides to take the reins. "Listen, I'm gonna hazard a guess and say it's about what we're about to do."

Clarva offers a brief hum in response.

"Thought so. Well, I'm going to be real with you here. I'm hoping to get through this whole thing without a fight, and if there's any way I can guarantee that - I'm going to do it. But make no mistake, the only thing I'm not going to do, and would never do, is sacrifice someone."

John takes a moment before continuing. "Now, on the flip side - if we do get into a fight, we will be by your side, and we will make sure you get your ****, just not at the cost of our lives. I just want you to know that."

Clarva thinks on John's words for a few moments before saying, "Your friends are lucky to have you."

John chuckles. "I'm lucky to have them. They've given me a purpose, and that's something I've longed for - longer than I wish to admit anyway."

The two then go silent as they continue to watch the fire crackle, seemingly coming to an understanding about the different goals about the upcoming situation.

A few minutes go by as the two sit beside one another in peace, but Clarva has noticed that John is now the one deep in thought.

"What's on your mind then?" Clarva asks.

"Ahh, it's nothing." John responds.

"People don't usually dwell that deeply over nothing."

Clarva quickly responds, now very curious as to what the mate of the orc was thinking about.

John sighs. "Well... it's about something I was asked to do by Terra and Virra's mom before we started on this journey."

"What was it?"

John takes a moment before continuing. "She asked that when I got to Hynesgar, I had to look for a specific guide. A guide that had the same symbol as this." John then pulls out the talisman that Myssera gave to him before the group set off.

Clarva's eyes then go wide as she immediately recognizes the talisman in John's hand. The upside down valknut with a border of flames surrounding it is a symbol she's very familiar with, and knows exactly what it means.

Barely a moment later, Clarva grabs John's shoulder and covers his mouth before pulling him over to the entrance to the chamber, away from the group.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" John asks as Clarva lets go of his arm.

"You... you... you're the second human?!" Clarva asks, her whispered voice full of shock.

Now, John is the one who's shocked. "Wait! How the fuck do you know?!"

Just then, Clarva pulls the sleeve of her shirt up, and reveals the exact same symbol tattooed onto her left shoulder.

John then remembers Myssera's words. 'Listen, John. When you reach Hynesgar, you need to look for a woman who bears the symbol on the talisman. She is a member of the Emberskiln. It may be on an amulet, necklace, ring or even on her armour, but look for anything that has a resemblance to that symbol.'

This memory then makes the pieces finally fit as John realizes that Clarva is exactly who he was supposed to look for.

"You're a member of the Emberskiln?!"

"No, I just happen to really like the symbol. Of course, I am!"

The two just stand there in silence for a few moments, unsure of what to do now. Clarva then finally clicks as to what she is supposed to do, so she then gets down on a knee and bows her head.

John immediately feels awkward as not only is Clarva bowing before him, but the half-giant is still as tall as him, even on one knee.

"Uhh... I'm supposed to say some sort of ceremonial shit, but I'm really drawing a fucking blank here, so this'll have to do." Clarva then clears her throat. "As a member of the Order of the Emberskiln, I swear to do my best to protect you, the second human, and your friends for however long you need my protection."

John is flabbergasted, but soon snaps out of it as he recognizes how weird this would look if one of the others woke up. "Okay. Thanks for the pledge and all, but please get up, this is really weird." John then begins to attempt to pull Clarva up, but does almost nothing due to the sheer weight of the half-giant.

"I hope you know that was more awkward for me than it was for you, and I hope you also know that I will never go on my knees for you again. You got that?" Clarva then finishes up by prodding her large finger into John's chest.

"Yeah, I get it. But why'd you have to word it like that?"

Clarva then realizes what she just said, and her face scrunches in embarrassment. She then looks back up at John. "I didn't mean it like that! Y'know what?! Forget I said anything, alright?! Well, except the part about having to protect you as part of my duty."

"Consider it forgotten. Now, can we get back to the fire? I'm freezing my balls off here."

Clarva chuffs. "Guess humans aren't immune to cold. Noted."

The two then head back over to the fire and take a seat, but are sat a little closer together this time.

Barely a moment after their asses touch the stone beneath them, John says, "Listen. Whatever you do, you cannot tell anyone about what I am, alright? Hell, Virra doesn't even know."

"She doesn't?" Clarva asks, prompting John to shake his head in response. John's quiet answer then makes Clarva ask another question. "So why does the other snowball know?"

"That would be because of Amilia and her big mouth. I would've told Terra eventually, but I wanted to wait until we built some more trust first. Although, we all fought together to save Reduna'z, so the timing was perfect in hindsight. As for Virra, we only met her nearly a fortnight ago, and even Terra told me to be quiet about it."

John then sighs. "Unfortunately for me, their mom and their youngest sister know what I am, so there's a chance she already knows too."

"How in the hell did they learn? Did the cat blab to them as well?"

"Their mom is a member of the Emberskiln, and her mark gave me away. As for Erya..."

John stops for a moment, thinking about how scared the poor girl was back then, and probably is now. "She's the one with the Giant's Eye. Apparently, the leader of the giants can communicate through the curse, and they said that they could smell a human. Erya put two and two together, and asked me about it."

The only response Clarva can muster is a simple, "Fuck." However, after a few silent moments, she finally says something else to ease the mood. "Remind me to never tell any of you a damn secret."

The two let out a short, quiet laugh as the tension has finally been lifted, even if it's just a little bit.

The two go silent once again as both still feel a little stunned over everything they've both learned over the past few minutes. However, a new question pops into John's mind about Clarva's affiliation with the Order.

"So, how did you join the Emberskiln?"

"Well - I'm not technically a fully-fleged member. I'm kinda like a half member. I guided a member of the Order a while back, and we became acquaintances. She asked me if I would be interested in becoming a sort of bodyguard for the members when they needed to travel. I mostly did it cause the gold was good, but after a while, the woman I met said that the Order wanted to meet me."

Clarva quickly grabs some kindling and throws it into the fire before continuing. "When I met them, they offered me a place in the Order, but I wasn't all about the whole devoting myself to the cause thing. That's when the woman who brought me, suggested that I continue my role but more officially. So, I got the tattoo and got the whole speech about humans. I'll be real, I thought humans were a load of gurogan shit, but seems like I was wrong."

"If it's any consolation, I didn't think magic, elves, orcs, fur folk, fairies or giants were real a couple months ago."

"I couldn't imagine a world like that. I can't lie though, that sounds fucking boring."

John laughs. "That it was."

Just then, John lets out a yawn. "Huh, looks like getting that off my chest actually helped tire me out." John then stands up. "Well, time to get back to being the little spoon. See you in the morning."

"G'night." Clarva says as John walks back over to Kyuala, and is almost immediately brought into a tight embrace by the sleeping Kyuala.

Back at the fire, Clarva looks back into the flames before bringing her hand up, resting her pendant in her palm. She looks down at the pendant for a moment, thinking about the person that gave it to her. Clarva then looks back up at the fire before saying, "I hope you're alright, Karray."