Soul of a Human

As they were quickly retreating through the forest, trying to get as far away as possible from the leftover battlefield, Mor handed over the horn of the alpha to Elly and asked something he had on his mind.

"I know I said we should leave, but was it ok to leave the two dead like that?"

"Yes! Leaving them like that is a disgrace." Thor added, getting another withering glare from Elly.

"Leaving was the right choice. It would have taken a while to build a funeral pyre, and the risk to our lives was not worth the time. I'm all for honoring the fallen, but not to the detriment of the living. That's something my mother taught me. A scout has to make those hard decisions." The girl answered, and Mor nodded.

He returned to the end of the group, passing Jorgen, who adapted to Mor's tempo and looked like he had something on his mind.

"How long will she be mad?" He finally asked after an awkward silence.

"At least until we're back. But can you blame her?" Mor asked.

"No. She was right, but I'm aware of my error." Jorgen said.

"So she should just stop being mad?" Mor said with a grin, shaking his head.

"My friend, you have no idea of women." He then added.

°And you're one to talk.° The human teased.

°Shut up.° Mor grumbled.

Jorgen looked at him in confusion, then shrugged, letting the matter rest. He quickly returned to his place in the traveling group, purely of his own volition and not because Elly glared at him.

This strenuous truce was only possible because Elly had proven she was stronger than everyone else of the unmagical Ice-kin. Jorgen had no intention of challenging his girlfriend, and Mor was entirely on her side if not quite as pissed at the recklessness. If he were, the human might say something about someone throwing rocks in a glass home, even though Mor was sure the human was more reckless than him.

The first hiccup came at first camp, when Mor set up his sleeping space, laying out the thick fur blanket. Thor and Stren appeared behind him, looking down.

"Where's your little monstrosity?" Thor asked as it was nowhere to be seen.

"Gone. I'm not stupid enough to bring it into a settlement." Mor stated, not looking at them.

°More like invisible, but they really don't need to know. And if I interpret their faces correctly, they were more than ready to hand us over to the guards for bringing a dangerous monstrosity into the city.° The human said.

°Yes, but we won't bring it into the settlement. I mean it.° Mor answered.

°Well, it will follow after you, and if you tell on it, it will be killed. I find this to be thankless after it saved our lives,° the human said.

°I know, but I don't know what to do about that.° Mor stated.

°Simple. Ask for Dino, then demand your favor, and then we can leave the Ice-kin City. We're done after all,° the human explained.

°That's not what I meant.° Mor complained.

°I know you want to know how to get rid of the little one. However, I can't say. It has its own mind, and if it wants to follow, it will do so. All you can do is be appreciative of it, saving your life, and accept that.° The human stated.

"Don't ignore me," Thor said. "You might have helped, but I didn't want your help. I can accept Jorgen and even that outside Ice-kin helping, but you are something else. I don't want an outsider to intervene in our first hunt."

Mor wanted to reply, but Elly appeared behind the two boys like a haunting specter.

"So dying would have been preferable? " she asked.

Stren, the obviously smarter one, cut his losses and slinked away quickly. Mor watched, like everyone else, Elly squaring off against Thor. He knew intervening would not be helpful. This was a matter among Ice-kin, and more so for Elly, who accepted him into her group. However, with the immediate danger out of the way, the bad habits of the Ice-kin boy and former boyfriend of Elly came back in full force.

"You mean like Doron and Tark? The two we left behind without giving them the proper sendoff?" Thor challenged.

"Yes," Elly growled.

"Without the distraction from that Soul-kin, the two of them would still be alive. But no, he had to shout to run away." Thor said haughtily.

Mor shot the Ice-kin a glare, thinking about how to get his new little friend to send some scary illusions during Thor's watch, which would be easier if he knew if the fox even understood him. However, Elly glowering up to Thor at that might be scarier than anything the little fox might be able to conjure up.

"If you had listened, they would have been fine. Their deaths are your fault. Your pride got them killed." She hissed.

Thor growled. He knew she was right, but he didn't want to accept it, so he opened his mouth to defend himself, only to be interrupted again by Elly.

"Don't even think about saying anything. You're falling in line like everyone else until we're home and safe. Then and only then will I allow you to talk back to me, " she said, pure conviction in her eyes.

Thor glared at her but then nodded.

"And if you slack off at watch. I. Will. Break. Your. Nose. If you endanger this group, I will make sure you never can hold a weapon again." She added.

The glare of Thor made clear he had planned exactly that, at least if the first victim would be that Soul-kin. That Mor helped in the fight against the alpha, and without him, they might have more losses to mourn, had no part in that thought. However, it also didn't go by Mor and his human, and the human decided to be extra attentive while Mor rested.

The result of that exchange was that Thor was tasked with the first watch, with everyone still awake but eating, so even if they were surprised, it wouldn't be as catastrophic as needing to wake everyone else first.

Luckily, the rest of the journey home was very eventless, with Elly diverting their path a few times to evade some tracks other monstrosities left. The only mentionable thing was that Thor had inexplicable nightmares. He might not reveal that himself, but everyone taking turns at watch could hear his groans and mumblings while he tossed and turned in his blanket. Elly was very satisfied with that because her name was whispered in cold fear when she listened in on those mumblings.

Nobody could explain those nightmares, and as Thor didn't talk about them, felt like bringing it up. Well, one could, but the human decided not to. It was not as if the human could really say it for sure, but every time Thor threw a threatening gaze toward Mor, his nightmares on that night were worse, so the intervention of the little fox was pretty much guaranteed.

Even without nightmares, Elly demanded a quick tempo, driving the group to travel fast, and therefore, everyone was dead tired when the gates of the glacial fortress came back into view. However, something was off. There was quite a hustle at the gates, with many veteran teams getting ready and leaving or coming back.

"What's going on?" Jorgen asked.

"I don't know. But I don't like it." Elly answered.

"Something must have happened. I knew it was wrong to let all those outsiders come here." Thor stated, getting a side glance and a sigh from Mor.

"I don't think that's the reason," Titania said.

"Let's go ask." Elly decided and went ahead toward the guards at the gate.