The Home Stone

Katrina watched from the tower in which her father had imprisoned her. She watched as columns upon columns of soldiers, who had gathered from all over the Snow Lands, march through the main gates of Castle Winsome and out onto the Snow Barrens, on their way to invade the south lands. To gain a foothold in the southern lands, King Oestrin, of the Bear Clan, the now ruling tribe of the northern folk, knew he had to attack and seize the weakest country, The Hillshire, before anyone could react. This way there would be a lot of bickering and accusations between the southlands as to what should be done. In the mean time the northern horde would have gained a strategic harbor with the taking of Haggle Ville.

The princess screamed in anger and pounded her fists against the thick glass that prevented the extreme cold from entering her tower room in which she was locked up. Turning away from the scene down below, Katrina sagged to the floor and began to cry.

“What happened to you dad?” she cried out loud, as if he could hear her. “Why have you done this?”

Down, below the tower that imprisoned the princess, on a large veranda, stood the king, or what was left of him. Over the past few months a visible, physical change had overtaken him. No longer was he a strong, well-muscled man. Now as he looked down at his own hands, he saw only gnarled bony fingers. He knew what he had done to his daughter, but he could not help himself. It had taken over his body and now was slowly taking over his mind too. He tried not to give in to the entity within him, but it grew stronger every day. Automatically raising his hand to wave to the throngs of warriors that marched passed him; his thoughts went back to that fateful hunting trip towards the end of last summer.

One Year Earlier

It was early morning, though the sun was already high in the sky. Here in summer, the sun shone all day and all night. Oestrin waved goodbye to his daughter, who had just returned from the northern most village of Far Point. It was her job to make sure that the Bear Clan was seen in the Snow Lands on a regular basis. This kept the other clans in check and left a strong message to who was the ruling clan.

The king was getting ready to leave on his annual bear hunt. Word was that a great Ice Bear had been seen near the northern Ice Caves. A great trophy on the wall of the throne room, thought the king, or a warm skin to sleep under when the cold winter nights returned. Along with the king, traveled his favorite cook, Gunthar, and ten men of the king’s personal guard lead by Griswold, one of the best and strongest fighters in the north.

With all the equipment packed onto six sleds pulled by two domesticated reindeer each, Oestrin made himself comfortable under a stack of furs and gave to order to mush. Within minutes they were out the main gate and turning towards the last place where the great bear had been seen.

It was a fairly warm day for this far north. They had to be careful, for the snow would not be packed down so hard, making it dangerous when they passed over hidden crevasses. If the snow should give away under the sleds, everyone could be lost. So Oestrin ordered one sled to take the lead and check out the snow conditions ahead. Feeling secure now Oestrin nodded off to sleep. It would be a long journey to the Ice Caves.

By midday, a gentle hand woke the king. The party had stopped and was preparing the noonday meal. Eager to stretch his muscles, Oestrin struggled to remove himself from the under the furs. The sky had clouded over and a gentle snow began to fall.

“I think we should make camp here,” said the king to the surprise of the rest of the party. “Look at the sky in the west; we’re in for a storm.”

Within an hour, snow huts were dug; the reindeer secured and fed when the storm hit. Oil lamps were lit to illuminate and heat the shelters within. The floors were lined with many furs, making it very comfortable inside while the wind howled without. Chewing on some sun-dried fish and washing it down with good dwarf ale that caravans delivered to the castle, the party hunkered down to wait out the storm.

The afternoon dragged on and soon almost everyone was asleep. There was nothing else to do. Outside, if you ventured anywhere, you would be lost within minutes. The blinding, blowing snow would see to it that you would never find your way back. Eventually a snow bear would find you and have you for his dinner. These creatures, it is said, can sense food over great distances and humans were high on their list.

By early evening the worst of the storm was over and the party moved outside to check on the animals and sleds. All that was visible were small humps of snow covering the them. After feeding the reindeers and themselves, the sleds were repacked and the animals hitched up, the king gave the order to continue. This time he took control of one of the sleds, giving the cook a chance to ride under the warm furs. The farther north they trekked, the less the blizzard affected them. Again one sled took the lead as a safety precaution.

Oestrin looked at his little party and smiled. He had one of the best cooks with him and Dagwood, one of the best trackers the north has ever seen. With the tracker in the lead sled the king knew it was just a matter of time, before the bear was in his trophy room.

Two days later the hunting party passed through the northeast pass at the tip of the Great Northern Divide. Here, in the pass the men had to help the deer, for some parts of the trail were bare of snow. They lightened the load by carrying some of the supplies, so the reindeer could drag the heavy wooden sleds over the rough ground. The process was slow and Oestrin hoped that the wooden rails would not wear out, for there were no trees to carve new ones this far north. They pressed on through most of the sun filled night, stopping only to rest the animals and themselves. By the morning of the next day, they were through the pass and back out on the Snow Barrens.

Checking where the sun sat in the sky, Dagwood set a new course that would take them on a more northern route. They traveled for two more days, before turning east, putting the sun on their right. This, Dagwood did, so that he could keep his bearings. Out here on the snowfields, it was easy to start traveling in great circles and it would take days before you knew you were lost.

The next ten days followed one after another. One as boring as the next. Eat, sleep and trek. They saw no one, or any sign of other life other than their own. Three days out from the ice caves, they picked up the first signs of a bear. The tracks it left were huge, making other grown ice bear tracks look like little cubs. Oestrin smiled to himself as he viewed the trail, which they now would follow. With their supplies were running low, they knew they would have to make a stop at the caves to replenish them. The king convinced the party that if they killed the bear, there would be enough meat to sustain them all the way home. Agreeing with the Oestrin, the party headed north after the bear.

Gunthar was concerned about the lack of supplies. Although, he would have preferred more ale to go around, but limited supplies meant he would have to melt snow and serve only hot tea. He also knew that he would have his hands full once the bear was killed.

Dagwood was the first to move out with his team and set a fast pace to gain some ground on the bear. The rest followed as quickly as possible, not wanting to be left behind. With the wind down to a slight breeze and the sun shining in the cloudless sky, the party was able to follow the bear tracks at a quick pace.

By the end of the day the animals were exhausted and in need of rest. Sentries were placed just outside the camp and everyone ate and enjoyed a hot tea. Gunthar approached the king and told him that if they did not kill anything to eat soon, they would run out of food. So a decision was made to let one sled return to the ice caves and bring back the needed supplies. The rest of the party would remain here. It would be a six-day wait.

Tents were set up and the animals tied to stakes that were driven deep into the solid snow and ice. Then to while away the time, they played a favorite game of the north called, “Tuk”. It was played with carved bones, six of them in total, marked with a series of lines and dots. One would throw them to the ground and count the number of dots then divide by the number of lines. The one with the highest score wins. Monthly wages have been known to fill or empty many a purse over time, yet it was still the most popular game here in the north.

By the end of the fifth day the party grew anxious. Lookouts were set to keep watch on the eastern horizon for any sign of their friends. Their supply of ale had run out and food was dangerously in short supply.

On the morning of the seventh day the party became concerned that the sled had not returned. Oestrin gave them one more day and when the sled still had not shown up he then gave the order to return to the ice caves.

“We will find out what happened,” he said as he turned his sled around, “and we will pick up the bear’s trail when we return.”

They did not wait the full cycle of the day and were off as soon as everyone had slept and was well rested. They would push the reindeer to their limit by resting them only when they became exhausted. The remainder of the food would be rationed and every time they stopped a small fire would be made only to melt snow for drinking water. Leaving a marker stuck well into the packed snow, so they would know where to start their hunt upon their return. Now five sleds departed for the ice caves.

They kept up the fast pace, stopping only for short breaks. Everyone took their turn at the helm of the sled while the other rested and by midday of the next, they came upon the sixth sled. Dagwood was the first to approach the carnage that was left in the snow. When Oestrin and the rest of the party arrived they found the tracker on his knees and crying. Stretched out before them was a scene that would make even the toughest fighter cringe. The heavy wooden sled had been torn apart as if it were made of paper. The reindeer still in their harness lay dead and ripped open and their guts devoured and strewn about. In a large pool of frozen blood lay the remains of what used to be a man. He had been dismembered and disemboweled.

There was no sign of the second man, but a trail of blood led off in a westerly direction. The sled had never reached the ice caves. It had been ambushed here, just a day and a half away. Whoever had done this would pay, promised the king, as he angrily viewed the slaughter that lay before him.

“Dagwood! Try and find the trail,” shouted the king to his tracker. “We will not rest until we have the culprits.”

Rising from his knees, he drew his sword and began to walk in the direction of the blood trail. It did not take the tracker long to find the trail and determine who was responsible. Calling to his king, the tracker showed Oestrin the tracks left in the snow. The king could not believe his eyes. The bear they had been tracking had doubled back and attacked the lone sled. It had attacked so swiftly that the two men had no chance to defend themselves. After killing the men it went after the animals. When the carnage was over it grabbed one of the men and took off west again, as if to lead the others out onto the barrens. This was a smart bear. And the king began to understand that. Ordering the party to quickly bury the remains, they swiftly set out after the giant bear.

“If this is what he wants,” said the King to the remainder of the party, “then this is what we shall do, but we will outsmart him in the end.”

The pace was now set and they pushed the reindeer to their limit. They had to gain ground on the bear. For two days they tracked the bear gaining ever so slowly. By the end of the third day, their food supply ran out. Now they had no other choice but to catch and kill the bear, for they would never make it back to the caves. They would die before they even reached the halfway point. The weather was also closing in on them. A storm was brewing in the south and would overtake them before the day was out. A decision was made to make camp and wait out the storm. They knew the bear would do the same. And when the blizzard abated they would press on with the hunt. These summer storms were messy with lots of snow blowing around covering their tracks and that of the bear’s. But Dagwood would come through and the king knew it. He had a lot of confidence in him. The tracker could pick up a trail even if it was snow covered and over a week old. One said of him, he could sniff out his prey just like the bear could.

With new snow huts built and the animals secured, Oestrin still posted guards out in the storm. There was no telling what this bear could do. Then the storm hit. It blew so fierce that the heavy sleds overturned spewing their contents all over. Luckily most of the furs were inside the huts, but other supplies such as extra lamps and fuel for fires were lost to the wind and snow. From inside the huts the wind sounded like a hundred packs of wolves howling in the light of a full moon. Only this time it was broad daylight outside. Five times the guards were changed before the storm abated and when Oestrin came out of his sanctuary, all he could see was a white blanket of fresh snow covering everything. Even the reindeer, that stayed outside during the height of the storm were covered with snow, making the whole scene look like little white mounds slowly moving about. The sleds had to be dug out and the supplies that had been blown all over the area had to be collected and secured to the sleds. When everyone was ready, the order was given and the five remaining sleds pulled out. Slower this time for Dagwood had to make sure of the trail. The party was hungry, but no one complained.

They chased the bear for half a day before they came across the second body. It had been half chewed with an arm and part of its torso missing. This time they didn’t stop to bury the body. They left it where they had found it and continued. After some time, Dagwood motioned them to halt. He knew that the bear was close. He could smell the animal. Everyone, including the cook drew their weapons and waited.

Griswold set his men in a circle so they would not be surprised, when from up ahead came a loud and thunderous roar. There out on the barrens not two hundred yards away, stood the tallest bear the party had ever seen. It towered some twenty-five feet in height and must have weighed four to five thousand pounds. This was a worthy adversary thought Oestrin. This animal had killed two seasoned fighters and two sled animals in one swift ambush.

Slowly the men approached the huge bear with their weapons ready, but the animal did not retreat. When they were within a hundred feet the bear suddenly rear up and roared. It then brought its enormous front paws down onto the hard packed snow with such force that the ground shook beneath their feet. The party stopped its advance. Again the bear reared up and again the ground shook as its front paws connected with a thunderous clap with the hard ground. On the third time the men heard a loud crack beneath their feet as the ground gave way. Suddenly a huge crevasse opened up sending the party and their sleds into a deep abyss.

Down, down, down they fell. To Oestrin it felt like everything was happening in slow motion. Men were screaming and the walls echoing their screams made the sound even louder. The king heard as the bodies of the screaming men hit the bottom. Then it was his turn. There was tremendous thud as the bottom rushed up the greet him. Then came the pain and finally the blackness overtook him.