Singer Sailor Merchant Mage

Chapter 234: Neighbours come knocking

“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations if you live near one.”

J.R.R. Tolkien

Everything about the Thorpe was built defensively. The giants did not live near dragons, but they did live near ice giants, or at least they were the first neighbours they would knock on when they moved south. The heart of the Thorpe the Lodestar was surrounded by spikes protruding outward, but not only that but the entire edifice was dropped below the line of sight from the Endless Ice. You would only find Thorpe if you knew it was there.

Each layer descended down a step towards its central area. The first layer was empty of homes or shops, merely a road outside Thorpe that giants could travel around without being seen from the Endless Ice. The second layer down was predominately homes. The third layer was where the merchants and craftsmen gathered, sheltered from the icy winds; healing and selling had gone smoothly this past week.

The patrols, though, had finally shown something alarming. We had travelled Eastward, Southward, Westward and Northward, clearing the surrounding areas of any monsters that might have migrated closer to the Lodestar without their hunters noticing. We defanged a few growing threats they knew nothing about and generally secured the area for the giants so much that we were now expanding outward and acting like a regular patrol rather than sensing threats close to home.

However, we discovered the most alarming tracks on our latest Northward journey. If you had thought giants were large, then the tracks we discovered were that of titans.

“Ice giant.” Bjorn cursed when we came across them.

“Ice giant?” I questioned.

“Ice giants. A base race of giants twice our size incapable of speech but capable of demonstrating their anger at anything they might find on the surface. They wander the ice alone, thank the lodestar, as a single one of them is enough to devastate a Thorpe, and there appears to be one nearby.” He pointed at the tracks. If the giants stood at twice a man’s height, the Ice Giants must have been four or five times as tall, judging by the length of their stride and the space between their footprints.

“Namir, Eryk, Kai, you must bring the news back to the Thorpe as quickly as possible.” He singled out the pair of us and his son.

“Ragnar, Ivar and I will track the monster westward, hoping it departs our territory without noticing our Thorpe.”

“You’re not going to hunt it down?” I asked, surprised. I would have thought they would have jumped at the opportunity to harvest an Ice Giant’s core. I did not know what magic it’s core might hold, but it would be large based simply on the size of the monster.

“Not if we can help it,” Bjorn answered. “They are not foes you want to take lightly. Twice our size, they are probably four times as strong. None can face one alone. Even with a group of four, you will most likely be knocking at death's door. With a chilling ice aura, they can instantly freeze anyone without a resistance. They are a walking natural disaster that leaves only destruction in their wake.”

“An ice aura?” I asked. The endless ice looked as barren as ever and hardly destroyed despite their passing, I thought to myself.

“Everything they touch freezes.” He explained. Noticing my questioning look, he continued. “Part elemental ice, part beast, they roam the endless ice and devour all they find. It only looks less like a trail of destruction because there was nothing for them to find and feast on here.” He paused, considering the tracks and whether or not they would come close to the Thorpe. “Enough talk. It's time to get moving. Erik, you know what you need to do.”

Namir, worried by the talk, did not hesitate to pick me up as he loped back to the Thorpe Erik, running as fast as he could in our wake. It seemed living with one another and the need to report trumped his desire not to carry me around. I would have been able to keep up for a while at least, but here, speed was of the essence.

“Do we need to worry?” I asked him as we ran.

“Of the Ice giant? Maybe. Might be time to leave.” He commented as we drew ahead of Erik.

“Would the core not be worth it.” I answered thinking about the power of the Lodestone Wyrm’s core and everything that it had been carved up into. Would the Ice giant’s core not be equally worthwhile.

“You have to be alive to enjoy them. If Bjorn is as worried as he seems it might be best to depart earlier than planned.”

We skidded into the Thorpe not slowing down other than to shout “Ice Giant.” as we raced to Volur.

The effect of our words was instantaneous with the Giants quickly closing up shop. A surprisingly quiet ripple of action that flowed around the Thorpe. There were no loud alarms but a simple quick packing up and barrelling of everything away.

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Then we were standing outside of Volur’s door knocking hard.

“Namir, Kai.” Volur only took at a single look at the suddenly bustling Thorpe and at Eryk cresting the ridgeline to the Thorpe to realise the truth. “Ice giants?”

“Yes though just the one.” Namir answered for the pair of us. “Bjorn sent us back to inform the Thorpe while he tracked the beast.” Namir explained.

“Where?” he quizzed.

“North.” We replied.

“Stamfar.” The Vievisier called out. The Gyrfalcon raised his sleepy head reluctantly but on seeing the seriousness of the situation quickly roused himself taking off into the sky with the normally solitary hunters rising up in a circling cauldron of falcons behind him and taking to the sky before heading northward after Stamfar.

“That should give us a little more warning on when he might arrive if he is headed this way.” Veivisier answered our questioning look. “Which way were the tracks headed?”

“Westward,” I answered for the pair of us.

“Then there is hope that he might miss us yet.” He mused to himself before turning to one of his students who had approached us and commanded. “We will have to mobilise the Thorpe to hunt him down and ready the rest to retreat with the Lodestar should we be defeated. There is much to do.”

He turned to Namir. “What are your plans? We could always use another warrior, and Kai is welcome to retreat with the children and women south.”

“Alone, I would welcome the hunt, but accompanied as I am, my first priority is his safety. We will retreat together south with the rest of the Thorpe if that would help. If not, we will aim to depart sooner than later.” He answered firmly.

I found myself surprised nonetheless. Did I want to fight? Or did I expect him to choose to do so?

“Very well.” The Veivisier answered curtly. “Your presence would be appreciated protecting the children and women as they walk southward. It will mean one more warrior for the hunt.” He nodded his head in understanding, even if he was not happy with the decision.

“Come, Kai,” Namir said as he turned to leave, though the words were unnecessary as I realised he had never actually put me down.

As we left earshot, I asked, “We’re not staying.”

“No,”

“I’m more... . mature than I look; we could fight.” I started aware we were walking through the Thorpe back to our rooms.

“We could . . . we could also die. You are more vulnerable than you realise. Despite the increase in size of your vessel.” He insisted.

“I have my resistances,” I argued. We had continued picking them up, and the arctic ice no longer felt quite so biting or cold, merely a little chilly.

“So do all giants living this far north. You heard Bjorn, the Ice Giant freezes all on touching them. They are forces of nature. You do not try to fight the weather you bunker down or run ahead of it.” He seemed to prefer fleeing to facing it.

“This isn’t the storm.” I disagreed. “They are standing up against it. We could help.” I continued. If the creature were one of ice, fire would be a potent weapon against it.

“We might be able to help. But this is not a fight I would choose for you.” He seemed unwavering in his decision.

“Let’s pack up and get ready to leave. I’m no merchant but even I know that people will be burying or selling off their stock for the trek south. A cunning cat could make a killing on picking up what they will be tempted to leave behind.” He attempted to distract me.

By now, we had returned to our base, and a quick flickering of my spatial vault opening and closing in different locations had cleared our stuff away.

“You are getting pretty proficient at that.” He complimented.

“Time to check out the merchants before there goods are completely packed or sealed away.” I returned.

A quick rush around the market gave us a few extra resources at a good price, but the majority of the Giant Merchants had their own spatial vaults and so stored their goods safely away. Still, it was worth the quick run around. Varvara and Eryk found us not long after that.

“I’m to travel south with the children.” Eryk moaned as soon as he saw us.

“Same,” I replied while Varvara smiled at Namir in understanding.

“When do they plan to depart?” Namir asked.

“As soon as we can.” Varvara pointed to some giants who were already heading over the southern skyline of the Thorpe.

“Ready when you are,” I replied sad to be saying goodbye to the Thorpe even if it was only a few days early. “You can ride with us if you’d like,” I said as we headed up to the southern skyline after those who had already started to leave.

“Ride?” asked Eryk.

“Well, I haven’t only been working on my runes and glyphs.” I grinned at Varvara who might be able to guess what I had been up to.

“The runed runners?” Varvara asked excitedly.

“The runners,” I replied. Varvara had helped me with one of my projects and it was finally going to see the light of day. I had been saving it for our departure but now seemed to be a good enough time.

“What are they talking about?” Eryk asked Namir.

“I’ve found it’s best to wait and see,” Namir replied tiredly as we marched over the top of the skyline and joined the others fleeing south.

“Just need to get out of the crowd a little.” I motioned us to move further westward out of the line of giants striding up and out. “Where is everyone heading anyway?” I asked, watching as they quickly marched south in a line stretching all the way to the horizon. Their strides taking the women and children south far quicker than I could ever have imagined. A few patrols ranged on either side of the exodus, and I assumed one also ranged out further ahead.

“To Tramontana. The kingdom will welcome the warning even if they do not appreciate the news. By supporting us in our time of need, they save having to patrol the endless ice and welcome our warriors in facing the ice giants should we fail to end the threat here and now.” Vavara explained. “Now, will you reveal your little surprise, or will we have to wait any longer?”

I fully opened the spatial vault doors to the muttering of Varvara and Eryk. They knew I had a spatial vault, but neither realised how large it had grown over our time on the Endless Ice. I had taken advantage of the increasing width, depth and height of my core-based skill to build us an ice boat for our journey south, and now I revealed it in all its glory.

“What is that?” Eryk asked as Namir nodded nonchalantly in understanding and started to pull my new ship out of the spatial vault entrance.

“Our transport south.” I smiled.

P.S. This is a hundred-year-old ice boat. /watch?app=desktop&v=2DQ5HdXNGU0

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