Song of Seven

Song 1: Sacrifice

In a few short weeks these woods will be impassable, he thought as he leaned his aching back against the rough bark of a tall oak. Raising a calloused hand to his temples he rubbed hard at the dull headache that pulsed through his skull, lowering his hands he reached for the flask at his belt, the cold metal of it bit at his fingertips as he raised the cap to his lips and gulped down the fiery liquid that had been his medicine for too long. Axel. A name he barely recognized anymore. You're still a good man, and you're doing the right thing. A mix of guilt and shame stirred in his guts, waves of nausea combined with the strong liquor and the lack of any real food rattled his frayed nerves. Axel leaned forward onto his knees and retched, then settled back against the hard tree trunk with a profound sigh. A chilling wind brought forth a swirl of snow, and he pulled his wide-brimmed hat lower over his eyes and tucked his face into the tall collar of his torn shirt. I may die out here if I don't get moving soon. Waiting for a few long moments, contemplating the fire in his belly and the foreboding stinging of his exposed skin, Axel raised his eyes to survey his surroundings. Mighty oaks stood like an impenetrable series of watchtowers in every direction, the forest floor was covered in a thin blanket of snow and wet leaves. I reckon I'll be leaving an easy trail no matter which way I go. With a groan and cracking of his tired joints, he heaved himself to his feet, the fine steel blade at his hip scraped against the hard leather chaps that covered his thighs. Axel reached down to his belt, fastening it tighter and moving the weapon in its scabbard back to a more comfortable traveling position. His head tilted back, the wide-brimmed hat sliding off slightly and tangling in his unwashed black hair as he tried to get his bearings. The weary man examined the position of the sun and scanned his surroundings for any moss that might be growing on the trees. Without a map, I don't know that I'll make it outta here. The warrior scratched at the prickly whiskers of his jawline and decided that north must be in front of him and began to step slowly through the snow. Though he carried a heavy burden of his rucksack and the weapon at his hip, Axel stalked like an apparition through the bristling treeline, the crunching of the leaves and snow beneath his soft boots was scarcely audible over the quickening wind that sounded through the trees like a distant widows cry. The sun in the grey skies was losing its luster as it sank lower over the horizon and soon it would be even colder, yet he did not stop to make a fire or a camp. Gotta keep moving.

After some time had passed, and the exhaustion of many miles beneath his heels had begun to set in, Axel stopped abruptly and crouched low to the frozen ground. Shifting his hat again he focused his bleary eyes and saw that the treeline was finally beginning to thin out. Past the branches and browning leaves, he could see a wide clearing up ahead, and the looming walls of a wooden rampart that stretched from east to west. Sanctuary. Axel's heart slowed in his chest as he steadied his breathing and wore a cautious smile of relief blended with a still uneasy measure of anxiety. This was the place he was looking for, but would it be this easy to escape the past? Nothing had ever been this simple for him, yet the choice made to walk away from life seemed straightforward enough. Could the warrior find a new home and forget his grief? The promise of a future in which he didn't have to draw the steel at his hip was too alluring to ignore, but Axel never believed the stories of this place. It was situated far outside of Vayan territory, and their brutal laws had little meaning out in these borderlands, that much he knew, but that was no guarantee that the hounds of his past wouldn't come barking at his heels. With some trepidation, Axel raised himself, sliding his hat back into position, and heaved the rucksack over his shoulders. Pushing aside a few thin branches and exiting out through the thick brush, he approached the walls of the sanctuary.

The high timbers of the structure stood three times the old warrior's height as he followed the wall to the west, dragging his fingertips along the smooth wood. Feeling the grain of the wood as though he expected the finely sanded walls to reassure him that his choice was the right one, he sighed. Voices of men and women on the other side of the wood were like an unexpected poem to his ears as he closed his eyes and slowly followed the line of the wall to a gate a few yards away. A lowered barricade of sharpened wood timbers marked the passage into the sanctuary, and on either side of this gate were two men draped comfortably in thick fur cloaks. Axel sniffed at the air. Wolf. The pair turned their attention toward the approaching traveler and cautiously raised their long spears to point in his direction. Axel studied their weapons a moment, though the spears were of simple construction, there was no doubt in his mind who these weapons were designed to kill as his eyes glanced over the sharpened bright green metal of the spear tips.