Song of the Dragon and the Bear

Chapter 10

A/N Enjoy the chapter!

Branches rattled as the breeze whistled through the forest. A few leaves that had been stubbornly clinging to their trees fluttered down into the snow, finally giving in to the inevitable. An antlered deer emerged from between the trees, leaning down to eat the few strands of grass that poked through the snow. Then electricity arched through the crisp air, striking the deer. The animal fell, dead before its head hit the snow.

Vara rose from her crouched position in the snow and strode over to where the deer lay. It was a large buck, larger than most she had seen recently. This winter was harsher than last year's and she had cut back on her hunting to ensure that the animal population would stay stable despite the weather. She kept her ears open as she began to skin the deer, but the forest was quiet. Another gust of wind blew, sweeping up some of the fresh snow and causing it to dance in the air. Vara watched the sight with a smile. Despite the hardships that this winter had caused for the forest, she could tell that when spring came it would be beautiful and teeming with life. It was a beautiful cycle created by the Divines themselves that often left Vara struck with awe. She only wished that people followed the same cycle; some seemed to be stuck in a state of perpetual winter.

Shaking her head to clear it of her thoughts, Vara focused once more on the deer in front of her. Before long, Vara had harvested the deer and was making her way back to the small campsite she had set up. She had been out in the woods for almost two days, although she hadn't done much hunting yesterday. Once she got to her camp, she got a small fire started prepared the meat. Her thoughts drifted to her past as she cooked the deer over the fire, the smell bringing back memories.

It never ceased to amaze her how often hunting and being in the woods would bring her mind back to her parents and her past. Vara felt closer to them out here in the woods, removed from the rest of the world. It was as if the forest were somehow imbued with everything that had made her parents who they were. A sad smile crossed her face; they would have loved to see her now. She could almost hear her mother's soft voice commenting on the way the breeze seemed to dance to a silent song, could almost feel her father's watchful gaze as the meat cooked, gently correcting her movements and stoking the fire with a flick of his finger.

What would her parents have said about her life in Windhelm? Would they be proud of the way she tried to help the city and its people? Would they have worried about her when she was tracking down the Butcher? Vara laughed at her own thoughts; that was an easily answered question. Her mother would have fretted and tried to convince her to let the guards deal with it, although eventually, she would have let her go, knowing all she wanted to do was help. Her father would have only nodded his approval and remind her to keep her magic ready. He had never stopped Vara from doing something that she wanted to do. He had only offered advice and words of caution, letting her learn from her own failures and triumphs.

Vara sighed her breath a white cloud in the cold air. The sigh wasn't a stressed sigh or a happy one; it just was. Vara was glad she had taken the time to get away from the city for awhile, even if it was just a day or two. Even though she hunted at least once a week to sell her game at the market, she hadn't had a chance to spend a night in the woods since she came to Windhelm a few months ago. Ambarys had actually suggested the trip after she had complained to him about people in the city being blind to each other. He had told her that she should spend a few days with trees instead of stone. He might have been joking, it was hard to tell with him sometimes, but Vara had thought it was a wonderful idea.

The smell of cooked venison brought Vara out of her thoughts and turned her attention to the deer she was cooking. Vara turned it on the spit a few more times before she decided that it was done. About an hour later, Vara was on the road to Windhelm, pulling a sled behind her with a carefully wrapped deer on it. There was no way she was going to carry that thing all the way back to Windhelm, not when she was at least three hours away. Vara glanced at the sky, the market would be about to close when she got back to the city. Hopefully, she could still sell her catch. Even if she couldn't, the trip was far from a waste. With that thought in mind, she sped her feet and let her mind drift to other things.