The Old And Forgotten Gods (God Of War)

III

Kratos waited impatiently inside the home, his elbows resting upon his knees as he sat hunched over on the bed, staring across to the door. Finally he heard a shuffling, then the door creaked open. He stood at the presence of Eir, admiring her strength as she carried in a fully grown buck, having to turn to the side as she walked in with it dead in her arms. She grunted as it was plopped onto the cutting table stained in old blood and scars from her knife.

He made his approach to the woman, noticing she did not hold her axe. Eir looked up to him momentarily before walking to the door and standing for a moment, her hand held up. A whooshing sound quickly came close, and finally the axe was thrown into her hands. She jerked back some as it slammed against her palm, the blue jewel on the handle glowing as she brought the axe inside, hanging it on the ceiling.

"How does this work?" Kratos questions as he stared to the axe.

"Ancient magic, my friend. The dwarves who made her, embedded it with a recall spell, as you can see carved into the blade."

"I cannot read this language."

"That's a shame." Eir replies as she struck her knife into the belly of the deer. "Remind me to teach you sometime." The tip of the small blade impaled into the deer, and blood squirted out, staining her arms and hands as she continued to skin it. Kratos turned his attention from the axe and with heavy steps, walked into Eir's view, his posture and tone persistant on getting her attention.

"I grow tired of waiting inside day and night for you to return. Make me a weapon, woman. Let me do the hunt."

Eir did not stop her motions as she continued to skin the deer, perfectly slicing the blade across as she lifted its hide from the meat hidden beneath. She glanced up to Kratos with a slight grin on her lips. "You grow bored." She scoffed. "I must say, you are rather persistant as someone who's come here as a guest, arriving into a land which does not belong to you, changing the peace of things around. You're asking for a lot. But..." she paused, "I will grant your wish." She sighed as she stepped back from the deer, dipping her hands down into a pale of clean water, turning it red as she washed the blood from her hands and knife.

"I will require a few things."

"What is it? I will retrieve it."

"First, you must cut down the largest oak in Midgard. Its wood is great for craft, and even better, it grows back rather quickly. Second, you will find a frost buck, it's fur pure of white and its antlers glowing blue. Kill it and bring it here. Lastly, I will need a crow, one specifically that glows green. You will find them sitting in odd places. Simply kill it and bring it here."

Kratos let out a grunt along with the nodding of his head. Eir then held her hand up, calling the axe to her. It flung into her hands, where she then lifted Kratos' hands and wrapped them around the handle of the axe. "I temporarily pass my axe to you, ashen warrior, to complete the tasks. Hurry back, do not waste time."

Kratos nodded, hurrying out the door and closing it behind him, leaving Eir yet again, alone in an empty home. She looked to the two large blades that lay on the floor next to the fire, wondering why he chose not to touch them again.

Eir sighed, taking her knife and sliding it into her belt as she grabbed a cloak and draped it over her body, pulling the hood over her head as she ventured out of the door and into the woods, where she then travelled for short while, reaching a creek where on the shore rest one of the many boats she'd crafted over the years from pure boredom. She pushed it out into the steady water and jumped in, taking the paddle from the floor of the boat and rowing it down the path of water.

Finally, she reached the edge of colorful woods, bright blooming leaves and flowers everywhere. She stepped out and walked down a path until finally reaching a wall of vines which blocked her. She stopped and looked to it for a moment, a smile taking form on her face, then walked forward, grabbing a handful of dirt and mimicking what she was once taught, tossing the dirt to the vine wall and whispering a spell:"Greiδsa!" (pronounced 'gray-sa'). Then, as the dirt turned to a flowing spark at the command of her voice, the vines began to move, creating an opening and revealing more of the beautiful woods.