Loki: Winds of Winter

Chapter 8 - The Frostborns Investigate

Rhaenar told himself he would be up before the sun. He told himself he would be up before his sister. However, it was the pounding on his bedroom door that wakened him instead. He fell out of bed and tried to detangle himself from the sheets. The door was opened and Ragna stood there in her leather trench coat with grey fur trim. Belts cinched the coat closed and her knee-high boots had daggers on the calves. Her twin battle axes, Brann and Is, were attached to her back and her hair was twisted up in braids on top of her head. "Rise and shine, big brother! It's hunting time!" she said with a little too much chipper in her voice. Rhaenar groaned as she left his chamber and closed the door to give him privacy.

In the courtyard, Ragna was feeding both her pets their breakfast. The men of the Night's Watch observed her as she tossed raw meat to Fenris and Erikar. The dragon, after eating his own food, attempted to snipe some from Fenris. The Hell Hound growled and tried to bite the dragon. Erikar responded in kind, until Ragna suddenly flashed out a whip, which had been attached to her belt in the back. She cracked it and cowed both of them. "No fighting among siblings! Isn't that what we've always been told?" she reminded. Both Fenris and Erikar looked subdued, but Ragna stroked them to soothe them afterward. The whip had been brought in more for Erikar, for she was opposed to striking her eldest brother. She never actually hit Erikar either. He was more afraid of the noise.

Ragna nuzzled them but stopped when she heard footsteps coming up behind her. Ragna turned and saw Eddison Tollett standing behind her. "We were wondering if you wanted to take a raven with you? To send us messages of your progress," Eddison Tollett suggested.

"There's no need for that. I'll be riding Fenris for this part. That leaves Erikar free to return to Castle Black to bring our reports. When we find something or are returning to the keep, we'll send him," Ragna informed the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. That was when they heard a door slam and saw Rhaenar coming down the stairs at a fast clip. He was putting his hood up to conceal his black hair, and his blue eyes were glaring at Ragna. She just grinned back and waved at her brother.

"You're an ass," Rhaenar growled as he put his riding gloves on and checked his saddle before mounting Imry.

"Cranky much?" Ragna posed in return before she climbed onto Fenris' back.

"Open the gate!" Eddison Tollett ordered as Fenris started to charge.

"Wait for me!" Rhaenar shouted as Fenris and Ragna cleared the gate just as it gave them enough space. Rhaenar muttered something in Norse under his breath as Imry flapped her wings, ran a little ways, and took off. Erikar was close on her heels. The Night's Watch waited for the sound of the dragon's cry disappeared before going about their business.

"Wonder how long it'll take for this situation to go to shit," Eddison Tollett muttered to himself before he too walked away.

Ragna rather enjoyed the frosty air nibbling at her extremities and the wind slicing at her skin like a knife. Since going on the other side of the Wall and into the Wilds, she had shifted her skin to the Jotun color. She did not have to worry about Fenris, for his thick fur was protecting him. Ragna's fingers interlaced in Fenris' ebony fur and her thighs gripped her brother's sides tightly. Fenris darted through the trees faster than anything else could. He hardly left any tracks, but the other forest creatures could sense him and they fled. Overhead, Ragna could hear the telltale beating of dragons wings and the occasional screech.

I can see Crastor's Keep. We're getting close, Rhaenar telepathically communicated to her. Mental links were the only thing the family could establish with Ragna. Any other attempts were shut down rather nastily.

Good. You'll get there maybe half a second ahead of me. Search for any living people, Ragna said in return. Rhaenar nodded and forced Imry into a nose dive that he only corrected about twenty feet from the ground. When Imry did land in the middle of Crastor's Keep, she rattled many of the old outbuildings and a few of the wooden planks fell off. Rhaenar dismounted, conjuring up a flail out of his magic, waiting for something. Nothing came. No sounds could be heard except the wind wuthering in the trees. Seeing no visible enemies, the young Frostborn made his weapon disappear and he dropped his defensive stance. Rhaenar tilted his head back and closed his eyes just as Ragna arrived on Fenris. Erikar landed a little bit away from them and walked closer. Ragna climbed off Fenris and approached her brother. "What do you see?" she asked. Rhaenar still had his head tipped back and his eyes closed, but after she spoke, his eyes snapped open, glowing green. Ragna watched as her brother swayed from side to side as his eyes scanned the area. She waited for him to find something.

"I can sense lost souls snatched from their bodies, their minds enslaved to a dark power. And it's hungry..." Rhaenar said, his voice sounding rather echoey as he spoke. Ragna began to walk around, looking at the buildings, searching for clues. Ragna approached one of the smaller huts and examined the door. She ran her gloved hands down claw marks in the wood. Rhaenar sensed it and turned his head in her direction.

"The distance between the claws indicates it was humanoid. But unnaturally strong. These hinges were made of iron," Ragna said as she picked up the door with one hand, examining the hinges. She put it down and stepped into the house. She saw dried blood that had long ago turned rusty brown spraying the inside walls. "Somebody was killed in here, but the body was either taken, or..."

"What makes you think the body was taken?" Rhaenar asked as he approached from behind.

"In this constant cold, a body would not decompose. It would be frozen in the position it died in. But, there's no body, and I've got a suspicion that we won't find any here," Ragna answered. She left the building with her brother behind her. "What else can you sense?" Rhaenar's eyes glowed green again and he held his hands out.

"Something else... I can sense magic that is older than me," Rhaenar continued.

"Not hard," Ragna rejoined and her brother glared at her.

"It has roots deep in the ground here in the North. But... it is similar to Uncle Bran's magic, still linked to Father's," Rhaenar said. Ragna's eyes narrowed for a few seconds before they went back to their natural size.

"Uncle Bran's magic is not something that is close to Father's, at least in its scale. Father said his magic is what healed Uncle Bran when he was pushed from a tower in Winterfell. And possibly a contributing factor to his warging capabilities a few years later. However, Uncle Bran did say he was seeing other things; visions of past events that aren't really possible for him to be seeing if he was just a warg," Ragna said as they continued to walk around.

"Uncle Bran seeing things in the past, Father seeing things in the future... what's the world coming to?" Rhaenar queried as he kicked an empty bucket and sent it flying across the open space. The loud noise it made caused Ragna to growl at her brother and Fenris to growl as well. They got very quiet after that. A twig snapped further off in the forest and Ragna calmly released Brann and Is from their sheaths on her back. Rhaenar conjured up a green flame in the palm of his hands.

"Go towards Imry now," Ragna ordered.

"Ragna!" Rhaenar hissed, not happy that his (younger) sister was giving him orders.

"Just get on Imry's back and fly towards the Wall. I'm going to draw them away," she said.

"Them?" Rhaenar asked before he sensed it. He sensed the lost souls. "Oh, shit!" he cursed, teleporting onto Imry's back. Ragna whistled and started running... further North. Fenris was hot on her heels and Erikar took off, leaving powdered snow in his wake. Ragna ran unnaturally fast, but Fenris could keep up with her. Brann and Is were in her hands and as she ran, she listened for pursuers. After a moment or two, she heard them. Rattling breath that sounded like it was coming from a sick person; and the sound of bones shaking as they struck old armor or ragged clothing. Ragna grinned as she kept on running.

So, Father's theory was correct. Wonder if he'll be happy? she pondered. She just picked up the pace, knowing that Fenris and Erikar were right behind her. It was a snarl coming up on her left that informed her of an incoming opponent. Ragna turned and swung Brann, striking the thing in the forehead, literally splitting its skull open. Ragna only had a few seconds to study her attacker, but she saw all she wanted to see: a reanimated corpse, with glowing blue eyes. Luckily, all her weapons were forged from Valerian steel. The blue left the things eyes and it twitched and went still. Ragna turned and saw more of them coming at her from between the trees. She turned and kept on running.

Where are you going?! We should both return to Castle Black and report back to Father, Rhaenar's voice said in her head.

You can report back to Father. I want to bring back the proof we're going to need.

Proof?! Proof for what?! Rhaenar asked dramatically.

To get the other houses ready for an invasion. The dead are coming, Ragna responded.