The cold of the white forest
Hi all.
There were no chapters for 3 months. I am ashamed for that. And in this shame, I will justify myself briefly. Summer illness, gardening, household chores, heat, workload, and nervousness, together with lack of sleep, plunged me into a weakened state, from which I was just now recovering a little. + I did not sit idle and in a burst of inspiration I started about 5 or 6 more fanfictions, my crazy mind came up with too many different stories, but they are only in my documents.
I hope for your understanding of my situation. Nothing will be abandoned, only the pace of the exit will slow down to a snail's pace. Sorry.
As for the Precept, I'll start rebuilding speed soon - it's not fast.
I would like to believe that this chapter with notes of cold winter cold will be able to calm your inflamed body in such hot everyday life. Enjoy reading.
---------------------
A light breath of wind lifts the icy snowflakes and carries them away. The snowy white field glistens from the rays of the sun as if covered with diamonds.
This is a wonderful view that gives peace... For people who stay warm.
"Brrr. Damn dog cold."
Walking knee-deep in snow, I complained.
It's damn cold today. A clear day also makes a winter day colder, as there is no greenhouse effect.
Heat quickly leaves the body, and the breath instantly cools.
"I hate winter."
"The same feeling."
Clem, walking beside me, agreed with my remarks.
"Well, why did they want to clear the forest today?"
As I asked the question, I pulled the fur cloak tighter around myself.
"The problem of dire wolves has been put off for too long, the villages and merchants have suffered greatly as a result."
Shivering from the cold, Clem answered, trying to squeeze himself tighter into his cloak.
Clem is from the south of the country, so this weather is very unpleasant for him. Although he has been living in Henet for 3.5 years, he still suffers every winter.
"I already know the purpose of the mission. Huu. But why the hell today, when it's so cold? ... AND WHY THESE BITCHES ARE ON HORSE AND WE ARE WALKING!!??"
Raising my voice in displeasure, I had no control over my words.
Because of my screaming, a lot of looks were directed at me, including the displeased looks of the mentioned individuals, but I don't give a damn as always.
"Uuu. Wait until spring and you can ride like them."
"Too long to wait."
Pushing the snowdrifts with our feet, we were moving forward.
Now our formation looks like this: 10 bastards on horsebacks dragging sleds behind and 30 snowplows clearing the way.
Lousy in general.
Even if we are in fur cloaks, we are wearing plate armor, the cold penetrates to the bones. If it were not for the plates of nifir tied to different parts of the body, 40 corpses of those who died from frostbite would have been lying around here.
So it is possible to say with nifir it becomes tolerable, but the feeling of moisture from melting snow is disgusting and any breath of wind causes shivering.
Moving about three hours, our detachment reached the place where, according to the village hunters, there is a lair of dire wolves.
Cave, not deep in the forest. The place looks inconspicuous surrounded by large stones, as if it is just a rock covered with snow, but dragging marks in the snow say that someone lives here.
Hiding behind the trees a few dozen meters from the cave, we watched the situation.
There were no creatures to be seen, and the atmosphere of the winter forest was very disturbing, confusing the mind.
The landscape of the winter forest is a cruel joke of nature. Everything is identical, you can't see the way back on a monotonous white canvas, the mind starts to panic, the body gets cold and hallucinations appear in such a panic.
*Sigh*
Taking a breath, I opened the wineskin and drank a few sips of mead to warm my body. Although this is a false sense of warmth caused by alcohol, it still helped to stop feeling numbness in the muscles.
A little later, strong alcohol will speed up blood circulation, and the body temperature will rise, and for a while, it will be possible to resist the cold.
"Fuuh - fuhh - fuhh."
Unlike me, who simply hates the cold, Clem was trembling violently and his teeth were chattering. Holding his hands to his mouth, he breathed on them like a madman, trying to keep warm.
"Do not suffer. Take it."
I handed him the mead bag.
"Do not suffer, your mother. You could have shared earlier."
With a sharp movement, snatching the wineskin from my hands, Clem began to greedily drink the strong drink.
"Haa. It got warm right away."
Letting out a hot breath from his mouth, Clem immediately became more cheerful.
"You are usually always ready for the unexpected. Why are you taking the mission so lightly now?"
Pulling the waterskin out of his tenacious hands, I put it in my bag.
"Did not have time. I've been frolicking with a beauty all night. This wild she-wolf did not let me go until the last moment ... "
"…And that's why you were late. All clear."
I instantly interrupted his further words, because I perfectly understand that he will reveal in detail his stormy night. Clem is too boastful a bastard.
"Which girl is this already?"
"17."
"Damn. Congratulations… you are a real ladies'dog. Probably, more likely, I can even congratulate you on fatherhood."
"Go to hell. It's not my fault that women themselves jump into my arms.
"Yeah…. And most of them do it for your money."
"Bastard…"
Since there were no orders to begin the mission, I decided to mock Clem.
"…You are such a bastard…. Every time I call you to the tavern to spend time among the beauties, but you refuse. Why am I a bastard in the end?"
"Well, you are basically a cunning bastard. Damn fox. As for your invitations, I will answer as always: "I am not interested in a woman who has to be paid for."
"Khhh. Indeed, the answer is as always. Then my next usual question is, "Why don't you find a girl in town?" So many beauties walk the streets."
"It will be a waste of time, just for carnal pleasure."
"Aah. Same answer as always. You annoy me, Relzen."
"Mutually, Clem."
The dialogue, which was repeated many times, ended again at the same point.
Clem's forehead veins bulged from irritation.
"*Sigh* Okay... Give me some more mead."
"Go to hell."
"Shut your mouths!!! Idiots, you will expose us to the beasts!"
While we suffered from boredom and annoyed each other, another person joined our dialogue.
"Oh. What a nasty rat squeak I hear. And that rotten smell."
"Yes. Smell very strongly of garbage... Do you know where it all of a sudden started to smell so bad, Ker?"
When I expressed my attitude towards the intruder, Clem did not hold back either.
The one who so unexpectedly approached us is Ned Reshl or Ker, the second-in-command of Meris. In short - this is a faithful rat of Merisa.
Looking at us, those who so disrespectfully treated such an important person, Ker's face became irritated.
"Bitches. Two nonentities. You do know that I can execute both of you now?"
"OK, try. Let's see who dies first as a result, me or you."
I answered his threats with a grin, while my hand was on the hilt of the sword.
Such an action on my part instantly cooled Ker. No matter how much the rat squeaks and shows its fangs, it will always be cowardly, without a swarm around it.
"You... You..."
"Tts. You can only squeak. Instead of threatening, it would be better to quickly give the order to attack. Tired of being cold."
Pointing at me, Ker stuttered, even his finger was shaking, half from anger, half from fear. But his opinion was indifferent to me, I immediately expressed my dissatisfaction.
"People under your command are freezing. I don't know what you want to achieve, but instead of capturing the wolves, we'll be their snack. Think fast, undercommander, or I'll beat you again, turning your face into an ugly mess in this one."
"Hhe…. You don't…"
"Let's check?"
When only this self-confident bastard became Meris's deputy, he decided that he could order me ... as a result, I challenged him to a duel and beat him.
My words are not an empty phrase, since now I am very annoyed by the wasted time and cold, I can easily carry out what was said - I can turn his face into minced meat at any second.
"ALL!!! ATTENTION, PREPARE FOR THE ATTACK!!!"
Seeing my "kind" smile, the rat's legs shook, he rushed to the front ranks and gave the order, shouting to the whole forest.
"Piece of idiot. After all, he himself recently made a remark to us. "
"Ha-ha-ha. How fast he ran. A coward, and how great he tried to look. Ha-ha-ha."
"That's right, he's a weak-willed nonentity."
Watching Ker run away, Clem laughed, amused at the sight of a frightened rat.
"More precisely, he is an incompetent sucker .... Hehe. Aren't you afraid that he will complain to Meris? He will most likely do it."
"I'm not afraid of an old alcoholic. Moreover, he has not been in contact with anyone except "Saint" for three months. Climbs out of his dog kennel only to get more wine from the warehouse.
"Aren't you seriously afraid!?"
"No."
"He-he-he. How bold."
Watching my reaction for several seconds with a smile on his face, Clem fell silent and, turning his head away, began to closely observe the knights, who were swarming like ants, lining up in a strange formation on Ker's order.
[He abruptly ends the conversation again.]
I have no idea why Clem started this thread.
Have I ever been afraid of Meris?
I don't remember that.
But I was definitely wary of him. I did not want to raise unnecessary noise and attract attention, especially to become an enemy of the church.
Clem misinterpreted everything.
Seriously, I have 1000 ways to kill Meris. Whether it's poison or a stealth kill, there's even a way to paralyze him for life.
But why do it?
Any truth can emerge after a while. This is a big and pointless risk.
Although Meris's actions were dangerous for me, they still did not cross the bar for me to go against the church. He has not reached the global moment for serious action.
After drinking more mead from the waterskin, I looked at the strategic attack formation that Ker had formed.
The formation of the troops looked simple, two people were distributed to several points close to each other, for a quick response in an emergency.
Quite a simple but effective tactic for the current conditions.
"Get ready. We need to lure out the creatures. At my signal, shoot the cave with a fireball."
Standing in the middle of the formation, Ker gave orders.
[If I were him, I would try to build a fire and then use wind magic to send all the smoke in. Thus, the beasts would have jumped out in a panic.]
Since I hate Ker, I basically want to find fault with his plan, even if my idea is more time-consuming.
This is how I am - a stubborn, angry person with a good memory.
*Boom Boom*
Fulfilling the order, the knights released a fiery rain into the cave.
[They waste mana pointlessly, one fireball would be enough. But who am I to interfere with them?]
Each fireball exploded on impact, turning the snow into steam. Hot dense steam covered the entrance to the cave with a thick cloud.
While the bombardment continued, the other knight companions did not sit idly by, they raised their shields, taking up a defensive position in order to protect the partners who were busy attacking with magic at any second. An action honed by years of teamwork.
Once upon a time, green youths became warriors capable of covering each other's backs.
But for some reason, I'm still uneasy.
[It seems to be fine.… Then why do I have a bad feeling?]
The tactics are effective. There are no violations. Then where does this unpleasant feeling come from?
Observing my surroundings, my gaze eventually landed on a cave, the entrance to which was covered with steam.
[Fuck…. ]
I quickly saw the light and understood the reason for my doubts.
What I missed are animal habits.
Dire wolves are much smarter, more cunning, and stronger than normal wolves, they are able to tactically drive the victim into a trap. The idiot's cries were supposed to warn them of danger. A couple of beasts would run out to distract us.
"Something troublesome is coming."
Concentrating on the surroundings, I took the shield in my left hand and drew my sword.
Any animal tends to leave its habitat when environmental conditions change. For example, a gopher will jump out of a hole if enough water is poured into it. This is a protective instinct.
What can be observed now?
Nothing.
Not a single animal showed up. And this leads to some thoughts…. Bad thoughts.
[Since they didn't exit through this entrance, then…]
Feeling and hearing movement from my left side, I quickly reacted by raising my shield.
*Bam*
"Grarr."
[…Tts. Yes, fuck, there's a second way out.]
The acceleration and mass of the beast pressed against me, pushing my body, forcing my legs to leave two ruts in the ground and take a step back.
This creature wanted to knock me down and bite into my neck.
"Aaaah. They attack from all sides."
"Awww."
"Crap. Keep in line."
"Grrraaar."
"IIi. SAVE!!!"
Pushing away the beast that was stubbornly pressing on my shield, I heard the sound of chaos. Howling and roaring of wolves, cries, and panic of knights filled the once quiet forest. The initially unreliable plan completely turned into chips, rubbed off into the dust, and mixed with shit.
[We're officially under the dog's tail...]
*Bam. Ringing*
Taking the next jump of the wolf on the shield, I was again forced to take a few steps back. It feels like someone is throwing a 100kg barbell at me. My current body is stronger than a weightlifter, but the beast is still able to throw me off balance.
Pretty humiliating.
Leaping once more from my shield, the grayish-black dire wolf looked at me with bloodthirsty eyes of brilliant blue eyes, and bristling fur, his mouth was in a grin, and saliva flowed from it. With all her appearance, the creature showed her desire to tear me to pieces.
"Graaarr."
While the wolf and I were playing staring, another roar came from behind me, and the sense of danger sounded the alarm.
I had to make a jump to the side, at great risk of falling into a rabbit hole hidden in the snow. But I could not avoid such a risk, because, after a second, in the place where my legs were before the jump, the mouth of the second wolf was already closing.
Unlike the first beast, this creature aimed at my legs.
[There was no sadness….]
Now I have to dodge two beasts. One tries to knock me to the ground by jumping, the other wants to bite my legs.
A lousy situation.
Jumping like a rabbit in a strange dance, I ended up being trapped. The back rested against a tree, and the wolves approached from two sides. The creatures, 1.3 meters tall at the crest, were preparing to feast on meat with blood.
"Is this the end?"
The animals were approaching, I am surrounded, and there is no way out. And in such a hopeless situation, my cheerful smile grew from excitement.
"It's sad to end our game at this point, cute animals."
Quickly hiding behind a tree, and rounding it, I did not have to wait long, the wolf cubs followed me and the Jumper was the first to arrive.
As befits his name, the dog immediately jumped, wanting to wrap his fangs around my neck. I responded to his feelings with a slashing blow of the sword.
The blade of the sword at the guard cut through the wool and flesh of the wolf.
"Time to euthanize the mad dog."
With a movement of the hand and making a pirouette, as in a dance, the blade of the sword sliced through the beast's throat, slicing deeper into flesh as it slid over bone.
A splatter of blood from a slashed throat dyed the white snow red.
"Grarr."
As Jumper's lifeless body fell, a second naughty dog came running and tried to bite my legs again.
"How stubborn you are."
Before the mouth of the stupid beast, nicknamed the Footfetishist, reached the target, I removed my foot and immediately stepped on his head, slamming it into the loose snow.
"What a nasty dog. Pervert, greedy on the feet. You need to be severely punished."
"Grrr."
I sound like a real sadist, especially this impression can be increased by the fact that I am standing with one foot on the head of a wolf when I say these words.
A certain group of people would probably rejoice at such a scene.
Uhhh. Unpleasant goosebumps ran through my body.
So .... Let's discard unpleasant thoughts. Now need to punish the bad dog.
"Eh. Footfetishist, you were a good toy for a couple of minutes, and now it's time for us to say goodbye.
"Uuuuu."
Looking into the bloodthirsty eyes of the wolf, I stuck the sword in the section of his vertebrae, instantly killing him.
A quick death, but it was not given out of pity, but for the sake of the integrity of the fur.
"The punishment of a bad dog is to become a great carpet ... or a fur coat, as you like."
In general, I was quickly done with these dogs. It was even possible to do everything much faster. I could just crush their skulls, since my strength allows it, or use Energy of the Limit to break their bones, or strengthen my body with mana and break their backbones.
There are so many variations to kill them.
[…Hm…. I feel like something is wrong with me now.]
Or not ... It seems that everything is fine... I guess that's just how it seems to me.
Doesn't matter.
The main thing is that I killed everyone and did not give myself away. I am an excellent actor without an Oscar.
Sad fate. What drama.
Poor me, I have to play in a small theater instead of a big Roman stage.
I am unhappy, like the main characters of the drama. Ahhh. The heart breaks in pain.
As a medicine - I would like applause.
"Auuu."
"Don't retreat."
"Graaa."
"CREATE A BARRIER IDIOTS!!!"
Complete chaos.
Fireballs fly in all directions, and blood irrigates the snow, turning it red. Beasts attack and knights fight back. The battle is in full swing.
[Looks like I won't get a clap…. Don't care.]
Watching from a dozen meters away how your "comrades" are fighting is, in a sense, a pleasant pleasure.
Perhaps they will call me a bastard for such conclusions and inaction when the life of the detachment is at stake.
And that's right. I do not argue.
But I'm a handsome, lovely, and rather powerful bastard.
I don't give a damn about their lives, they are warriors, they must stand up for themselves, there is no place for weaklings on the battlefield. I am not their babysitter to save their asses, they are absolutely nobody to me.
Only heroes save everyone, and I'm an ordinary monster, obsessed with battles.
My rule is simple: "If you pick up a sword, be ready to die, even if it's not your will."
Death does not distinguish anyone, be it a slave or a king.
Moreover, revealing their strength, for the sake of killing all the wolves, is the height of idiocy, smart people hide their strength so as not to become pawns in a shitty game.
Still here are these "senior" knights who came with us, they only defend themselves, examine each youth and do nothing else. They play the role of whipping dummies brilliantly.
In essence, this is an incredibly obvious test of us in a real fight, which only an idiot with a bread IQ would not see.
And the main question for the ongoing puppet show, I have only one: "What is their "daddy" up to?"
In general, I have no idea, I'm only sure that this is 100% something problematic.
One can build an endless number of guesses by observing the actions of these individuals, straining the brain to unravel the villainous plan, ... but I will not even try. Everyone has different cockroaches in their heads, and figuring out where one of the cockroaches will run is a disastrous business that is not suitable for me, I'd rather just go with the flow and act according to the situation.
Hiding my presence, I watched the battle for a couple of dozen minutes, standing behind one of the trees as the bone-chilling winter chill seeped into the joints of my armor, causing me to shiver.
The low temperature is already starting to annoy, as are the half-witted idiots who keep dragging out the fight.
After drinking more mead and warming my body again, I watched the show with annoyance in my heart, tapping my foot on the snow, until a few minutes later some gentlemen deigned to start acting.
Nodding to each other, the "senior" knights took a step, waving their weapons, they entered the battle, ten experienced fighters became a terrible fate for the animals, each of their strokes took away life, turning the snow red.
The experience of a warrior is not an empty phrase and not just a tick. As much as these guys irritate me, I admit that they are strong, they have seen the carnage and mercilessly lower their weapons on the heads of enemies.
Covering each other, and changing positions, the knights cut the wolves, after only a few minutes, there were no animals that tried to attack, and the knights finished off those who tried to escape.
Compared to the youths who put on a show, the experienced knights finished everything quickly…. But with such skills, they are just dogs on a leash, nothing more, spending so much time to follow the order of the owner, this is not loyalty - this is thoughtless obedience. During the battle, when the youths can die, stalling for time is the real idiocy.
They could lose important human resources, their owners spent 3 years turning stupid children into warriors, this work could now be wasted.
Trained warriors are not mushrooms that you can pick from the road. A lot of time has been spent on them. Their actions are stupid, they do everything too stupidly, they are thoughtless puppets.
The actions of these knights are hateful to me, I understand the meaning of cannon fodder, but you need to maintain a balance of power. If the weak cannon fodder dies too soon, the main force can be overwhelmed by more enemy forces. The standard of war or battle, need to keep the number of combat units as much as possible.
[Haa. Fools on a string. It's a pity to even be angry with them.]
Throwing my annoyance aside, I quietly returned to the detachment, my hatred means nothing to them, it is essentially meaningless.
Although the fierce wolves were killed, chaos still remained, a lot of youngsters suffered from bites, armor did not help them protect themselves from injuries. One was bitten to critical injuries, part of the flesh is missing from the shoulder, the bones in the arm are broken, the face is scratched. If they were late, the squad would have lost a fighter.
[Usually, packs of wolves are not that big. There are about 70 individuals here, which is not normal.]
Looking around at the dozens of bodies around me, my brow furrowed.
If these were ordinary wolves, I would not be surprised, with the availability of food, the size of their pack can reach up to 60. And these are dire wolves, they are large and absorb a lot of food, usually, there are no more than 20 of them in a pack, because the den is limited in size, especially since there is a limited supply of food in this area, otherwise, the wolves would not attack livestock.
"Commander, we searched the cave, there was a second exit, but we did not find any traces of the wolf-cubs."
"Crap!!! The rest of the dogs have fled."
While I was inspecting the surroundings, one of the knights approached Ker with a report, causing him to kick the snow in anger.
[I am pleased with his anger. I hope his hair starts to fall out afterwards.]
Approaching one of the corpses, I began to examine it, , I'm very worried about the abnormal behavior of animals.
Just by looking at the beast, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
It was only when I was about to turn it over that something caught my eye, there was short hair in the place near the ridge.
"In this cold, he has short fur, this cannot be."
Pushing aside the thick fur that blocked the view, I froze in shock with wide eyes.
A scar… A jagged scar was on the beast's skin. But that wasn't what surprised me.
This scar looks like it's been slowly torn apart - it's the mark of shame left on the losing wolves. A scar in a place where they cannot reach and calm the pain, the eternal memory of the loss, the fear in the soul.
This is usually normal, such marks are received by former alphas expelled from the pack or losers who challenged the leader of the pack, but the fact is that such wolves are not accepted anywhere, they are outcasts, lone wolves.
… That this beast here defies logic.
Approaching another animal, I checked the same place, there was also a ragged scar under the fur, the find made me frown more.
Driven by curiosity, under the loud angry cries of Ker, I examined ten more animals, all had a scar and they were males.
"What the hell is this? Have they all challenged the stronger individual?"
I am in disarray, somewhere a beast is wandering capable of defeating about 70 individuals of dire wolves...
Sounds very problematic.
"Stop chilling! Gather the carcasses, we're done with the damn task!"
While I was in a thoughtful state, trying to understand who is capable of leaving such "marks of shame" among the creatures known to me, Ker gave the order to collect trophies, marking the end of the mission.
Coming out of my thoughts, I joined the detachment and began to help load the bodies of the wolves onto the sled, and at that moment Clem arrived in time, the little fox deigned to descend from the tree that he climbed when I was attacked, here's the bastard.
About an hour of time was spent loading all the bodies, then there was a lunch of wolf meat by the fire. Preparation for the return journey, which will take several hours.
Return through the cold, to a place that is disgusting and impossible to call "home".
-----------------------------
How do you it?
I hope you liked it.
If you have questions or suggestions - write.
The Precept will also slowly begin to be written, please wait.