The chilly wind got under their skin. It hurt the mostly unprepared travelers, as they weren’t used to the arctic coldness. They needed some protection, so getting ahold of some bear fur could help them traverse the north pole. Bears were a common sight in the snowy wasteland. However, capturing enough to skin was surely a daunting task. They were seven adventurers traversing the tundra, and some of them would need two or three furs given their enormous size, a centaur and a massive rock guy. They also needed to treat those furs, and they didn’t have a clue on how to do that. It was an awful idea to drag blood-scented furs along with them. Predators would not hesitate to attack them.
The group split to hunt for bears. They needed to cover a lot of ground, and as such, Darken and his group walked a few miles. They encountered remnants of ancient travelers, hit by tragedy in that frigid, solitary wilderness. A few pine trees scattered around but no sight of bears. Though, there was some sort of civilization, albeit small, but enough to guide them in the right direction. Some bonfires survived the hostile environment, leading them to a small village.
As they entered the place, they suddenly noticed something strange about the hamlet. There were lots of imagery of bears: statues, and totems crowned with figures of those majestic beasts. Darken separated from them, as he wanted to investigate around the wooden homes if there was something useful for them. His friends on the other hand, tried to establish communications with them. The problem was, a massive rock guy wasn’t the epitome of friendliness, and the villagers thought they came to attack them. They needed to defend themselves.
Darken was thankfully ignored. Most of the residents went to defeat the menace, so he wandered around too look for possible trophies or artifacts that could be helpful. And then he noticed a house covered in furs. He sniffed inside and peeked sneakily. It was a shrine, with walls filled with lots of bear skins. He could also glean a few chests in a corner, that could contain powerful or valuable relics. Near them, there was an elder man, kneeling. He probably was praying, praising the sanctity of those artifacts. Darken recognized the importance of everything that was inside that hut, as they would serve them well on their mission. He tiptoed inside the sacred place, knowing the human was the only thing standing between every object within those walls and him.
He pondered his options. He could talk to the person, but hearing the turmoil happening outside, he didn’t think the elder would accept to surrender their things peacefully. He wasn’t much a negotiator in that regard. He was a smooth talker for women, although in the case of men, he usually just killed them. It wasn’t nice, but this were ancient times, and they were in a life or death mission. He finally decided he needed to take the furs and leave the shrine as quick as possible. He silently located himself behind the old man, and in a blink of an eye he slit the human’s throat. That was the end for him. He couldn’t make a noise. His body limped as his life left him in every drop of blood. It wasn’t a pretty sight, but it had to be done for the greater good.
Darken reached for the furs and the chests of valuables. He examined the contents. Inside, he found a few pieces of jewelry, which he didn’t know if they had any magic powers but looked pretty. The bears’ furs insulated him from the cold effect, warming him instantly. He wrapped the furs around the chests and proceeded to exit after he made sure no one was watching him, camouflaging himself with his magical skill to avoid being spotted by any person. He noticed his friends had wiped out most of their attackers. They didn’t kill them, just stunned them as there was no reason for them to attack them. The rock man was coming to him and was speaking to an old man. Darken couldn’t hear what they were saying, but there was no point. The moment the villagers noted he carried their relics; they would attack them unforgivingly. He ran as fast as he could. Once he encountered his friends, he warned them to run away and escape.
“Go, go, go!” He shouted while running. At first glance, his companions didn’t understand what happened, until they saw the furs he was carrying. The rock guy stumped the ground to change directions as fast as possible. The natives finally caught on and chased them again to no avail. They repel their attack and finally left them biting the dust.
“Here, take.” Darken threw them some of the furs so they could cover from the cold.
“How did you get these?” The rock guy asked, still puzzled the panther had acquired the protective furs so quickly.
“They were just… around. It’s not important” Darken claimed, not answering meaningfully his question.
“It is, you know the paladin is waiting for you to misstep to purge you.”
“You know that’s bullshit. She can’t kill me, and I did nothing wrong. We need everything we can to defeat the Evil God. Her moral grand standing won’t take us anywhere and harming me would make her a hypocrite. You get it, right?”
“I know” his friend told him. “But she thinks everything must abide to her religion to succeed.”
“Just stick to the story, the last thing we need is for her to do something stupid because of ‘My god says so.’”
And so, they reunited with the rest of the crew, ready to follow the travel to the faraway place they hoped would make their journey fruitful.
Art by @Appleseid
This is part of the story about Darken. You can start reading here:
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