Argo woke stiff and sore, the previous night's work still lingering in his joints. He'd shoved his bed into the far corner, stacked his tools and hides opposite, and lined the drying racks along the back wall so they would be away from the firepit that was now a smouldering ruin thanks to going out the night before.
The hut was cramped, but it was his. While getting ready for the day, Aslan, Artemis, and Athena were lying around, resting as he stretched his arms, causing his body to pop thanks to the cold air stiffening him. He shook his head and spotted the spear shaft he had made the night before.
Remembering the meteorite Athena had found, he decided to go in search of it so he can make the spear tip, dagger, and put the rest into storage. After having a drink and some meat, he left the hut, only to notice dark clouds and a wind blowing, causing his white hair to ruffle, making him laugh.
''Hopefully it doesn't rain,'' he muttered.
Argo set off down the path to the Dead Woods, with Aslan and Athena at his side. Artemis returned to the Beast Realm. He kept pace with the Grey Owl, which guided him to the meteorite he needed for his new weapons. After walking for an hour, they reached the other side of the swamp, where he came across some grasslands that led to the Varna capital.
Ignoring that, he spotted the crater in the distance and rushed toward it. The big cats followed, while Athena swooped down to perch atop the largest white lump. His eyes widened; he knew it was some form of sky stone. There were small chunks all over the ground, big enough to create the dagger's blade.
''You guys keep watch while I collect as much as I can before the Varna scouts arrive,'' Argo commented.
After speaking, he jumped into the crater and started putting all the right-sized lumps in his pack until it was heavy to hold, leaving behind the biggest lump, but not even Aslan could move it. The American Lion leaned on the small boulder and tried to push it, but it didn't move, causing him to growl at the inanimate object.
Argo stared at the big cat like it was an idiot and shook his head, laughing. ''Come on, As. It's tougher stone, and the Varna can have the thing; it's not like I have a Plainswalker to help us pull it home.''
Following that, they headed back to the cliff as Athena's voice sounded in his mind. 'Looks like a hunting party is heading toward the creater, Arg.'
''Doesn't surprise me, the scouts would've found it yesterday,'' he explained. ''Then the tribe leader had to gather people to travel out here and haul it back.''
By the time Argo shouldered through the hut's low door, the only protest from his body was a faint twinge along his spine. The meteorite fragments, fist-sized lumps of white-veined sky stone, should have left him drenched and staggering. Instead, his boosted strength carried them like river stones.
He grinned when he realized the Beast System was making him stronger than he ever expected, making him happy. Once he stopped daydreaming, he dropped the largest chunk onto the packed-earth floor with a dull thud and walked over to a crate, pulling out a Hammerstone, used to craft dagger blades and spear tips.
Putting a thick aurochs hide over his thigh for protection, he placed the Sky Stone on it and raised the hammerstone high. The first strike cracked like a whip, and a crescent-shaped flake spun away, edges flashing white-hot in the firelight. Another blow, harder, truer; a second peeled free, thinner than a hawk's talon.
Aslan sprawled across the cliff-mouth entrance, tongue cleaning his midnight fur in slow, deliberate strokes. Athena perched on the rafter overhead, watching with the quiet pride of a mother hawk as Argo worked through the long afternoon. Hours later, the hammerstone finally stilled.
On the hide lay two daggers and three spearheads, each edge a sliver of starlight thanks to the sun hitting it from the nearby window. He drew one blade across the hide he used, and it cut across the corner, slicing it off. The leather parted with ease. Skystone was sharper than anything this world had ever given him.
''This is brilliant and I have a lot more,'' he muttered.
'I'm glad
Following that, Argo created a handle for the dagger using the Ironthorn wood he had left over from the spear. He used resin that his mother had left over to connect the blades to their bases. Once he was done with his weapons, the sun was starting to set, but something felt off, prompting him to step outside.
'Athena can you scout please? I have a bad feeling,' he asked the Grey Owl.
She agreed and flew out of the hut's window before heading into the distance while sharing her vision with him. All Argo saw was the surrounding grasslands, only for a cloud to appear in the distance, causing his eyes to widen in shock as a swarm of beasts was headed this way.
The Grey Owl banked hard, wings slicing the wind until she hovered just above the treetops, low enough for Argo to feel the downdraft ruffle his hair. She hooted once, urgently, and angled its beak toward the open plain beyond the Dead Woods. His stomach tightened at the scene.
Spread across the grasslands like a living landslide was a herd of Hell Pigs, five hundred at least, each the size of a bison with tusks like curved swords and shoulders humped high with muscle. On Earth, he'd known them as Entelodon, prehistoric terrors that looked like warthogs crossed with bears.
These were worse. Bigger. Meaner. Their hides bore old scars and fresh blood, and when the wind shifted, the stench of iron and rot rolled over him. Argo looked at Aslan, ordering. ''Get back to the Beast Realm now, we cannot fight those things.''
Without waiting, he climbed up a vine that his mother had put there, thanks to the last swarm that caused chaos across the grasslands. Morgana had made sure he had a spot to hide in case the herd entered the Dead Woods, like one did when they first arrived here, scaring them to the core.
Argo scrambled up the scree to the overhang, sliding beneath the lean-to of woven branches and cracked shale. Athena dropped beside him in a hush of wings, talons clicking once on stone. Her voice brushed his mind. 'They're pouring into the Dead Woods. Every other creature has gone to ground. The Hell Pigs are on a rampage.'
A heartbeat later, the first bellow rolled up the cliff path. Then another, closer. The ground shivered. Three of the monsters shouldered through the narrow entrance below, tusks scraping sparks from the rock. Their eyes, small and red, swept the ledge in slow, murderous arcs.
One snorted, nostrils flaring. Steam curled from its snout. It pawed the earth, claws gouging furrows deep enough to plant corn. The second lowered its slab of a head and sniffed the air, lips peeling back from yellowed fangs. The third simply stood, flanks heaving, waiting for something to move so it could break it.
Argo pressed his spine to the cold stone, breath shallow. As the lead pig grunted, swung its head, and for one endless second, its gaze locked on the lean-to's shadowed mouth. Then the wind carried the scent of blo. The beast wheeled with a roar and charged back down the path, the others thundering after.
Only when the last echo died did he let the air leave his lungs. Argo stayed there until he heard footsteps rushing up the path, causing his eyes to narrow as someone familiar rushed onto his cliff. He was shocked when he saw the redhead Valka standing there with another, a young man who looked like a male version of her.
Valka skidded to a halt at the ledge's edge, chest heaving. She scanned the cliff, then locked on Argo, sitting above them. Recognition flashed, followed by something fiercer. ''You're alive,'' she said, voice rough. ''Good. Because we have bigger problems, the Urvaks are going to attack a nearby village, and I need your help, Beast Master.''
''Why should I help the Varna? They banished us when we needed help after my father died,'' Argo replied, jumping from the ledge as Aslan and Artemis appeared at his side.
''Because you're just like Tarek the Brave,'' the young man interrupted.
Argo glanced at the stranger who stepped forward with a respectful expression. ''It's an honor to meet such a warrior's son, but I'm here to thank you for saving my little sister.''
He was confused by the friendliness of the Varna heir who held out his hand. ''I'm Drak.''
When Argo saw the gesture, he took it. ''Argo and where are the Urvaks now?''
''Gathering north of the Summermarsh village, we rushed here after being diverted by the Hell Pig swarm,'' Valka revealed.