Argo was surprised at the scene in front of him as the sunset painted the sky pink. Dravina stepped beside him, a big smile crossing her pretty face. ''Welcome to Winterbrook, Beast Master, one of the ten jewels of the north.''
''There are more places like this?''
''Yes, the next one is Northwatch, it was built on a mountain slope that protects it from the beast horde,'' she explained.
''Interesting,'' he muttered. ''I may have to travel to the other villages, to experience the differences and see all the different lands of the valley.''
''Good, it will show the Varna you aren't some cursed being but a boy looking for adventure.''
Argo nodded in agreement as he started leading the family down to the gate, where they were stopped by the guards. ''Stop! What is a Forsaken dog doing here with the leader's family?''
'How do they always know?'
'Because of the way you carry yourself, your clothes and weapons,' Athena answered from the Beast Realm.
'You were brought up in the wild, Arg,' she continued. 'Fiercer, a survivor trained to prefection through Morgana. Your mother prepared you for when she left and now all that hardwork is paying off.'
A smile crossed Argo's face, hearing the Grey Owl's words as he was about to respond, but Hodor and Dravina were already there. The big man poked the warrior's chest, looking enraged. ''How dare you speak to him in such a way! So what if he's Forsaken? Argo is Varna! Born to Tarek the Brave! The boy earned his freedom in Winterbrook for saving us!''
''So what? The Curr thinks he can enter the village when the Leader banished them!''
He grew angry but controlled his temper and watched the silver-haired woman take out her sword, the weapon glowing with gold Essence as she pointed it at the Varna Warrior. ''Speak one more ill word and I'll slit your throat, fool!''
Argo was surprised, but Aslan's angry growl echoed in his mind as the American Lion emerged from the Beast Realm, pouncing at the shocked man, pinning him down with his massive paw. He rushed forward, shouting. ''Don't kill him, As!''
The lion wheeled on him, eyes blazing, yet it paused, listening. Then unleashed a roar that slammed into the warrior like a war-hammer. Hot piss streaked down the man's legs; the circle of onlookers howled with laughter, slapping knees and shields alike. A war-horn split the air, three rising notes that yanked every head toward the ridge.
Argo caught Dravina's arm. ''What is it?''
''Ashen Ones!'' she yelled, already dragging her family inside.
The gate slammed shut once all the warriors were safe, leaving him alone inside as the Varna braced for the attack. For a heartbeat, Argo stood frozen; the name broke his heart. Then the grief hardened into something colder. He drew the spear across his back, its wood shaft humming with something ancient.
Artemis stepped out of the Beast Realm, letting out a deep growl. Argo readied his weapons. ''Let's teach them who to fear.''
Moments later, Ashen Ones rushed out of the nearby forest, tall, jointed wrong, sickly grey skin, and hollow sockets for eyes. They moved in a loping silence that made the ground feel colder. Argo's rage detonated. He was running before he knew it, spear in one fist, sling in the other.
It whirred; a river stone cracked the lead creature's skull. It dropped without a sound. He loaded again, stones humming death through the air. Two more fell, folding like burnt paper. A shriek split the sky. Athena swooped down, wings folded, talons out, and she struck an Ashen One square in the face.
The impact punched the creature backward, tearing its eyes free in a spray of blood. She beat upward, then banked hard to rake another across the throat. Artemis streaked past him, a dark blur of claws. She hit the front rank shoulder-first, taking out three creatures, jaws closing on a throat that smoked instead of bled.
Behind her came death. Aslan, the giant American lion, crashed through the grass. One paw swipe took an Ashen One at the waist and sent the top half spinning into its kin. Argo met the line spear-first. The Skystone point punched through a chest; the body crumbled to cinders around the shaft.
He ripped it free, spun, and drove the butt into another's temple. Athena dove again, talons shredding an arm that reached for him; it fell away. Argo stabbed, slashed, and kicked, every action a promise kept. A claw scraped his ribs, opening skin, and blood poured down; he answered by ramming the spear upward beneath its jaw, out through the crown.
More creatures burst out of the long grass. Artemis vaulted over his shoulder, pinning two more to the earth. Aslan roared once, sounding like mountains cracking, and the Ashen front wavered. Athena used the heartbeat, plummeting into the gap, wings battering faces, talons carving ember-hearts.
He charged beside her, spear a reaper's blade, carving a red path through ash. Bodies fell and kept falling, each kill honouring his father's memory. Just then, a wave of Varna Warriors and Spiritblades rushed in, led by Dravina and an older man who resembled Hodor. They crashed into the Ashen Ones, turning the tide.
Artemis and Aslan carved a path around him, black and brown fury in motion. Any Ashen One that lunged for Argo met teeth or claws first; bodies burst into drifting cinders before they could close. Ahead, the leader loomed, a head taller than the rest, veins pulsing beneath cracked obsidian skin.
It raised a jagged glaive of black glass. Argo never slowed down. He planted his back foot, spear balanced across his palm like a javelin. The weapons left his hand in an arc. The leader twisted at the hips; the spearhead kissed only air and buried itself in the earth behind. But it was too late, he was already inside reach.
He slammed his shoulder into the creature's chest, felt ribs like burnt kindling give. The leader staggered. His Skystone dagger flashed free. He drove it upward in short, savage arcs, each thrust tearing open the enemy as he kept stabbing, remembering his father's smile as he vanished into the mist.
When the past welled up, he lost it completely and butchered the horrifying creature until it dropped to the ground, and even then, he didn't stop. Sometime later, he was brought back to reality as Dravina rushed up to him, grabbing his shoulders. ''Beast Master! It's over, the thing is dead!'' she exclaimed.
''Huh?'' Argo whispered, looking around only to see the Varna watching him with a range of emotions.
The silver-haired woman beamed. ''You gave us enough time and courage to finally fight back. We beat the Ashen Ones and killed every single creature thanks to you.''
''Oh, sorry, I was distracted,'' he responded, standing up, covered in blood.
Aslan, Artemis, and Athena landed around him as the warriors rushed forward. A giant of a man stepped forward, someone he remembered from his childhood, one who never abandoned him or his mother; he couldn't recall the man's name. Light brown hair and gold eyes that resembled Dravina's, he looked between the two as the stranger beamed.
''Oh, bless Erda,'' the newcomer stopped short, eyes wide as he continued. ''Tarek's boy, how big you've grown. I'm Torv, leader of the Winterbrook Village. It's an honor to reunite with you.''
''I'm Argo,'' he replied, shocked at the unfolding events. ''I'd shake your hand, but I'm covered in blood.''
Torv bellowed and grabbed him by the shoulders, declaring so that very Varna could hear. ''Argo, son of my brother Tarek. You're hereby welcome in Winterbrook as one of us; it may not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but you always have a home here, my boy.''
The older man leaned forward, whispering so only they could hear. ''Your father and I were bonded many moons ago, shared scars, shared oaths, shared too much mead. By Erda, you look like the younger version of him, with his reckless grin. Right now, he's up there in the Great Hall, elbowing ancestors aside, bragging loud enough to wake the stars, That's my boy, look at him stand!''
Torv ruffled Argo's hair. ''Welcome home.''
Dravina approached, looking surprised as everyone began walking back to the village. She shook her head and spoke. ''You know my grandfather?''
''Not really,'' he was honest. ''I met him once when he brought food to Exile Cliff; he hasn't seen him since, mother said she tried to ask around, but no one would tell her.''
The young woman smiled, taking his arm and leading him toward the gate. ''Come on, Beast Master. I shall run you a hot bath; we have a hot spring.''
Following that, Argo stepped into Winterbrook as Torv watched from nearby, a big smile on his weathered face as a woman stepped beside him. ''Is that really Tarek's son?''
''Yes, my huntess,'' the older man replied. ''It's like being back in the past, he looks just like Tarek when we were that age, but with bright blue eyes and snow white hair.''