Thalos's mind was racing. He should run right now. Chase after them before the snow buries their tracks. But he stopped himself, his father was here, the hunters were searching, and all he could do was wait and trust them. He watched as the search parties vanished into the night, then returned, shaking their heads. All he could do was watch, no one spoke to him. No one even looked at him. That was until he heard swift footsteps approaching him.
He turned just as Elara came running toward him. Her usual neatly tucked braid had come undone, strands of hair whipping across her face. Her eyes were sharp, and she looked upset.
"Thalos!" She shouted just as he turned. "Where did they go!?"
Before he could speak, she walked right up and grabbed his cloak and yanked him forward. "If you know something, you will tell me!" Her voice rose sharply on the last word.
Thalos could only stand in shock. Elara was yelling at him? But she never yelled. And what did he do? Her grip tightened. "I am not an idiot. Tell me!" They were making a scene; some people nearby gave them glances, others began whispering rumours, and it brought Thalos back to the moment.
"I… I don't know." He blurted out. "Why are you mad at me?" He'd never seen her like this before, and the fear showed in his voice. She must have noticed, because she let go of his cloak and began pacing.
"I told my father Brynn might have left." He started, watching her pace back and forth. "And she really did."
Elara was mumbling something under her breath, talking to herself, but he couldn't understand any of it. Finally, she slowly came to a stop and looked up at him. "Do you think we can find them?"
"Everyone's looking," his voice trailing off slightly.
The doors of the Great Hall swung open, and three men entered. Two had Frostfoxes that walked beside them, the last was Jorn, and Serren followed closely behind. The hall fell silent. Every eye turned toward them. Jorn lifted a hand in the air, and Serren darted ahead of him, the small lynx had something in its mouth. "We found tracks," Jorn said, kneeling as he took the object from the lynx. "They left hours ago. The snow's already covering them." Thalos stepped closer, and he could see what Jorn held in his hand. It was Orin's glove.
The hunters started to move quickly, they had been preparing all night for this moment, but just as Jorn finished talking, another voice spoke up.
"Leave them, we cannot risk it!" A loud "click" was heard, Marta stepped up, and slammed her cane on the stone floor. "They've brought nothing but trouble. Why risk lives for children? Why should we risk hunters to save a few brats?" There was a murmur of agreement that spread through the elders, nodding heads, and whispering words under their breath.
"They are part of Frosthelm." A hunter said, his voice was unwavering. Another stepped up. "We won't let our own die in the snow."
Lork walked beside Marta. "She is right. We must think of Frosthelm. We can't have hunters risk their lives for kids that may have already died. I do not like this decision, but we should leave them."
The fire was crackling, and as more people stood up to argue, Eryndor stood silent near the fire, arms crossed, as he scanned the room and saw two figures making their way slowly to the entrance of the Great Hall.
Thalos and Elara.
Moments earlier, before Marta's outburst, Thalos had managed to calm Elara. She fixed her hair and stood back up straight. They agreed to wait and let them handle it and help if they could, but then Marta spoke. Thalos could hear their words all around them, forget about them, "Leave them", "Let them die". The hunters and elders were fighting between themselves, while their friends were in danger. They didn't have time for this. Elara came up with a quick strategy, they were going to act as innocent as they could for Jorn and have him tell them where he found Orin's glove, steal two Snowstriders, and dart off, not slowing down until they either found them or the sun came up.
That plan never made it too far. As Thalos and Elara were making their way to the entrance, hugging the wall tightly and staying low to try and not be noticed, a large shadow loomed over them.
"You are planning to go." Thalos froze, he didn't even have time to react after seeing the shadow. It was his father. Thalos turned to face him, he knew there was no point in lying now. "Yes."
His father studied him for a long moment, his eyes moving between the two kids. "You will go no matter what I say, won't you?" Elara spoke up. "Yes." Eryndor saw it in their eyes. Pure resolve.
Without another word, he turned, stepped away from Thalos and Elara, and walked straight to the table near the center of the hall. He lifted up a single hand and brought it down hard on the table. The crack echoed through the hall. The table split down the middle. "Enough." The words silenced the entire room. "I will lead the search." The hunters stood up straight. "We leave now."
Marta approached cautiously. "We really shouldn't be going in the middle of the night." The way she talked completely changed.
"We will not wait." Eryndor turned to the hunters. "Gather what you need, we will leave immediately." No one argued back.
The Great Hall burst into motion, the hunters moved quickly. Many left to grab their weapons, others handed out dried rations, and Eryndor was walking around the Hall picking the group that would go with him on the main hunt and choosing others who would patrol different parts of the forest. Jorn didn't wait for Eryndor. He started preparing and giving orders of his own.
Thalos stood beside Elara, he felt relieved. The search had begun. Then, his father approached him. He looked at both Thalos and Elara. "Come." The single word was all he said. Thalos followed him to the group Erynder put together. "They're coming with us," and no one questioned his father's words.
The party consisted of.
Jorn – Frosthelm's best tracker and the only man to ever train a lynx.
Rurik – One of Frosthelm's best archers, a man in his late thirties, his precision with a bow was unmatched.
Hagan – He was a massive man, built from muscle. He was coming upon his mid-forties, but that never stopped him. If there was a mountain in his way, he would simply move it.
Sverin – A younger man, in his early twenties, he was very quick in the snow and deadly with a spear.
Eirik – he had the least experience out of the rest of the group, in his early twenties, but he showed great potential while using beast gear.
Thalos & Elara, They didn't really know how they ended up in this group, but this was the moment to prove themselves.
Eryndor's gaze swept the hall one last time. "Aelric," he said, turning to a younger hunter beside him. "Go find Svala."
Aelric gave a quick nod, already running to the door. Svala was a veteran, a fighter with more scars than all the men in the room combined. And Eryndor always wanted her on his hunts.
"Jorn, take Thalos and Elara to the hunting lodge."
"What about you?" Thalos asked. "We'll meet you at the eastern hill."
Jorn, still adjusting the strap of his bow, gave a slight nod, then turned toward Thalos and Elara.
"Well, come on then. Looks like I'll be your teacher today."
They followed Jorn outside into the freezing night, the storm picked up more than it had when Thalos got to the Great Hall. The winds were twisting and pushing him in different directions, and the snow was pelting him as they walked. The air was cold and sharp. But Thalos barely noticed. His heart was pounding, and he could feel a sensation deep in his stomach.
He was going, he wasn't sneaking out, he wasn't running away, he had been chosen and sent, he looked over to Elara, he couldn't read her expression, but he wondered if she was feeling the same.
The hunting lodge was placed on the northwest corner of Frosthelm, a longhouse that was reinforced with thick steel beams. He had never been to the lodge before. More accurately, he wasn't allowed.
Boys were not allowed here until they turned seventeen, he would always watch as people would go inside and come back out wearing weird items. Some put on amulets and trinkets, some had glowing shoes, and he even swore he saw a bow on the back of an archer shimmer one time.
And he was about to discover what stepping into the world of adulthood meant in Frosthelm.