'What is up with him?' Olpi thought as she followed behind Frey, whose thudding, angry steps had softened due to a sudden paranoia. He would creep from trunk to trunk, inspecting them for some sort of marking. She knew not the cause of this odd change in his already inexplicable behavior; whether it was because of his unconscious companion, the fear of another attack, or most curiously, this place he was taking them to.
Olpi glanced down at Elero, who had gotten paler. "I understand caution…" she said. "but we should pick up the pace."
"I'm going as fast as I can," Frey replied. "I didn't want to be followed so I made the place hard to find."
"You made this place?" Olpi asked, wondering why any sane person would want to build a house within the dangerous woods. "Was it so you could hunt monsters easier?"
Frey emerged from an entanglement of branches and spat pine needles out of his mouth. "No." He dragged Elero towards another tree, pushed the branches apart, then vanished within it.
'Is he just messing with me?' Olpi thought. Each thing Frey said just confused her more and more, however, she needed something to take Elero off her mind. She could barely look at her anymore. The knot in her stomach would tighten with each time she saw Elero's pale face. She felt disgusting.
Olpi decided to ask another question. "Was this place something you just made for fun and forgot about? A secret fort maybe?"
Frey walked out of the branches and cursed. "I made it before I was a guard, ok? I didn't have time for that kiddy stuff." He grabbed the sled and resumed his march.
"Sorry, I'm just curious," Olpi murmured. "What did you do before you were a guard?"
Frey was silent.
"Frey?" Olpi raised her voice. He didn't even turn around. 'Maybe it has something to do with before he was a guard,' she thought. She shook her head and pulled on her hair. 'What do I care if he hates me? I didn't do anything wrong to him, did I? I know I messed up with Elero, but it seemed like more than that. Should I even try to fix this? Can it be fixed? I don't know this person at all.'
Frey emerged from another pine tree. "We're here."
Olpi scanned the pine trees, but there wasn't a house in sight. "I knew it. You're messing with me. This whole time you were being a jerk, but I let it go because I thought you at least had a reason. I'm patient, but even I have my limit, Frey."
Frey didn't blink. "You think I'm messing with you?" Olpi nodded. "Look again."
Olpi craned her head to get a better look at the lone pinetree which Frey stood in front of. Its thick roots spilled down the large hill it stood atop, laying claim to the hill for itself. Sunlight spilled through snow-tipped needles, casting a spiky shadow on Frey's back. He stepped to the side and gestured to the "marking" he was looking for; a dagger jutting out of the pine tree's sturdy trunk, its curved edges caked in rust. Olpi didn't know the first thing about weapons, but even she understood what such a nasty-looking weapon was used for.
Olpi swallowed her saliva. "Ok, maybe you're not joking. Were you an assassin or something?"
"You think I can sneak up on someone?" Frey asked. He gestured to his heavy armor, which was covered in blood, pine needles, and snow.
"So, whose was it?"
Frey shrugged. "My grandfather never told me where he got it, no matter how many times I asked him. I prefer it that way, when the past is just left alone." He got on his knees and, bit by bit, scooped handfuls of snow off the ground until his hands met metal. A shield.
Frey used his shirt to gently wipe the grime off the front of the shield. Although it was rusted like the dagger, it was much more alive with a large symbol of the goddess on the front and exquisite markings around the edges.
Frey carefully lifted the shield up, revealing a ladder hidden underneath, which vanished into an old, cold darkness. There never was a house. It was an underground shelter.
"Is that also your grandfathers?" Olpi wanted to ask, but a horrid smell erased all thoughts from her mind. She covered her nose and grimaced. "By the goddess, that smell is worse than instructor Jersin's socks!"
Frey chuckled.
"Did you just laugh at me?"
Frey shook his head. She could have sworn he was smirking at her, but her eyes were watering too much to tell. He dragged Elero to the edge of the opening and hopped down the hole. "Are you going to help me with her?"
Elero backed away and gulped down a lungful of fresh air. The crisp scent of pine helped. As she gagged, her pointed ears caught movement within the shelter. Several things were thrown onto each other, then a blanket flapped. "Are you doing something down there?"
"It's been years. Shit breaks," Frey called back. "Now help me move her. I'll hurt her if I do it myself."
Olpi took a deep breath in and walked back to the hole.
Moving Elero down took only a few minutes. For a moment Olpi thought maybe they should abandon the idea, but there was nowhere else to go. It was rough, but they managed to get her down eventually. Then, it was Olpi's turn.
Olpi grabbed the ladder. It gave a bit under her weight, but held strong. Foot over foot, she made her way down with a sinking feeling in her gut until her feet touched on a mat. She pulled the shield over the entrance, cutting off the only source of light.
Frey pulled out a light crystal, which lit up the cramped interior.
Roots held the dirt in place, or else the walls and ceiling would have collapsed in on themselves long ago. Olpi was afraid to touch anything. Bits of dirt floated down even as she tried to walk lightly on the mat which, to her surprise, was a crooked mess of arrow shafts, bound together with twine. Not just the mat. Everything was made of weapons.
The stones, which marked the edges of a fire pit in the center, were light crystals that had lost their arcane spark. The pile of wood against the right wall was covered by red cloaks with symbols embroidered on the back. The sled hanging against the back wall was made of empty sheathes, bound together with twine.
Olpi paused, noting that the emblems on the rusted weapons matched the emblems on the blood red cloaks. However, the symbol of the goddess was not on a single one of the red cloaks.
The only other thing that possessed the symbol of a goddess was a bright blue cape, which was spread across a mound of junk in the back left corner. The mound of junk looked as if it had been recently moved, likely by Frey while Olpi had been outside.
"What is this place?" Olpi asked. "Where did you find all of these weapons?"
"All of those weapons came out of here," Frey said as he pointed to a broken spatial ring which hung by a small chain from the ceiling.
"Was that also your grandfather's?" Olpi asked, and Frey nodded.
"That's nice," Olpi remarked.
Frey rolled his eyes. "Nice? I had to build this place using that stuff, and now look at it all. All I have left is my sister and my nephew, and they're both gone. You heard all that, didn't you?"
"It's all very nice, as well as tragic," Olpi said. "I'm jealous. I don't even know if I have a family." She crawled to the pile of wood and gently moved the cloaks aside. She reached for a wood, but stopped as she watched termites and moths emerge.
"Were you adopted?"
Olpi shook her head. "No, I was taken away. I don't remember my life before that. The wood is rotten. We can't burn it."
"Taken from your family huh?" Frey muttered. He looked down at Elero and grimaced. How much time do you think she has?"
"You sound so dramatic," Olpi remarked. "She's not going to die, but it'll get dicey if she doesn't get any warmth, and soon."
Frey glanced at the pile of stuff in the corner, then at Olpi, then at Elero. "And I suppose I'll have to leave her here with you?"
"Yes, you'll have to trust me."
"She looks so frail."
"I'll take care of her."
"You'd better." Frey let out a long sigh, and walked over to the entrance without a word.
"Have a safe trip!" Olpi called after him.
As soon as Frey left, he threw the shield on top of the hole, making her jump. 'What an interesting guy,' she thought, but she had other things to worry about. She waited until she was sure he was gone, then she pulled out the dagger that Doevm had lent her.
'Sorry Frey, but you forgot about one thing,' She unsheathed it, walked over to Elero, then placed the weapon near her back. The dagger's heat enchantment could substitute as a fire. Elero shifted, but remained asleep.
Olpi turned towards the mound of things in the corner, which were still hidden under the bright blue blanket. 'If I can't ask him why he's acting weird, I guess I'll just have to find out for myself.'
She rolled up her sleeves and went to work scavenging through the mound of things. It was junk. There were clothes with holes in them, for both a boy and a girl. Broken sticks and twigs. Rocks. Leather. Water skins. Nothing useful. Just as she was putting everything back, she caught a soft glow in the corner of her eye.. She turned to discover the light came from Elero's back, as well as the goddess symbol on the cape.
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