Chapter 15

Waking the next day I felt refreshed, Floki and Sceolang were already up and seemed to be waiting for me. I smiled as I sat up and rubbed both their heads, causing them to wag their tails.

"Morning you two, did anything happen while I was out?" I asked and they both nodded in the negative.

Rising to my feet I donned my gear and left the room. From the looks of it most everyone was still asleep. I spotted Gentle, Gunnar, Ivar, Aela, Brant, Jacker, Zakar and even Maralynn at the main table. They were all dressed for travel and I made my way towards them.

"Morning, I see everyone is ready." I said, then turned towards Brant.

"Is she fit to travel?" I asked, indicating the young girl hiding behind him.

"Forgive me, my lord, but I can't leave her behind. I will carry her if I must. She will not be a hindrance." He said while bowing his head. Sighing, I looked towards the girl and crouched down.

"Come here, girl." I said and she quickly ducked back behind her father.

"I won't harm you." I continued.

Tentatively, she stood out from behind her father. And on shaking legs she came forward, but not so far as to be out of reach of her father. Now that she stood before me I got a good look at her. Before she was covered in grime, so I never really got a good look at her. She looked younger than I expected, perhaps fourteen. She didn't at all resemble her father and brothers. She had blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. She looked mousy, but that may have been due to her malnutrition. Perhaps she took after her mother. Though her eyes lacked the light one her age should have. I could spot fear and wariness.

"Tell me girl, do you think you're up for this?"

"Y- y-, yes my lord." She answered with an unsteady voice.

"Is that so? Well, a girl like you would have trouble traversing the wilderness."

"I- I can m- m- manage my lord." She said, still with a slight tremble in her voice. Perhaps she was scared of going out there again. Maybe she thought she would be taken away by bandits again.

"Well, how about you ride on Sceolang's back? I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Saying so I looked towards the overgrown pup.

Not missing a beat he padded over towards the girl and kicked her face. Her shaking immediately stopped and she smiled ever so faintly. Rising to my feet, I nodded towards Brant and he did so in return.

"Alright, let's head out." I said and we all exited the hall into the frigid cold outside. I noticed that Brant and his sons wore thick coats while the others and I didn't. The cold didn't bother us in the slightest, we are Nords after all, a little cold won't bother us.

We headed west and the journey was uneventful. We had to make more stops than expected for Brant and his family, but it wasn't an issue. Halfway through our journey, near nightfall we set up camp. We roasted some game that Aela was able to hunt and just relaxed.

"Tell me Ragnar, how big is this Winterfell?" Gentle asked with a bone sticking out his mouth.

"From what Jaren has told me, it is massive." I answered.

"That's it, just massive?" He said.

"That's what he said. We'll see it for ourselves eventually." I replied.

"Sigh, what about you, Brant, what do you know of this Winterfell? I hope you're more colorful with you words then our leader here." Gentle spoke while leaning back and getting comfortable.

"Well, lord Gentle" Brant began, but was immediately cut off by gentle's sudden laughter.

"Hahaha, I'm no lord man, I'm just Gentle. I can't speak for the others, but Gunnar and I follow Ragnar because we know that wherever he travels, adventure and glorious battle awaits. I am no leader, I am just Gentle."

"As you say, Gentle." Brant replied and Gentle smiled in satisfaction. He waved for Brant to continue a moment later.

"Winterfell is indeed large, as the seat of house Stark it must be imposing. The outer curtain wall rises some eighty feet in the air. And the inner curtain wall higher still. But before you even reach the wall, as it is still winter, the first thing you come across is Wintertown."

"Wintertown?" Gentle asked, clearly curious to hear more.

"Yes, a town just outside the outer wall. During winter most of the homes are filled. Small folk from all around come and occupy the homes to survive the winter. Below Winterfell are hot springs, and that warmth makes the winters somewhat tolerable for the small folk living around it."

"Ah, yes, I've noticed that you people can't handle the cold." Gentle added.

"Did you say hot springs?" Ivar asked. Brant looked towards him and nodded.

"Yes I did, that's what people say anyways."

"Interesting, they must be vast if your description of the walls are to be believed. Surely it must cover a large area if that's the case. I can't wait to see it for myself." Ivar finished with a smile.

"You just want to dip your delicate little toes in the warm water, hahahaha!" Gentle laughed with unbridled mirth.

"That too, and who knows, maybe there'll be fine women to dip into." He responded with a devilish smile which caused us all to laugh.

"Perhaps save such actions till after we get the land." I said, not wanting Ivar to get us killed because he couldn't keep it in his pants.

"One of these days, cousin, I'll get you to sit back and enjoy the pleasures of a woman." Ivar joked.

"What would you know about the pleasures of a woman, Ivar? Please don't confuse yourself with those girls you've managed to trick into warming your bed with a real woman." Aela spoke up, which caused us all to laugh. Ivar for his part raised his hands in defeat.

"You're welcome to show me what you mean anytime." Ivar shot back.

"You're still just a boy. How old are you again?" Aela asked.

"Seventeen" Ivar answered with pride. I did notice how Brant and his family's eyes widened at the revelation.

"Seventeen, you're still a babe." She replied. Ivar leaned forward with his devilish smile and replied.

"If still a babe, why don't you breastfeed me then?"

That got us all laughing, even Brant and his family. We continued on, just talking nonsense when we were interrupted by Floki, Sceolang and Aela becoming alert.

"What is it?" I asked. Aela sniffed the air once more before responding.

"A group of seven heading our way, from the east."

I thought about what to do before coming to an answer. If they were a threat, then they would make fantastic test subjects for a power I have not had the chance to use.

"Let them come, I'll handle it." I replied and all relaxed except for Brant and his family. His daughter began shaking uncontrollably so I sent Sceolang to comfort her. A few moments later, seven figures came into view in the firelight. They had the look of bandits.

"Give us all of your things and there won't be a problem. We'll be taking those two as well." The lead man spoke while indicating Aela and Maralynn.

I stood and walked forward to stand between both groups. I had to ensure none of my own got caught in what was about to happen. They were surprised by my size, but I just focused on channeling the power I knew laid within. Then I felt it, I felt it building as I instinctively channeled it. All I had to do was say the words, and I didn't hold back.

"Fus Roh Dah!!!"

A visible force exploded from my mouth and traveled towards the bandits. The ground shook by the sheer power behind it. Even the trees bent at odd angles due to its power. I had expected the bandits to be flown back, just like in the game. But that was a game, reality was far more visceral.

When the force reached the bandits, they didn't just get pushed back. The force washed over and through them. And as it did so, they began to rise up and back as I had expected. But then, it seemed like their bodies just couldn't handle the sheer power and exploded backwards. Blood, flesh and guts continued to travel with the force.

It was so powerful that the trees closest to the origin of the blast were uprooted and cast asunder. It appeared as if a gale force like no other had ripped through everything. A trail of upturned earth marked the passage of my thu'um. All that was registered in my mind in an instant before I lost consciousness.

I opened my eyes to a cloudy sky. Snow slowly fell and it took a moment for me to come to my senses. With a start I sat up and looked around. I laid in furs being pulled along by Gentle. He stopped when he felt me rise.

"You're finally awake, good, now get the fuck up, do you know how heavy you are!?" He yelled before letting go of his end of the furs.

"What happened?" I asked.

"My lord, after whatever you did, you passed out." Brant answered as he came up to me. He had this odd look in his eyes when bringing up what I did.

"How long?" I asked.

"A fortnight, my lord." He answered.

A whole two weeks? What the hell? No wait, perhaps this could have been due to suddenly unleashing all that power so suddenly. The game made it seem like some simple thing. I still remember what it did to those bandits. That was not in the game.

However, it makes sense. A power like that surely wouldn't be as simple as pushing someone back. I should have used the first word of power instead of all three. If I had used that shout in the cave, or in the village. Who knows what would have happened.

I need to be more careful when testing my thu'ums in the future. I must have experienced some sort of mana exhaustion due to summoning all that power so suddenly. Hopefully I can train it to not have such a glaring drawback in the future. Looking back up I spotted Brant eyeing me with concern.

"How far are we from Winterfell?" I asked him.

"Not far at all, my lord, look." He said and pointed ahead.

I turned and in the distance, slightly covered by dark clouds, were multiple towers. We were very near to our destination.

"We'll, I'll be damned, there it is."