Chapter 22 Returning to Ice’nfur

After setting the alarm to make sure no one would dare risk coming in, Oz followed the instructions left for her on the table. After a moment's hesitation she stepped through the enchanted door. She was to be rewarded with the worst hangover of her life and tumbled into a snow pile outside the ruined temple. Well, what once was the ruined temple.

Instead she saw a nearly repaired temple with a fresh roof and colorful tents all around it. All the ice elves bowed at the sight of her casually limping over, shivering in her layers. She was chilled to her bones even through the multiple layers. The cold bite of the wintery world sunk quickly into her bones, making her teeth chatter. Clearly the earth based fleeces weren't enough for Ice'nfur and it's frigid cold.

'And I paid a lot of money for this fleece coat.' Oz thought with a shiver, rubbing her arms as she hobbled through the thick snow. Two of the bathhouse women quickly saw her and led her to the cozy warmth of the sealed temple. Walking either side of her to block out most of the wind. Oz felt so tiny compared to the tall elves, only now was she noticing just how broad all Ice'nfur elves were.

'They are like snow amazons!' Oz thought enviously, forever short.

Nahern was already up, instructing his men through the tasks of the day. The daily hunting, gathering of materials, and other tasks that needed to be done to keep the temple running smoothly. He stopped when he saw her and smiled.

"Welcome back, dear saint," he said. "I see you had a rough night."

"Shut up," Oz grumbled, rubbing her arms. She quickly hurried to the fire, happy to be in the warmth again. "It looks like you've been busy."

"We have," he said. "But we're almost done. Just a few more days and we'll be ready to completely settle in. We are well protected from bandit raiders, within the wind break yet still close to our hunting grounds and fishing spots. We're higher up in the valley now, so we can see the attack better. As well, the dungeons within this area will supply it with needed trade materials."

"That's great," she said. He turned back to his men and continued giving them instructions. One of the women brought her over a bench to sit on, Oz had to flush in embarrassment. They were so busy but everyone seemed happy to help her settle in.

Soon she was cozy on a bench, wrapped in blissfully toasty furs with a mug full of some sort of vegetable stew. One of the younger men helped her properly wrap her legs with the wraps and slid up the boots into the proper position. No wonder her legs were chilled since she put the wraps on backwards. This time she watched carefully so she wouldn't make the same mistake twice. Her backpack by her feet and one of her more familiar weapons by her hand.

Oz had always been more comfortable with hand-to-hand combat than with weapons, but she had always dreamed of being a badass sword maiden. She watched Nahern, the well-respected head of his group, as he assigned tasks to his people. Everyone listened attentively, even when they had complaints.

Nahern wrote out the day's tasks on a bare wall, using it like a chalkboard using some sort of sharpened chalk-rock. From fishing to mending to shoveling snow or making baskets, everyone had something to do. From the older elves to the few young children, the only one who had no task was Oz.

Finally, Oz spoke up as the group started to break up for the day. "So what am I supposed to do?" she asked.

Nahern laughed as he dusted his hands off on a thick otter-like skin. "You will be training," he said. "Look at you, you look like a fur-berry ready to burst."

Oz squealed at the feel of his frigid finger against her warmed cheek. "I'm not fat," she protested.

"You're not fat," Nahern agreed, teasing her with a rather evil smile. She glared at him, refusing to listen to that sudden fluttering in her chest.

"You're just...round and very red."

Oz glared at him harder. "I'm not round," she huffed. "I'm curvy, jerk. And I'm just red from all this layering." She wiggled her arms within the furs in complaint.

"Whatever you say," Nahern said with a shrug. "I suppose you aren't used to our cold yet. Come, untangle yourself and we will begin. I will be merciful and start your day off easy with some simple work."

Oz sighed and started unwrapping from the fur pile. The moment the cold air touched her she squealed again, it was just so damn cold. She knew that Nahern was right, of course. But she still didn't like it. Thankfully he left her a short fur cloak, she pulled it over her head so she had some protection from the cold.

"If I'm going to come here more often, then I seriously need to get some proper clothes." She grumbled, tucking the front part of the cloak into her jeans.

Nahern chuckled around the leather strap in his mouth, in the middle of tying up his long hair.

"But we might lose you in the ice and snow without your colorful...garment."

Oz looked down at herself, her jeans were practical but she picked her highlighter orange and yellow hoodie to wear. A glowing beacon compared to the whites and tans of everyone else.

"What!" She yelled, "It's comfortable!"

"Again that word of yours." Nahern rolled his eyes, "Come with me saint."

He picked up a sword from the weapons rack and had her walk outside. Oz pulled the hood up around her chilled ears, wishing she thought of earmuffs now. They walked a good distance from the temple, so as not to bother others. She had to jog to keep up with his long strides, breathing heavily in the air.

"Where's Selene?" She gasped when they came to a flat sheet of untouched snow. It was so pristine it almost felt wrong when Nahern tapped it with the sheath of the sword.

"She's on hunting duty, she hopes to bring down an elder moosekian. One would easily feed the camp for the week. Or a snow-buffalo in the saint's honor."

Oz frowned at that, "She doesn't have to do that."

"It is nature, we need to eat. Unlike the other humans, we won't waste everything. What we can't use or eat, will be returned to nature to be a feast for others." Nahern shrugged then turned, lifting his sword up.

"Now come at me, let me see what little you have been taught by those useless teachers of yours."