Black Ice-Completed

Nyota stared from the reeds as she watched the hustle and bustle at the house. In front of the building, many people came by boat to dock at the pier, each person dressed in extravagant splendor.

She had to shake her head from the overload of colors, shades, and textures. She had lived in the woods for twenty years of her life, leather and fur was the only thing she had ever worn, and had never seen such things while living there. It was too much stimulus, especially for her eyes to behold because she was watching the house as a wolf.

Behind the house was where the real action was. People were ushered in and out of the house. When they came out, they were taken away by richer people, headmen at estates, or another slave who would pay the stated amount and take the newly acquired slaves to the boats to wait. If they weren’t bought, the people were jostled into a wide cage where they stayed hunched together.

Nyota had been there all day and had not seen her aunt enter or exit the building. Maybe she had taken too much time to get into the swamp. But deep down Nyota knew that the slavers and Bazra had probably taken Veronica to Uscyte.

The rest of the day passed by and well into the night and Nyota still stayed as she watched transaction upon transaction happen in the back. As she laid in the water and reeds, some water kroskisks had come to check her out and see if she was edible. A good thump to the forehead sent them scurrying away.

As morning started to arise, Nyota felt saddened. It had taken her longer to get into Marais then what she had cared to admit. It had taken three month to even get into this accursed place when it should have taken nothing more than two weeks. The delay, she had taken a month to recover from her wounds and then once she was better, she had to take a different route instead of one of the main roads. When she had tried to enter Marais by the big road, a guard had stopped her to see her traveling papers.

After kicking her back down the road when she voiced she had none, Nyota followed the cliffs to the East to the big river. It had taken her several days to scale the cliffs around the waterfall. She had lost her footing many times and had almost drowned as she had fallen into the waves but she persisted.

After making it to the top, she had to rest until she wasn’t as tired. She had still been healing from the many stabs and slices that the slavers had delivered to her and it was a long drawn affair. Nyota could still feel several places where the bruises had yet to fade.

It had taken her weeks to later track where the slavers had come into Marais and into which direction they would have went. It didn’t bear well for her because as Nyota tracked, animals of all sorts had attacked her, stolen her food supplies, and at one point she had even lost the sword in one of the small swampy rivers. With luck she had found it and had taken a well-earned rest, now carrying the sword on her back instead of her hip.

Nyota had stopped at an inn to eat, gather supplies, and gain more information when she had overheard slavers talking about the auction in a few days, and what was being sold.

Now it seemed as if she had missed her aunt’s auction or the slavers had moved her on into the desert. How was she supposed to figure that out? Sighing, she slipped away into dawn’s shadows to continue on her search. There were plenty of houses that catered to the buying of slaves, she just had to make her way North towards Uscyte and hope she came across Veronica.

As dawn turned into midday, Nyota changed back to her human form. The swamp was far more humid then what she was used to and her wolf pelt did not help fight off the heat.

Nyota made her way through the underbrush and marshy islands, she felt dizziness and chills rack her body. She would have to stop and wait for sunset, when the water turned cool and the wind would blow gently through the trees.

She found a small island to bunk down on where the water was clean of parasites and the berries on the bushes were ripe. After a few handfuls, Nyota sighed in exhaustion and fell asleep to the swamp waking up for the day.

It didn’t seem long before Nyota jerked awake. Looking around warily, she only heard the crickets and frogs chirping, further away a kroskisk called out a challenging roar, everything seem at ease, so what had awakened her?

Rubbing her head as she gathered her supplies and readying it for travel, she knew that it was better to move then to stay. Her instincts screamed at her and she followed them.

After walking for awhile, she then heard it. Miles away she could hear the distant baying of the bleigard hounds. They were vampiric dogs that drank the blood of their kills. Veronica had told her tales about how they hunted and ate, it was quite gory and not a good way to go. Could that have been what had awaken her even though she had heard nothing then?

As Nyota continued to hike through the forest, the baying started to get closer. She feared that they were tracking her because as time passed, their baying continued in her direction. Feeling uneasy, Nyota began to push herself to move faster as the howls sounded behind her and she could hear bushes snapping and crashing.

Growling in frustration as dizziness consumed her again. She was a hunter, not prey! Up ahead she could sense an opening in the forest. Rushing forward, she found herself in a clearing where the river rushed by. Turning around to face the hounds, she was surprised when a woman came flying out of the woods and crashed right into her.

In an instant the woman sprang away from her with a sword drawn, “Who are you?” the woman growled and Nyota just tilted her head as she looked at the woman and sword.

The other was far shorter than Nyota’s five foot and eight inches. Nyota guessed her to be five foot two or maybe three, with dark borwn hair. It was done up with braids one either side and swept back as Nyota had worn it when she was younger. She had light lilac eyes, which made a person think of the sunset when the colors gave that soft purple color. She was dressed in a light brown and green tunic with a belt around her waist which held the sheath to her sword and on the otherside was some type of holder that had a silver stick coming out of it.

“You know what, nevermind!” the woman growled, “The dogs are coming and they’ve been tracking more then just me! So they’ll be after you as well! Arm yourself because they are almost here!” the woman said and pulled Nyota to her feet before turning back to the woods where the baying was becoming stronger and louder.

Nyota wonderd about the woman as she went and pulled a stick from the near by bushes. Could she possibly be someone who could train her in how to use a sword?

Hearing the bushes rustling the woman turned to find Nyota grabbing a thick stick. Was this girl nuts? There was a perfectly good sword on her back, “Don’t use that, use the sword on your back!” she cried.

Nyota huffed, “I don’t know how to use it,” and came to stand beside the other.

The woman let out a growl of frustration, “How hard is it to swing? Never mind!” she growled again and pushed Nyota behind her, “Stay behind me and watch my back!”

At her last word, the hounds converged into the clearing and Nyota’s eyes widened. There were at least fifty hounds, their shaggy coat were covered in dried and fresh blood as if they had eaten while they tracked. Their white eyes were sunken in as rows and rows of sharp teeth snarled and snapped in their direction.

“In Alta’s name, may these kills honor you and should I fall may I be granted a place in the Halls of War,” the woman muttered under her breath and with a yell she started to attack the hounds.

Nyota followed her and instantly became frustrated at her choice of weapon. While it knocked the creatures back it didn’t kill them and she had left many of her spears back home.

Glancing at the other woman, Nyota gasped as she watched her slash and thrust at the hounds, a dance of death that Nyota only wished she knew how to do.

So engrossed in the other, Nyota never noticed several hounds had come up on her and one latched onto her arm while another bit into her leg.

Screaming in agony as the rows of teeth chomped into both, Nyota growled in rage and beat the hounds off of her. But as they kept coming back, a snarl rose up in her throat and tossing her sword, pack, and stick away, she transformed with howl.

The woman was breathing hard as she continued to fight. There were just so many hounds, she thought, and felt chills run up her spine when a howl rose up behind her. It didn’t just affect her, the hounds all paused in their fight as they stared at something behind her.

Giving a quick look, the woman about dropped her sword in surprise when she saw the gigantic wolf with dark blood red fur.

The wolf looked at the woman and she felt fear for the first time in a very long time before the creature gave a toothy smile and with a roar it began to rip and tear into the hounds.

Ignoring the woman completely, all the dogs began to converge onto the wolf or the smarter ones ran away, scared to face a creature that was ten times their size. The woman watched,wondering if she should join the fight against the hounds or like the hounds, run away. Gulping in trepidation, the woman flung herself into the battle and began killing the hounds once again.

As the last hound was killed, the woman turned towards the wolf and watched it's every move. But all it did was scratch at its ear and lick its hind quarter where a gash was bleeding before turning back towards her with a satisfied grin.

“That was fun!” the creature said and sniffed curiously at a dead hound at it's feet, “They smell horrible though. Like trash and rotting flesh!” it said and sneezed.

The woman’s mouth was hanging open with surprise as the wolf looked over at her and eyed the sword with admiration before turning back into the young woman that she had been before.

“You-you’re a…” the woman stumbled as she tried to get her mouth to cooperate.

“A Black Ice werewolf, yes,” Nyota said calmly as she began to get dressed. She was kind of put out. She didn’t have many clothes and in the rush to change she had ruined one set. She’d either have to buy more clothes, or turn to the animals of Marais and try to skin them for their fur and skin.

“That’s not possible, there are no female shifters in that nation!” the woman cried as she watched Nyota get dressed.

“Well that’s kind of not the case now,” Nyota said bluntly as she finished dressing and picked up her sword and pack. Looking back at the other woman, she tilted her head and then pointed at the sword, “Can you teach me?”

“What?” the woman asked in confusion.

Nyota pointed to the womans sword again, “Can you teach me how to use a sword? How to wield it?”

“Listen kid,” the woman started but stopped when Nyota huffed out a small growl.

“I’m not a kid, we’re basically the same age. You just know how to use a sword. My name is Nyota.”

The woman shook her head, “Listen Nyota, I don’t have time to train someone in sword play. I’m busy tracking something and-“

Nyota interrupted with curiousity, “What are you tracking? I can help!”

The woman sighed in exasperation, “It’s a book, the records of slaves purchases. They travel from house to house and its damn near impossible to know where it’ll pop up next. So I have to make my way to each house to try to find it.”

Nyota nodded in understanding, “Well, I have to do that any way so why not kill two birds with one stone. Besides I can pay you to train me! It won’t be for free!”

The woman was about to say no when the sun broke through the clouds and trees to shine down on Nyota but also the hounds that lay dead around their feet. Closing her eyes in frustration, this didn’t feel like a good idea to get mixed up with a Black Ice wolf, but the woman did save her life. She owed the wolf.

“Fine!” the woman said, “I need a drink first! Follow me,” and started to walk away with Nyota trailing her. “I’m Avia,” she said as an afterthought and pushed on.