WRATH OF THE NORTH [BJÖRN IRONSIDE]

CHAPTER FOUR

Even if Vál had gotten used to the icy feeling of the water in the stream she sucked in a sharp breath when she splashed some water in her face. She washed the blood stained hands from gutting a deer earlier. She roughly rubbed her hands together as she tried to scrub off the dried blood. She let out a sigh as she let her eyes roam the forest. It was silent and she smiled, it was relaxing.

She hadn't seen the bear slayer since their encounter days ago. She hadn't heard some raging bears roaring or seen more berserkers. However the animals were just as hard to find. She had some food, hares were typically easy to catch and she had found a deer after she hunted the last one that she completely abandoned when bear slayer got in the middle. She remembered when she walked back the morning after and saw the blood stained snow. The wolves had taken it.

Vál wiped her hands on her pants before walking down the sloping mountain. She had her bow and arrow in her hands as she walked. Her hood covering her head due to the cold. It had been a very cold night and she knew there were a lot more of those to come. It was just past winter, the mountains were colder than usual which wasn't too different from the summer. The mountains were still covered in snow in the summer but only a thin layer and the further up the mountains you went, the colder it got.

A few branches snapped under her feet as she walked. A few birds chirped or croaked in distance and she let out a pleased sigh. Vál smiled when she reached her usual training spot. She let her hands slowly touched the carved tree. She had made it a few months ago, she needed to change tree from time to time as her arrows hurt the surface. Sometime she hit animal heads she had over from her hunts and one time she had placed a piece of rabbit on a fallen tree to shoot at. However the latter was too much of a luxury for someone living to survive in the mountains in challenging conditions.

Vál's feet carried her over to a pleasing distance. She closed one eye as she aimed for her target. She took a deep breath before stopping her lunges from accessing air before releasing the arrow. It flew quickly through the air before hitting it bullseye. It was too easy and she knew it. She walked further away from the target before shooting another one, hitting it bullseye. After shooting a few more arrows she walked over to the side and closed one eye as she aimed, the target were in between various of trees. She released it and...bullseye.

Collecting arrow after arrow Vál suddenly heard a faint muffled growl. A frown occupied the space between her brows as she listened for the sound. Then there was another one and she hung the bow over her shoulders then quickly placing her arrows in her pocket before running towards the sound. Yet it felt like the growl disappeared as quickly as she started to run. She quickened her pace by the silence. She continued to run in the same direction before halting. Her eyes widen when she, in distance, saw a deer with its fawn. They stood there eating, the mother protectively moved her ears to pick up any sound as the small fawn ate in peace. It was surely an early born one and small but seemed well fed.