Chapter 3: Chapter 1: A newfound joy

“During my life, I have ever tried to sail to the horizons. And while there is always a horizon to be seen, I can’t seem to cross a certain point.”

• Logbook of the great captain Christopher Zarek

 

“Well then, why are you out in the middle of nowhere, little one..” Ase quietly murmured to herself as she looked around. Looking ahead, she could spot a small village a few kilometres away, yet there were no traces of human footprints from or to the village. To the left, following the river downwards, she could spot the border of Ahu, Hupomenó, and the Cerviel Holy land. To the right, she could only spot contested lands between the Cerviel holy land and her Kingdom, the Gunnulf Kingdom. 

 

“I guess the Cerviel holy land got lucky, I found something more interesting than the lands of the count whose army we just defeated..” she chuckled to herself, war was after all not a stranger to her.  

 

“But still, I swear there is something weird going on here..” she let loose a sigh as she crouched down, she has been here before. She knows it, her instincts are never one to play her for a fiddle. Once more surveying the surroundings, she looked once more to her right, and then she found the reason that made the surroundings feel so familiar. In the far distance to her right lay the mountain. 

 

Her eyes moved towards the baby in the cradle and she realised what seemed so familiar. “Am I a bloody idiot or something?” as she closed her eyes and slapped her cheeks in an effort to wake herself up.

 

“I guess the stories of Fate being a jester are true after all,.. the mountain of Sannindi. It seems my fate is circling all the way back here, once again” Ase said tiredly as she looked back at the baby, a tear slowly forming and falling down her right cheek. The baby was looking back at her as well, curiously, exploratory as it held out its small little hands to her. 

 

“Oogie Oogie” was a sound she made for reasons unknown to her as she lowered her finger to the baby’s small hand, all the while a smile was slowly making its way on her face. Once in reach, the baby grabbed hold of it and let out a small little laugh. One that was responded to in kind by Ase. 

 

“Is this why you ran off so quickly, Ase?” a familiar voice questioned while she heard several people leaping across the same river she leaped across as well, some minutes ago. They were part of her family, well.. the remainder of her family. 

 

The first was Astrid Gunnulf, a woman of a fiery temper, a bad characteristic if she didn’t make that up in passion to her family. She had the classic braided dark blonde hair on a round face that was so popular around this part of the world. She was wearing her preferred leather shoulder pads, cuirass, and her ever-precious leather tassets, under which she wore white woolen pants. The look of a barbarian was completed by her rough leather boots, wolf cloak, and two scars; One running under her left eye from the nose to her ear and another one running from her right chin to the bridge of her nose. In her hands, she held her old friend, a large battle axe. 

 

Right behind her was Hui-Ying Gunnulf, a woman that came from the Dynasty of Wu, a large empire to the far south. She had been with them for centuries, ever since they joined the Academy of war in their youth, some centuries ago. She had a traditional heart-shaped face with lush black hair that flowed to the back of her head and shaped into a flower bun. Her attire was far more simple than that of Astrid, due to her being an archer. She wore tight-fitting brown cotton pants that were accompanied by a thick brown vest. Her chest was protected by the same leather cuirass that Astrid was wearing alongside the shoulder pads that were illustrated with an azure dragon, a warm reminder of where she came from. She wore padded leather high-boots that provided both silent footsteps and some protection for her lower legs. On her back were an almost empty quiver and a bow that was almost bigger than she was.

 

The last of the people who jumped over was Gunhilf Gunnulf, just like Astrid and Ase she had dark blonde hair alongside a round face, but unlike them, she had cut off the sides and braided it on the middle of her head, with one part braided along the width of her head and the other alongside the length of her head. Her chest, shoulders, and upper arms were covered by grey plate armour worn on top of a tabard that displayed the heraldry of Gunnulf. Her hands were covered by steel gauntlets adorned with various weird symbols. Covering the upper parts of her legs was a blue skirt that was fastened by a leather belt, while the lower parts are covered by steel armour from her kneecaps to the middle of her lower legs. Covering the rest of her feet and lower legs were steel sabatons. 

 

“A lord child? Why would someone abandon such a precious child?” Hui-Ying’s soft voice rang out as she and her other two family members made their way over to Ase. She, alongside the rest of her family, had never expected Ase to suddenly run off in the middle of a war. Though they were reluctant to let Ase go out of sight, they had to discuss with the remainder of the family who would stay behind and take command of the war. 

 

Once that was done, Hui-Ying, Astrid, and Gunhilf quickly broke off and ran in the direction they last saw Ase, determined to catch up. At first, they expected she ran off to check a certain area for a different army, but reports continuously given to them by the scouts never indicated an army left the surrounding citadels. 

 

Confused, and stressed, they ran and ran expecting either some powerful people spying on their battle or the worst possible situation, several armies making their way to the battle. Indicating either that some scouts were traitors or they got captured and forced to write fake intel. 

 

Yet all the tension left their bodies when they saw that Ase was safe and unharmed, crouched next to a cradle. They, just like Ase, jumped across the large river like it was nothing and made their way to Ase and the cradle. 

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“I don’t think it was abandoned… weird enough as it sounds. Look to the right into the far distance. Do you also see that godforsaken mountain?” Ase slowly answered Hui-Ying’s question. 

“Is that.. the MOUNTAIN OF SANNINDI!?” Astrid shouted with rage, that mountain was famous throughout the entire world, but to Ase, Astrid, Hui-Ying, Gunhilf, and some other members of their family; The mountain was a wound that not even time could heal. 

 

“Yes, come and look inside the cradle. This child looks just like Aros. I am sure you all still remember the tales of how his parents found him? The fool was always so proud that they found him in a cradle coming from the mountain of Sannindi. Just like how we now find him.” Ase smiled while she pointed at the child in the cradle. All those years, decades, and centuries ago, and still, the mere mention of Aros’s name put a smile on her face. 

 

“Of course, that was his go-to story when he was drunk in the taverns!” Gunhilf let out a boisterous laugh while she crouched next to Ase. “He indeed looks like him. It is said babies look like their dad when they’re fresh out of the womb after all. Though Aros definitely died all those years ago, so I wonder who fathered and who gave birth to this child.”

 

“Well, we never found out who Aros’s birth parents were. It still makes no sense to me, from what we know, there is no one that can live on that mountain. It is completely populated with step 5 animals and even some that are step 6. It would require several nations of people at step 5 to fend those off and we all know there are only a rare few who make it that far along the path. Or… they have a monster to protect them, something like the great serpent  Agunua that rules the seas close to the Kingdom of Selene.“ Hui-Ying replied to Gunhilf as she stared at the mountain. 

 

“How can you all be so FUCKING CALM! I can’t stand THIS! Just seeing the mountain makes me boil with rage!” Astrid shouted at Ase, Hui-Ying, and Gunhilf. Her face was full of pain, gnashing her teeth and clenching her fists. She was always the one who felt the loss of Aros the most, partly due to her personality, but also because of her guilt. “I am going back to Thyra and the rest! I can’t stand being around here! Decide what you want to do with the child, but do it quickly. We got an army to get back to and lead. The forces of Count whatever are likely wiped out by now. So hurry it up!” as she leaped back across the river, Ase and the other two could clearly see a few tears falling into the river. 

 

“hah, if I knew we would see the mountain of Sannindi from here, I would’ve been more adamant about leaving Astrid behind with the army. She still hasn’t forgiven herself, even though we all have.” Gunhilf let out a sigh as she watched Astrid disappear into the distance among the forest. 

 

“I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself either if I were put into Astrid’s place. We all loved Aros and we would all die for him. She knows that and we do as well. Part of the guilt is that not only did she fail to protect her lover, but she also failed to protect our lover. Every single day she is around people who remind her of her failure. Though we all have forgiven her, her personality just can’t let it go. She has always been hard on herself ever since she was a young child.” Ase slowly replied to Gunhilf. She knew how Astrid felt. She knew Astrid almost as well as she knew herself. They were together from their birth, their mothers being the best of friends with each other. 

 

“Let’s quickly decide what to do with the child. Though I think we all know what we’re going to do.” Hui-Ying interjected, slowly stood up, and moved to face towards the large river. 

 

“You’re right about that Yingi” Ase replied and went to pick up the cradle. “Let us go, Astrid is right. We got an army to get back to. And we have to introduce him to the other family members. I am sure Thyra and Adina won’t be able to believe their eyes. They will likely be as shocked as us to find a child with the same face as Aros.”

 

“Tch, true about that! Bodil just gave birth to a daughter as well, so we can ask her if she wants to nurse him. Better to leave the nursing to someone we can trust than some random wet nurse.” As Gunhilf leaped across the river as well, she was reminded of Bodil and Svend’s daughter. Bodil gave birth to a healthy daughter just a week ago, putting her in the best position to nurse the boy. 

 

“Well, that is both a blessing and a curse. You know how Bodil is. She will rip us for all we’re worth. Though that is not my problem. That is for Ase to solve” Hui-Ying let out a laugh as she and Ase followed Gunhilf across the river. She slowly turned to Ase and put up a big smile, with a glint of mischievousness in her eyes.

 

“I guess you’re right, I am going to pay for that. Well, it will be all worth it. We will have a child that will remind us of our happy days with Aros, and perhaps he will heal Astrid’s soul as well. Odin knows she needs it.” As Ase let a smile bloom across her face, she had just one more thing to wonder about. 

 

“Well then little one, what are we going to name you?” 

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