Lore Of Ice

Chapter 3

All the thresholds, before crossing them

One should look ahead,

Look attentively to the road:

One cannot know beforehand which enemies sit in wait

To guard the area.

Gestaþáttr, Hávamál

'I came to see if it's true,' Viridi's high voice rang out, breaking through both the total calm and largely uncomfortable silence that had remained on Pit and Kaira's short travels so far.

The angel was startled, causing the fair-skinned girl to look at him. It seemed that Palutena had told the blonde goddess about the trip's tension so far, and how Pit had no idea how to start a conversation with the brunette.

He made a quick gesture to Kaira that everything was fine, despite his shock.

'You almost gave me a heart attack!' Pit mentally complained about the sudden communicating from his laurels. He then let out a large sigh.

'If I hadn't said anything, you'd still be left walking in silence right now. Besides, who's gonna stop me?' mocked the Greek goddess of nature. 'What's going on here, anyway? Cat got your tongue?' the blonde asked, only further pushing his buttons.

'Making friends of any kind isn't really his strong suit,' Palutena butted in, 'but especially not with human girls.'

The goddess' laughs rang out smoothly in unison, but before Pit could try arguing with them in his own defense, he realized his new traveling 'friend' was saying something.

"Did... something happen?" asked the girl, still guiding him along the path.

"Whah? Uh, no! No. Why do you ask?" Pit asked, sounding nervous.

"You're making the same face I do when you keep talking on and on." Apparently she had noticed his expressions this whole time.

"Oh, it's just... really... cold out here." Pit stumbled over his own words, still trying to block out the conversation that had just happened in his head. "But hey, I was wondering something," he spoke, trying to change the subject. "What's the horse's name?" Kaira seemed to be in a talking mood, so he thought it might be good to keep up a conversation with her.

"Gunvor." She answered him, though Pit looked a bit confused, so she continued. "It means to be careful during war."

The quiet of their trip settled in once more, and as the minutes passed by, the mood became heavier with the sudden appearance of strange birds.

At first they circled high overhead, but everything took a sudden, high-adrenaline turn when these creatures that seemed to be like crows or hawks dove downward.

"This looks bad," the violet-eyed girl spoke, not understanding what was going on around them.

The problem seemed clear to Pit as well, so the two took off as fast as their horses could run. The only thing they could do was try getting away from those strange birds as soon as possible.

"What are those things?" Pit called out, as Kaira drew a bow and and arrow from the bag her horse had been carrying.

The terrifying birds continued sweeping down rapidly, but didn't fall into the snow. Instead they would rise back to glorious heights, ready to dive again and again.

'Falskragoj,' Virid commented from the angel's golden crown, 'They're a species of mutated crows... an abomination to nature.' Her voice was filled with disgust.