Within the Bone

XXV. A Ride Towards Death

Mara looked down at the bowl in her hands. Isbrand had brought her breakfast, a kindness she hadn't expected after Immortalis Aelius's violent lashing out. Then again, the man in black armor was gone, off scouting the way or carrying out some mission of his own. He didn't seem directly in charge of the warg riders, nor beholden to them.

The sergeant stood nearby, brushing his warg. Dagr was a huge beast, easily capable of carrying two people, even with the soldier in heavy armor. She had never seen a creature like it: a wolf–like omnivore with rounded ears and a shorter muzzle, with strange spots on its fur and a whistling call alongside its growls. The beast certainly seemed to prefer meat to all other foods, even if it was carrion. She currently had an elk femur trapped between her paws, crushing it into nothingness in her powerful jaws and swallowing the bone and marrow alike. It was unsettling to listen to with the knowledge of how easily she could suffer a similar fate at the forefront of her mind.

"You should eat." Isbrand didn't even look over, tone rough and harsh.

Mara tasted the porridge. It was richer and fuller than even the food she had grown up on as a daughter of privilege in Sjaligr, stewed grains with meat and strange spices. No wonder they had grown so tall, if they could eat so well. She hadn't seen a sign of famine anywhere about these men, nor any sign that they had found the winter here at all difficult to deal with. "What is in it?"

He carefully brushed burrs out of Dagr's fur, plucking them out once they were free from the snarls in her fur and tossing them away. "Barley, oats, venison, salt, pepper."

Mara furrowed her brow. "Pepper?"

"It is a spice," Isbrand said. He seldom spoke when they were on the road, but camp made him more conversational in his forceful way. Dagr made a low rumbling sound of approval as Isbrand's brush started just behind her ears.

The sorcerer started eating, finding she enjoyed the taste more than she expected. Between mouthfuls, she observed, "You are close to your beast."

There was a hint of a smile on the large man's face, but then it vanished. "She is my everything," Isbrand said seriously. "I hand-raised her from a cub and she has been beside me in every battle since. The trust between warg and rider is like no other bond. When we fight, there is no her or I, only us."

Mara nodded slightly, swallowing a little hard. Immortalis Aelius's threat to harm Dagr seemed much more grave after seeing how connected the two were. "I am sorry I have put you both at risk."

Isbrand exhaled sharply at even the thought, turning to look at her as he scratched behind Dagr's ears. "Perhaps something to remember when you stand before the Legate's judgment."

"Tell me about your Legate. Are they like Immortalis Aelius?"

The soldier shook his head at the comparison. "The Divine Prince crafted Immortalis Aelius to be a weapon against heresy, touched by holiness itself. Imperial Legate Saevia is a legionary, a mortal woman, and all that she is, she has made through the fires of war."

The admiration in his tone was obvious, though the realization finally sinking in that this commander of theirs was a woman,, and due such respect, sent Mara's head spinning for a moment. Even her mother, a capable warrior and powerful mage, would not have been given such deference. Mara quickly finished her bowl, turning that over in her thoughts. She didn't doubt Sammael's assessment of these foreigners and the danger they posed to her, but she also had to prepare for what would happen if Aallotar didn't reach her in time. "You think highly of her, then?"

"There is no commander I would rather serve in any of the four corners of the world," Isbrand said, lifting his chin slightly. "Legate Saevia would not ask even an auxiliary to do something she would not do herself. Her devotion and courage are things of legend, from the days when she was a humble legionary to the height of her power now. Even the gods of the Imperium agree, else the Divine Prince would not have named her Imperial Legate and entrusted her with this campaign."