Baen eyes blinked a few times, sliding to look at me with a somewhat thoughtful expression. “I’m… not sure what to tell you. If you chose what you wanted to do… then… does it matter?” He winced a little, eyes slipping away from mine. “I mean… we do what we have to right?” He gesticulated a little. “Sometimes things don’t work out, but that doesn’t mean there’s something against you.”

I shrugged, shaking my head. “I suppose that’s true, but doesn’t really solve everything I’m thinking about. I suppose that’s a problem with how I explained it really… It doesn’t matter, it’s something I’ll figure out eventually.” I’ve got all my life to consider it after all. I thought to myself bleakly. An awkward silence started between us, broken as Baen reached into his pocket.

“Oh, they gave me the badge a while back when I was checking in.” He said, fishing it out to show me. It looked like a ceramic version of my own, without colour. I’d kept mine away after I’d left, couldn’t bear to throw it away after all the work they’d put in. “It’s like every time I visit the chapter they have something new to show me.” He mused. “It’s pretty awesome, I think at the least even if the military does get back into patrols and the like we’ll still be called in for mapping and exploration.”

I nodded, that was probably the main reason why it had been encouraged, to give us something to do once the war was over, so we wouldn’t end up as idle swords hanging around. As it was, we, they probably wouldn’t need to consider downsizing for a while. They’d probably be supplementing the military patrols for the next twenty years at the very least. “That’s true, though I wonder how many people will stick around now that they’re not really needed anymore.”

Baen shrugged. “I’ll remain here.” He said. “Quite a few others will as well.” He remarked thoughtfully. “I probably don’t need to tell you this, but after what you did with the dragons the number of volunteer recruits is now greater than the original irregulars.”

“It’s not my work. More should be laid at Cale and his group’s feet than I, alongside Frejr, Qent, Numen, Azarint and Rince.” I asserted irritably. “All I did was start the discussion, they sought out the other races, negotiated to have them ally with us against the greater threat. Does no one realize how uncomfortable the hero worship makes me? Even more how undeserved all of it is.” I sighed, this wasn’t helping. “I don’t think they’ll be coming here tonight. We should get some rest.” I said simply, straightening myself and walking off. Lapi followed me, curling at my feet as I fell asleep.

The next day, Baen asked me if I would help him seek out where the ettin and chimaera might be. I accepted, mostly because I couldn’t refuse. We picked up the tracks of the chimaera at a nearby stream. No new snow had appeared overnight, and it was easily visible. Snow crunched under my knee as I knelt to take a look at the prints.

“It’s pretty large.” Baen noted worriedly. He wasn’t wrong… The last Chimaera I’d fought had left prints only two thirds this size. Normally with creatures like these they would’ve gone into hibernation, there wasn’t nearly enough food for them to keep going like this. Unless there was something I was missing from the picture…

[What if due to the Edratchi they were unable to feed enough for the winter?] Page queried. [If that is the case, they might become desperate enough…] To go for the closest food source they can find? I wondered, frowning. “We need to find them soon.” I said. “It’s probably hungry and irritable from the winter, and the fact that it’s not hibernating isn’t anything good…”

“Right, we need to get it to leave before nightfall?” Baen asked. I nodded. “What about the ettin? If they’re both here for the same reason we might not be able to take them one after the other.”

I shrugged. “It won’t be a problem.” I said. “If the Aesor doesn’t scare it away it’ll kill it in short order.” Baen looked taken aback. “Hmm?” I cocked my head at him. “I’m not going to have anyone die while I can do anything about it. Chimaeras are tough bastards that I’d rather not go into an extended fight with… and I’ve already had someone die to an ettin because I wasn’t fast enough.” I sighed, pushing myself onto my feet. “Let’s get this over with.”

It didn’t take us long to pick up traces of where it’d been. Blood splattered snow was easily visible, and the carcasses even more so. Skull’s cracked open for the brains… Ettin, has to be. Even the bones have been snapped to get at the marrow. Nothing much left of it… They’re probably still hungry. I stood back up, quickly putting several feet between myself and the corpse. The way I’d made my armour, it gave me time before the smell permeated, but once it had… I grimaced. “Do we follow?” Baen asked, gesturing to where the footsteps led.

I hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Of the two, the chimaera was more dangerous, an obligate carnivore, there was only one thing that bastard would be going for. However… this carcass was fresh, which meant that unlike the chimaera, we had a real chance of catching the ettin. Baen led the way, and once we’d left the vicinity I removed my faceplate to let the air circulate. Surprisingly cold air assaulted my face, and I turned to Baen. “Are you fine in this?” I asked, a little surprised.

He nodded curtly. “I’ve been in worse.” He remarked, forging ahead. I replaced my faceplate.

“I’ll take your word for it.” I said. I trusted him to know his limits, if he didn’t, he’d never have lasted so long here anyway. We followed the trail in silence from then, didn’t need to alert the ettin after all. Periodically I would Delve, looking past the trees and snow to try and find the ettin’s soul, even obscured by the trees.

Once I had, I reached out, tapping Baen on the shoulder. He stopped, turning to me quizzically. That way. I gestured. We’d gone deeper into the wood than I would’ve liked personally, but Baen seemed to know where he was going. I drew my sword, for now, the Aesor stayed sheathed, I had a sneaking suspicion that where I last fought using it was now a dead section of forest.

Baen looked in the direction that I had pointed, pausing for a short while. Then he unslung his bow, shifting his quiver to his belt. He gestured for me to lead. The ettin was in fitful slumber, it looked leaner than the ettins I’d seen before, not quite emaciated, but approaching the boundaries. I hid the sword under my cloak, and crept closer.

I placed my foot down, and a crack rang out in the silence. It was ice under my feet. A thin pane that had formed after a small fire had been put out, covered by old snow. I steeled myself as the ettin roused, eyes falling onto us. It moved to stand, and I darted forward, trying to get a strike in at its neck. It roared, brandishing a large branch. An arrow slammed into the creature’s eye, and it jerked, the branch clipping my sword instead of sailing over my head when I ducked down.

I let go of the sword as my wrist twisted painfully, and grimaced as I closed. It roared, one hand reaching up to pluck the arrow from its eye, and the other tried to swing the branch back towards me. I closed the distance, deflecting the blow upwards with my right arm. I swung myself over the creature’s shoulder, then reached for the back of its skull.

It had taken me a while to figure some things out. The armour had always been predominantly just that to me, but recently I’d gotten to thinking, and this was as good a situation as any to test it. I increased the heat capacity and conduction of the outer layer to my left gauntlet as I pressed against the base of its skull. The temperature to it plummeted, and I could feel the thick, tough skin beneath my palm freezing. I pulled one of the throwing knives from their sheath with my other hand.

By itself, it would hardly penetrate, it was more likely to get stuck on the outer layers, but if I could remove it… The ettin shifted its hand off the arrow shaft, trying to shift its head away from me, and I detonated the same outer layer of my gauntlets. I’d never have done this before, because I had always worried that they wouldn’t be recoverable, until that Edratchi burned it for me and put that to the test… My wrist cracked back, and I winced as the skin on the ettin frayed apart, revealing fat and bone, I slammed the dagger in, hoping that the creature shared a biology with me.

It thrashed, throwing me off. I rolled to my feet, snarling. Too much to ask I guess. Another arrow slammed into it, same eye, within the centimetre. I blinked. The ettin now stood up, and I plucked one of the fan-like pieces from the shield on my left arm by the tapering end. I pressed a few fingerholds into it, and sublimated the edge to a molecular razor.

It swung the branch again, and missed, the loss of its eye messing up its aim. I moved in close, rolling past its heels and slicing at the tendons. The blade passed through like a hot knife through butter, slowing for just a moment as it passed through bone. The ettin screamed, turning to face me, it raised its branch just as a soft wet thud came from behind its head.

It rocked on its feet, unsteady, and I quickly scrambled away. The ettin toppled over, landing flat on its face, the arrow shafts in its eye snapping against the ground and bouncing away. A single black-shafted arrow glistened with blood, protruding from where I’d stabbed it with my knife. I took deep breaths, calming my nerves as I walked over to pluck my dagger from the remains.

The skin on the back of the skull flaked apart completely as I pulled the dagger out, hard chips on one side and wet skin on the other. I pulled the pieces of my armour back, spreading them across my gauntlets to where they should be before doing the same for my shield.

Baen scrutinized the back of the ettin’s skull, turning to me with a look of confused wonder. “I thought you didn’t do magic?” He asked, pulling the bodkin arrow out of the ettin’s brain. He grimaced. “I… am not looking forward to cleaning this.” He muttered under his breath. He picked out a dagger from his side, turning the ettin’s head.

“I don’t.” I replied, cleaning the dagger off with the snow and a cloth. “That was something new, figured it was worth a shot.” I picked up my sword from the ground, sheathing it. “Next time I’ll remember to let you take the shot before I do something stupid.” I said ruefully as I flexed my wrists. My right hurt a little when I rotated it, but the left felt broken. A day? I asked Page.

[It’s a fracture, and since I doubt you’ll be a good patient… make it two.] Page remarked.

“Yeah… sorry.” He replied, pulling the remains of the arrows out of the creature’s skull. “Pick up the chimaera’s trail from where we left off?” He asked.

I shook my head, looking to the canopy above. “We’ve tracked this thing long enough for the sun to go up and come down again… We should head back.” I said. “It’ll be hunting again soon.”

Baen nodded. “Right.” He said.