Runa

Runa walked for a long time through the cold, snowy mountains; she hadn't taken a break all night in order to put as much distance between herself and the settlement as possible. At daybreak, however, she realized that she couldn't go on like this, as it would exhaust and slow her down much more in the long run than if she took breaks in between. She knew that there was an old abandoned hunting lodge nearby and decided to rest there for a while.

Exhausted from the march through the night and the cold wind that blew constantly, she was glad to have finally reached the hunting lodge, but before she entered it, she looked around carefully to make sure that it was really deserted. In the hut itself, she chose a spot from which she could see the door but not the windows, sat down and wrapped her coat around her to keep warm. She didn't dare light a fire, she was too afraid that the smoke might be discovered by possible pursuers. After a while, Runa fell asleep due to exhaustion and caught up on the previous night's sleep.

Runa didn't wake up again until late afternoon. When she is suddenly greeted by a „Did you sleep well?” and a laugh. Runa was startled and instinctively reached for the axe she was carrying under her coat and looked in the direction from where the voice had come. Her best friend and sister Brynia was sitting there on an old chair, watching her with amusement. After Runa got over the initial shock, she couldn't help but laugh a little herself.

Brynia's gaze then becomes calm and serious. „You're too careless, you're lucky it's me and not someone else.” Runa noticed the seriousness. „The Council of Elders sent you, didn't they?” Brynia nodded briefly. “They wanted to send Vargan's hunting party to get you and your axe back first, but I managed to convince them to give me a chance to make you change your mind peacefully and come back. This is the only chance you'll get from the elders, please use it wisely.“ „I... I can't... I can't return with you Brynia. I... want to unravel the mystery, it... it just won't let me rest. And I can't do that in Skelmir.“ „Why can't you Runa, why did you have to go so far as to steal the axe and break the trust of the Council of Elders and the clan? I don't understand.” „The Council of Elders..., no Valgrun won't allow it. When he found my notebook with my research, he just burned it without hesitation. My work, all the time I had invested in it..., ruined... nothing but a pile of ashes remained. They don't tell me why I can't explore the axe, no, I should just stop, forget about it and quietly follow their orders. I can't and won't do that anymore.” „Runa...“ „Brynia, I want to know. What's behind the axe? What is the Council of Elders trying to hide? Why am I forbidden from seeking knowledge? These questions and many more are constantly buzzing through my head.“ „Runa...“ „Brynia, I want to know. What's behind the axe? What is the Council of Elders trying to hide? Why am I forbidden from seeking knowledge? These questions and many more keep buzzing through my head and won't let me rest. I'm... I'm sorry Brynia, but until I have answers to my questions, I can't return to Skelmir with you, even if it means that you will be their huntress and I will be their prey."

Runa then slowly stands up and would take the first steps towards the door. “I can understand you in part, but in part I don't, so Runa you are my sister I don't want to lose you or even have to kill you, please come back with me.” Runa continues towards the door, when she is next to Brynia she puts a hand on her shoulder. „Brynia, unfortunately that's not possible, my actions, my way of thinking, they are too different. So much so that I haven't felt part of the clan for a while now, hence my decision to leave.“ Brynia makes no further attempts to persuade Runa to turn back and lets her go.

Runa quickly sought cover in a nearby crevice. When she turned her gaze in the direction from which she heard the footsteps, she saw Brynia there, but this time no longer alone, but with 4 other members of the hunting party. After two months, she managed to track down Runa again. For the time being, Runa remained in the cover of the crevice and observed the situation.

Brynia indicates to the other members to wait and be ready to intervene if necessary. She then walks towards the runic writing and looks at it. "You really seem to like these things. But at the risk of repeating myself, Runa you just let your guard down too often." She then looks towards the crevice. Runa hesitantly steps out of the crevice. “You're more stubborn than I thought, I don't think I'll get away that easily.” And looks towards the 4 remaining hunters, who don't take their eyes off her. "I would like to resolve this peacefully, Runa. Please just come with me without any fuss, because this is the last chance I can give you without taking them back to Skelmir by force." Runa scratches her head and sighs. "Brynia... I'll probably never find my answers in Sklemir, so I can't come back with you. But I don't want to hurt you either." “Runa...” Then in a brief moment of carelessness on Brynia's part, Runa runs back into the crevice, on and on. Caught off guard by Runa's sudden escape, Brynia stands there frozen for a moment until she gives the signal to give chase and chases after Runa together with the hunting party.

At the end of the crevice, a snowfield with a few conifers opens up, and the snowfall, which has become heavier in the meantime, makes visibility increasingly difficult. Pursued by the hunters, who have also entered the snowfield, Runa casts a spell while running and the sound of an approaching avalanche is heard. Runa continues running undeterred, but Brynia, unaware that this is the effect of Runa's spell, gives the signal to return to the crevice as quickly as possible. "Runa don't!!! There's an avalanche coming." But Brynia only sees Runa disappear into the snowstorm.

Runa runs desperately down the steep slope, leaves and mud sticking to her soles, every step a danger of slipping. The pouring rain and the onset of dusk make it difficult to see and increasingly difficult to spot obstacles. Behind her, Runa hears the clanging of weapons and the footsteps of her pursuers. Brynia and the hunting party are hot on her heels, and Runa knows that without a diversionary tactic, she will not succeed in escaping this time.

As she dashes through the trees, she casts a spell that discharges in the next moment, and a glistening light briefly pierces the darkness in the forest. The hunters behind her are blinded, cry out, and one of them loses his footing in the tumult of glistening light, pouring rain that has softened the forest floor, and slippery leaves. He slips sideways and falls, hitting his head on a blunt rock. The dull sound of the impact echoes through the forest before he comes to rest among the mud, leaves, and roots.

Runa froze and turned around when she heard a quiet, agonized groan and saw one of the hunters lying motionless on the ground, blood trickling down the rock and mixing with the rain. Only his rattling, irregular breathing revealed that he was still barely alive. Runa's eyes widened in shock and horror. She reached out a hand toward the hunter. Everything in her cried out to rush to the injured hunter and help him. But she couldn't, because then she would be back in captivity. With faltering breath, unmistakable trembling, and a fragile voice, Runa said, “I... I didn't mean to... I didn't want to hurt anyone...”

Amidst the cries of the hunters, all you can hear is Brynia shouting “Runa!” in anger and horror. Brynia ran straight to her fallen companion, knelt beside him, and checked to see if he was still alive. Then she looked up in Runa's direction. She saw no malice or cold intent, but rather horror, guilt, fear, and remorse written all over Runa's face. Brynia briefly doubted everything when she saw the remorse on Runa's face and realized that the criminal standing in front of her was still her old friend. She wanted to let Runa go before she brought her injured comrades to her attention.

Runa whispered, barely audibly: “I didn't mean to... I just wanted to blind you... not hurt you...” Runa's desperate gaze met Brynia's determined stare, an eye contact that lasted longer than expected before Brynia cried out in a voice trembling with both anger and pain "You didn't mean to hurt anyone, and yet one of my comrades and brothers is lying here on the ground, half dead! Don't you see that this will haunt you forever if you continue down this path?"

Runa stumbles back a few steps, struggles with herself, and forces herself to look away from the injured man. With a pain-contorted face, tears in her eyes, and a trembling voice, she cries out, “I... I'm so incredibly sorry...” before turning around and letting her instinct to flee take control.

Runa was walking through a busy side street of the market as a tall human man. She was in the process of replenishing her supplies when she thought she saw a familiar shadow at the end of the alley. Tall, upright, looking intently at the crowd... Her stomach tightened. Runa muttered almost inaudibly, “...impossible... She can't see me...” Then she glanced again over the heads of the crowd in the direction where she had seen the shadow, and there she was... Brynia. Runa turned around as calmly as possible and tried to push her way through the crowd toward the main market square, hoping to escape the hunter squad. Breathe calmly, Runa, don't run, don't attract attention, she thought.

Brynia stood at the end of the alley and let her gaze wander over the heads of the crowd. She was looking for someone, not by their face, but by their gait, their behavior, and then she saw someone. At the edge of the crowd was a tall man wearing a coat similar to Runa's. The way he moved through the crowd to avoid people, his gait—she knew it only too well. “Runa...” she whispered. Brynia signaled to the others in the hunting party to follow the man.

Runa felt the gaze on her back and grew increasingly nervous. On top of that, the spell wouldn't last much longer, and she knew she had to get away quickly and go into hiding. She therefore decided to quickly turn into another side street, which would lead her to the old part of town and thus close to the black market. Runa had quickly learned that no unnecessary questions were asked there and it was easier to go into hiding. She walked quickly through the alley until she heard the clanging of armor and weapons and heavy footsteps behind her. Runa turned behind the corner of a house, and at that moment the spell wore off and she resumed her true form. “Damn it!” Runa cursed and started to run.

Brynia and the hunting party turned the corner and just caught sight of Runa assuming her true form and running away. They immediately began to run, hoping to catch up with Runa, and Brynia shouted, “Runa, stop! You can't always just run away!”

Brynia and her hunting party saw Runa conjure up a wall of fog and slowed down. They walked cautiously through the fog, ready to draw their weapons if necessary, as they didn't know what to expect behind the fog. When they emerged from the fog, they saw only a three-pronged intersection and no sign of Runa anywhere. “Damn it!” she cursed briefly. “Split up, she can't have gotten far!” She then ran into an alley with a member of the hunting party.

Runa rushed into Ylva's shop, panting. As she turned to quickly close the door, she almost knocked over a basket of weapons. Runa knew the shop well. Ylva was an information broker and liked to sell not-so-legal items on the black market under the guise of her gun shop. Runa had been here a few times during her time in the city, hoping to get information about the axe. When she turned to the counter, Runa saw Ylva standing there as usual, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. Ylva said in a calm voice, “Seems like you're in trouble. You can hide here in the basement, but it'll cost you.” She pointed underneath her and grinned mischievously at Runa. Runa just nodded slightly. At that moment, she didn't care about the price; anything was better than being caught by the hunter squad. Ylva moved the carpet she was standing on to one side and opened a hatch, into which Runa quickly disappeared, and Ylva covered the hatch again with the carpet. Shortly afterwards, Brynia stormed into the shop accompanied by others, looked around and ordered the other troop member to search the shop for Runa. Runa heard Brynia's voice muffled by the floor and carpet, followed by footsteps throughout the shop. Ylva calmly watched Brynia and the hunter and acted cooperatively, but did not betray Runa.

After a while, Brynia and the hunter left the shop, and a few minutes later Ylva opened the hatch and let Runa out. Runa climbed out and stood to one side so that Ylva could put everything back in its place. “Thanks for helping me and not ratting me out... but what's this going to cost me now?” Runa asked, a hint of suspicion in her voice. Ylva looked at Runa. “Oh, nothing special.” She grinned mischievously. “I just want you to become one of my little crows, that's all.” With her head tilted and obvious confusion, “One of your crows? And what are these crows?” “You know, I earn my money with information. And I get this information from my dear little crows. The more crows I have traveling around the world, the easier it is for me to obtain certain information and sell it.” And her grin widens a little. “It's a small price to pay for saving your life, considering those two gentlemen didn't look very friendly. And who knows, maybe you'll come across the information you're actually looking for at work.”

Runa looks at Ylva with little enthusiasm and then asks anyway, “And how exactly does that work? Because as I see it, I don't have any other choice, or can I repay you for this favor in some other way?” “I saved your life, so I think it's only fair that your life now belongs to me, at least in part, right?” Runa grumbles briefly when she realizes she can't back out of this deal. "But it's relatively simple. If you come across any information that seems particularly interesting, you pass it on to me, or I get a request for information and you have to see if you can get your hands on it. I'll pay you for it, too. I want my crows to be able to buy food, right? Or I can pay you with information about that strange axe. Oh, and by the way, I'm not saying anything about who and where my crows are, but if you get caught, that's your problem."

Runa was less than enthusiastic about the deal, but she had no other obvious option, as Ylva could tell the hunting party that she was here or even sell information about her and her whereabouts. The safest method was to make the deal with Ylva and become one of her so-called crows.