Axel Timberson's Arc

Chapter 3 of 6

The wolves circled the tower all night. Axel pressed his back to the cold brick and watched his breath cloud the air. There was no fire, no wood dry enough to burn, no hearth in the whole hollow shell. Aldric huddled on the stone floor, shivering. Morgan sat above them on the stairs, staff across her knees, the red stone dark. Axel counted their odds. Wait here and they would freeze before the pack gave up. "We need heat," Axel said. "Or we need out." "The door holds them," Morgan said. "That's all it does." Axel climbed the stairs to a narrow window slit. Below, the wolves paced. But past them, through the trees, a light burned. A shack sat in a clearing. A fire glowed near it, and beside the fire loomed a huge iron cage. Something big moved inside. Axel had heard of the man who lived out here. A giant who kept bears. "Isaac," Aldric muttered from the floor. He knew the name. "Bloodborne. He drove me off his land once. Big as two men. Meaner." "He has fire," Axel said. "And he has something that scares wolves." Axel opened the window slit wider and shouted into the night. He called across the clearing, again and again, until his throat burned. The wolves snarled and looked up. Then the shack door swung open. A huge man stepped out. Fur draped his shoulders. His beard swallowed half his chest. He walked to the cage and threw the bolt. The grizzly lumbered free, rose on its hind legs, and roared. The sound shook the trees. The wolves broke. They scattered into the pines, tails low, and the clearing emptied in seconds. Issac Bloodborne crossed to the tower with the bear plodding at his heel. He stopped below the window and looked up. "You woke my bear," he said. His voice was low and flat. "Better have a reason." Axel came down and opened the door. Cold air rushed in. "I'm building an inn," he said. "South of here. My people are freezing. I need fire tonight and I'll trade for it." Issac studied him a long moment. The bear sniffed the doorframe. "Trade what." "Timber. I have a shed full of it. Enough to fix that shack of yours." Issac's jaw worked. He glanced at his sagging roof, then back at Axel. "My cage rusts. My walls rot." He nodded once. "Bring your people. There's fire." Axel helped Aldric to his feet. Morgan came down last, staff in hand, eyes on the bear. They crossed the clearing to the shack and its warm blaze. Axel spread his hands to the flames and felt them again. He had a fire. He had a fourth pair of hands. But he had promised away timber he needed for the inn, and now a bear-keeper knew exactly where his stockpile lay.