The Bear is Born by Remy Morgeson

Author:Remy Morgeson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: wheel of time, robert e howard, conan the barbarian, sword sorcery, pulp adventure, game of thrones, pulp fantasy, george rr martin, barbarian hero

V

Asbjorn pulled out a chair to take a seat at the table that Heggra had prepared, a large iron kettle bubbling away from where it hung over the fire that crackled in the hearth. The big man could smell the meat and herbs that simmered away within, his stomach rumbling and his mouth watering at the thought of sustenance. He had not eaten since trying to take breakfast earlier this morning when first returning to the village, being rudely interrupted by the loudmouthed Dorn and his spiteful friends before he could have his fill. To say that Asbjorn was hungry was a gross understatement, the succulent aroma of stewed venison coming to his nose to entice his appetite. But the big youth also did not trust this woman who had so easily made her way into his small home. After all, only a great fool would knowingly drop their guard in a witch’s company.

Heggra continued to go leisurely about herself as Asbjorn’s eyes followed her every move, ladling out a heaping bowl of rich broth and chunks of meat and vegetables, setting it down before him. The suspicious Northman regarded the dish warily despite his protesting stomach, the old woman taking her own seat across the table. He had heard many stories about Heggra from his fellow villagers when he was younger, the outcast witch of the north woods as she was sometimes called. Many thought of her as nothing more than an eccentric medicine woman, someone to seek out and turn to when the more conventional remedies of Brekka had failed to cure an ailment. But there were others that whispered far darker things about the old woman, that to reach out for her aid was to enter into a pact with the worst kind of demons. Asbjorn had always suspected that the truth lay somewhere in between the two, but at the moment, neither mattered to him all that much. He simply stared at the old crone that had intruded into his house with a steely gaze, curls of steam still coming off the bowl that sat on the table.

“You should eat,” Heggra said in a screechy voice, “someone like you needs their strength, you know. It’s not poisoned if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

“Prove it,” Asbjorn responded coldly, pushing the bowl of stew towards her.

“Oh fine,” she said, picking up a spoon with gnarled fingers. She swallowed down a mouth full of broth along with a hunk of venison, smacking her lips together to help drive her point home.

“There, does that put you at ease?”

Asbjorn slowly brought the bowl back towards him after the old woman had tasted of it, smelling it apprehensively as he continued to eye her. Heggra’s sunken face regarded him back with an odd grin, the strange, twisted smile showing the few nubby teeth that still poked through her gums. He had attempted to ignore it, but now that such food was so close the hungry youth could resist it no longer, forsaking a spoon to simply guzzle down the deliciousness within.

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