Inga

Outside, the bestial winds howled at the night's grim expanse. They whistled their fury with bee-like twists and changes in direction. The winds were armed with diamonds of snow, weapons that sparkled white against the grey world.

A mismatched pair knelt beyond the cave maw. The smallest hugged fur clothing close to her chest, breathing fog into her numbed hands. Her cheeks were flushed with cold, whilst her blond-brown hair was covered by a woollen blanket. Sneezing once, the girl looked across to her companion, who stood staring out at the winds, praying in low growling tones.

The Companion wore no furs over his mail hauberk. He wore no cloak over the two-handed sword strapped to his scaled back and tan-coloured scales covered his great form. Be it from the blunt-muzzled draconic head, to the tip of his muscular tail, all was scaled. Sharp claws, at the end of his three-fingered paws, touched as The Companion muttered his supplicated words out into the furious winds of night.

"Holy mother of winds; of scale; of life. Mother-Goddess to which we are bound. This day, like all others, I live in your name; under your will; in your light."

The Girl rubbed her cheeks with the palms of her hands and searched, with brown eyes, for anything with which a fire could be formed. Amidst the sharp stalagmites and dust of the cave, little could The Girl's eyes spy of interest. She shivered a little at the barren nature of it all, whilst the winds outside mocked any thoughts of leaving. The Girl watched her companion, the Draki Vakar. Watched him and thought back to the Trials.

She had been lucky to live, favoured by the Goddess, that much was clear. The final trial had set her against the son of her Jarl. It had been a hard fought duel; her spear against his sword. Even, despite the Girl's superior reach, the Jarl's son managed to wound her dearly.

The Girl smiled a little, despite her frozen surroundings, and remembered the elf -- In the eyes of the Girl, her savour and a tool through which the Goddess showed divine favour. After the Trial her Companion had dragged the Girl from the tribe. He had given her no time to bid farewell to kith, or kin -- which was lucky, for she had none.

A stirring from the cave mouth snapped the Girl back from her memories, she looked up as the lumbering bulk of her Companion came into view. The Dreki Vakar stopped, silently appraising the girl's form: the shape of her round face; the tension in her wary, hunched stance; the alertness of her darting brown eyes. The girl was scared, though she fought to hide it. Inside his mind, the Dreki Vakar smiled with contempt.

"Name?"

It was a simple question, posed to the girl with intonation of authority and a wave of a clawed paw. The human girl looked to her Companion in a confused manner, so the Dreki Vakar repeated himself, this time adding a threatening growl.

"Halla, my name is Halla."

The Girl moved to stand as her Companion stepped closer, but a forceful motion of his hand ended such a thought. Instead she just looked up at his great form, noting how the mail links shimmered in the faint light.

"No longer. You have been chosen by Fate, by the Mother-Goddess. From the moment you were chosen 'Halla' died. You are now to be known as 'Inga'. Any ties to your past are no more; you will forget them. Any friends, family, loves and loyalties are cut. In their place will be the Mother-Goddess and us, your Flight. Do you understand?"

The Girl, Inga, could only nod under the baleful glare of the Dreki Vakar. Her companion folded his arms across his chest and nodded his head once. Then he answered her unspoken question.

"I am Brandr, he who first suckled from the divine-teat of our Mother-Goddess. I am to be your teacher and you my student. You will learn devotion, obedience and love. In time -- should you prove to be nowhere as weak as you currently appear -- the Mother-Goddess may bless you with her divine form. You shall become as I am; as your brothers and sisters are: 'Dreki Vakar' you name us and so shall you be named."