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Maximilian woke up freezing. He stretched out, and tried to put the nightmare he just had out of his mind. It was the burning city again. He quickly walked across the room to close the tent flap that he had foolishly not tied closed. Thankfully there hadn't been a snowstorm last night. If there had been, he most likely would be dead instead of just mildly annoyed. The nightmares were really getting to him. The raven ran a scaled hand through his feathers, and checked on his possessions to make sure they were not ruined by the cold. He lived rather spartan in his tent, and so he did not have many belongings to sort through. He inspected his harp, it was an intricately made instrument that clearly had a lot of care go into its construction. It was his most prized possession and so he was glad to find it undamaged. His sled and his fishing rod were also in good shape, which was very good considering he relied on those to survive.

He prepared himself for the short trek to the village. His shoes were webbed to help support him on the snow. Underneath his normal set of clothes he wore a second heavier set meant to protect him from the cold. The heavy jacket and snowpants weighed him down and restricted his movement. The elements were not the only problem the outside world posed to the people living in the Great Southern Wasteland, so the slower movement posed a big problem. Thankfully, the ax the raven slung over his shoulder would help him with any unexpected problems he might face. His ax was a smaller ax, meant for the ravens of the village. The owls of the village had much larger, double headed axes that could break through armor.

Thankfully for Maximillian, the weather today was fairly calm. A bright yellow sun shone down on his brown and tan tent. Small flakes of snow spiraled down from the heavens, landing on his heavy fur coat. He trudged his way through the snow. Unlike most days when he brought his sled laden with items to trade, today he carried nothing but his ax.

He disliked having to trudge back and forth between his small abode and the village. In order to prove himself ready for his coming of age ceremony, the raven had to live outside of the village for four moons. It was supposed to teach him about self-sufficiency and independence. In his own opinion Maxamillian thought it was simply an inconvenience. Things were better now than they were back when the owls and ravens had first been forced south into the bitter borderlands between the kingdoms of Bjiri and Arnist. The land was of course as hard and hateful as ever, but the people had grown strong and adapted. Everyday life was no longer a struggle. He himself would never want to leave his home, like his ancestors had wanted to when they first arrived.

Nja was waiting for him on the small cobbled road that cut through the center of the village. It took near constant upkeep to keep the road clear, but it was happily done by the residents. A small sign was barely visible sticking up out of the snow by the side of the road. On it were two runes that named the village. "Southern Haven," a place where people had finally stopped running, and started living. Maximilian was proud of the name.

"You slept in too long," the fellow raven said to him. She smoothed the fur on her coat. "The foxes already got here a few hours ago." His heart raced. Trading week was always the highlight of the season for him. A chance to reconnect with friends and obtain some new things. He hoped the foxes had brought something good.

The building where the meeting was being held was a squat but sturdy structure. It would be able to withstand much more than his tent. It was made of dark oak wood, and equally dark stone. Trading could never take place in the massive tallhouse that dominated the village and stretched far into the air. Trading had to take place in a more modest location. Flaunting wealth would of course cause the trading partners to demand more payment for their goods. To be humble would bring in more favorable outcomes. At least, that was the general idea the residents of Southern Haven had. If Maxamillian had been put in charge of trade he would have brought all traders right into the tallhouse. Surely seeing the massive whale ribs that held up the structure, the long tapestries, and all of the spirit forged weapons would awe anyone coming to trade. Unfortunately for him, he was only partially in control of one part of trade, and could never dream of being trademaster.

The small building was dimly lit and stuffy. The owls were the most numerous group in the room, there were about ten of them, including the trademaster. The foxes were almost equal in number to the owls, with only a few less members. The ravens were of course the least numerous, with only two others being present including himself. Despite knowledge of Maximillian being the apprentice blacksmith being given to the foxes several seasons ago, they still shot him several incredulous looks. All apprentices were trained to have some dealing with trade, and were seated at a special table across from several of the younger and more inexperienced fox traders. Maximilian took his seat next to Alkr, apprentice weapons master. While blacksmiths may make the weapons, it was weapons masters who owned and used them. Alkr fit the stereotype for weapons master perfectly. He stood a head taller than everyone else in the village, and carried a massive double-headed and spirit infused ax that had wicked spikes at both ends. Any Ice Demon that crossed his path would certainly find its crown head separated from its body.

Maximilian and Alkr were not exactly friends. Maximilian made fun of Alkr for being tall, and Alkr made fun of Maximilian for having a strange name, and that was the extent of their interactions with each other. However, as an apprentice blacksmith and an apprentice weapons master, they both had some degree of mutual respect for one another.

"Mitro!" Maximilian happily recognized the fox sitting across the table from him. The fox laughed, "In the flesh."

"What did you bring this year? Something good I hope?" Mitroszek was an apprentice trademaster, and so he had access to all sorts of weird trading goods that Maximilian had never heard of before.

"Max, you are going to lose your mind when you see what I brought. Have you ever heard of a plant called a pickle?"

"A... pickle?" The avian struggled to pronounce the unfamiliar word, "I can't say that I ever have."

"Well, it's some sort of weird plant that comes from the north. I think it's an underwater plant, since all the pickles we have are in jars of water, they have a totally unique taste." Maximilian hefted his ax up, "Technically I'm supposed to give this away for free. But I think that if someone really wanted this thing I wouldn't be opposed to some bribery." The fox laughed, "I think I may have an extra jar or two of pickles." He fished around in his pack and produced a jar. Mitro slid the jar across the table, and Max quickly put it in one of his pockets. He gently placed his ax on the table, and Mitro happily took it. Throughout the exchange Max felt Alkr's eyes on him, clearly not approving of this break with tradition.

"When are you going to make a new one?" Mitro asked. "You won't believe this, but I'm actually not going to make a new one." Max replied. Mitro stared at him from across the table, "A person from Southern Haven without an ax? You're a liar Max."

"Not a liar, just an outlier! I'm going to make a sword." Mitro squinted at him, "a sword? Are you sure about that? That's the type of weapon they use in the north." Max nodded, "exactly, I want it to reflect our past before we came to Southern Haven. To show that we can be proud of who we were before the journey here and and the life we have made here. We can be proud of both." Mitro looked away, ashamed. He and the rest of the traders were from Bjiri, which did not have the best history with the people of Southern Haven. Max, oblivious to Mitro's emotions, continued on talking, "I'm going to try to infuse the sword." This instantly got Alkr's attention, who immediately broke into the conversation, "You can infuse weapons?"

"Yes, I can." He puffed up his feathers, clearly very proud of himself, "so far it's only been small items, but I finally have the control to infuse a full weapon now." Alkr unconsciously touched his own infused weapon, the double headed ax named Reacher. All infused weapons were named, due to the amount of effort it took to make them. "Who will you give the sword to?" The owl asked. Maximilian bristled at the question, "I won't give it to anyone, it will be mine." The glare Alkr gave the raven clearly showed his disapproval, "keeping it to yourself is selfish, you should give it to one of the guards, or one of the weapons masters, they can do much more for the village with it than you can." Instead of answering, Max chose to ignore the question and focus on his newly won jar of pickles. Mitro sensed the tension in the air, and broke it, "how about we go outside and I can try out my new ax?"

"That sounds like a great idea," Max said, wanting to be away from Alkr. Unfortunately, for him, Max did not get his wish. "I should go with, so you can have proper form with the ax," Alkr said. Mitro of course would have received some training in the ax back in Bjiri, but Alkr considered their technique to be subpar. The owl followed the raven and the fox outside.

Nja was outside, and quickly ran over to the group, "What are you three doing leaving the meeting so early?" Mitro happily held up his new ax. She laughed, "of course, it's a weapon. I should have seen that coming."

"Well," Mitro said, "these weapons do defend us from threats, like ice demons." She nodded, "that is true, but the fascination you two seem to have with weapons is strange?"

"What do you mean two?" Max asked. She answered, "Well it's Alkr's job to be obsessed with weapons, it makes sense that he loves them. You two however, I'm convinced you just like sharp things."

"Like your wit," Max said. She ignored him.

The group of four walked through the assortment of short wooden buildings, stone buildings, and tents, to reach a small circle on the outskirts of the village. Dozens of logs laid here, brought down from the large forests to the Northeast and Northwest in Bjiri and Arnist respectively. The logs still had to be split. Normally, this task would be randomly assigned daily. However, due to the trade currently taking place, there was no one splitting wood.

The fox carefully set up each piece of wood, and the owl watched as he split each piece. The two ravens stood off to the side, separate from their companions. "Max?" Nja asked him, "when are you going on your Ikro?" He stood and thought about this for a moment, "Well, the trading will probably last for another five or so days. Then after that I'll have my final blacksmith piece to complete, so that will take two or three days. Then I'll have to take a day packing and choosing people for the Ikro. So in all, about nine days I think?" She nodded, "I want you to choose me for the Ikro." He looked at her in surprise. The Ikro was supposed to represent a person letting loose for the last time before settling down. Bringing Nja along for what was supposed to be a journey of general partying and debauchery did not sound like a good idea to Max.

"I'm not sure about that Nja." He said hesitantly. Inside, he was afraid. If she was asking to go along, maybe she didn't see the two of them ending up together like he did. She looked at him, and said something that surprised him, "I don't feel safe with the traders here." He laughed, "Why wouldn't you feel safe? You know Mitro, you know his people aren't a threat to us anymore like they were in the old days." She hesitated, but spoke, "There is a new person with the trading group that wasn't with them last year. A silver fox. I cannot tell you why, but I think he means to do me harm. Getting away from him before he can do anything seems like the safest bet. If you could, please take me with you on your Ikro, and leave now. Before he can do anything."

Normally Maximilian would have simply disregarded this. However, his nightmare from last night screamed at him. A silver fox had been in that nightmare. It was often said that the Lord of the Night put dreams in people's heads to torment them, or threaten them. Maybe the Lord of the Night had been threatening him? Maybe he should take his nightmare seriously, and take the threat to Nja seriously. He thought about it, but eventually decided.

"Alright, I'll take you on my Ikro. And we will leave soon. But, I have to do my final piece, so I can become a full blacksmith. That needs to be done first." She breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you Max." He didn't feel like saying you're welcome. He had been looking forward to trading week. "What will we tell Mitro?" He asked her. She smiled, "Well, maybe he doesn't have to go back with the trading party. You could ask him to come along on your Ikro. Oh, and ask Alkr. I really do think I'm in danger, and his ax could come in handy." Maximilian nodded, and walked over to the fox and the owl, who were still engrossed in their wood chopping scheme.

"Hey Mitro?" he asked. The fox looked up, "yeah? What is it?"

"Would you like to come along on my Ikro? There's going to be a lot of fun stuff I've got planned." The fox grinned, "I've been waiting for you to ask me that, of course I'll come along."

"You can come along if you want I guess," Max said, giving a noncommittal wave towards Alkr. The owl stiffened, clearly surprised, "I would be honored I guess." Max nodded, "Good."

"When do we leave?" Mitro asked. "The four of us leave two days from now," Max replied. "Four?" Alkr asked. Max nodded, "Yes, me, you, Mitro, and Nja." If Alkr was surprised at Nja's inclusion, he didn't show it.

"I'm going to make my final piece tomorrow," Max explained to them, "and then the day after, we will leave on the Ikro. I have to go get everything ready now." He left his three friends in the lumber yard, to go prepare for what he was sure would be the greatest test he would ever face in his life.