Zoltraak: Ragnarok

Prologue:

“Mistress Frieren, we’re drawing closer to the city of Granat now.”

“Yes.” She answered, her voice soft as it always was. “Another days travel; perhaps two.”

“It’s kind of weird.” Stark said, almost whispered really, as if he didn’t want to disturb the quiet of the forest trail. “Granat is a pretty big city if I’m remembering right, but we’ve hardly seen any travelers at all.”

“It’s not so strange.” The pale elf replied. “When there is trouble, either on the road, or in the city, travel becomes infrequent. Few would venture into danger if they can avoid it. It was the same heading to your village Stark; the Einsam on the road, and the Dragon averted many travelers.”

“Yeah.” Stark nodded. “Now that you mention it; I never actually saw anyone new arrive in the village before you and Fern. I didn’t really think about it at the time.”

“It could be trouble with Monsters.” Fern offered, somewhat hesitantly. “Granat is a fortress city isn’t it?” 

“Hmm; Yes.” Frieren nodded. “As the front line was pushed back and driven back in turn, over the years its served as a fortress against the Demon army and various powerful Monsters.”

“But wouldn’t they have their own warriors and mages to deal with it?” Stark asked as the three manuevered their way around a fallen tree. “A fortress should have powerful warriors.”

Frieren nodded, her expression not really shifting one way or the other. “True. I suppose we’ll simply have to see for ourselves.”

And that, seemed to bring an end to the conversation

They continued traveling in relative silence.

There was a chill in the air. An unseasonal one, Frieren noted; she didn’t much like the cold. She hoped it was simply an odd day and nothing more. 

But even so, after a moment, her ears twitched, and a second later, Fern’s own senses picked up the anomaly, her body going stiff as she turned her head.

Stark took notice. “What’s up?”

“I’m not entirely sure.” Fern admitted. “Mistress?”

Her curiosity was piqued; And that was enough.

Turning sharply; the pale elf began making her way off the beaten path, deeper into the forest. “Lets find out, shall we?”

“What exactly is it you guys felt?”

“Magic;” Fern answered succinctly. “But it was very strange. I’ve never sensed anything like it.”

Stark blinked, surprised. “You must have an idea what it is right?” He asked the elf just ahead of them. “I mean. You must know practically all magic.”

“Not a clue.” She admitted with all the ease of discussing the weather. If Stark could have seen her face, rather than the back of her head; he would have noted a smile tugging at her lips. “Magic is the realm of all things being possible. No one can know it all.”

Stark, however, didn’t seem to share her fascination, humming a concerned noise somewhere in his throat before he grasped the haft of his greataxe. 

They followed Frieren, and she followed the magic, winding through the boughs and canopies of the forest.

When they came to they found…

“A… kid?” Stark said.

It was indeed a boy. Fair skinned, Ginger haired, just like Stark himself, and he seemed as surprised to see them as they were to see him his blue eyes wide as he stared at them, an arrow knocked on a bow string but not pulled back.

His clothing was unusual, hide and furs, most unlike the typical citizens of villages or the cities. Perhaps he’d grown up in the forests themselves. Perhaps his parents were hunters or fur traders. 

But it was the magic that clung to him that was most fascinating. 

“Hello.” She said, for lack of much else to say.

“Ehhh…” The boy made a sound- then, raised his hand haltingly, his voice stuttering almost. “H-heill!”

Curiouser and curiouser. 

She didn’t recognize his tongue, and his accent seemed thick, but she could recognize a greeting. 

“Sveinn!”

The call came from further in the woods, another presence, a man. 

“Já faðir” The boy answered back, before looking at Frieren, Stark and Fern, and then saying something else in his tongue; likely telling his companion that he’d found others.

“What language is that?” Fern asked. 

“Not a clue. Have you heard anything like it Frieren?”

She shook her head. “No. And isn’t that fascinating?” She smiled.

Then; from out of the woods came a man.

He was massive, the largest man she’d ever seen, a mountain of muscle, ghostly pale skin, dark beard. .

And a red mark tattooed across his body, trailing up and falling over one eye.

He looked at them, then to the boy; his son, if she were to guess. They shared the same nose.

Stark took a hesitant step back. “He is… large.”

Frieren nodded. “So he is.”

The man glared at them, his eyes darting between Stark, and Fern, before finally settling on Frieren herself.

His voice emerged like a rumble. A thunderstorm over the horizon. 

“Hverr ertu?”

(X)(X)(X)

And here we go friends :D

This, as I mentioned at the conclusion of Weaving Force is my next project :D

Frieren and God of War.

So like I said, this is probably gonna be a shorter fic, 15-20 chaps. It shouldn't be a behemoth like Weaving Force was.
But it should definitely still be fun!

For context; This takes place shortly after Starks recruitment, but before they encounter Aura the Guilliotine. And for Kratos and Atreus' part; this takes place just before Ragnarok, So Odin is still kickin around, Freja still hates Kratos, for now and Mimir is being very quiet hanging off of Kratos' hip atm xD

So yeah; this should be fun. and I'm looking forward to it.

2 things.

1) I'm hoping to comission an artwork/coverpiece for this fic, so if anyone knows an artist or is an artist who'd like to take a comission, let me know.

2) I'm gonna about 2 weeks to write up a nice backlog of chapters. 4-5 for the Patreon goers. So dont expect an update next week. This is mostly as an introduction and to get speculation/discussion going as to what's gonna happen. You guys can post here, or join us on discord here;

https://discord.gg/FtKaZe4bJn

Where there will be a channel dedicated to this fic.

Thank you all for being here and lets enjoy a new story together :)