Fern and Thor

Chapter VII

Fern awoke to the sound of meat blistering over a fire. She touched her head faintly, momentarily blinded by the warm sun, before observing the scene in front of her. She saw Thor sitting on a neat wooden stump, holding and turning a stick roasting a large lump of a slightly green meat she had never seen before, humming noticeably to himself. He glanced up and raised an eyebrow.
“Sleep well?”
“Yeah… I guess.”
“I hope you know this means you’re doing lookout tomorrow!”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. What’s cooking?”
Thor held his stick a little higher. “Why? Want some?”
“Yes thanks!” Fern strolled over and sat down in the grass beside a flaming fire. “So, what is it?”
“Orkandi.”
“And that is?”
“Native pig.” Thor replied, tearing a chunk off with his teeth.
“You’re really charming sometimes, you know that?”
“By the way, there’s a piece for you near the fire.”
Fern searched around and located it, slightly concealed in ashes. Fern brushed them off in negligible disgust, and picked it up. Juice ran down her fingers and she brushed them on her shirt. Sitting down on the grass opposite Thor, Fern handled the meat and chewed on it, slightly gagging at the flavour. Sour fluid ran down her throat, tangy and pungent. When she had recovered, Fern lay it down in her lap and eyed Thor.
“So, by the looks of things, there wasn’t any trouble last night?”
“Nope. Just a few Feldons.”
“Stupid pests.” Fern murmured. The huge scandalous creature had annoyed her and her parents to no end, always screeching distractingly or setting fire to things with the strange dark flames that hung about their shadowy talons.
Thor swallowed his final portion of Orkandi meat and slapped his knee loudly. “Well, I’m done. You?”
“Barely even touched it.” Fern sighed. “Although I don’t think I was going to anyway. How can you eat that?”
Thor shrugged. “We always ate this back home. You’ll get used to it. You might like it better next time.”
“I’m hoping there won’t be a next time.”
“Anyway, come on.” Thor got to his feet and gazed at their destination. Fern sat up straighter and stared thoughtfully at the towering peak.
“Okay, coming.” She said, and tore her eyes away from it. Picking up the pack, she followed Thor to the foot of the mountains. Similar to the one at Damaka Forest entrance, there was a tattered sign, leaning over warningly. In barely readable print, it saidTetra Mountains up north. Stick to the trail and beware of yetis.
“Yetis?” Fern inquired.
“Yeah. They can rip you apart in one move.”
“Best stay out of their way then.”
“Good idea.”
Thor put a foot on one of the rocks, exclaiming in surprise as he slid down.
“Be careful. It’s slippery.”
“I saw.”
Fern walked over to an elder tree nearby and ripped off a sheet of bark, tossing it aside. She viewed what was underneath and gave a satisfactory nod.
“What are you doing?”
Thor came up behind her.
“Safety measures.” She replied, and stuck her hand in a small hollow, fishing around for a minute. After a moment she scraped around the inside, and pulled her hand out.  Clinging on to her skin was a sticky tan substance. Bending down, she slathered it onto both the soles of her boots.
“Elder tree sap.” She explained. “It’ll help your grip.”
“Hey, that’s actually pretty neat.” Thor grinned, doing the same. Fern waited patiently until he was finished and tested her method. Walking up slowly, avoiding a sharp nest of uneven rocks, she shuffled round and then called to Thor.
“They hold!”
Thor responded with a meek nod.  “Coming!”
He came toward Fern, his boots making sucking noises as they stuck to the ground. When he reached her, he groaned.
“I think I sprained my ankle or something. It hurts like hell!”
“Just come on. It’ll get better.”
Thor bravely took a step forward, wincing as the pain hit him. “I’m not going to be able to do this for long.”
“Look, I’ll help you.”
Fern slid her hand around his waist and Thor laid his arm on her neck. Uncomfortable as it was though, it helped them and they slowly progressed. Before long it had come from midday to dusk.  
“Crud. These shoes slow us down.” Fern said, peering up at the sky.  “Nightfall already.”
“Hang on.” Thor said, stopping abruptly. “Can you hear that?”
Fern could. It was a faint flapping of feathered wings.
“Yeah. I can.” She answered slowly, going cold all over. It was a sound she heard often, inside the safe thin plaster walls of her house, or outside picking raspberries.
She knew it well; the creature she was thinking of had attacked some of the villagers, scavenging for food to eat.
She was right. When Fern looked up, she could see the familiar shape of the being she hated.
It grinned when it saw her, showing its sharp teeth and sending fear shooting through her heart.
Staring at her, through wicked eyes, was a Harpy.