Idunnir looked... well, Caius hadn't had enough time to learn the man's expressions. And even if he had, he was often wrong. But Caius could see the whites of Idunnir's eyes all the way around his irises when he glanced at them.

  "You said we should head for Threpin? To warn them?" Idunnir was practically vibrating with energy.

  "I think it's the right thing to do and also our best move."

  Nodding, the armored man bent to pick up his end of the pole that held... its contents belonged to Idunnir alone, now. It was easy to tell which was which, the load was distributed very close to that end. It rose far more easily than he was probably expecting.

  Taking in the reduced weight and the visible lack of piles of stuff removed to account for the difference, he looked at Caius. "Your work?" he asked as he put his helmet back on. Caius said it was and hefted his own baggage.

  Idunnir shrugged and, grabbing the other end of the pole instead, slung it over his shoulder with ease. Almost like the man on that children's book that had inspired Caius' own method of carrying his things. The size of Idunnir's burden was almost comical, but aside from adjusting his posture to balance it the man seemed unaffected.

  The pace was brutal. All Caius could do was put one foot in front of the other and keep an eye on Idunnir's boots crunching into the snow. He'd started out keeping his eyes on the man's back, but he didn't have the energy to raise his head that high anymore.

  Dimly, Caius realized that the sun had already set. The cloudless sky and moon overhead gave just enough light to follow the road. But something changed. On his chest, his amulet started glowing brighter. In fact it flashed slightly with every footfall.

  Nearly slamming into Idunnir's back, Caius looked around to see why they were stopping. Before them was a wooden wall, made of tree trunks stood upright and lashed together with rope. A wide wooden gate stood open. No signs of life anywhere.

  Caius assumed the worst. He was too busy trying to catch his breath to be optimistic. Legs wobbly, feet extremely painful. Heart hammering in his ears. Exactly why he hated physical exertion. Fortunately, he had someone else to do the thinking for a bit.

  "We need shelter. You know what these things are, what do we do?"

  Wonderful. He needed to do the thinking after all. Probably should have planned this in advance. "Do... you... see any... of them?" he panted.

  "No." came some welcome news.

  Getting his thoughts in order was so very, very difficult. But he was getting just enough breath back to speak in full sentences again, so he did his best. He didn't need to solve the problem, just delay it long enough to make better plans. "We need a sturdy building with small windows. Those things shouldn't be smart enough to break down doors or burn us out."

  "I have an idea, but it's far from the rest of the village and probably smells bad."

  "Far might be good and my sense of smell is terrible." Caius responded.

  Idunnir led the way. Somehow Caius managed to boot his poor, abused, much-too-fat-for-this body into motion. They entered through the gate and followed along the wall to the right. Caius had a dim hope that the people here were just all indoors because of the cold, but they would have closed the gate if that was the case.

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  Because it was just that kind of miserable day, Idunnir chose that exact moment to collapse like a puppet with its strings cut. The pole and baggage caught the wall and slid down gently, before settling on top of the man.

  Caius almost cried, his emotions settling into a black pit of despair. All that kept him going was the grim refusal to have gone through all this for nothing. Checking on Idunnir, Caius pulled the bundle off the man and turned him on his side. You were supposed to do that, he dimly recalled? Something about making sure they didn't choke if they vomited while unconscious?

  He wasn't going to get far while dragging the man and all their belongings. But if he had to choose one, their stuff would survive a night outdoors and Idunnir probably wouldn't. Lifting him up over a shoulder was out of the question.

  But necessity is the mother of invention. Caius got Idunnir's cloak off, rolled it up and awkwardly knotted it around the man's chest under his armpits.

  The knot gave up the moment Caius pulled on the cloak. But he retied it and politely asked the fabric to stay tied. It flashed gold for a moment and just like that Caius was laboriously hauling Idunnir through the snow in the direction they had been headed.

  Blessedly, the village was small. And where they were going was fairly obvious. There was a wide, clear area between the other houses and one that was tucked into a corner of the wall. As the wind shifted to put the house upwind, Caius discovered exactly why.

  "Ah. Probably the tanner's house." Based on the fact that even Caius could detect the smell, it was probably awful. It was on the far side of a fairly large stream with a wooden footbridge over it.

  It felt like a hundred meters to the house, but definitely wasn't nearly that far. Door wasn't barred, which was welcome. Actually the little house was fairly roomy for what had to be a lower-class profession. Caius only looked around to look for threats, which he didn't find.

  Caius' stomach growled. Since he obviously didn't have time to cook, he dug into his pouch for some dried fruit. He found only one piece left. Right, he had shared some that morning. And there hadn't been much to start with.

  "Alright." he addressed the piece of fruit. Truly, his life had taken a turn recently. "I really need you to help me out here. I'm exhausted and sore and I still have stuff to do."

  Obligingly, it lit up. When he ate it, it burned on the way down like a shot of that moonshine he'd tried at a fair once. Sometime soon, Caius needed to sit down and try to figure this power out. It seemed way too convenient.

  A warm, tingly sensation entered his limbs. The pain didn't go anywhere, but it was easy to ignore now. Caius thought about his next move, feeling more focused. Sure, he could bar the door and fall asleep. But the situation might be different in the morning, and he needed as many options as possible.

  So there he was, trudging back to collect their stuff. Nothing happened, it was just an unpleasant slog. When he got back he realized he had forgotten to put Idunnir back on his side. Actually, he needed to examine the man more closely.

  Much too dark inside, the only light was the moon through the open door. Well, and the faint glow that surrounded Caius. But the glow was far too dim to be truly useful. He tried asking the glow to be brighter, but nothing happened.

  Sigh.

  World like this? Candles or similar were probably the light source people used at night. Probably sparingly. But where would you store them? Definitely on your bedside table, if you had one. But also where it would be easy to grab on the way in.

  The fireplace wasn't too far from the doorway. Felt like it was built out of rocks, and on top... a candle. No candleholder, it was stood in a heavy cup on a rough plate. Trying to light the thing with his flint and steel was not on Caius' list of things he wanted to attempt.

  He asked the candle to "Do your thing, please" and it started to glow. The light came from the top where the wick was, almost like he had lit the candle. But it was much brighter than a candle, illuminating the room.

  Very clean and organized, actually. Caius could only imagine two kinds of people doing this smelly, unpleasant job for a living. Either a miserable cynic that just didn't care, or someone who didn't let anything stop them from enjoying life. Looked like the latter, in this case.

  Next problem, Idunnir. Caius groaned as he sat down on the hard, wooden floor to try and examine the limp form.