CHAPTER 1.04 - THE CHILDREN OF GOTHA

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The passage through this section of the woods was easier and as the shadows deepened, Wolfram sought a new place to shelter from the cold night. He could smell wood smoke and grunting. It sounded like pigs.

He could also hear an old woman's voice, singing. He grew suspicious thinking that this might be one of Loki's tricks.

He moved frward cautiously to find a large clearing with a thatched cottage against the treeline on the far side, with a 10' wide pen attached to its side, containing at least a dozen domesticated pigs. Smoke rose from the cottage's chimney and the woman's voice could be heard coming from inside.

Hunger and weariness encouraged Wolfram to approach the cottage carefully. As he drew near, despite best efforts to avoid appearing too threatening, the pigs squealed and ran panicked inside the pen. Wolfram's shoulder ached and he stepped forward to knock on the wooden door.

The singing stopped immediately and an old woman asked "Who's there?"

Wolfram paused. He could smell a delicious stew cooking and then he could hear footseps and then the door opened. An old woman was standing there.

She appeared to be at least in her seventies and she was dressed in sackcloth, stitched haphazardly together. She also smelt awful, possibly on account of her unkempt filhy hair, face and arms appearing to be smeared with either mud or pig faeces. But her smile and demeanour were pleasant enough and she openly welcomed him in, recognising that Wolfram was seriously injured.

"Come in, come in, young man," she said. "Rest, rest, you are weary and tired. You must eat. Plenty to share, please, please, come in ..."

Wolfram entered and looked around. The old woman seemed to be alone and surrounded herself with all manner of herbs, vegetables and natural (wood, stone) items.

She busied herself with making Wolfram comfortable and explained that the guest bed was available for him to rest in the second room, if he required it.

Wolfram ate heartily. An amazing stew with rich strong flavour. His worries faded and the more he ate the more calm and conversational he became.

The pigs squealed and frolicked in the mud outside and then the old woman engaged Wolfram in some general conversation. He was curious about who she was and why she lived here, still thinking that she might possibly be allied with Loki.

It grew dark outside and the pigs became quieter. The old woman introduced herself as "Mab" and simply said she "liked her own company and was bound here to help travellers such as himself."

Then Wolfram felt overcome by a new sensation and saw that, when he looked at Mab, he could not only see her but could sense her blood flowing through veins and, for the briefest of moments, believed he could even see the blood flowing as though she was translucent. The sensation subsided quickly but he could still hear the gushing, flowing, pounding in his his ears. And then it faded.

Mab was speaking to him. "Are you alright?" she asked.

And then he realised he wan't and that he could hear footsteps outside. Heavy footsteps. Many footsteps and loud deep gutteral grunting. Something unnatural was outside the cottage.

There came a loud thumping on the door and more grunting. Then Wolram realised that Mab was laughing and her mood had changed. Her eyes had gone mad and staring as though something possessed her. She ridiculed and mimicked him, goading him into action.

"They come for you Son of Fenrir," she told him. "The Children of Gotha will feed well on your bones and blood tonight."

The reference made no imediate sense to him and Wolfram pushed Mab away, grabbed his axes and pushed the door open to see a horrific sight.

Twelve man-sized monstrous pig creatures with boil-ridden skin and large sharp tusks and clawed hands confronted him, trying to enter the cottage.

Wolfram pushed outside to fight them, finding himself surrounded by their numbers. As they closed in an awful stench assailed his nostrils as one belched to fill the air with a foul and sickening odour.

Resisting the urge to vomit, Wolfram fought them bravely and cut each down, cleaving with his axes to defeat the enemy. As each pig creature fell, it sunk into the muddy ground and disappeared in a burst of green smoke.

When the combat ended he checked the clearing before re-entering the house to find Mab cursing him with obscenities.

"The Mud King will hunt you for murdering his children. You will die horribly, Wolfram, Son of Fenrir and then Reisen Morgus will take you screaming to Hel ..."

"Be quiet, old woman, your words are disquietening," Wolfram said and he knocked her out then gathered his things and moved out into the woods to rest for the night.