Udil's hopes sank. "Let me take my leave, then," he said in a tone of concedence, "and the lord of the hunting will not be happy to see me." "Udir wasn't looking forward to this unpleasant reunion anyway.

Sejuani's expression softened, then she smiled slyly.

"No," she said, "that's why I need you to stay, old friend." ”

The leaves of the high pine trees were all the color of blood. Udir watched a scarlet leaf fall, realizing how much he misunderstood the color red. In his homeland, the color would only splash on the snow. In Freljord, the color red symbolizes violence. In Freljord, red is death approaching. But in fact, red symbolizes life. Any person, any animal, as long as they are alive, has red in their body.

Udir opened his eyes.

The candle flame used for meditation burned a red spot in his vision. The rain hissed over the extinguishing campfire. Strong winds shook the hut's sagging leather tent as if it were going to blow it down before dawn. Cold rain seeped through the gaps between the fur carpets inside the tent. He did not sit with the monks on the top of the distant Ionian Mountain, a corner of Sejuani's camp.

This is my home, and a bitter pride swells in his heart.

It took several weeks for Udir to successfully meditate again, but he couldn't be happy now. As soon as he began to see things around him, the voices returned.

An evasive cacophony made the shaman breathless. The thoughts of Eruk, Guyvask, and the horses nearby overwhelmed his sense of self, filling his mind with an alien sensation, a loud, thunderous sound that only he and the most powerful beast walkers could hear, and could not silence it. This is followed by human emotions. They are also animals. A thousand fragmented thoughts mingle together: anger, fear, resentment, coldness

Udir couldn't hear his own screams. He just felt his throat tighten. Those voices won't be quiet, they'll never be quiet. He flipped through the package, frantically searching for the silver thorn. The scorching metal touched his fingers. He plunged the silver thorn into his palm repeatedly. The impact of the metal amplified the pain thousands of times, but he was willing to bear any price to drive those voices away. Any cost.

Sejuani was curious how much military supplies she would have to risk in order to contact the bears. Many huge bonfires roared, and the flames were three people high. Sejuani's army stood around the campfire, hungry and cold, looking at the flames in front of them with exhaustion and doubt. In the current weather, dry firewood is a life-and-death material. And these campfires still don't guarantee that the lost will be called.

The firewood for the campfire is formed into interlocking triangles in the pattern of dead knots. Stacks of firewood form flaming minarets. Around the bonfires, tall, ancient iron rods stood. Each iron rod is cast with the bearman's emblem, and weapons and bones are piled up under the iron rods, like dry wood waiting to be ignited. You're all set. The warriors who were ready to chant the oath only had to accept the blood prayer before the ceremony officially began.

She nodded to Spirit Bear's assistant priest to begin. He lifted a large wooden bowl to the heads of the Oath-Bearers and poured it down. Sticky bear blood hung on them, covering their faces and chests. Then everyone picks up the bear's paw totem and slashes across their chests. They let out a roar of pain.

The last oath was a ten-summer-old little girl who stood tremblingly in place, and Spirit Bear's priest wrapped the traditional crow feather shawl around her neck like a collar. Then, along with the other warriors, she began the chant around the largest bonfire. Her eyes rolled and her throat made a constant noise, like a raging wind in a storm. Other vows began to be reconciled. The voices overlay each other while singing in different tones, creating an unnatural vocal elegy that resonates harmoniously with the roar of the flames. The sound frightened Sejuani's belly, like an insatiable hunger.

"Go and call Udir." She commanded to the two Blood Alliances beside her. They were mesmerized by the flames, and they just nodded their heads, unable to even take their eyes off the ritual. "Go get the shaman," she yelled.

Her voice brought them back to their senses. The two guards stepped out of the firelight and into the darkness.

She also left the campfire and walked over to her mount, Steelmane. Sejuani knew that no matter how uneasy she felt, her people must feel that she was ready to lead them into battle.

She climbed into the saddle of the Guyasque boar. Its shoulders were twice as tall as hers, and it weighed more than ten people. When it snorted nervously, she didn't need the knowledge of the Great Shaman to know what it was feeling. The ice around its claws shattered, and the mount that had a heart for her resonated with her uneasy feelings. It wasn't just the military supplies she took to the risk that she had.

Above Sejuani's head, the ashes of the campfire flew into the sky. Dots of starfire leaped upwards, pointing at an approaching storm. A thunderbolt flashed in the distance, briefly illuminating the billowing clouds that were rushing towards her. In front of such a huge whirlpool, she felt as small as a child.

The first bolt of lightning struck an iron rod with thunder. Sejuani leaned forward in the saddle and slipped her fingers into the black bristles of her steel mane. If it was a horse, or some other inferior mount, Sejuani would coax it with some reassuring words. But she whispered to Steelmane, "I don't like that either." But now everything depends on the great shaman."

The morning light never came.

Dark clouds overturned the river and the sea, stopping the returning sun.

Udir fought a cold war. The rain froze overnight. The frost on his greaves hindered his steps. His thoughts wandered uncontrollably. Too many creatures, too many people, all around him, their distress cried out in his head.

Sejuani formed a horn formation along the woods along the banks of the river. Both the camp and the Hagodo fighters stood on the hillside behind the front-line troops. Everyone is ready with weapons and waiting for the arrival of the bear-man tribe. The blood warriors beat their shields and beat the drums of war.

This is the custom of Freljord. You'll have to prove that you're a friend before you can lay down your arms.

Small sparks of static electricity began to appear on the armor, swords, and battle axes of the warriors. Udil saw that the warriors were overwhelmed by this strange phenomenon. The arc continued to leap and move between their weapons, and he could feel their fear.

Udir followed her to the edge of the woods. His face began to elongate and deform, and his teeth stretched outward, forming massive fangs, which retracted back into their original form. The hairs on his skin rippled and flowed all over his body, covering him all over his body, and receding like the tide in a small inlet, as if in response to some unknown wave. He growled and barked, saliva flowed from the corners of his mouth. Suddenly, Udir's eyes widened.