The Haunted Forest

As they are in a forest, it's not too difficult to find a suitable tree and Sven is accustomed to climbing. He sees a gnarled old tree with several large branches, so he will be able to climb up and he thinks the thickest one might be large enough to hold Bearic.

He finds his branch easily enough and then has only to wait for Bearic and pray that the biggest branch holds after all. He is perhaps halfway up the tree at this point and has a good view of many more trees, and the Milkwater river.

He sees a few birds in the distance, wood pigeons and crows, but there are no birds close by, probably on account of Bearic. The forest looks no different from any other part, and there are no signs of men, either.

None of the birds seem to be flying close, however, so Sven realises that he might have to try enticing one, if he has some food to hand. Or he can leave his tree and move closer to the birds, or just wait longer.

After a short while, the birds begin to venture closer, perhaps sensing that the boy and the bear mean no harm. When one of the crows reaches the bottom of his tree, it's easy for Sven to shed his own skin and slip into the feathered body. He can now see through the bird's eyes. The forest looms up larger now he is living the crow's life but he has the benefit of wings with which to scout the are. He can also see over the treetops.

At first he doesn't see anything very interesting in the forest but, up in the distance, he sees signs of human habitation, though he will have to risk getting closer if he wants to investigate. That means leaving Bearic behind, of course, since Sven's borrowed bird form can travel faster than the bear.

As the bird gets closer, he sees the unmistakable signs of a human camp. Perhaps fifty men and women are gathered around the fires, with a few children too. Most of them are armed, and they talk freely, without fear.

Most of them are in dark clothing but it's a mixture of fur and wool. Where there is armour, little of it is the black ringmail of the Night's Watch, and the little there is has probably been taken from dead men. Most of the armour, where it exists at all, is leather. There are a few steel swords and axes but most of the weapons are horn-tipped spears and bronze axes and the lik. There can be no doubt that this is a camp of the Free Folk.

Sven sees nothing much of interest yet, but then he is still quite far Beyond the Wall. He knows that the black brothers will be more in evidence further south. At this point, though, he's not likely to see much beyond fellow Free Folk and wild animals. But he isn't tiring yet and may fly on further if he wishes.

Eventually, of course, Sven starts to tire and grow hungry. He realises that he will need to eat and rest in his bird form and it also occurs to him that his human form will need food at some point too. So he may progress onwards if he wishes, but should probably start looking for food.

He recalls that crows frequently eat carrion, which means he'll need to find the corpse of some woodland creature. Fortunately there are frequently men and animals hunting so Sven is confident of victory, though it takes him quite a while to find the corpse of a rabbit, the neck entangled in a snare, seemingly forgotten by the hunter who laid it. But it means that Sven won't go hungry for now.