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Bran pauses to pull his hood tighter. Even in summer, this far north, to put it bluntly, it's bloody cold.
"Are you all right?" asks Meera, who stops next to him. She has to raise her voice to drown out the piercing wind.
"Explain to me again why I'm doing this."
"It's a challenge. And an once-in-a-lifetime experience."
"A freezing experience, that's what it is."
"Everything all right, guys?" asks Jojen, who now also stops next to them.
"You mustn't stop," says a fourth voice before Bran or Meera can answer. "Otherwise we won't reach the shelter in time."
It's very strange. Their guide doesn't even have to raise her voice. Nevertheless, they understand every word.
"In time?" Meera asks. "What do you mean by that?"
"In time before you freeze to death." is the answer in a tone of voice as if she were just chatting about the weather. And then she walks on without paying attention to whether the three of them are following her.
"She's even colder than the weather." Bran mumbles and starts moving again.
********
"This is supposed to be the shelter?"
Bran looks around critically. Or rather, horrified.
"This is the shelter," their guide replies patiently. Or impatiently? Bran can't tell. She has such a unique speech melody and emphasises the words completely unexpectedly that it is very difficult to recognise her true emotions.
"But it's a cave."
"Yes."
"Look at that!" exclaims Meera, far too cheerful for Bran's taste. "These are hot springs. That's why it's so warm in here."
"Well." mumbles Bran. "Warm is different."
He feels a scrutinising gaze from narrow golden eyes resting on him and turns around again.
"Now listen, Leaf."
"My name is Lefanadvoratrelundar."
"Yes, and I've already told you I can't pronounce it. Can I call you Leaf, please? It's meant very kindly. You know, because of the plants you've woven into your hair... I mean, it looks pretty. ... Honestly."
Bran's voice becomes more and more hesitant towards the end of the sentence. Leaf's expression hasn't changed.
"What did you want to say?"
"What?"
"You said: Now listen, Leaf. As far as I understand it, that should be followed by something else."
"Yeah, right. Erm..."
"Well?"
"Do you really expect us to spend the night here, in a cold, damp cave?"
"Don't be like that, Bran," Meera replies in Leaf's place. "This is survival training, after all. Apart from that, it's not that cold here."
"Well... I have to... agree … with Bran..." Jojen suddenly interjects. But it's hard to understand him because he's chattering his teeth.
"Gods!" Bran exclaims.
"Jojen!" exclaims Meera, startled. "You're all blue!"
Leaf steps up to Jojen and puts a hand to his face.
"Ow!" he exclaims and flinches. "You're hot."
"He's got hypothermia," says Leaf. "Quick, we need to warm him up."
"Should we put him in the hot spring?" asks Bran.
"Are you insane?" replies Meera. "Then he could go into shock."
"Yeah, right." mumbles Bran, feeling pretty stupid. "Well then... er."
"Body heat." Leaf says simply.
She sets down her rucksack and starts unpacking sleeping bags and thermal blankets.
"Undress him."
"What?" asks Jojen, weakly resisting Bran and Meera, who follow Leaf's instruction.
"Come on, Jojen," says his sister. "This has nothing to do with sex. And no one will think you're gay just because Bran takes your trousers off. Right, Bran?"
"Er. Yes." Bran says and then follows Meera's indirect instruction.
"So no sex?" Jojen's teeth are still chattering. "Too stupid. That would certainly warm me up."
Leaf looks at them with raised eyebrows, but continues with her preparations. In the meantime, she has tied all four sleeping bags together and put a few more blankets over them.
"Get in there," she says to Jojen. His whole body is trembling, but he obeys. "And you, get undressed."
She has already started.
"Hey, soldier. Eyes to the front."
Bran pulls himself together and looks at Meera, who grins cheekily at him.
"Sorry." he whispers.
"It's okay, I think she's pretty hot too." Meera whispers back and pulls her jumper over her head. "Unusual, but hot. But that will have to wait."
Bran continues to undress and when he looks at Leaf again, to his disappointment, she has already disappeared into the sleeping bag and is snuggled up to Jojen. Meera follows her example from the other side.
"Are you coming?" she asks Bran.
"Yeah, sure."
He tries to ignore his erection and climbs into the sleeping bag behind Meera.
"Hey, that stings."
"Sorry."
"Here."
Meera moves slightly, reaches down and aligns Bran's cock between her legs.
"Well, will that help?"
"Shut up and go to sleep," Meera says, but Bran can clearly hear that she's smiling in her voice.
*******
At some point, Jojen stops shaking. He breathes regularly and seems to be sleeping deeply. Bran is not asleep. He has no idea what time it is. Since they entered this cave, he has lost all sense of time.
"Meera." he whispers.
"Quiet, she's sleeping." Meera whispers back and Bran smiles. He carefully detaches himself from Meera and gets out of his sleeping bag. He reaches for his clothes. As he gets dressed, he observes his surroundings. He realises that the walls are not just made of rock. They are criss-crossed with roots that must belong to the gigantic tree that towers over the cave. Bran steps up to the wall and places a hand on a root.
"It's the First," a voice suddenly says behind him.
"Leaf. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."
For the first time, she seems to smile, but perhaps the shadows are playing tricks on Bran's eyes.
"Who's first?" he asks as Leaf steps up beside him. "The tree?"
"My people know it is the First Weirwood Tree. We believe it is the First Tree. We feel it is the First Life, the Heart Tree of the World."
She looks at Bran and her eyes seem to sparkle with amusement.
"You don't believe me."
"I'm willing to believe that it's the first weirwood tree. Considering how old these trees get and how huge it is, it may also be the first tree. But if it were ... the Heart Tree of the World, shouldn't it be at the centre of the world instead of at the end?"
"You think this is the end of the world. But maybe it's also its beginning."
Bran turns back to the root. He realises that the patterns in the wood are not random grains, but runes, carved centuries, probably millennia ago. He once studied runes as they were used in the North, but this seems so much older.
"This is a sacred place for your people," he realises and turns back to Leaf.
"Of course."
This time he is sure she is smiling.
"But then isn't it a ... sin if we just come in here, eat and sleep here and ...?"
He realises that he was just about to make out with Meera and looks down at the floor in shame. But Leaf laughs and it sounds like a beautiful, ancient, sad melody.
"If all life originates here, how could it be a sin to do here what life is all about?"
Bran sighs and looks up again ... and freezes. Leaf is completely naked.
"How did you ...?"
Somehow she looks different naked now than before. Then it was a technical necessity, but now ... now it's a gift. Bran clears his throat.
"You are beautiful."
"Thank you."
She looks at him promptly, and when he doesn't react, she asks, "Well?"
"Well?"
She laughs again.
"Now get undressed already."
Bran takes another moment to twig, but then he frantically undresses. By the time he's finished, he's got another erection, as hard as ... well, as hard as weirwood.
"Come on," Leaf says, reaching for his hand. "We can do it in the hot spring."
"Not that I'm complaining. But why are you suddenly so enthusiastic? You were so ..."
"Gruff?" Leaf adds, pulling Bran towards the nearest pool.
"Dismissive."
"That's when I thought you were betraying your girlfriend. I didn't realise you were in an open relationship."
"And how do you know now?"
Leaf lets go of Bran's hand and slides into the water.
"Because she's doing it with her brother right now."
Bran's mouth falls open in amazement.
"And that doesn't bother you at all?"
"Should it?"
Bran slides into the water now too. It feels fantastic.
"When did this actually happen? I haven't been wandering through these corridors for that long."
"You said yourself that this is a special place."
With that, she wraps her arms around Bran's neck and her legs around his hips. She is much lighter than she should be given her height. But after all, they are mostly underwater. Bran puts his hands on Leaf's hips and as he kisses her, he enters her as if of his own accord. Leaf breaks the kiss and moans.
"Ahhh!"
"Are you all right?"
Leaf nods.
"Everything's fine. I just haven't had a man in decades. Could be a century."
Bran grins.
"Well, if it's been that long, I should make sure it's good."
With that, he starts to move his hips. Leaf sighs and it feels like spring. For a moment Bran wonders where that thought came from, but then he prefers to concentrate on kissing Leaf's neck.
"Mmmmh."
Leaf's arms and legs close even tighter around Bran. It feels wonderful, she's holding him tightly, but only as tightly as he wants. However, she suddenly seems to have one or two more arms, how else could she caress him in so many places at once?
"Oh, Leaf!"
He quickens his pace, but his focus remains on penetrating Leaf as deeply as possible. She meets his every thrust.
"It's lucky I have a little experience..."
"...in underwater sex." Leaf finishes his sentence.
The darkness around them seems to move and there is a creaking sound going through the tree. However, it doesn't seem threatening, more like a beautiful woman stretching comfortably while her lover pampers her.
"OHHHH, BRAAAAAAN!"
Bran is a little surprised by the suddenness with which Leaf comes. But he enjoys the intensity. She clings to him even tighter, so tightly that he could hardly break away from her, but somehow he knows that she is only doing this because he doesn't want to break away from her. Nevertheless, he somehow feels obliged to warn her.
"Leaf, I'm ready. I'm coming."
"Inside me..." sighs Leaf. "I want to feel your seed inside me."
Bran moans out and lets go, cumming deep inside Leaf, again and again. And then everything around him subsides.
****
Only after a while does Bran realise that he is floating on the surface of the water. Is it really possible to swim and sleep at the same time without sinking? He straightens up and looks around. Leaf is sitting on the edge of the pool, her feet dangling in the water. Apart from her shoes and socks, she is fully clothed.
"It's not a good idea to go swimming alone in the middle of the night."
Bran grins.
"But I wasn't alone."
Leaf raises both eyebrows.
"Oh no?"
"No." Bran says, but it sounds just as unsettled as he feels.
"Come on," says Leaf and gets up. "Meera has fired up the camping cooker and made some cocoa. I'm sure you'll sleep better after that."
With that, she disappears in the direction of the sleeping bags. Bran gets out of the water and gathers his clothes. And again a creaking sound goes through the weirwood tree. Only this time it almost sounds like a giggle.