Gwen and The Skull

The Story of The Mask of Bone:

Gwen walked through the wood humming a song under his breath, “When all the birds have flown away, when the sky is stormy, when the snow covers the ground and the fire warms me-ahhh!” He tumbled forward crashing into the ground, something sharp digging into his leg. He whimpered and turned to see what had tripped him, lying a foot away was a mound of snow, poking out of the top of the mound was a sharp deep brown stick with several branches, the tip now red with his blood. He pushed himself off the ground and limped over to it. The stick was odd, the texture didn’t seem right somehow. He brushed the snow off it to reveal a large skull with long gleaming teeth. What he had believed to be a stick was in fact an antler.

“Hello” Gwen said to the skull “I wonder how you got here” though he was young, Gwen had seen many remarkable things in his short life and was rarely surprised. However he was quite surprised when the skull began to speak,

“Hello” the skull responded, the skull’s month did not move yet somehow Gwen was sure that it was who had spoken “I am not sure who you are, nor how I got here, it has been long since I have spoken with anyone I think, it is hard to be sure though, time passes oddly for me.”

Gwen fell backwards into the snow, when he got his wits about him, he sat back up and stared wide eyed at the skull

“You can talk! It is you talking right, the skull in front of me?!” He glanced around but there was no one else insight. “I’ve never met a talking skull before, can all skulls talk?”

“I do not know,” the skull said. “I have not met many other skulls.”

“Do you have a name?” Gwen asked curiously. “My name is Gwen.”

“I might have had a name once, it is blurry to me now, I used to be important, I would bring good luck and aide my friends in destroying those who we opposed, but I remember little of it know, just that I have always been a skull, I have never been alive, I miss my friends, do you know them? We used to be part of a hunt I believe.”

“I’m sorry” said Gwen “I don’t think I know them, but I could help you look if you would like, it would be good to have a friend out here.”

“That would be nice” the skull said and even though its face didn’t move, Gwen could feel it smiling. He picked up the skull and asked it,

“Can you see, I can't tell if you have eyes, how should I hold you?” Gwen asked, awkwardly picking up the skull and trying to prevent its antlers from jabbing him.

“I can see, if you have a bit of rope you could perhaps tie me to your head, that way you would not have to hold me and I would be able to look around.”

Gwen tied the skull to his head and began to walk again. He and the skull traveled for many years, all across the world. They learned of the wild hunt, which had once been the hunt of which the skull spoke of having friends within and joined it, they never encountered any of the skull’s, (who Gwen had begun to call Eira) friends. Eventually Gwen became the leader of the wild hunt.