war path

I tilted my head and made a guess. “The Genoskwa. He’s on the third path.”
“War path,” River agreed. “He thinks our people are the first people. Thinks we should kill most of you. Make the rest into cattle and slaves.” He mused for a moment. “They’re assholes,” he said frankly. “Kind of stupid. But there’s not too many of them, either, so they can’t get what they want. Settle for hanging around national parks, making people disappear once in a while, when the sky path don’t stop them.”
“And the first Grendel was on the war path?”
River nodded. “Taught his tribe. They had numbers enough to make a go of it, back then. The other paths left them to their madness, walked over the ice, joined our people here. Grendel’s people drove the humans from some places. Humans were tied to their lands, their crops. Not much they could do about it.”
“What happened?”
“They picked a fight with the wrong humans,” River Shoulders said. “Vikings. Vikings had a champion. A eacher.”
“Beowulf?” I asked.
“Beowulf. Vadderung. He got a lot of names and faces.” River Shoulders nodded. “Lived and fought like a mortal. Showed them how to have courage. Helped build a warrior culture. Fight the giants. Some of his people even came across the sea, found us, and didn’t waste any time on talk. But there were too many of us here, and they left.”
“So what was with confronting that guy before he brought us up here?”
River Shoulders shook his head. “Lot of the Einherjaren got to Valhalla fighting my people on the war path. They remember.”
“So, the Genoskwa …”
“Our word for the war path,” River Shoulders said. “Blood on His Soul is more arrogant than most. More dangerous, too. Thinks he is the ultimate genoskwa. A paragon.” He pursed his lips and
mused. “Maybe he is.”
“He’s a lot bigger than you,” I noted.


Peace Talks Chapter 21, Page 204-205