Chapter I:

Trying Times

Cold is the earth, yet my heart is colder,

Stark is the earth, with souls torn asunder.

A plague of man, born far from the South,

Sorrow end of loved ones, made Hell’s mouth.

Tribes of the North, scattered across the world,

The fates of those yet to be born soon to be unfurled.

Strained my heart is; which way to go,

Unseen is the path, my destiny still unknown.



It was a cold night, bitter and unrelenting in its fury. It was as if Mother Nature herself was unleashing her unrestrained wrath and vengeance upon the world. The ground was completely enveloped in snow, completely buried in ice and frost. The trees were all covered rime, and appeared to be frozen in place, like statues. The animals of the forest, deep in their winter hibernation felt the cold wind as it seeped through the ground like water and into their sleeping chambers. Even the fierce and terrifying wolves that littered the landscape did not dare to walk about the forest on this dreadful night.





This made the fates of a small group of men even crueler, since they were now forced to desperately huddle by a diminutive fire, trying to keep warm from the great storm. The fire, barely staying alive from all the wind and the cold, could only trickle whatever warmth it produced onto the men. They were staying so close to the flame that they would have to occasionally pat out smoke from their clothes to avoid burning to death. They all had several layers of clothing on them and yet they felt as if they stark naked, and all of them at the mercy of the elements. They were shaking constantly has they were trying to stay warm from the harsh winter frost.



The fire seemed to come in and out of its own consciousness, almost going out completely and then suddenly coming back to life again. One of the men threw a small piece of wood into the fire, trying to prolong its life just a little bit longer. It seemed as if the night would drag on and on for an eternity. Another man, about in his early twenties, short dark hair, dark blue eyes and darkened skin, looked up at the sky trying to see the stars above and noticed that the heavens seemed to be void of all light and life, giving out an ominous look to the man.

“The stars are absent tonight.”, he said out loud.

“Gulbrand, the stars have been absent for a least three days now.” said the man next to him, his hair dark with streaks of blond across his head, his eyes a dark brown, light skin, with subtle facial hair across his face, sounding annoyed and bothered by the Gulbrand’s comments, “and each night you say ‘The stars are absent tonight, the stars are absent.’ Is this really a surprise to you, I mean seriously?”

Gulbrand replied “Oh, god, not this again, Kristen.”

“What’s that suppose to mean?”, asked Kristen.

“What do you think it means, you dolt?” countered Gulbrand.

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking, you jerk.” responded Kristen.

“Don’t call me a ‘ jerk’, you bastard.” replied Gulbrand.

“That makes you a bastard too, you idiot; we share the same mother.” countered Kristen.

“Well at least I have all the looks in the family.”, responded Gulbrand.



“You wish, you blithering idiot.”, replied Kristen.



“If you two don’t shut the hell up and stay quiet. I’m going to take this club and beat you two senseless in the head with it!!” said a third man standing up, he was tall, he had brown hair with gray lines running down it, his green eyes were piercing into the two brothers. The lines in his face seemed to move and contort with sinister emotions and thoughts, giving him an ominous and foreboding look.





He was towering over the two men, holding a large wooden stick in his right


hand; his fist was filled with tension and rage. The two brothers held their mouths


shut and eyes fully opened causing their eyes to stinging with pain from the wind and


cold. They just stared at the man, not daring to move, to make a sound, for they


thought that man might actually follow through with what he said....