Rivalry Of The Gods

“And so, the two deities ascended into the heavens, the very center of the world splitting into two, a sign of their power and of their wisdom. The Ominous ones taking respective protection of half of the world, a sign of their compassion and love for the people residing in each half.
The luscious south claimed by the one blessed by fire, and the stalwart north under the eye of the one blessed by ice. May they forever rule our lands and keep us safe.”

• Unknown Prophet, BtS

o.O.o

The chill hung heavy in the air, as tiny crystal danced upon the grey-robed figure’s body laying still on the snow-covered ground. Slowly stirring, the man opened his eyes. Silently, albeit unsteady, he rose to his feet, and took a moment to inspect himself. Nothing broken it seemed. His head throbbed with an inkling of pain, and he moved his hands to massage his temples. The pain didn’t subside however much he tried to make it go away.

The man sighed and yielded, instead taking a look at his surroundings. Something wasn’t quite right. The area felt unfamiliar to him, which wasn’t surprising since he was much closer to ground level than he had been before. He could smell the rich scent of pine penetrating his nostrils, and while he pondered on the matter, he ascertained that if he had fallen down, he would still be sleeping, but with the dead. The trees around him looked like they were much brighter and healthier than he remembered as well.

He tried to recollect what had happened to him. It had only been a couple of weeks since he had to leave his benefactor in the village.

Poor, old Dave, whatever had he done to deserve such a fate. He could only hope he had been taken care of and was now recovering.

It’s not like I could have stayed forever anyway, he thought to himself, and it might have been for the better that I left.

The man thought back to the stronghold in the icy mountains of Skyshard where he had spent majority of his youth. He couldn’t go back to that place either, it was set in stone that, if you break the rules and left, you weren’t allowed in again. It was impossible for him either way, because of what he had done. The shame hung over him as a black shadow, reminding him of his deeds. He hadn’t meant to disobey or escape, but it’s like something was egging him on from his very core during his supervised training, telling him to break his limits and tap into more power. And he had paid the price for giving in to it, his first real home was no more, the man that had cared for him and which he looked up to as a father, would probably never once again want to look him in the eyes.

A bellowing growl in his abdomen made itself clear that he hadn’t eaten for quite a while either. He looked out over the slope he was standing on, the trees in the surrounding clumping up more and more further down to create a dense forest. He was going to have find something to eat very soon, and preferably shelter. While determining that it was around noon, he felt his pockets and belt, finding his small pouch of money, and better yet, his trusty knife.

The knife itself was a simple, yet sharp blade, without any decorations. Dave had gifted it to him while they were still living together. The old hunter had made it clear that practicality would always triumph over esthetics, and had made the lad promise to always carry it with him in the wilds.

Dear old Dave, even though he was as rough as an angry badger, with a mouth to make mothers close their children's’ ears, he still cared for the young one. Not even asking where he had come from the day he had woken up in the old man’s hut, still shaking with fever, or any other day for that matter.

The young man clutched his chest, his heart aching with worry, but he was conflicted of what Dave would think of him if he returned. Interrupted again by his stomach, he sheathed his blade and started to make his way down the hill.

After a while of searching for food in the forest, he came across some bushes with berries on them, which he recognized as blueberries, which in itself was very odd, since it should be the winter season. It had also gotten a bit warmer, snow almost nowhere to be found. The lad was not one to complain however, popping some of the berries into his mouth. Sure, blueberries it was, yet they seemed to have a richer taste than he remembered. Greedily he proceeded to empty the bushes and fill his yearning stomach with the delicious goods.

His gluttony was cut short however, as a piercing howl filled the air. The man turned around to see a small pack of grey wolves closing in on him from a distance.

“Shit!” he cursed loudly. He stood up quickly and bolted in the opposite direction of his pursuers.

Being bipedal in this case was not in the man’s favour however, and the wolves rapidly gained on him. Panting heavily he knew it was just a matter of time before the predators would surround him, he searched frantically for any climbable trees, but came up short.

With them barely hundred meters away, he decided that he wouldn’t go down without a fight, and with a swift turn he stomped into the ground with his knife drawn.

The hungry wolves all slowed to a halt when they had strategically surrounded their prey, licking their mouths in triumph, but not making any unnecessary moves.

The lad still breathed heavily after the sprint, but didn’t show signs of giving in just yet. He had to try and look as fearsome as the wolves, to show them that he wasn’t afraid, making them hesitate to strike him down. Luckily he only counted to three wolves, two in front with one lurking from behind. He held his stance and slowed his breathing, instead focusing on the incoming fight.

One famished-looking wolf in the front finally lost his patience and dashed to tear the lad’s throat out.

With a swift side-step the young man dodged the incoming attack, quickly jabbing his knife in a soft spot of the attackers side in the process, while still standing to watch them their movements.

The wolf let out a painful yelp, and crashed into the ground, clearly wounded. However it soon got up once again, but with a strained effort, snarling at the man as it got to its paws.

I won’t get another shot like this, he thought to himself, sorry for this, little wolves, but I’m not going to be your supper today. He closed his eyes and concentrated, his hair, grey as silver, flowed wildly as he tapped into his body’s energies.

The other wolves eyed the young one with rage and made a dash for him, to end his life.

“I’m truly sorry for this,” he said, and opened his eyes and released the mana he had gathered.

What followed was not the man’s demise, which the wolves thought they had secured in their blood-filled assault, instead they crashed head first into an icy barrier, they also yelping out in pain and falling to the ground, stunned.

The man grinned to himself, he had managed to avoid becoming dog food, at least for today. Dispelling his barrier, he stepped forward towards the wolves, who were still recovering on the ground, trying to focus on what just had happened.

He got close enough to make his point, he roared as fearsome as he could at the pack, to make them realise the mistake they had made.

It went home, the two wolves that had charged him quickly fled with their tails in between their legs.

At this point, the man’s head started to ache again, this time even more intensely. He grabbed his head and gave out a small groan of pain. He remembered the lesson that his superior had hammered into his brain under the five years in the stronghold.

All things have a balance, remember this, since this is especially true in your case. While utilizing your powers, you always have to take from the other source as well, you cannot channel only one, or the other source will grow too potent, throwing off the balance in your body. You rule over your powers, do not let them rule you.

Yes, he thought to himself, and what a pain that is. The lesson had burned into his consciousness, always reminding him that he had to double his effort whenever he wanted to use only a part of his potential.
He rubbed his temple again, but he knew what he had to do. He noticed that the last of the wolves, the one he had wounded first, had tried to get away when his comrades ran off, but had only managed a few steps, before collapsing, a pool of blood forming under his body.

The grey wolf was still alive, but very near death as it took a few haggard breaths. The lad went over to the dying wolf, his knife still in his hand, and still palpable headache. He offered a silent prayer to his foe, and sunk the blade into its skull, ending its misery. Then he went to gather twigs and rocks for a fire. When he had the appropriate setup, he started skinning and gutting the emaciated animal. Granted there wasn’t much flesh to be had, but another lesson had entered the man’s mind, this one from Dave.

When in the wilds, never waste anything that you can find a use for. That’s an insult to nature, kid. Remember that, or I’ll make sure to beat it into your sorry ass.

He grinned as he remembered. After about twenty minutes, the wolf’s flesh was laid bare to him, so he cut off what little he could find, and pierced it on a thicker twig, that he had sharpened a bit. Now came the fire part. He didn’t possess any flint of any sort, but it was hardly a problem for the young man. He once again tapped into his mana, yet this time for a different source in his body. Soon, the twigs started to burn as the man willed embers into existence unto the fireplace. He could also feel the headache subside as the two sources started to balance out. Sighing, he sat down while roasting a wolf kabob slowly over the small fire. When it got the right colour he blew on it and greedily ate the meat, it didn’t taste too bad, all things considered.

Eyeing the carcass as he ate, he pondered what he should do with the skin of the wolf. Dave would surely had berated him if he left it to rot, but he had no tools to clean it with, even less to turn it into a decent leather-piece. Dave’s not here though, he thought as he took another bite of his meal.

He finally decided to bury it with the wolf, since he wouldn’t carry around smelly wolf-skin with him as he tried to find his way back to civilisation.

Yes, he had made up his mind since, he didn’t have his old equipment anymore, he would have to scrounge up something in a nearby village. Going back to Dave was out of the question, he just couldn’t face the man right now, and he wasn’t welcome in the stronghold.

He slowed his eating for awhile as he thought back to almost six months ago, one small mistake, and he had been cast out. For five year had it been his home, arriving as an undernourished street rat who begged and stole for a living, and losing said living as the older kids decided to beat him for his scraps. He had endured however, and he had been rewarded when that black-caped man with his entourage had entered his old town. Hand-picked by the leader himself, he now had, not only shelter and food, but guidance and a chance of life.

He sighed loudly again, that time was way past however, he had risked it all in strange moment of weakness and had given in to what he thought was the allure of his own powers. He remembered a weird tugging at his soul, almost whispering, begging him to release more, promising that it would be worth his effort. And he had given in to it, the fool that he was, and now he was here.

The man stood up and brushed off whatever dirt had stuck to his tattered clothing. He had no time to dwell on the past, he needed to find shelter, and by the looks of his surrounding, there weren’t any nearby ranger huts that he could use. He started to make his way in what he thought would be closest to civilization, which was just any general direction facing away from the mountain range, in his defense, he was not a ranger.

He continued down a path through the forest, which he hoped would take him to open fields, or even better an open road to ask any passersby for direction to the nearest village or city. After walking for what seemed several hours, the forest finally started to get less dense and uninviting, which was good. He was lucky he didn’t run into any more dangerous predators on his way, and he prefered to keep it that way.

It was getting dark, however, the further down he went, the warmer it had become, by this rate, he could probably sleep with minimal shelter to cover him in the chill of the night. It was strange though, it was supposed to be the second month of winter, why was it this warm? It made little sense to him, unless he had been sleepwalking to the other side of the Sundering, it should be close to freezing. Also, when he thought back, the wolves had been on the small side, but he had brushed it off as them being malnourished. The forest was also still a lot greener than he was used to, even though it still smell like the pines near Dave’s cottage, albeit more palpable. Something didn’t add up, whether it was some sort of spell, or he had gotten majorly lost, it still was pretty weird.

He had stopped in his tracks, the night was now almost upon him. He looked around to see if he could possibly gather some vegetation to use as temporary covers. Just as the night hit, and the moon beamed with its silvery light, he had managed to scrounge up enough moss, that he carefully tucked between and over him. It wasn’t much but it would have to do, he probably wouldn’t freeze to death, but it was nice to have some kind of comfort.

As he laid upon his moss-bed, he watched the moon’s course in the night-sky, and the lovely stars decorating it as well. He started fiddling with his hair out of boredom, his shoulder- length, silvery hair, which matched the moon in some way, while pondering again how odd his day had begun.

Well, Vess, it seems like your bad luck finally caught up with you again….he sighed and turned away from the sky. Perhaps tomorrow would yield some answers. Sleep managed to grasp him eventually, and he drifted off to walk in the dreamlands.