Bothvar Beorcolsson
I’ve spent day after day, honing my strength. Doing whatever I can to become stronger, faster, and a better warrior. I came here with the purpose of lifting that hammer so I can kill the elf who murdered my brother. And that is what I’ve been doing. Working my arse off from the time I get off my bedroll to the time I collapse on it from exhaustion. I stop counting the days that have gone by as I stalk the mountain for those pesky little goats. You have to be quick to catch them. Before, I only caught two. Kept one for milk and the other kept me fed for quite some time. Especially after I dried out most of the meat. However, the Fall is all but over and game will grow scarce soon. Fortunately, I’ll still be able to fish once the shore freezes over. Now that I can move without making noise, I’m far better at catching the pesky goats.
With my hunting bow in hand, I stalk the mountains, looking for my prey. I’ve learned to be as quiet as a hare when I stalk through the land. Whether it be on the mountainside or in the woods below, I make no sound louder than a breath of air, and even that is as quiet as the wind can be with a subtle breeze.
A single noise could alert my prey. Or worse. Goats and rams aren’t the only things that call these mountains home. I’ve heard tales of large white-haired human-like monsters with horns growing out from their head and teeth as sharp as knives. They are as fierce as any giant brown bear or dire wolf that stalks these lands. yeti, I’ve heard them called.
Not to mention the stories I’ve heard about Jotnar and griffins taking up home in the caves of these mountains as well, along with things that come out in the night. I stalk quietly through the rocky cliffs and gorges. Listening to any sound that might lead me to prey. My bow is notched and my quiver is slung over my back, ready. I have my ax ready to use for the killing blow with a long knife at my belt.
In the distance, I hear an animal tracking through the rocky pathways. It does nothing to silence its travels. I silently follow the sound. Keeping a distance away to be safe. I find an overpass leading to a trench and I climb up it to creep overtop whatever animal I stalk.
I finally get a glimpse at what I stalk and I swallow a gasp. By Ornulf’s beard! It is a giant brown bear with claws the size of my arm. I have to be careful or the thing could kill me. I pull back on my bow and take aim. Slowly, I take a few steps forward to get a better shot. But a goat leaps out of the mountain pass and takes off running from behind.
A roar that makes my ears scream bellows through the trench. I get a shot off, but it hardly nicks the bear. I pull out my ax as the bear charges at me. The thing is as big as a small hut and every step it takes sounds like a hammer clapping down on an anvil.
Just as it gets close, it raises up a massive paw and I dive underneath it as it comes crashing down. I chop at its side, and it howls out. The air gets knocked out of my lungs as I slam against the wall after it backhands me. I barely get my ax head up as its jaws try to close around my throat. But I raise my ax in time, and instead of wrapping its jaws around my neck, it eats the iron of my ax, cutting open its jaw as blood pours all over me. It retreats, thrashing about.
I waste no time climbing to my feet and lifting the ax over my head before I bring it down on its skull. It collapses onto the ground, dead.
Praise the gods. This will keep me fed for a long time and I’ll use the fur for a nice cloak. Nothing of the bear will go to waste. I just have to go back to the cave and get the sled I fashioned with the wood I’ve cut from the trees below. I grab my bow and the broken arrow as I rush back to the cave to grab it.
Darkness slowly falls upon the mountains. I rarely ever stay out after dark. As I come back to the place of my kill, I hear something. A foul stench takes over the air. It smells rotten. The air has grown colder. I keep quiet as I sneak up above the trench, and what I see terrifies me. The creature that is tearing into my bear is unlike any I’ve ever seen. It has antlers on its head, but it is no deer that I’ve ever seen. It sits on its hind legs and crouches like a man, but its hands have claws the size of the bears. It’s covered in fur and yet bones stick out of its back. It looks somewhat human but has unnaturally long arms.
I won’t let this monster steal my prey! I pull out my bow and notch an arrow before pulling back. Suddenly it lifts its head up, sniffing the air. My god, its head looks like the skull of an elk. Suddenly, it looks up at me with socketless black eyes. I let loose my arrow and stick it in the shoulder and it lets out a blood-curdling cry. I notch another one and stick it in its eyeless socket.
It swipes at the air in pain, but then it springs up out of the trench and charges me as I let off another arrow into its chest. That doesn’t stop it as it knocks me back with a backhanded blow. I barely have enough time to roll back before it lands where I laid. I get to my feet and leap to the side as its clawed hand swipes through the air where I stood. I pull my ax out and cut off its hand as it swings down at me. A howl escapes my lips as its other hand slashes across my chest, tearing through my tunic and flesh. I waste no time in chopping its head off, watching its black blood spray out of its neck. What manner of creature is that? Those claws are sharper than daggers. And the stench… It smells like the rotting corpse of a pig. Makes my blood curdle and my stomach turn over. I can feel the hair on the back of my neck standing up as my skin covers in chills. I’ve never felt fear like this before.
Howls echo out as two more of those things crawl over the top of a ledge and leap down. By the gods, if I have to die this day, I will die fighting. “Bring it on, you godless monsters. I’ll take you both on. I may feast in Valholl tonight, but you will freeze in Niflheim!”
They charge at me, and I swing my ax like a madman. Chopping at the first one, but getting tossed aside as the second one’s antlers dig into my side. It slashes across my shoulder and my own blood spurts out. A high-pitched, blood-curdling scream echoes out of its mouth as it towers over me. Is this how I will die?
Suddenly, a deep, earth-shaking roar booms out from a cave nearby. The creature looks away from me, giving me a second to grab my ax and bury it in its skull. It falls off of me to the side. However, as I climb to my feet, two more come out from the shadows just as the other stares off into the cave that I finally notice. I can barely stand on my feet as I lose my life’s water.
Its attention snaps back to me as the other two make their way over, crawling like possessed demons. I let a roar out at them. “Bring it on.”
However, just as they approach, a blur of white bursts out from the cave and slams into the first one, grabbing it by its foot and slamming it against the ground, tossing it aside like a piece of meat. The colossal beast stands on its tree-sized legs and beats its dark black chest, letting out a roar that would match thunder in ferocity. It is completely covered in white fur with horns coming out of its massive head. It has a face not that different from that of a man with a beard and eyes. But where there should be human teeth are razor-sharp ones and a wide snout. It must be what they call a yeti. I didn’t believe the tales I heard about it, but I believe them now. The mysterious creatures have forgotten all about me and now circle the yeti.
They attack, and the yeti slams its fist against the first while the second claws at its back, but is tossed aside by a backhanded blow. I watch in shock while gripping my ax. What should I do? Run while I still can? Should I help the yeti? Wouldn’t it attack me after if it kills those things? One thing is for sure if those things win, I’m next.
A third one climbs back up and charges the yeti, slashing at its back. “No, you don’t!”
I leap at it with my ax over my head and slam it down into the back of its neck. It takes another swing to lop off its head. The yeti is struggling to take the two other ugly creatures. One circles around to its back while the yeti swings at the other in front of it. They both charge at the same time. I rush up to its aid and slam my ax into the back of the one that has its claws dug into yeti’s back. I continue to hack at it as it collapses until it stops moving. The yeti grabs ahold of the one in front of it, slams it on the ground and pounds it with its fist before grabbing its antlers and snapping its neck, twisting its head all the way around. The thing twitches one more time before it goes still. Everything slowly goes dark as I fall to my knees and collapse.
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