Chapter 4

In a mound of ice, surrounded by mountains, upon mountains, there laid two dozen bodies, eternally trapped in ice, never to rot. Amongst these corpses, however, there was a single young man. A young man, with open, moving eyes, trying to his full extent to move his broken limbs. However, no matter how he tried, he could not move an inch as the thousands upon thousands of tons of ice pressed upon his body. However, even though his bones were broken, and his skin lacerated, it was visibly healing. But even though his bones healed, he could still not move in the frozen coldness; even with his gargantuan strength, it was no use.

Thus, he laid there, unmoving. As time passed, he could only wait for death. He had no food, nor water, so surely he would die in a few days. Then he could finally leave this empty world, and re-join his tribe; re-join his parents, in eternity. However, that sweet, relieving death never arrived. Time passed slowly, and even when he didn’t even know how long it had been, he still lived. However, he was thirsty; hungry. It felt like his stomach was turning in on itself, collapsing. He really wanted to drink; to drink blood. But there was nothing he could do; he was buried in a mound of ice and snow.

As time passed, the hunger grew ever more. His skin started shrivelling up, as he grew thinner and thinner, until he looked almost like a skeleton, covered only in skin. He already had no idea how long had passed, but it felt like years. But he had no way to know. As time passed, he grew weaker and weaker, until finally, one day, his eyes closed, not to open again, for a very, very long time.

The sun rose and set again, countless times. In all the years that passed, not a single human set foot on these mountains; not even any animals, except the occasional birds, flying over the mountain skies. As time went by, the snow would quickly rise and fall, over and over again, but it never disappeared. The two dozen tribes people still continued to lie under the snow, their bodies unchanging. However, after the Earth had revolved around the sun countless times, a change finally started to happen. The snow and ice started to shrink. It was ever so slow, but every year, a few centimetres would be shaved off.

The years continued to flow by, and the mountain of ice continued to get smaller and smaller. After countless moons and years, the snow was finally, almost gone. There were now barely a few meters of snow, above the sleeping ice man. However, it came to a stop. Those few meters of ice, never got any lower, and he continued to be trapped. But even then, the man buried in ice was completely oblivious to this. During the countless years that had passed, Ulfvaldr had continued to be in a state of consciousness and unconsciousness; awake, but still asleep.

Even after the deep, thick snow had disappeared, the years continued to pass by. However, after many years, something finally happened. Three, fur clad men, were traversing up the mountain. These men continued to climb the cold mountains, with whatever goal they had in mind, until, several hours later, they walked into a small clearing, which had once, several eons ago, been a much larger clearing. However, as the three men were walking past the clearing, speaking in a foreign, unknown language, something awakened; something ancient.

Deep below the ice, two crimson lit eyes opened, covered in an archaic black sclera. It was as if these archaic eyes could see through the ice, as the three, fur clad men, suddenly felt a cold shiver go through their bodies. Suddenly, in an unknown bout of strength, an arm pierced through the frozen ice, and grabbed one of the men’s legs.

The man screamed in fright and tried to jump away, but the arm didn’t budge. Next, came a second arm, and grabbed the other leg. Then came the head, torso, and finally the legs. The new sight, frightened the three, fur clad men to their bones. What had appeared before them, was an old man, thin as bones, white hair, and a face so full of wrinkles, it seemed like it was the oldest being alive.

However, the three men didn’t have any more time to behold the sight, as the ancient being grabbed his first victim, and sank his deep fangs into his neck. The poor man screamed in pain, as the other two shouted in an unknown, foreign language. However, what fright they carried, could only be elevated as they saw what happened next. The body of the ancient ice man, started to thicken; the shrivelled wrinkles started disappearing, and the hair regained colour. Then, when finally, the archaic being had returned to the appearance of a young man, the fur clad man fell to the ground, deathly pale. The two other fur clad men realized that their friend was dead, and turned to run. However, they didn’t even have time to react, as the now young man moved, and then they died. He moved so fast that the two men didn’t even realize they had been killed. It happened before they could even blink.

Finally, as three corpses littered the ground, the archaic black eyes, returned to a normal white, leaving only the crimson irises. Then, as if his newfound strength suddenly disappeared, the old being fell to his knees. He wasn’t quite sure what had happened. He was in a daze, and everything was foggy. His memories were in shambles, and he didn’t even know who he was. The only thing he really remembered, was his name.

Ulfvaldr. How he got this name however, he didn’t remember. He only knew what it meant. Wolf; wolf amongst wolves. Then who could he be? A predator; he had to a predator. He drank the blood of others, to survive; this he was sure of. He was the wolf amongst wolves; the predator amongst predators. He was the alpha being of the world.

However, he still remembered shambles of his old life. He remembered faces; a man with a face full of beard, smiling upon him with a proud smile; a woman with a beautiful face, eyes full of motherly love. Groups of people, eating around a fire; a group of men, chasing a mammoth; a cave, with no entrance. But all these broken memories gave no meaning to him.

Suddenly, he felt a tear escape his eye. He had cried? Why? ‘Why would I cry for these people?’ He thought. ‘Who are they? What happened to them?’ He continuously asked himself. He didn’t know who they were, but he didn’t doubt that they were somehow related to him. However, he didn’t know whether they lived, or died. He had no idea how long he had spent under the ice; he didn’t even know how he got there. However, for now, he could only put such thoughts to the back of his mind. He turned to look at the three bodies. What he saw baffled him.

Those spears, those bows, those arrows, they were nothing like he had ever seen before. He grabbed a spear, and examined it. From what he remembered, the spears from his past, were all made from bone. The shaft, the spearhead, the bows and arrows, they were all crafted from the bones of deceased animals. However, these weapons, were completely different. The shaft of the spear, was made from an almost soft, brown material. He didn’t remember ever seeing anything like it, however he wasn’t completely sure. It seemed vaguely familiar.

However, the spearhead was completely different. It was made from a grey, rock-hard material. It was much harder, and much sharper than the bone spears of the past. And he was sure he had never seen something like it before. The bows and arrows were the same. The bow was made of the same brown material as the spear shaft, and the arrows were like miniature spears.

He was quite excited by this discovery. And even more, full of awe. However, right now he had other thoughts on his mind. He needed new clothes. The ones he wore now, were frozen and broken, and he could barely move in it without breaking a chunk of it off. Thus, he decided to strip one of the three fur clad men, and take his clothes. A short moment, he was dressed in much, much newer clothes. Then, he took the bow and arrows, and strapped them to his back. The arrows were kept in a primitive quiver, and the bow was strapped to his back, using the string. Then, he grabbed the spear, and held it in his hand. Thus, he started his journey back down the mountain.

He decided to follow the footprints of his victims, hoping that it would quickly lead him away from here. This place gave him a bad feeling in his cold heart. However, he had no idea where this feeling came from, and he didn’t like it one bit. So he quickly ran away from the place. As he ran, Ulfvaldr was shocked at his own speed. He was much, much faster than in his memories. As he ran, everything halted to a slow. The birds in the sky hung in the air, a rabbit hung a few centimetres over the ground, and the clouds sat still. It only took a short instance, until he got up and out of that clearing.

And what he saw, baffled him. From up there, he could see the ground, but it looked nothing like what he remembered. The ground was covered in green strands of vegetation; tussocks of uniform green grew in patches, slightly towering over all the other numerous strands. Out of the ground, grew thick cylindrical objects, looking weirdly familiar to the brown material, which the spear was made of. Covering these rough, brown objects, were more mint green substances, however these were not in the form of strands. They were wide, and numerous, and covered the top of the rough cylinders in either rough cones, or uneven spheres, or even other weird shapes.

Ulfvaldr, was frozen still from the sight. It was nothing like he had ever seen before. The green strands on the ground were swaying with the wind, and the green vegetation on the wooden brown objects, were shuddering. And the most shocking thing of all, was that there was no snow! The only snow, was up here, far up the mountain. The lower mountains, were either covered in green, or the hard, grey material, which the spearhead was made from. The bizarre landscape was truly awe inspiring. It left him standing there, for what seemed like hours, just enjoying the sights. It made what bad feeling he had before simply disappear into thin air. Then, when he had finally had enough, he made his way down.

With his outlandish speed, it only took an instant, before he was at the foot of the mountain. Outside the mountains, there were herds of trees, covering the horizon. Ulfvaldr still didn’t know what these trees were, but he didn’t fear them. He already had the impression of being the most superior being in the world.

Before he entered the forest, he took a look to the sky. The sky, too, looked very different from what he remembered from the shambles of his past. For one, the darkness was no longer darkness to him. He could see far more clearly than he had ever before, and the skies were covered in stars. There had been stars in the sky before, but they were much clearer than ever before, and much more numerous now. He could see entire constellations, and galaxies with ease. Of course, he could see the light of these stars, but not in detail.

When he was finished marvelling at the sight, once more, he finally made his way into the forest, and continued onwards. As he traversed the woods, he couldn’t help, but to let his eyes wander, as he took the sights in. He was simply speechless; the trees towered above him, and let a veil of green over the roof of the forest. Only small rays of moonlight managed to shine through, in the areas where it was particularly clear. For several hours, he walked through the forest, leaving his footsteps in the ground.

Several hours later, he finally made it out of the forest, to be met with an extensive plain of emerald coloured grass, overseen by the ever raising sun, in the horizon. Ulfvaldr enthusiastically made his way out of the shadowy forest, to finally step his foot into the rising light. However, as he finally stepped into the sun, he immediately felt the skin on his arms and face burn, as if a basin of burning acid had been emptied over his pale skin.

“What is this?!” He exhaled, as he dashed back into the shadows of the forest. However, even back inside the shadows, the rising sun still showered its rays on him. He could only run further in, while screaming in agony. It was the worst pain he had ever felt in his entire life. Finally, when he got a bit deeper into the forest, and hid behind a tree, the burning pain subsided. He had been unlucky, and stepped out of the forest, just as the sun rose. Or you could say he was lucky that he wasn’t out in the open when the sun rose.

‘What was that?’ He thought, while gasping in pain. The pain from before had left his brain baffled, ‘Such pain, I’ve never felt it before. Was it caused by the light of the sun?” he continued thinking about the new found problem.

‘Could I have offended the Áss of the sun? Can I have been cursed? Then what are these powers I now hold? Have I been sentenced to being a hunter; a killer that is bound by instinct to kill, to drink? Such great power, but the price is dire. Is it even worth it to keep living, in a world where I shall never meet the sun again? No, I somehow feel that I should live on, that I shouldn’t selfishly die. But why is it selfish?’ He thought. He couldn’t help himself, but to rack his brain at this matter for the entire day. Only when the sun set down, once more, did he put the matter to the back of his mind.

Now, there was only one thought plaguing his mind. He needed to feed. The ever growing thirst was overwhelming his instincts once more, and he graved for blood. But what should he eat? Whom, should he eat? His senses were greatly heightened; he could hear the sound of the grass swaying in the wind, miles away; he could smell the scents of the animals of the forest, but they didn’t appetize him at all. The thought of drinking the blood of an animal seemed disgusting, compared to the sweet, sanguine blood of the human.

With his mind set on finding a tasty human to feed upon, he flickered his legs, and flew out of the forest, like the wind. He ran so fast that the animals didn’t even react to his presence, as he had long disappeared before they could even raise their heads. With that kind of speed, it only took a few moments to get out of the forest, before he raced across the vast plains. As he zoomed past the plains, he watched as the as the various animals stood frozen in time.

There were far more animals than he remembered ever seeing. There were deer and elks in small herds, and there were even some horned animals, with a slightly bigger build. Rabbits, squirrels and beavers were running around, some touching the ground, other hanging slightly in the air, slowly crawling forwards. In the distance, close to a river, he even saw a bear. However, this bear didn’t interest him nearly as much as the river. With an intention, he quickly rushed over to the river, and suddenly appeared only a few meters from the bear. The bear was visibly surprised, and let out a low growl. Ulfvaldr, however, only spared it a single glance, and the bear lowered its head, and turned away. From a single look into his eyes, the bear had realized that this was an unprecedented predator.

And he truly was. The Ulfvaldr of today, was not the same boy from the Ice Age. He had lost his previous self, his memories sealed in the furthest reaches of his mind. Today, he was only a husk. He had no humanity, only instincts. Emotions were mystical to him, as he had no access to them. Ever since he emerged from the mound of frozen ice and snow, he had only felt lost.

Ulfvaldr turned to the flowing river, in front of him. He had never seen something like this, and like many other things of this new, strange world, it marvelled him. The only water he had seen before, was the melted snow, and the vast ocean not too far away from the old tribe. However, now, here in the middle of the land, there was a river, with large amounts of water. He tried putting his hand in it. It was warm; at least compared to what he was used to. In fact, everything was much warmer than he was used to. And even when he was up on the cold mountain, he had found that the cold didn’t bother him at all. His body was no longer the same.

Even though the flowing river was such an amazing sight, Ulfvaldr didn’t stay long. He needed to find food, and it would be bad if he was trapped in the open, as the sun rose once more. Thus, he raced past the vast plains, once more, in search of food. And using his vastly superior senses, it didn’t take too long until he managed to track a tribe down. He had searched for tracks from the humans, and tried to find their smells.

Once he finally found their tracks, he only had to follow them, and he’d arrive at their tribe. However, this tribe, it was nothing like he had ever seen before. The tribe he was born into had barely thirty people in it, however, this tribe had more than twice the amount! And if that wasn’t enough, surrounding the various primitive huts, was a large, circular wall! It was constructed out of countless logs and trees, and surrounded the entire village. Inside, people were still bustling, working on whatever tasks they held.

Ulfvaldr, stood on the branch of a tall tree, overseeing the entire village. He was like a silent predator, observing his prey, making his plans. He had to fight himself, just to not go down and slaughter the entire village, and drink all of their blood. However, if he did that, he wasn’t sure whether he’d survive. He still didn’t know his entire strength, and he’d rather not make himself known. So he waited.

He stood silently on his tree, and waited for an opportunity to rise. However, he was quickly losing patience, as his hunger grew more and more. If he didn’t have his willpower, he would have slaughtered all of them already. However, as soon as he saw someone go out of sight, behind a hut, his body vanished. Before the poor girl could even blink, Ulfvaldr had appeared behind her, and sank his fangs into her neck, with a deep growl,

“Groowl!” He growled, and let the girls crimson blood flow through his mouth. The girl screamed, in both pain and fear, however, it was all wasted effort. As soon as he was finished, he ripped the throat out, and disappeared. In his wake was the corpse of a young girl, with a mutilated throat. It seemed as if a wild beast had killed her. Alerted from the scream, several of her tribesmen quickly rushed behind the hut, only the see the frightening sight.

As quickly as her blood dry body was discovered, the entire village entered a panic. The warriors started ceaselessly patrolling the village with their spears in hand, and everyone was on alert. For someone to die inside the village was something that never happened, except if a fight broke out, so they were all scared.

Ulfvaldr however, only chuckled at the aftermath of his breakfast, before disappearing from the vicinity of the village. Thus, Ulfvaldr went in search of a cave, to make his home. He had already decided to stay around here for a while, and haunt these villagers. Not that he enjoyed inflicting fear and pain on others, but it was a steady food source, so he’d feed on them every day, until there was no one left. Then he’d leave for the next tribe, and thus he planned to continue for the foreseeable future.

He ran through the forest, faster than the normal eye could see, passing various animals, and other interesting sights, until he came to a small mountain range, a few kilometres away from the previous tribe. On the mountains, there were several small and large caves, littering the landscape. After searching for a long time, Ulfvaldr finally found a suitable cave. One that was quite hard to access for the average human. It was located under a cliff, elevated over a dozen meters above ground. For a human, he would find it very hard to get up there, but Ulfvaldr managed to easily climb up. He could even jump the entire distance up, if he wanted to. Thus, he quickly made his way inside the cave, as the sun had already started to rise.

Inside the cave, however, he was met with an interesting sight. The cave, which he had wandered into, was filled with bats. However, as he entered the cave, all these bats opened their eyes and looked at Ulfvaldr, yet they didn’t fly out, nor attack. They simply observed, as if they knew they had nothing to fear. As for Ulfvaldr, he felt a strange connection to these bats. As if, he was somehow related to them. He felt like they were kin. But he also felt like he could command them; control them. With an intention, his mind suddenly faded into one of the bats, and suddenly he saw through the bat’s eyes.

As his consciousness went back into his own mind, he decided to tinker with this later. For now, he wanted to rest. Thus, he went to a corner of the cave, and laid down. Moments later, his consciousness faded away, and his body lay completely still, like a corpse.