Factory Reset: Bölvaður (Revised)

Chapter 1

The moons hung high in the sky, casting their silver shine upon the ground; the trees, the mountains, all that lay within their sight. The nightbirds sung their ghastly songs, and the crickets below chirped and clicked to their heart's content. High in the mountains, the sounds were muffled and distant.

The peace of the night was abruptly broken by the sounds of falling rocks, clacking against the cliff face as they fell.

"Ay! Careful up there, you'll bring the entire mountain down upon us!" someone whisper-yelled.

"Sorry Xan, lost my footing." someone replied.

"It's fine, just be more careful, climbing a mountain isn't like climbing trees." the one referred to as Xan added.

Xan and his partner continued to climb up the cliff side, looking for a ledge that Xan had found some days ago.

"Xan, are you sure we haven't passed it yet?" He said, looking behind him, seeing exactly how high they were, how small the trees below were, and how far off the horizon was.

"Yes Dein, I'm sure we haven't passed it yet." Xan said with a huff, his claws dug into the rock before him, as he adjusted his footing before grabbing another rock.

"And how are we gonna get down? You know how high we are?" Dein said, now starting to irritate Xan.

"Why do you think I brought these?" Xan said, gesturing his head back, nodding to the pack he wore.

"You know I don't know how to use one of those!" Dein said, fearfully.

"No time like the present to learn!" Xan said, before leaping up and grabbing ahold of the rock face. Dein groaned, before returning to climbing, leaping up a bit as well.

They climbed for several more minutes, before Xan finally spied the ledge above them.

"There!" Xan called, pointing up to the ledge.

Dein sighed in relief. "Finally, I can rest."

They quickly clambered up the rock face. Upon reaching the ledge, Xan leapt up, landing on his feet. Dein however, struggled to crest the ledge.

"Xan, Xan help" He wheezed out, clawing at the rock

Xan let out a groan of annoyance, as he walked over to the struggling sergal. Reaching down, he grabbed his forearm, and heaved him up onto the ledge.

"T-thank you." Dein gasped, panting.

"Oh quit being a weakling" Xan said, chuckling a bit. As he helped his friend find his footing, he gazed out, over the landscape below.

"Dein, look." Xan said, nodding toward the horizon. Still gasping, Dein turned his gaze toward the moons, and the silver-white light they casted over the trees, dew glistening on their needles, like a reflection of the stars above.

"Never knew it was this beautiful at night." dein said, amazed by the sight below.

"Last time I was here in the day, so it didn't look like this." Xan said, as he also took in the beautiful sight, the wind blowing through his gray fur. Both Dein and Xan had gray fur, mostly the same pattern as well, with their under belly being a lighter gray than the rest of their body. Xan stood a bit taller than Dein however, Dein being about 6'2, and Xan being closer to 7 foot. Xan was also a bit larger in build than Dein.

"Well, we're losing moonlight, and if they find out we're up here again, well, you'll get probation, but me, I'll probably be exiled." Xan said, turning his gaze from the beautiful sight to the rocks behind them.

"You're right, heh. But hey, we need to build something, an elevator, to get up here easier." Dein said, with a scheming look in his eyes. Xan chuckled a bit.

"Why?" he asked.

"Can you imagine bringing a girl up here?" Dein said, his voice rising in pitch a bit.

"By the moons Dein, is that all you think about?" Xan groaned, disappointed.

"Well, not all the time, but-" Dein began to say, before the crack of thunder interrupted him. Xan looked up at the sky; a summer thunderstorm had creeped up in the sky, dark clouds hiding the stars from view.

"Come on, we've got to get this done quick, before the storm starts." Xan said, almost running to the rock face behind them, removing his pack.

"Right" Dein barked out, joining his friend.

Xan removed the pack from his back. Strapped to the sides were two pickaxes, both of which he removed. Dein took one from his hands. The rock face in question was a very dark, almost obsidian colored rock. Red veins lined the rock, a mineral Xan had discovered.

"You want to mine out the red stuff." Xan said, waving his hand across one of the red veins of ore.

"Gotcha" Dein replied, as he began to swing the pickaxe, with a strength and motion only an experienced miner could have. While Xan had been a soldier in the service of their king, Dein was a miner, working down in the gold mines. Tonight, they snuck away to mine the ore. Xan as well began to swing his pickaxe, removing chunks of the dark rock from the rock face, revealing more and more of the red ore, which seemed to glow a bit with every strike.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The two had been mining for several minutes now, and had mined enough of the red ore for at least a sword, or maybe several knives, according to Dein. But the storm had gotten worse, as the wind had begun blowing more violently, and the thunder boomed more often.

Xan looked up at the blackened sky, and down at the ore they had collected. This was enough.

"Come on Dein, before the storm starts. We don't want to be up here when the lightning starts." He stated, setting his pickaxe down, as he started to pack up the ore they had found.

"Yeah, I really don't want to be up here when that starts." He said, gazing upwards at the pitch black clouds. "Hey wait, don't forget to unpack the gliders before you start putting the ore in the pack." Dein reminded Xan.

"Oh you're right, thanks." Xan noted, unpacking the few chunks of ore he did have packed. As he did so, rain began to fall.

"Hurry up Xan." Dein spoke, anxious. Xan quickly pulled the two gliders out of his pack, strapping his to his back, before he went back to packing the ore. Dein crouched down to help pack the ore, his glider sitting next to the pack.

As they quickly stuffed the ore into the bag, they felt it, a change in the air, the wind picked up more, and a deep rumble came from the sky. Xan looked across the pack at Dein, who would have been pale from fear, if not for his fur. In that moment, it happened. A loud crack, a flash of white, then one of red, and then a burning, then wind, weightlessness, then nothing, black.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Xan awoke in a freefall, the chunks of ore trailing down with him, all of them lit aglow as if they were coals in a fire. His body was still numb, but with what strength he had, he pulled the strap on the glider, unfurling the wings, and slowing his descent. He passed out again soon after.