I Am Alone

/Sneak Peak/ Chapter 1: Awake

I awake at the sound of howling, on a cold, frigid shoreline. The icy wind blowing snow flecks into my stark black hair.

"H-how, how did I get here?" I think, as I open my dark steel eyes, and see the frigid and frozen trees. I look up, a foreboding gray sky and a huge blue spire tower up above me. The howls continue.

I attempt to rise from the slick ground but my sore and aching body refuses. I am stuck.

I strain to remember how I got here, but the only things in my blank mind are two very simple sentences.

I am Aaron Lycan. And I am Alone.

Helpful.

I try once again to stand. And I manage to set up, letting the harsh wind hit my face like tiny daggers.

The howls grow louder, I know the wolves will be on top of me soon. I need to find shelter, and quickly.

Painfully, I stand, I am wobbly, but only for a moment. It is now that I realize, I am only in my boxers.

"No reason to be embarrassed now." I think to myself, and I take a step forward.

The ground shakes and thumps, and I hear a loud trumpeting bellow. I whip around and a mountainous mammoth is sprinting away from some unknown predator.

I am stunned, mammoths have been extinct for thousands of years. Where am I? how did I get here? And why were there extinct organisms living around me?

But I have no time to think, as the predators reveal themselves to be a pack of wolves, but they are much bigger than any wolf I've ever seen.

Double the size of the grey wolf, they are about the size of a small horse. And their course grey fur moved as they run.

I run in the opposite direction putting as much distance between them and me as possible. My only hope is that they don't catch on to my scent.

I see a cave nestled between two massive rocks and I squeeze myself inside. It is still freezing, and even more so in the cave. But at least I am out of immediate danger.

I sit down again, pondering on what do do next, when I catch a glimpse of my left arm.

Imbedded in the skin, is a small, slightly orange diamond. It resonates a little light and sends off a small amount of heat, as I look deeper into it. It suddenly glows a brilliant blue, and blinds me.

I dig into it, not knowing what it was, and I make it bleed. It was not coming off and now I had a blood trial.

Shifting, I look up, there is a small trickle of fresh water dripping rhythmically from the ceiling. And I cup my hands and drink some. It is cold. But fresh and it took care of one of my needs.

"Shelter, Check. Water, Check." I check off in my head, remembering the basic needs.

Now I needed food. And a way to not freeze to death. I glanced around the cave some more, and found an ample amount of flint, along with small sticks and bits of thatch for tinder.

I remember seeing a berry bush and some larger sticks outside, and I slowly make my way to the entrance of the cave.

There is nothing, and I see a bush and the larger sticks I am looking for. I squeeze myself out and book it for the bush and wood.

The berries are bright purple and taste horrendous. But I know what kind they are, they are Mejoberries, but why I know that escapes me. As I did not know before I picked them up.

I start gathering wood when a large shadow of a bird glides overhead. I look up and see a massive, black bird fly over me, and over the large mountain that I am in the foothills of.

Shaking off the amount of things that could possibly kill me. I grab the rest of the wood and walk painstakingly slowly back to the cave. I am carrying way to much.

Eventually I squeeze myself back into the safety of the cave. And spread out my supplies.

Tinder, wood, flint, berries, some fiber from the bush, and water.

I grab some stones and make a ring around my tinder. I don't want to get the fire to big to control.

I crash the flint on a stone but, nothing, not even a spark.

Moving the tinder closer. I bang the flint on the stone again, still nothing. I do this again and again and again until finally....

I see sparks fly, and I blow on the smoking tinder to try and ignite it. It smokes and smokes and smokes some more. Until finally I see a small flame eating at the damp tinder.

Gently I put the equally damp wood in a teepee shape around it, as it is wet, it takes a moment for the fire to take off. The orange, yellow, and red flames lick the wood, trying it's best to catch it fire.

It succeeds, and I am staring into a warm. And comforting fire.

Now I must figure out where I am, and how I got here.