Berserkers

The Visitor

They were sitting around a fire when the visitor entered the long house. The man had on a cloack made of untinted wool, much too thick for the balmy summers night, but then, they were sitting before a fire, a cold on their bones that was with them since spring.

The man stood before Izzy, and bashed his long shepherd's stick on his head.

"Son of Isbell!" He thundered, "Why you and your friends are sitting in front of the fire like a bunch of weeping housewifes? "

Axl stood up and was about to throw the old man outside in the rain but  Duffs had a  strong grip on  his wrist.   He looked at Duff to protest but his friend's face had lost all color and when he looked around, Izzy was kneeling on the floor and Slash eyes were as big as shields. He sat down again, baffled and angry and then the old man looked at him.

"You! What are you doing that you are not claiming your throne?"

"What throne?" Axl asked.

"What throne! He says what throne, son of Isbell! " He said that looking at Izzy. He took the hood off his cloack, revealing an entirely white head of hair and bent down to Axl.

"Are you idiot, William? "

Axl swallowed, a rough fear gripping his insides because nobody could know his born name, a name that himself thought forgotten.

"I think not, sir."

"You think not uh?" The man squinted and looked at Duff, that dared not to look up and put his hand on his hair. They all saw Duff starting to tremble.

"You tremble, seeker? Why but you know my words for I speak them directly into your mind!" He said to Duff.

"You! From slave to master! Mark my words, but oh the blood you must shed first!" He pointed his finger at Slash, that fell backwards on his seat.

"Are you ready to be the wolfes, are you ready to take the bears shield? Son of Isbell, I'm calling you! Raise your men, because war doesn't fight itself alone!"

Thunder roared above them, shaking the long house to its core and when Axl looked down from the rafters, the old man was gone. He ran outside in the rain, calling him until he got hoarse, but the only thing there  was  the furious storm and darkness.

****

Duff was the first to leave. He didn't say where he was going, or what for, he just walked out in the darkness, wearing nothing but his knife. Izzy and Slash left only minutes later, and too disappeared on the forest.

Axl sat before the fire, red with anger, and profoundly baffled. He saw his picket ax on the log and picking it, ran out of the house an into the night. He might not have had their wisdom but he had his anger. His anger would show him the way.

*****
Axl could smell them before he could see them. The den was near and for the first few days, he moved around it, sitting a few paces near each time he circled it. One day, one of the pups, a bright eyed, playful thing used his legs to sharp it's fangs, and he caressed it's soft red fur. Rare wolf, with a bright red coat of fur, and big paws that were already guessing the mythological beast it one day would make. Axl was still petting the pup when he found himself surrounded by the pack. The mother approached him with caution and took the pup in her jaws, eyeing Axl warily, but without a sound. He kept his place by the den for the next few days, and shared his prey with them, showing his teeth if any dared to get near the food before he was finished. Rarewolf  wasn't discouraged by Axl's grunts, and was the first to break the hunt, growling ant tugging the meat.

It was on one of such days when the bear attacked. The pack, Axl included, we're gorging themselves on the blood and soft organs when it came out of nowhere, raising itself to his full height and roaring his claim, mauling a few of the pups on his path , but Axl was having none of it. He flung himself on top of the best, ax in hand and was immediately followed by the entire pack on his attack, managing to cleave it deep between the bear's eyes, while the pack, Rarewolf included, brought it down. Axl jumped on top of the bear, and ripping his heart apart, howled. The entire pack howled with him.