Bothvar

Torvald 3

Torvald walked about an empty, cold world. No trees swayed, no wind blew, no birds sung, no wolves howled. The world was empty and bleak. Torvald felt the unrelenting gaze of Odin, turned, expecting the one-eyed god to be there, but turned around to nothing. A thick fog rolled in from all around. Soon the emptiness of the world seemed filled with cloud, snow began to drift down heavily, blocking Torvald's vision even more. A light whizzing followed by a clunk echoed about the fog and snow, Torvald looked around for the source of the sound, the whizzing and clunk went again, then again, then again. An arrow landed at Torvald's foot, soon galloping hooves rolled about the fog, shouting soon with it, a horrid war cry from nowhere. Torvald was then surrounded by people, faces of people he did not know, some on horses some on foot, the mass of people dropped at the whirlwind of arrows, then more people arrived and they all collided with one another, a battle in the fog, then it vanished, the stains of blood still printed on the ground below. Trees sprouted from nowhere and once again, Torvald was lost in a forest he did not know. A thick rumbling growl from behind froze Torvald still. He turned to see a wolf, bigger than any wolf he had seen before, fur as thick as leather and white as snow, a body built like a bull's, legs like thick swords and feet as large as moose hooves. Four of the teeth on the lower jaw of the great beast were like a boars tusks. Behind the beast was a litter of pups, all with similar attributes. The wolf snarled and snapped at Torvald, when he turned to see what it barked at, he saw his father, his hammer thrown to the ground below him, an axe in one hand, a sword in the other. The two lunged at each other in a desperate struggle for survival, the wolf caught Fenrer's arm in it's great tusks, flinging Fenrer around like a child's toy, Fenrer slammed his axe into the wolf, the wolf released his hand and he slammed the sword into the wolf's chest, it slumped to the ground, dead. Fenrer looked at his arm, blood staining his forearm and dripping to the ground. Fenrer looked up at Torvald.

"I knew you'd see this, I know you saw yourself cut off your brothers hand." Fenrer spoke to seemingly nothing. "These wolves, they only belong in Helheim, seeing them here, in the Guard, is a bad omen. I wish you luck son. Odin must have lots in store for you."

And with that, he was gone. Torvald found himself in a cavern of ice. His breath seemed to freeze solid in front of him, Torvald looked about the cave, confused. He came across a perfectly spherical ball of ice, larger than a castle's tower. Torvald reached out and touched the icy ball. As he pressed his hand down, an image of a pure blue eye dilating made him hesitate.

"Torvald..." A thick voice boomed from all around. Torvald fell to the ground at the power of the voice. "You must find me, in a place where wolves cannot howl, hands cannot reach and where giants will not fit, Valkyries will not follow, where only those who can see can reach..."

Torvald stood. He gasped as his very life seemed to be stolen from him by the voice and an overwhelming cold took him. But it was gone. Torvald looked around and was back in his world of nothing. Odin appeared and looked concerningly at Torvald. Before Odin could speak, Torvald shot up from his slumber, lost for breath and deathly cold. He looked about his room. Nothing out of the ordinary. He fell back to his furs, only disturbed by the caw of a raven at his window. Torvald rose to shoo the raven but stared in aw at it's singular eye.

"Odin..." Torvald muttered.

Words seemed to echo in Torvald's head. 'I will watch over you, you need not fear death', the raven flew from the window and into the world of slow falling snow.