The Selfless Gene

Chapter 8

"I lived silently among them for almost a hundred years; you foreign creatures fighting, fucking, fishing and ploughing the land. I became a warning and then a myth, a monster that swam with them to war. I enjoyed it, especially when the men were fighting and the women lived harmoniously with each other. Some fought too, but most loved. They lived in fear when their husbands were away, not knowing if they'd come back, but they kept busy. And in their constant movement and toil, I came to see their love. Love for their children, for their group and for the land."

Thame sees the scene unfold through Ormr's eyes, hiding with him as if he were actually there, the events happening in front of him. He feels Ormr's heart beating, his stomach tightening as Ormr's voice speaks in his head. It's calm, authoritative and measured, keeping any emotion well-hidden.

"One heart in particular struck me, and changed me forever. It belonged to Hella, a strong, compact woman who could easily have gone to fight with the men."

Hella pulls goats into a makeshift barn, throwing scraps at some dogs as the skies cloud over, creating early darkness. Snow was gathering on the mountain tops and slowly creeping down to the village. Three children, stocky eight year olds, run into a wooden triangle-framed house, smothered in wattle and daub. Ormr snakes through the twilight but keeps his distance.

"Her warmth was like the most potent drug I've ever taken. It radiated from her. The way that even in tough surroundings, she was soft with her children. There was love pulsing into everything around her. It was the little touches, like a pat of the head or a hand on the shoulder, that made me yearn for something else, something more. See we don't have relationships like that, it's much more... functional."

Ormr watches Hella and her family grow and interact for years while waiting for Fairhair, the patriarch to return. He keeps them safe and his desire to conquer and rule calms, subsides. He falls in love with her and her children, a new family.

"The need to be touched grew too much for me, so I took wolf form. I mimicked those that pulled the sleds. I got a ruffle around the ear, I was fed, and that touch blew my mind. It was an explosion to finally be up close. I could smell her sweat, the essence you don't get from perfumed women today. As she would bend down, the rush of smells from her hair flattened me.

As she grew older, it became clear she was an elder, a tribe leader. People would go to her with their problems, she was diplomatic in her solutions. The children grew tough and learned to farm and fight. I was just the tame beast in the corner, but it was enough. Until one day, inevitably, I remembered who I was and became what I needed to be for my new family.

We lived for ten years, me constantly changing my face to fit. Sometimes I became the wolf and ran all day through the forest, free. Sometimes in the ships swimming fast and scaring those that dared come near. I was free, I was powerful, in control. I was in love. With it all."

The snow is heavy and the tribe are bringing everything into the houses, huddling around a fire for warmth. It becomes light and sound rolls over the village, a mixture of crunching snow and a low sad war song. Men are returning from battle, far fewer than had gone. Most were battered, bruised and close to death. They walk with the weight of subjugation on them, a mule dragging a cart that carries the dead Fairhair.

Ormr sees this, and watches the reaction of Hella and her litter. Her stoic face is betrayed by a temporary weakness in her legs. As other families come out to meet their men, wailing as they searched for those that had lost, she knows what the mule is bringing her. Her children weep, and Ormr feels sick to his stomach. He retreats back into the forest, howling and whimpering: seeing Hella and the family in pain was too much. When he finds strength to return, Hella looks instantly older. In front of a hill of heaped dirt, Fairhair's resting place is fronted with stone. She sits quietly in the dark, weeping.

"I took it on myself to be their protector. I watched her die and her children rise inbetween visiting the victors and causing havoc. God of the sea, monster of the earth. It didn't matter what form they thought I was, I toyed with them. I continually needed to feel better. This loss I'd not had before was unbearable."

Ormr shows Thame his first fight against the descendants who took Fairhair. They banged their shields and chanted, making their way to the edge of the forest. Ormr slipped away wide to the right flank and transformed into his serpent form. The early scouts were no match as he sprung up and ripped them from their legs in one movement. He couldn't allow any more grief to be bestowed onto the people for whom Hella had cared so much.

The second and third scouts were just as easy, before the last came close. The marauding force were quickly getting louder like a storm closing in. He couldn't get them all before they pillaged and ransacked the village. For the first time, he knew what he had to do. Using the form of the largest scout, he became man, hurriedly dressing in the clothes left behind and picking up his sword and shield. He ran back to village, tripping a few times as he got used to two legs, and when close he approached the men raising the alarm. Dressed as the enemy, they pulled their weapons on him first. In a moment's pause, they could have taken his head, but for berserker cries rolling like a toxic mist running across the fields.

"They came and I killed them all. I had a thousand times their speed and strength and they were scared of my magic. I was stabbed, but I reformed in front of them. I was a GOD. Many fled, most died. I protected the village and they welcomed me in as a brother."

Ormr teaches Thame how he slowly learned his own power in this weaker world. He fed off of people's awe, fear and sexual desire. It was overwhelming virality. At first he took concubines; everybody wanted a God, to be chosen by him. Then, when returning from a battle and sending his stories continentally wide, Ormr met Aslaug.

"War, we had to be on the front foot. We bore a serpent as badge. We won, easily. We took a 'hit them first' approach and successfully expanded our village, connecting along the coast. I based our trade on amber and pushed along thought and technology to give me the advantage. I didn't know how big this world was, but I was going to find out. I was addicted. I finally could become the King I should have been. Celebrated by others. Loved, adulation, fear. It felt amazing, it felt like what I was born to do."

Thame lived Ormr's consequent wars and shared his retribution for Hella. He liked that feeling. The anger and domination were more intense, tinged with the drive for revenge. That level of virility was hard to not enjoy.

"I was away for fifteen years in the end, and when I returned I found another kind of love. The same fire that drove me through the lands, taking them under our control, burned inside when I saw Aslaug. She'd moved into our tribe when I was away with her family, and I'd fought alongside her father. He revered me, witnessing my power and victories. Aslaug had Hella's spirit; warmth but also something else."

Thame gasped. The something else. It pulled his breath out of his body. Just like Ormr had felt Isabella breathe, so he felt Aslaug.

"Back in the village, it was quieter. The men should've returned to a hero's welcome, especially with our unbelievably small number of casualties, but there was a shadow. News of a man with a similar story down south, far away beyond what we could comprehend. Tales of giant triangles reaching the sky, reincarnation and extraordinary powers.

He had come all the way north for one thing. Me."