Chapter 15

As the sun shone on the lone hut, two lone beings slept their rest inside the secure darkness of their abode. However, this short rest was abruptly interrupted, from the shaking of the ground, and the roars of angry men. As they shouted, Ulfvaldr immediately woke up, and stood erect. He had no idea what was going on, and from the looks of things, neither did Tora. Tora stood up, her eyes sleepy, and looked towards the already awake Ulfvaldr.

            “What’s going on?” She asked, still confused by the noise. Ulfvaldr shook his head, as he stepped towards the door, but he didn’t dare open it, and look outside. If he did, he would surely be burned by the fire of the sun. He looked towards Tora, who immediately walked over to the door. As soon as Ulfvaldr was out of harm’s way, she reached towards the door. However, even before she managed to open it, the sudden shaking of the ground stopped, just as abruptly as it began. Tora still didn’t open the door, but instead looked over to the just as confused Ulfvaldr, but he still shook his head, once more.

            But even though the shaking had stopped, the incessant roaring persisted. Meanwhile, the advancing army of humanity had stopped a good distance away, from the lone hut. In front of the army, were the various leaders of the many tribes, and in front of even them, were the three leaders of the army. These three men looked at the messy ranks, in front of them. There was no order in how the warriors stood, but naturally, the three leaders found no fault with it. They weren’t trained to manage armies, as there had simply never been such an army, as this one. Indeed, this was the first army, in human history. Instead, they settled for giving a pre-victory speech. Thus, the leader of the Forest Tribe stood forwards, ready to address his men, and the men every other tribe.

            “Here we stand, ready to face the largest plight humanity ever faced, but rest assured, we will win!” The speech was not one abound in the magnificence of rhetoric, but was one of a rather simplistic nature; after all, they were people of the Stone Age. They were no master negotiators. But to these simpletons, it was enough. But even then, he wasn’t finished yet,

            “As you know, we have armed all of you with wooden spears, and wooden stakes! Now, you might wonder why that is! It’s simple! Just poke your stick at the monster, and pierce into its heart, and the monster shall fall! If we pierce its heart with a stick, it won’t be able to move! Then, we just need to hack it into pieces, and burn it until there is nothing, but ashes left!” He roared, causing the incessant jubilation in the men of earth.

            “But beware! With this monster, is a human girl! She must be saved, and purified from the monsters greed and cruelty,” he said. As his final words left his mouth, the door of the lone hut finally opened, and out came the head of a young girl, about seventeen years of age. The young woman was clearly frightened, as she saw the thousands of humans, holding spears and torches. As he appearance appeared in the vision of others, a certain young man stepped forwards.

            “Tora, come here! We’ve come to save you, and finally kill the monster, which has held you captive your entire life!” Tor shouted, as he ran towards the young girl. At this moment, there were only a few hundred meters between the army, and the hut.

            “What? No! You can’t hurt Ulf!” Tora screamed, as Tor neared ever closer. She stepped a few steps back, seemingly frightened by Tor’s words. But he didn’t let it deter him.

            “Tora, you don’t understand! Ulfvaldr is an evil being, trying to destroy humanity, without reason!” Tor stated.

            “You’re lying! Humans are inherently evil! Only you and I are pure! You can’t let the cruel humans trick you, Tor!” Tora screamed, once more. It was clearly apparent that she had been thoroughly brainwashed by Ulfvaldr, ever since she was just an infant.

            “No, Tora, you’re the one being tricked!” Tor said, however, before anything more could be said, the door burst open once more, and from the shadowy depths of the hut, appeared two crimson eyes. The very moment Tor saw those deep, bloodthirsty eyes, he immediately backed up. No matter what, he dared not go close to him; at least not on his own.

            “Tora, run in the opposite direction of the humans. I will find you,” Ulfvaldr said, before he suddenly burst out of the hut, like an arrow, shooting straight into the ranks of the humans. Tora didn’t waste a second, and immediately ran for it. She never even doubted his words, and would always trust him, without condition.

            Thus she ran, and naturally, Tor noticed. He looked towards the leader next to him. The tall leader of his tribe looked at the young man, a determined look in his eyes.

            “Go, young Tor. Save this young girl from her plight. We will cover you,” he said, before turning around, to where the monster was already slaughtering to its heart’s content. Without further hesitation, Tor chased after Tora. Meanwhile, Ulfvaldr was continually tearing the soldiers of humanity apart, limb from limb, all while the rays of the sun were sizzling at his skin.

            For every breath that went by, ten, or even tens of people died, but for every dozen victims, Ulfvaldr still managed to suffer wounds. There were simply too many people. He was completely surrounded by a hugely thick wall of humans, to the point where he was even somewhat covered from the sun. But even then, he was still being burned by the sun.

            As he ripped the head of one spear wielding soldier, he simultaneously pierced his hand into the chest of another, torch wielding soldier. As the torch wielding soldier died, his torch dropped to the ground, just as a wooden spear was pierced into Ulfvaldr abdomen. As the torch touched the ground, it set the dry grass ablaze, covering both man and monster.

            As soon as the fire spread, Ulfvaldr immediately sped away, like an arrow, seeking refuge from the burning fires. As the fires touched his legs, he felt a pain like never before, perhaps even worse than the sunlight itself. As he got away from the fire, he looked at his left leg, only to see an already charred stump. However, looking at the rest of the body, it wasn’t too far off. He was continuously burning, from the sun’s rays, and he figured he didn’t have much time left.

            Thus, he charged into the midst of the humans, once more, killing in the hundreds, and being stabbed in the tens. Every time a single spear or stake touched his body, tens of lives would follow the river of death.

            As this happened, one particular soldier, a leader of his tribe, looked at the carnage being spread by this one single monster. This man, he looked to be in his late forties, and was of large build. He had come from a tribe very far away from here, and his tribe had already left a long time ago, for the tribe meeting. However, now, as he was here, he could do nothing, but stand frozen. For, he recognised this evil being, slaughtering his men. For, this very monster had saved his life once, many, many years ago, and he had even lived in his tribe.

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            “Ulfvaldr, what happened to you?” Starolf asked, as he watched the ensuing carnage. But there was no way he could get his answer. The only thing he could do, was to save him, by killing him. Thus, he charged ahead, with his spear held high.

            Meanwhile, Tora was running away with all her might, and Tor was chasing with equal determination. However, he was a hardened man, used to running vast distances, and she was a rather weak girl. Tor was easily able to catch up with her, and for every minute that passed, the distance was continuously shortened.

            “Tora, please just stop! I just want to save you!” Tor shouted, but he didn’t get a single answer from Tora. She was too fatigued. Just running such a distance was draining her physically. But she still continued to run, with an unshakable determination. And thus, they played the game of cat and mouse.

            Meanwhile, in the distance, this whole ordeal was being observed, by a young woman, perhaps in her late twenties. She was rather tall of stature, and had dark hair, with a single gray streak going through it. However, her eyes were rather different; they were completely white, making her seem completely blind. But even then, those eyes seemed to adamantly follow the battle going on, down below on the prairie. They were even chasing that one figure, going through the hordes of humanity, like a scythe through wheat.

            “How, is he still alive?” She wondered aloud.

            “That curse was guaranteed to kill. And this power… It’s vastly superior to the power that I stole. How is this even possible?” She continued to ponder. But she didn’t interact. She just continued to observe, from afar. She dared not get involved in that battle, for a fear in her life.

            And while she observed, the wanton slaughter continued wantonly. Ulfvaldr was mowing through the humans, but he, too, was getting wounded gravely. His body was already burned, and there were wooden spears lodged all over his body, both shattered and whole. As he charged through the hordes, those wooden spears would catch the soldiers on his side, either killing them, or shattering the spear itself. But even though he slaughtered so wantonly, the humans didn’t seem to lessen. There were thousands of them, if not tens of thousands. Everywhere his eyes could reach, there were just seas of stone age soldiers.

            And thus, as he fought, there was finally one lucky soldier that managed to lodge his stake in the correct place, between his ribs and piercing the heart. As the wooden stake pierced into the flesh, and eventually the heart, Ulfvaldr’s body suddenly froze in paralysation. And thus, he fell to the ground, unable to move his limbs.

            And the very moment he fell, tens of spears were lodged into his arms and legs, almost completely destroying them, leaving them unusable. Thus, as he was being mauled and burned, he started biting those around him. Tens of people were bitten, even including several leaders of humanity, who had immediately charged ahead, as they saw the beast fall. But those bites were only able to kill some, others were only wounded.

            But, it was only then that the true carnage began. And this carnage, it wasn’t enacted by Ulfvaldr, but instead, it was acted by those very humans he fought. They started biting back. Eating his flesh, and drinking his blood, in the one hope that they could steal whatever power it was that this former human held. If they could muster that power for themselves, they would truly become kings amongst men.

            And when they were finished, there wasn’t much left of Ulfvaldr, other than small, desecrated pieces of meat and bones. But they were still not satisfied. They needed to undo any chance of Ulfvaldr ever coming back. Thus, they hacked even the bones to pieces, and burned them, until there was nothing, but ashes left. Then, they finally spread those ashes over a hundred-meter radius, and buried them in burned dirt, hiding the ashes in the depths.

            And thus, the plight of humanity had finally ended.

            Meanwhile, as all that was happening, Tora was still running away from Tor, but he was already getting increasingly close to her. By this point, there was barely two arm lengths between them. Only a few minutes later, Tor finally managed to jump the tenacious girl. They rolled over the ground, as he tackled her, and finally, a short moment later, Tor sat on top of her, holding her arms to the ground.

            “Let go!” She screamed, however, Tor didn’t let go in the slightest. She kept fighting back, kicking with her legs, trying to bite his arms, but she couldn’t reach.

            “Let go of me! Go away! You’re just like them, you’re evil!” She continually screamed.

            “Be quiet! It’s not as you think! Humans aren’t evil, nor wicked. All what you know about humans, is what that man planted in your head. He kills humans without reason, putting fear into everyone’s hearts. He’s the evil one,” Tor said, starting to lose his patience. However, Tora’s response left him baffled.

            “You’re wrong! All the death he’s caused, is because of humans themselves! They’re the ones who made him do all this. He told me, about his life before he met me. He loved humans, protected them even. But they betrayed him; killed his one love. Humans are the ones who betrayed him, not vice versa,” she stated. Tor was left slightly flabbergasted, from this short insight into the past of Ulfvaldr, but even then, his beliefs didn’t stir.

            “Even then, that’s no reason to wreck carnage over all of humanity. Every human didn’t convene to kill this lover of his. It was the ones who did it that were responsible, Tora. Their evilness doesn’t spread all over humanity. Humans are separate beings. One can be evil, the other can be good,” Tor said. This time, it was Tora who was surprised.

            “You mean, not every human is wicked? That’s not possible!” She refused.

            “Yes it is! Think about it. If you’re pure and nice, is it really possible for no one else to be? And can’t there be something in between pure goodness and pure evil?” He said. She remained silent for a while, but she wasn’t fighting back anymore.

            “I don’t know,” she finally answered in a low voice. However, as she lied on the ground, she finally noticed how quiet it had become. She tried to look towards where she ran from, but she couldn’t see anything from the tall grass.

            “Tor, hasn’t it gotten rather quiet?” She finally asked. As she asked, Tor noticed it too, and decided to stand up, and look. As he saw the sight, a few kilometres away from him, he was left silent. He saw only a sight of vast carnage; however, said carnage was finally over. People were either wailing in pain, or wandering about in lost purpose. Tora saw this too, naturally, as she stood up. As the sight entered her eyes, she started tearing up. No matter how she thought about it, she could only come to one conclusion. Ulfvaldr lost.

            “No, no, no, no,” she started chanting. Then she fell to her knees, and started full out crying. Tor went down on one knee, and held her around the shoulder, pulling her into his chest. As she rested on his chest, her tears wetted his furry garment.

            “It’s going to be alright,” Tor said, “I’ll take care of you.”

Meanwhile, a good distance away from the burned battlefield, was the young woman, with the gray streak through her hair. Her expression bore a distant look, as she observed the burial of Ulfvaldr’s ashes; his sanctification.

            “So, even he isn’t completely invincible. But is he really dead? Even my curse didn’t kill him,” she stated, as she turned around and left the area, which in the future would become known as a holy ground, where no blood must ever be shed.

            “Only time will tell, I suppose.”