Chapter 2: A Shocking Event

The rain continued to fall as Sigmund hurriedly gathered his thick hide coat.

Had his father been here, he would have take a hard uppercut to the jaw for even entertaining the idea of going outside. However, considering the weird events that had been happening over the past couple of days, Sigmund felt it would be dumb to ignore such an obvious anomaly.

'I suppose I could leave it for tomorrow... but what sort of Viking sleeps when they should act...'

Sigmund sighed as he repeated the many teachings his father had beaten into his body through training and work.

Gripping his axe, Sigmund left the safety of his home and followed the trodden dirt path leading to the other side of the island.

While not completely overgrown, the area was still rife with rapidly growing undergrowth.

Though that's to be expected when the only caretakers was himself and and his father.

He stalked through the forest path, luckily avoiding the majority of the rain as the dense foliage kept the rainfall at bay. Although, the did not stop his shoes from being devoured by the oozing mud below him.

"This better be worth it..."

He wiped his brow, removing the rain droplets from his skin as he spoke.

His axe sliced through any stray branches so that the journey back wouldn't be as hard. Forward thinking as they say.

After a long struggle, he eventually found the forest growing sparser, his vision finally getting clearer beyond the tree line.

The muddy soil beneath his feet gradually transitioned into damp sand as his green surroundings were replaced by the unrelenting waves bashing against the shore.

A frown sat upon his face as he looked around, after all, the normally serene beach was instead charred grey with trees toppled over and burned despite the rain.

"Something really did land here..."

His body position naturally got lower as he scoured the beach. His senses were running on overdrive as he listened and looked for anything out of place.

"This rain really doesn't help..."

No matter how skilled a hunter he was, the rain was a natural obstacle for human senses.

He gripped his axe firmly as he followed the scorch marks along the trees.

It wasn't long before he arrived at an area where the surroundings trees had been toppled with splinters scattered across the floor below the stumps.

Deep drag marks retold the series of events in the soft mud.

Following the tracks, led Sigmund towards what seemed to be the final crash sight, a pile of scattered rocks and boulders lay along the ground from the entities collision with the rock face. Much like any unsuspecting cliff face on the island, there was nothing special about this cliff, at least at first glance.

As he got closer, he noticed something slightly different.

"Is that a cave perhaps? I swear... it's always a cave..."

No matter what stories his father told him, they always seemed to star a cave of some sort.

"All that's missing now is the obviously bait treasure a few meters into the cave..."

Relieving some of his built up tension through jest, Sigmund, entered the cave, lighting a small torch he always had handy. It wouldn't last long but it should be enough to investigate a cave like this.

He edged into the cave, watching his footing ad he stepped. 

He was completely alone on this island now, one small screw up could be fatal. 

Despite the rock layered walls, the floor that he walked on however, was a soft layer of dirt and grass.

"This is no newly formed cave, perhaps the displaced rocks from the impact unveiled this area. After all, our village would have known about it much earlier"

The path was fairly straight and spacious allowing Sigmund to focus easier.

Eventually the path opened up slightly with the surroundings lighting up naturally.

Sigmunds guard rose as he noticed the walls getting further and the new source of light intruding.

His vision got clearer as the room in front of him cleared, leaving Sigmund in awe.

A large lone tree stood hunched over in the cave, its roots spread as though it was swinging it legs in the small pond below it.

Small blue flowers bloomed along the pond edge as rays of moonlight pierced through the small cracks in the ceiling.

However, it wasn't this mystical sight which had Sigmund entranced.

Something much more pressing had his attention.

Laid beneath the tree was a large creature. A creature that even when laid down, made Sigmund feel small.

"A skrill?"

Sigmund murmured to himself as he looked on from a distance.

A majestic beast lay beneath the tree, it's breaths were deep and ragged, however the pressure from its body alone was enough to make Sigmunds legs freeze momentarily.

It wasn't long before he awoke from his stupor and took a deeper look.

"It seems to be in pain... However..."

The ragged breathing and blood scattered around the creature gave a clear indicator of the Skrills current condition. But it wasn't this that peaked Sigmund curiosity, rather it was the bizarre colouration of the Skrill. 

"A purple - No... A lavender Skrill?"

His curiosity was well warranted, after all, Skrills were often found in colder climates with much darker colourations. While there had been recorded sightings of white Skrills, a lavender coloured Skrill was the first he had seen.

Unfortunately, his curiosity seemed to get the better of him as Sigmund stepped forward slightly, his movements small but seemingly too much.

The Skrills previous sleeping posture jerked swiftly as its head turned to Sigmund, with pain filled eyes and teeth bared.

This quickly changed as it noticed Sigmund, axe in hand. Its mouth opened wide as static electricity crackled around his maw, and without delay a streak of lightning raced along the air.

Sigmunds hunter instincts kicked in as he immediately moved to dodge, knowing full well that one hit could stop his heart.

"Shit! This guy isn't messing around!"

He quickly darted behind a large boulder as he caught his breath. 

With his chest heaving, Sigmund sat with his back against the wall and hands gripping his axe.

Whilst with his father, he had hunted many wild beasts, ranging from Yak to Sharks, yet this was the first time he had been faced with a dragon - let alone one as deadly as a dragon.

Organising his thoughts, Sigmund peeked out from the boulder, only to have a bolt of lighting blasted beside him.

'This will be tough'

He thought to himself. Pushing against the ground, Sigmund prepared to charge - but his focus was interrupted as a familiar voice sounded once more.

'Young Warrior - Let the Trial of Choice begin, will a new Tamer be born? Or will a new Slayer surface?'

Sigmunds face dropped.