Chapter 3: Deciding Fate
His mind raced as he felt himself rooted to the spot once more. This time from disbelief rather than fear.
It had happened again, he had heard the same voice once more.
'That wasn't a delusion?!'
He shrieked to himself internally. His patience had begun to run dry due to the bizarre events barraging him constantly after the loss of his father.
"I can't catch a break..."
After a few seconds of contemplation, Sigmund grabbed his axe and sprinted towards the exit. His resolve to kill was nowhere to be seen as he sprinted away, looking back every now and then to check to see if he was being tailed.
He soon found himself outside the cave, with the dark cloud looming above, however the rain from before had cleared, allowing a fresh light breeze to brush against his skin.
He walked over to a rock before sitting himself down with his axe planted in the floor blade first.
His expression remained deadly serious as he delved deep into thought.
'That voice is real. It has something to do with that Skrill. These are the two facts that I am faced with. Now what on earth does this all mean?'
The brain he relied on so heavily was racing trying to process everything he knew at present.
"It said something about two paths? Like a Hunter and a Tamer?"
He muttered aloud.
"Considering it has something to do with the dragon in that cave, the hunter is self explanatory, that leaves the Tamer side..."
His words trailed as he spoke.
"If this truly is a Godly Trial, why does the All Father wish for me to attempt to tame that beast?"
This was surprising on a fundamental level, after all, there was no recorded attempts of trying to tame a dragon. While he could not speak for every island in the seas he knew of, he was aware that the ones his village had kept in contact with, were at constant war with the dragons.
Additionally, Skrills were known for their ferocity and rarity. They were elusive creatures which would hunt down their prey with a dangerous persistence.
He stared up at the cloudy sky, with his mind juggling his options.
"I don't really want to kill it"
When he looked at the Skrill, his desire for battle was non existent.
"I suppose my dad was right, I am a weirdo"
His father was constantly calling Sigmund weird, due to his disposition of avoiding fights. It was precisely this disposition that had allowed him to avoid getting caught up in his villages mass extinction, much to his regret.
Despite calling him a weirdo, his father did often follow it up with one more comment.
'If you had a bit more courage boy, you could change the world'
His words echoed in Sigmunds mind helping him reach a conclusion.
"There's not much left for me in this world, I may as well go all in"
He rushed back to his house, in search of the items he needed. He rested his axe against the wall before heading into the kitchen area.
"I should have a few in storage back here"
Grabbing a woven basket, Sigmund stashed three whole Salmons, his entire fish food supply, into the basket and put it on his back.
He grabbed his axe once more and continued down the trodden path for the third time today.
Alongside the fish, he had grabbed a blanket and a few cloths, ready for the long haul.
He made his way back to the sea cave.
"I have a feeling that thing will attack the moment I enter"
A sigh escaped his lips before he stretched his body, then crouched low to the ground.
It wasn't a single step before he stopped in contemplation.
"Ah fuck it, I said I would go all in"
With those words, Sigmund lent his axe against the wall at the entrance of the cave.
Crouching through the cave, Sigmund kept his eyes peeled around each rock, apprehensive of an ambush.
Luckily, his worries were needless as he managed to get to the end of the cave with no issues.
In front of him was the injured Skrill, its lavender colour almost illuminated the cave.
His footsteps grew quieter as he approached, with all of his cover now gone, he was an easy target for a blast.
Eventually, he made it until there was no more than 2 meters of distance between himself and the beast..
He gently set his bag down and sat next to it, intent on waiting until the Skrill woke by itself.
After all, there was nothing more dangerous than a spooked animal, let alone a dragon.
He had no idea how long he would be stuck there, thus Sigmund took out his notebook and begun to scribble in it. The main contents being a description of the Skrill he had met today.
Initially he thought of drawing the beast, however he was very soon met with a sad reality. His drawing capabilities were next to none. He seemed to be able to draw herbs and flora, but whenever it came to anything remotely difficult, he was forced to realise that he was best suited to writing.
Hours passed as Sigmund began to stir. His closed eyes slowly opened as it finally dawned on him that he had fallen asleep. Lifting himself up as he berated himself, Sigmund felt around for his notebook.
'I am certainly an idiot... I don't care how exhausted I feel, who on earth falls asleep next to a wild dragon'
As that thought floated through his mind, Sigmund cocked his head towards the direction of the sleeping dragon.
Except, something was missing, something very important.
The Skrill was no longer sleeping, it was gone.
His heart furiously beat as a multitude of scenarios raced through his mind.
Suddenly, a rustling sound caught his attention. It sounded as though a heavy cloth was being pulled against the stone floor.
His eyes followed the sound, causing his breathing to stop.
Its head was planted deep inside the woven basket, rummaging around.
Had it been a puppy, it would have been cute.
Unfortunately, the one ransacking his bag was a large death machine.
Sigmund bit his lip as he quietly observed the dragon.
'Wait... this guy helped himself to the fish...'
A dry smile surfaced on his lips as he realised that he no longer had any bargaining chips.
'I suppose I may as well just hope the fish filled him up and he doesn't care for desserts'
His body froze and his thoughts stopped.
A pair of piercing eyes glared at him.