1 Tragedy in the Northern Peaks

Embers, a smoldering glow on the walls, sparks flying, and my hammer...

Visions of the ancient Greek god Haphestus flashed across a grimy youths mind as he gleefully smashed his hammer into the metal he was forging and seemed to nearly peirce through to the anvil.

Peng!

The hammer ricochet of the anvil then bounced back up. Followed by another crisp strike moments later. Sweat dripped down the youths auburn hair and into his eyes. Sparks and ash peppered his wiry tan body. The form of a crude dagger taking shape under his heated onslaught. A small smile adorned his face as he pounded the metal a couple more times.

All of a sudden a shrill bell cut through the boys thoughts and a heavy hand slammed into his back out of nowhere and nearly tossed the partially forged dagger out of his tongs. 'Home time Domonic, get your ass outta here before the next bell goes okay?' a large burly man nearing 250 pounds smiled down at him from his 7 foot 2 stature. Dominic on the other hand was dwarfed by him being only 5 foot 8. The man then glanced over the dagger in progress and began to stroke his beard with a small smile on his face. 'You should focus more on your precision, your forging technique is par for now and your rhythm is good, but you could sacrifice some of your power and slow down to convert it into accuracy. Only then will your blade begin to take a strong shape. ' The man then walked off to address the rest of Dominic's grade seemingly pleased with his students work.

Dominic brought his gaze back to the fire wishing he didn't have to leave his metal shop class and go back to his daily life and instead lose himself in the sharp pangs of the anvil and the showers of sparks. With the flip of a switch and a sigh Dominic cut the gas to the forges and made way for the exit doors.

It was gloomy outside, dense fog accompanied thick flurries of snow slowly falling from the sky onto the icy Canadian landscape sprawled before him. A small soccer field adorned by small pine trees lining the sides, with the Rockie Mountains as a backdrop to the breathtaking view. Lush evergreens could be seen peppering the sides of a small trail leading off the side of the field to a small side road.

'Negative 30°C is to cold holy Jesus it's nipply' said Dominic to himself as he tugged his shoes through the snow as he began walking down the trail to head home. The fog and snow seemed to suck all the sound right out of the air creating a eerie feeling as if he were walking in a land of ghosts. Dominic pulled out his phone and put on some Johnny Cash and opened a manga app. The snow was like a ghost as it passed straight through the thick sweater and jeans he was wearing and seemed to cling to his bones.

By now Dominic had followed the roads and come apon a small house surrounded by a small forest just outside the outskirts of town. It held just the basics and was quite a modest little shack but it was cozy and it was home. It was adorned with a small wood fireplace a few throw blankets and a few other nicknacks.

After a quick shower Dominic threw himself onto his bed and quickly fell asleep. His dreams wandered and flashes of great battles with godly blades and martial artists palms the size of mountains. Great cultivators possessing hidden techniques to live for thousands of years and humans twisted into hideous beings akin to demons as they practiced evil ways. Vivid visions of an intelligent beasts eyes flashed through his mind for an instant and then he saw huge caves full of natural treasures. A garden of eden to the mortal world. RINGNGNGNGNG!!! His school alarm went off and Dominic was slapped back to reality and he smacked it without even lifting his head from the pillow. A low groan sounded as he quickly got dressed grabbed a quick snack and his partially forged dagger and headed out the door to start the early walk to school.

Once Dominic was outside he took out a flashlight because it was still pitch black outside and stifled out a yawn. Then began trudging through the shallow snow. A few minutes later the hairs on the back of Dominic's neck rose and he slowly swayed the flashlight slowly to the left. A low chuff sounded and damian slowly lifted his eyes. The fist thing he saw were it's claws. Pitch black and nearly 8 inches long attached to a arm that could only have come from the evil spawn of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chewbacca. Thick muscles clad in a gold and brown sheet of fur seemingly creating a armor overtop of the creature. It's thick shoulders attached to a humped back and a head the size of a adult grown man's torso hung from its neck dripping with blood. A small white tail deer lay off to the side already fallen prey to the creature. A grizzly bear. It dawned on Dominic it must have woken up early for spring and gotten hungry. Immediately Dominic's thoughts froze and he felt the beasts eyes bore into his own, a cold shiver running down his spine. The bear was no doubt territorial as it had just fallen its prey and was still groggy from being in hibernation all winter. It's front haunches pressed the ground and a low creak was heard and the bear pushed up with its two front paws and stood on two feet, a bellowing roar shook the air ending with a snarl as the bear locked on to Dominic.

'Uh-oh' Dominic whimpered. The bear then slammed down cracking the earth and charged at Dominic faster than a racehorse, the short distance between them closing rapidly. Quickly Dominic looked around and the only trees surrounding him were pine trees. All too bushy to climb. He considered running for a second but the bear was already charging at a tremendous speed he couldn't dream to match. Then he looked down at his hands. In his right was his flashlight, useless, in his left was his dagger. Crude as it was it was steel and it was strong and at least it was something. The sudden realization of what he was about to do hit Dominic and he began to laugh. He was no great cultivator or dao comprehending monk, great warrior or shinobi. And he was about to fight a fully grown pissed grizzly bear with only a flashlight and a crude dull dagger.

The grizzly bear was upon him. Dominic could now feel the heat coming off of the bear and the strong musk permeating into his nose, followed closely by the smell of iron from the deer's blood still dripping from its fur. He dove to the left and watched as the bear charged through where he just was, nearly nicking his toes. Grasping the frozen ground he Dominic then pounced onto the bears back and smashed the flashlight over its head swinging it like a bat. It felt like he had hit a iron board as the flashlight ricochet off the bears forehead pain jarring up his arm and into his shoulder. The bear dropped its front and flung Dominic over its head and he landed flat on his back right in front of the bear. The bears nose was inches from his own. The bear then lifted its left paw and made a motion to bring it down onto his head. Dominic madly twisted his body and drew the dagger towards the bears now exposed jugular. He felt the dagger bite flesh as it hit home and pierced the bears thick hide and hot blood began flowing out onto his arms and chest as he gripped the knife with both hands and plunged it deeper. The bear however, greatly shocked now feeling it's immenent death began to wildly begin its death throws. It brought its left paw down and slammed into the side of Dominic's chest. A series of loud pops were heard upon impact and Dominic felt his insides turn to jelly. Bringing the dagger down he tore it through the bears flesh and down through its peck. The bear retaliated by biting down hard on his shoulder. Dominic gasped and he felt the bear struggle to chew through bone, slowly snapping his way though.

Then the bear let go. And fell to the ground just like that. It had finally bled out. Dominic stood there in a daze blood gushing from the mangled mound off the side of his neck. 'Well oh shit.' he thought, the small sense of victory quickly escaping his mind. The pain not even registering anymore as numbness spread throughout his limbs. He fell back hard on the snow packed earth. The bright red glistening in the sunrise creating a horrifying but beautiful image. Dominic's breathing started to become raspy and shallow as he realized that hit from the bear must have broken his ribs and punctured his lungs. And now they were filling with blood. How fragile humans are Dominic thought and tried to chuckle but coughed instead. How he wished he could have been stronger, like those amazing dreams he had. Not to die by sheer circumstance. His breath became shallower and he began to realize this was the end. Thoughts of his parents, and a couple friends flashed by his eyes and his thoughts began to rest in the things he couldn't do. Be it the girl he had liked in school for years but had yet to tell. The sports teams he didnt even try out for despite watching all his friends leave to it. Or the jobs that he would never be able to take. The places he would never be able to visit and on. And then the thoughts stopped... He stare blankly at the sun just peaking over the horizon beams of light shining down in all directions. Then he watched it go dark.