Cursed by the spirits

The woman walked into the spirit forest in the middle of the storm.

She could feel how the spirits knew of her arrival, they knew that she had a son, and they also knew that he would be delivered to them.

With each step she took into the forest, the storm was disappearing, and instead, a cold that seemed capable of freezing the sun itself became more present.

"Forgive me."

The woman pressed her son to her chest as she kept pace, she was close to the place where she should leave him, but being her son, it was not something she wanted to do, any more than Oswin did.

Still, it was something she had to do.

She knew what would happen if she did not.

She had seen it in her visions, how a white tide would bring death to them all.

Shaking her head, she hardened her heart to finish the mission she had to do.

It would only be a short time.

*******************************************************

"AAaaaaaaahhhh."

"Aaaahh."

"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh."

"What the hell is going on!"

A cry ran through Oswin's ears waking him from his sleep.

"Aaahh.''

"Aaahhhhhhh."

"Woman, take care of that child!!!"

"Aaaaahhhhhhh."

As the crying did not stop, and on the contrary grew louder, Oswin raised his head ready to slap his wife, only to realize she was not by his side.

"Aaahh."

Oswin's eyes widened remembering his wife's words, realizing she had disobeyed him.

"That damned witch!"

Oswin scrambled to his feet and dressed to trudge through the snowstorm in search of his son.

"Aaahh."

As he was about to leave, he noticed his daughter again, who had not stopped crying.

Oswin hesitated to go out and leave her alone, as she was likely to die or be killed by some savage if there was no one to protect her.

He quickly remembered Thorley's wife, whom he had killed that day.

He would wait until the storm was over to get the rest of old Thorley's things and throw that woman out, but now that his wife had betrayed him, he would murder her, so he needed a new wife, and she would be perfect right now.

The shaman had proven herself untrustworthy.

Oswin walked to the late Thorley's hut, and when he entered, he saw with distaste Thorley's eldest son raping his father's wife.

This woman was certainly not his mother, she had died years ago, so there was nothing wrong with him keeping his father's things, including his wife, but he was unlucky enough to do so when Oswin needed her.

"Crack!"

"AAAAAAAAAHHH!"

The woman screamed in panic as the axe landed on Thorley's son's head, and Oswin dragged him out of the hut by tossing him aside.

"From now on you belong to me, take care of my daughter until I come!"

The woman nodded in panic at Oswin, who had an expression full of rage as he handed his daughter to her, and watched him leave the hut.

Oswin wandered deeper into the spirit forest looking for any tracks left by his wife.

The storm was not helping, but as an experienced hunter, he was able to find the right direction.

Oswin felt the cold hit him with every step he took, it was as if the storm itself did not want to let him move forward.

His hands felt so cold that he was loosening his grip on his axe, yet the fury in his heart kept the blood rushing through his body, so he didn't stop and kept walking against the storm.

Oswin looked up exhausted, after what seemed like hours walking, and saw in the distance the figure of his wife, leaving his son in the snow and walking away.

"Cursed witch, I warned you!"

Oswin stepped forward and ambushed his wife as she walked by a large tree, falling upon her and placing a knife against her neck.

"I told you not to!"

As he finished his words, Oswin slit the throat of the woman, who looked up at him as she choked on blood.

Because of the adrenaline, Oswin did not notice the changes around him.

The storm that had been battering him all this time had completely stopped, and an unearthly coldness filled the whole place.

Oswin looked at his breath and knew immediately that something was wrong, so he was about to go to his son to get the hell out of this cursed place.

And he saw it.

A person, or what appeared to be a person, walking out of the darkness.

With skin as pale as snow just like his hair, he approached the place where his son was.

Oswin's heart leaped as he realized that indeed a dark spirit had come for his son.

Crawling through the snow, he approached the spirit who was now standing in front of his son.

Without a sound, he circled it and watched in horror as the creature lifted his son and placed its hand on his head.

Oswin waited no longer, gripped his axe tightly, and from his leap, charged at the creature who was surprised by his onslaught.

The dark spirit seemed unable to pull its hand away from its son and did nothing more than watch as Oswin chopped off its head with the axe.

A stream of blue liquid spurted from the body, splattering the surrounding snow.

Oswin watched with a racing heart as the creature's body shattered into pieces as it lost its head.

He quickly looked around for more spirits but found none, but the forest looked especially dark, so he went to his son to see if he was still alive.

The creature had been holding him for a while, so he wasn't sure if it had done anything to him.

When Oswin held his son, he failed to notice the cold temperature emanating from him, because of the immense cold of the place where they were, but when he brought the child close to his ear and listened to his breathing, it was enough for him to make a smile.

"YOU SAW THAT, NEITHER OSWIN NOR HIS SON WILL BE DEFEATED BY YOU, DAMNED SPIRITS, STAY AWAY UNLESS YOU WANT TO FOLLOW THE SAME FATE!!!!!!"

Oswin's cry reached far into the forest, but nothing seemed to respond.

"Thou shalt be called Blake, son of Oswin, let's get out of here."

Oswin held Blake with one hand, while with the other he took his axe and returned to his tribe.

As he left, dozens of pairs of blue sockets appeared from deep in the forest.

And several creatures just like the one that had just died at Oswin's hands walked to the place of their dead companion.

They gazed silently at the spot where Oswin had disappeared, and returned to the darkness, accompanied now by the reanimated body of the newborn Blake's mother.