Chapter - 1

It was a cold morning, the sun hadn't shown itself and the birds had not started their song, my father woke me up so we could go and fish the sea all day, as I walked out the door the fresh taste of salt was in the air. We loaded the boat and headed out, we had not stopped sailing until the sun had started rising in the morning sky, as the light hit the water all we saw were fish, birds started to fill the skies singing their beautiful relaxing song, and we had laid out our nets and it was time to wait.

After a long time without saying a word my father stared at me with a serious expression, he cleared his throat and said "Son we need to talk." I looked back at him with a relaxed face "About what father?", he was still serious as ever, he leaned in closer to me and said "Son you have been spending a great deal of time with the chief's daughter have you not?", my heart had stopped for a second, I did not think that he knew my mouth hung open for a few seconds, I cleared my throat and replied, "No father the chief has forbidden us to see each other so we have not been able to spend any time together.". My father's face was now filled with anger, and his nose crinkled up, he spoke this time but he was agitated and angry "Don't lie to me boy!", my father never raised his voice at me, I arched my head downwards, "I have been spending a lot of time with Asta father, I'm sorry" my head was still lowered, my father had leaned back, his face was no longer filled with anger, a grin crept across his face. He placed his hand on my shoulder and said "Son, you need not lie to your own father" I said I would never do so again, and he then said "You have feelings for her don't you boy?", once again my heart stopped, my face went bright red and sweat had started to drip from my face, I tried to mutter out some words "N-no...She is j-just... H-how did?" my father cut me off and said "Boy it is alright, it is just me", I took a deep breath and cleared my throat "Yes father I do have a lot of feelings for her.", my father arched his head up and laughed, I looked at him confused, he then stared back at me with a grin all across his face "We can all tell you love her, we can also tell that she loves you, my boy! Haha!", it had taken me a second to process what my father just said, and as I started to understand him I said, "She does not have feelings for me father, no one would wish to be with someone who bears Odin's sight.". My father had stopped laughing and placed both his hands on my shoulders and turned me towards him and said "Hunter, never let people say that you are a curse, and do not think of your gift as a burden. Asta sees you for you and she has rejected every other man in the village, yet she stays with you, why do you think that is?", as my father said this I started to think back to how many times I had seen Asta reject all the other men in the village regardless if they were rich or poor, strong or weak, she rejected them regardless. I looked back at my father and said "What should I do father? Should I confront her? Should I bring her a gift? Should i-" my father cut me off with a laugh and said "Just let it happen, my boy, if you try to push her you may push her away", I understood what my father meant and gave him a loving smile.

The time had passed so quickly, the sun was almost above us, but suddenly the birds had stopped their calls. My father looked worried and stood up faster than I had ever seen him do before. My father does not scare easily, so seeing him stand like this had me worried. He scanned the horizon and out of nowhere he screamed "Get the paddles and row boy!" I was shocked but grabbed the paddles out of instinct and started rowing, I looked at my father's face it was pale, the color had drained from his face and the expression he held was grim, he had seen something... something that shook him to his core. We were rowing as hard and fast as we could, and that's when I saw it, a massive cloud above my father's head, it seemed to follow us and it shook me to my core, I looked and my father and said "Father what is that!" without blinking or hesitating he looked at me and said one word "Dragons". The thought of them made my heart sink, I tasted a copper taste in my mouth as I remembered what the dragons had done and what the beasts looked like. They are massive beasts with teeth as sharp as steel, wings as large as a sail, and eyes that pierced a man's soul and froze him with fear.

We could see the village from here but the sight made us both filled with sadness and rage, the village was on fire, smoke billowing from every house, and my father's face had changed from a pale scared man to a rage-filled one, he was no longer scared but he was battle-ready, he put on his helmet and grabbed his ax. As the boat hit the shore he stepped off and started a war chant, it sounded almost ancient, it made the hairs on my neck stand. He looked back at me and said: "Get ready boy, it's time you joined the war" with that my father started his course to the village still chanting, and as if the village was alive it replied to my father, all of a sudden it was as if the village were chanting along with my father, the chant grew louder and louder, it was then ended in a battle cry that Odin himself must have heard, the men and women of the village had started to fight back.

I was still frozen with fear, I was shaking, I looked at my helmet and put it on I grabbed my ax and closed my eyes, and said a prayer "Dear Odin, you have granted me your sight, I ask that you lend me your power now so that I may slay the enemies of man, grant me your power all father"

With that I felt something change within me, I was no longer scared or frozen I was angry and bloodthirsty and was ready to fight, I held my ax up high and let out my first battle cry. I started running towards the village, I ran past Vikings slaying dragons all around me., I then saw my father fighting off 3 dragons. I started my charge toward him to help him but out of nowhere a dragon landed in front of me with mighty power, this dragon was much bigger than the rest, about 3 times their size. The dragon was angry, it could have easily fit two grown men in its jaws, its eyes were glowing red as fire, its teeth were stained red with blood, and its claw was as sharp as a sword, but still, I stood facing this beast, I had lost control of my body. It was as if the gods were controlling me. I readied my ax and threw it as hard as I could, it hit the beast in its neck. As the ax hit its neck the beast bellowed in pain, I had angered it and it was ready to kill me. I grabbed a long piece of broken wood, that had been broken off of one of the nearby houses, and I charged the beast and it charged for me... Just before it took my head off, I slid underneath it and drove the wooden beam through its stomach. I was drenched in blood now, the beast stopped and let out a blood-curdling screech. This time the scream was much louder and it made my hair stand on my neck. The beast was in monumental pain, as its scream stopped it fell to the ground and lay there lifeless. The sounds of battle had stopped, and the remaining dragons crowded around me, they were much smaller and had pure hate in their eyes. I stood atop the beast I had just slain. I let out a battle cry, and as I had done that the dragons retreated to the skies. The village crowded around me, they stared in awe, I was confused as to why they did this, but then my father looked at me and said "Boy, you have killed the alpha" his jaw still hung open, and as I realized what I had done. I walked towards my ax, grabbed it and held it high above my head, and said "I Hunter, son of Magnus have slain this beast, let this be a sign to those who have hated me, Odin had lent me his power for this battle, and he has helped me slay this beast! Glory to Odin!" with that the whole village rose their weapons and joined me in my chant, Odin himself must have heard us chant his name.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Asta, she as well was covered in dragon blood, and she was smiling at me, I smiled back and she gestured for me to follow her, I gladly got out of the spotlight and followed Asta.