Chapter - 6

Asta still had tears in her eyes, I held my hand to her face and looked into her teary eyes, "There is no need to fear Asta, I am sorry you are not allowed to join me, but it is your father's decision and it is final." I said, "That is not the point, you may die there Hunter and I do not want to lose you, the thought of it makes my heart stop and fills me with fear, I cannot stand the thought of you possibly dying," Asta said while trying her hardest not to break down. As she said this I felt my heart stop and I was suddenly cold, what if I do die tomorrow, what if I lost Asta. I did not feel saddened nor scared, I felt this emptiness inside me, it was cold dark, it was if I where dead, I hated it. I wanted to feel something I should have felt sadness and fear, but there was nothing, I was an empty shell, no emotion. I pulled myself back to reality as I heard Asta start to whimper, the feeling had not left me, but I tried to comfort her as best I could. "Asta, you mustn't cry, I am here now and that's all that matters." Asta started to hold me tightly, her nails began to dig into my arm, she dug her head into my chest and continued to cry. There was nothing more I could say, I held her close to me and forced myself to fall asleep.

The next morning was a blur, I was woken up by Asta, her eyes still red from crying, I stood up and walked with her towards the dining table. The chief was not there, he was preparing the other men for battle, Asta and I ate and then headed to the armory. I took my father's ax at his request, Asta assisted me with putting on my armor and then we started our trip towards the town hall. The atmosphere in the hall was grim, no one said a thing we where all scared of what was to come. Finally, to break the silence the chief rose and began to tell us the plan, "Men, Hunter shall lead you to the northern side of the island, he and Asta had encountered a dragon there, it is a major issue if the dragons have settled on our island. You will go there and exterminate all of them. I shall leave the rest to Hunter" the chief looked at me and awaited me to speak. "Men, brothers. I am not best suited to lead you, but I am honored to be given the chance to lead you into battle against the dragons. We shall leave at once, we believe the nest is on the peak of the mountain to the north. I expect us to be out there for no longer than 4 days. Are there any objections." the hall was still silent and the men nodded in agreement. "It is settled then." at that moment I knew I needed to boost the men's morale so I had started the war chant, I started softly, it was a soft slow chant, the men one by one started to join in, the chant grew louder and louder, soon the hall was alive with a chant, and to end it I rose my ax and shouted "Death to the dragons!" the hall erupted into cheers. The men started the journey to the north side of the village, I waited behind, Asta stood in front of me looking at the ground holding my dragon skin cape, she gestured me to turn around so she could put it on for me, I did so without a thought. The chief waited at the door for me. I turned back to look at Asta, she was looking me in the eyes now, I smiled to try to lift her mood, I grabbed her and pulled her close to me, she stared into my eyes, she pulled my head closer to hers and kissed me. After a while, she pulled away and rested her head on my chest and said "You better come back Hunter" I said in her ear "I will never leave you, Asta, I oath." and with that, I started my trip towards the chief. As I passed the chief I saw something in his face, it was a mix of anger and joy.

I had finally made it to the north side of the village, the warriors were standing to attention, I stood in front of them and started the march towards the mountain. I looked back and saw Asta standing near the border, and as we got into the forest I saw tears run down her face.

As we were walking my senses had finally come back to me, it had been an hour since we left, I looked around me at the surrounding forest, it felt different in away. The trees looked strange, it felt as if they were watching me, their branches arms ready to grab me, they made me slightly paranoid, I ignored the feeling and kept on walking, trying my best to keep the pace. The sky was blanketed with light cloud cover, the sunlight was darkened slightly which made the forest feel even more threatening.

After a few hours of walking we had stopped for a while to rest, we were still a few hours away from the mountains. I sat a good distance away from everyone so I could gather my thoughts, that damned cold empty feeling had not left me, I sat on top of a fallen over tree. One of the veteran warriors, his name was Eric the Brave. He had walked over to me and said nothing but held out a water pouch and waited for me to take it, I gladly took it and bowed my head in thanks, I had a few mouthfuls of water then wiped my mouth and gave the pouch back to him. He took off his helmet and sat beside me, we both looked into the forest ahead of us in the direction of our village. Eric was not a young man, he had grey hairs streaking throughout his beard and hair, he was one of the oldest, most battle-hardened warrior in our village. He had scars all over his arms and face, one scar, in particular, stood out, it was a large one that ran from his right cheek down under his chest plate, I had always been curious about what had happened to him. After a while of staring into the forest, Eric began to speak "You miss her don't you boy." I was not phased by the question and replied "I do not know since this morning all I have felt is cold and numb. So I do not feel anything at the moment." Eric let out a long sigh and said "Do not let that feeling cloud your mind boy, but you must not forget it either. You must use that feeling in battle, a man who feels nothing does not care if he dies or not. It is a double-edged sword, it allows you to fight more courageously but it also means you will make more reckless moves and put yourself in unnecessary danger." I was shocked to what Eric had said to me, I understood what he meant but I was worried, if I died that would mean I would break my promise to Asta, the thought of that made me get a coppery taste in my mouth, I looked at Eric with the same shocked expression, he smiled and said: "Wisdom comes with age, no need to be so surprised." He chuckled softly and stood up, he placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it to reassure me. I felt a small grin creep onto my face, and that empty feeling had faded slightly.

We rested for about a half-hour, after resting we continued the walk to the mountain, the sun was above our heads now, the rest of the walk was done in complete silence, no birds sang and none of my men dared to speak. The only sounds we could hear where the rattles of our armor as we walked. The sound was soothing in a way, I had soon found myself matching my steps to the sound of the chainmail's shake, it felt like I was in a trace, I focused on nothing else and no one else but that sound. We walked like this until sunset, the sky was golden yellow now, and shining through the canopy of the trees was a clearing, it was well hidden from the sky and only about a half-hour from where Asta and I had seen the dragon, it was the perfect spot to set up our camp. As all the darkness of the night was about to consume the camp we had gotten the last tent set up, my men started a few small fires to keep warm and prepare our food. Eric and I went down to a nearby river to refill the water pouches, as I got to my knees to start filling the first water pouch Eric started to speak, "You must rest well, we have a battle coming in the morning. Do not wear yourself out before the fight has even begun." I said nothing but nodded at him, I had about nine water pouches to fill, and as I was on my last one I heard something, a sound that crept under my skin and made the hairs on my neck stand, I had never heard the sound before but it struck fear into my heart. Without me realizing Eric had made his way over to me, he was so silent I did not even hear his footsteps, he leaned in close and whispered in my ear "Boy, we need to go now." I whispered back to him and said "Why? What's going on?" he looked at me with a cold stare, he looked like a harbinger of death, he said one word, "Dragons" with that I felt my body freeze, I could not move, I was frozen in fear. Eric pulled me down into some nearby bushes. He held his hand over my mouth to muffle as much of my breathing as he could. My eyes darted around violently, all of a sudden I saw something in the sky, it was a large dark figure flying high in the night sky. I held my breath as it flew right over us, it flew at impossible speeds, as quickly as I saw it was just as quick as it had dissipated, I lost sight of it as it flew over the mountain. Eric and I crouched motionless for a few moments, I did not dare to move as Eric still held his hand over my mouth. Eric started to slowly move his hand away from my face as gestured me to follow him, no words where said and I followed him without protest. After a few moments of complete silence which had felt like hours we had made it back to camp, my men looked at us and immediately rushed to our side. We where pale and looked like we had just seen Fenrir himself, we explained what happened, I could see the fear creeping onto my men's faces, the blood started to drain from their faces. After another few moments of agonizing silence Eric started to speak once more, "Brothers, do not let this strike fear into you, let it strike courage into you. If we do not rid this land of those dragons, our wives, children, and family's will die. If we let that happen we will never be allowed entry into Valhalla. If we die in battle tomorrow then Odin himself will welcome us into his hall and we shall feast with him!" As Eric said this the men rose with pride, they no longer looked as if they were scared, they looked ready to fight the gods themselves. I looked at Eric in awe, he gave me a smile.

With that my men and I went to our tents, none of us could sleep very easily, but it came eventually. My last thought before passing out was my promise to Asta.