1 Chapter 1 - Vakna

Darkness.

Only darkness.

I see this as I slowly open my bleary eyes.

'Wait! Didn't I just die?'

The sharp grip of a bird's talons firmly holds my shoulders, and slowly, rain begins to splatter my face. Blue-gray mist fills the sky, and faint traces of lightning occasionally light up my face.

'Am I going to Folkvangr? Valhalla? I don't want to go to Hel!'

The water pouring down intensifies.

'Although, in this miserable rain, I probably didn't please either Freyja or Odin. I thought that Folkvangr would be bright fields filled with grass and sunshine, and Asgard would at least have the Bifrost.'

I sigh, but slowly, trees begin to be visible below me, and I see faint glimpses of the ocean.

'This can't be Helheim . . .'

'So where in the name of Odin am I?'

The rain and trees begin thinning out, and slowly, the giant bird carrying me drops me onto a large, stony platform.

The rain quickly stops, but I remain a wet, shivering mess. Sunlight begins streaming brightly down.

I take in my surroundings, and quickly gasp in awe.

'Well, I guess I was right. This is most likely Folkvangr.'

Five large stones surround me, with a smaller, glowing red one with strange runes engraved on it.

Beautiful, towering beech trees surround the clearing I am in, and sunlight filters through the leaves, giving off a welcoming glow. The grass looks soft, and is an inviting emerald green.

A little ways off, only a few strides away, there is water.

A clear, blue expanse of water, with another strip of land faintly visible in the distance.

To my left, there is more water.

Luckily, this is only a pond, with a few small, green lizards with blue eyes hanging out beside it.

But a strange ruin by the pond catches my eye.

After thinking confusedly for a few seconds, I begin walking towards it, and hear the cawing of a raven behind me.

Startled, I whirl around, and see a lightly armored black bird, with bright blue eyes. It's perched on a small boulder.

'Does everything here have blue eyes?' I wonder.

I walk over to the large bird, and quickly jump back when it begins speaking.

"Welcome to the Tenth world, warrior!" it says, spreading its wings.

'It can talk!?!'

'Wait, Tenth world? I thought there were only nine . . .' I think, feeling very confused.

"I am Hugin, sent here to guide you on your travels."

"The megaliths surrounding you are the Sacrificial Stones. Each one represents the Forsaken, which you must kill in order to ascend to Valhalla."

I nod cautiously.

He suddenly disappears in a flurry of black feathers, nearly making me jump out of my skin.

He then reappears on the glowing rock thing, in another swarm of feathers, literally only a couple steps away.

"This is a Vegvisir," the black bird says, indicating the red rock thing with his wing.

"These magical stones were scattered throughout the lands by Odin as signposts pointing toward the ritual grounds of the Forsaken. If inspected closer, this one will reveal the summoning place of Eikthyr, your first prey. He is a mighty beast, so you need to arm yourself properly in order to defeat him."

He disappears again in a cloud of black feathers.

'Well, whatever. Lets hope I can find a way to survive.'

I approach the large ruins, and notice a strange deer statue, an altar, and a runestone. I decipher the runes engraved upon it: Hunt his kin.

"Interesting . . ." I mutter.

A squawking grabs my attention. 'Again?' I think, getting slightly annoyed with the large black raven.

"Calling forth the beast!" the creature says, spreading his wings again, as if this is something of great importance. He's perched on the altar.

"You have found the summoning place of one of the Forsaken. Make the correct offering at their altar and they will come. Be wary though, the Forsaken are not easy prey. So craft a wicked weapon, don your finest armor, and eat a hearty meal before engaging them in combat."

I nod, slight annoyance creeping through my mind.

He disappears in another flurry of feathers.

'Ah! Why does he have to do that? There's something called flying, if you haven't heard, bird! And you know, birds can fly, in case you didn't notice already!'

I sigh, and begin looking around for some sort of weapon. Without my clan, I should be wary. And since I'm apparently dead, they won't be helping me any time soon.

As I examine the ground for any sharp sticks or stones, a strange, yelping sound brings me out of my thoughts.

A small, rocky creature comes running towards me rather ecstatically, and I jump back, startled.

It was covered in little bits of sticks, stones, and moss, making the only apparently unusual thing its eyes. And no, this time they weren't blue. They were a light yellow glowy color.

'Well, first thing I've seen here without blue eyes,' I thought, throwing a strong punch at the little creature. 'I'm almost surprised that the trees aren't showing off glowing blue irises.'

The mossy thing manages to rake my arm, tearing easily through my leather tunic.

Immediately, pain flares through the wound, and I angrily finish off the monster.

To my surprise though, instead of just staying put like a normal dead creature, it exploded.

Purple smoke and golden flecks of light flee the instantly disintegrating body, leaving a large chunk of shiny, yellow goop.

'Ew, is that it's guts?' I think disgustedly, clutching my bleeding arm.

I go over despite my grossed out state, curious as to what the object was. I pick it up, confused as to why it's hard, and suddenly remember a name for it. Resin.

The swooping of wings disrupts my thoughts.

I turn around, grumbling because of the bird.

"Take stock of your inventory," Hugin tells me.

'What?'

"Most items must be crafted. However, due to your recent departure from Midgard, you will have to recall the true shape of objects. Just pick things up and it will all come back to you, I'm sure."

'Okay? How does this help me?'

"My lesser brother, Munin, tells me that you can fashion a stone axe out of wood and stone," the strange bird tells me.

He then flies off, leaving me both confused, and grateful for the information.

'Well, at least he told me how to make something useful, I doubt resin would do more than just start fires.'

"Apparently I'm dead . . ." I mutter.

"Time to please Odin."