The Shadow Of Night

Fenrir woke with a jolt, cold sweat staining his bed and running like ice down his back, the room was spinning and twisting like a snake trapped within a vice, shrinking to the size of a needle and growing until larger than life itself with every intake of breath, his heart was choked by the cold that strangled his senses with invisible hands. He had to get out!

Run, stumble, climb, he had to leave the nauseating prison that confined him, a sickening burning sensation hit the back of his throat as he threw up in his mouth, almost there. Smells that had assaulted him, suddenly became familiar to a sickening degree, he could smell the putrid stench of urine that stained his trousers as if it where solid, and the cold chilling scent of snow that mixed with the sweet fragrance of the forest below, so strong that it made him shiver, his chaotic breathing and unstable footfalls sounded like war drums in his ears only to be blocked out by the gentle intakes of breath of his grandmother.

His senses where frantic, frenzied, frightening, they were out of control until a cool voice cut through the darkness.

"[Breathe slowly, in…and out…in…]", the voice was unknown, unfamiliar, yet he was not in the right state of mind to argue or question the intruder "[focus only on only my voice and breathe]", Fenrir was slumped against the doorframe, taking deep, ragged breaths, and with every breath the world lost its overbearing smells and sounds that tore Ito his head.

"Who…are you..?" Fenrir whispered into the darkness, careful not to wake his grandmother or open his eyes in case the world was still being thrown about like a tennis ball "why are you here..?".

"[I am you, or at least a mirror of you, that has been equipped with the knowledge and skill to help you grow]" said the voice "[open your eyes]" Fenrir did so with caution, slightly surprised to see the world was no longer writhing violently like a cornered animal.

"What do you mean?" said Fenrir, whispering still, while looking around in search of his strange saviour, "and where are you?"

"[I was build, using you as a base, in order to act as your guide to grow stronger, and you cannot see me as I lack a physical form]" Fenrir was confused, how can something talk without a body? how can it think or hear? He stood, still clutching to the doorframe like he was angled over a cliff face, and moved away from the house in order to speak more comfortably without waking his grandmother. Strangely, the chilling frost that would have usually bitten into him, in the year round sub-zero mountain climate, could barely be called cold, as if he where wearing a thick fur coat beneath his clothes.

Thousands of questions spun around in his head, Fenrir ignored the ones of less importance and focused on the most pressing matter, "what was that just now?"

"[Your newly strengthened senses where too much for your mind and body to cope with in your current state, so I helped you seal them for the present, what just happened was that you where overloaded by your new senses, if they where not sealed you would have gone into shock]", the voice seemed friendly and gentle, but Fenrir was not one to blindly follow strangers, especially ones that didn't have a body, a life on the mountains had taught him that much.

"..I see, then what should I call you?..and what do you mean by 'grow stronger'?" Fenrir had now stopped at the bank of a small stream trickling down the mountainside, he looked down at his damp clothing that still stunk of piss, luckily it was no longer as strong as before, but still disgusting either way.

"[you can call me Norn, and you have been chosen, or more accurately, you chose, with the help of the spirit of darkness to surpass your old fate.]" Fenrir was shocked at Norns words, spirit of darkness! For all he new, the spirit of darkness had not been heard from in centuries, believed to be extinct. He shook his head.

"What happens now?"

"[first you will clean yourself and rest, you are in no fit state for any form of training, even if you want too]", it was true, Fenrir's body was shivering, but not from the cold, he felt as if he was held together by elastic bands and chewing gum. His eyes started to droop just from the vague suggestion of sleep. Following his instinct, he stepping into the clear, crystal-like water in an attempt to clean up his body and awaken his drowsy mind.

Once satisfactorily soaked, Fenrir returned to his cottage in order to retrieve his bedding, that too was stained with urine, sneaking through the open door…

"Where do you think you're going..?", he span around to see his grandmother reproachfully looking him up and down, only for here eyes to widen, "what happened too you! You're soaking wet…close the door quickly and wrap yourself up…"

He sat silently, wrapped in several towels, listening to her scald him, "….you could have gotten hypothermia, what were you thinking…", she stood with a hunched back, of someone accustomed to heavy labour, and a height that was still tall enough to stand above your average man, a feature of people from the loch empire, she had short grey hair and a a face burdened by many wrinkles.

"Grandma, I'm fine"

"What do you mean you're fine! Have you not been listening to a word I said, you could hav- ", she broke into a fit of chesty coughs before slumping down into the only other chair in the cottage, and took in a deep breath before continuing, "I'm just worried about you, especially when you pull out stunts like this", she sighed "please just look after yourself more, you won't have me looking after you forever."

"Now…" she stood up, walking towards his bedroom door, "what happened here..?" She was gesturing to his wet bedding, Fenrir looked away, his face red with embarrassment, why did she have too wake up now..?

…

A week later Fenrir briskly sad up and got changed into his day clothes.

"Morning Norn"

"[Good morning, you do know that you don't have to speak aloud, I hear you either way]"

Fenrir ignored his daily barb, Norn always suggested for Fenrir to speak to him through his mind, 'you never know who could be listening in' after all. He got up, quiet to not wake his sleeping grandmother, and jogged outside, the moon still shone brightly, around 4 fifth of its way through the sky, illuminating the forest in an sorrowful glow, Fenrir started too run.

He was terribly surprised when Norn had told him that his new, wolf-like, constitution required under half his regular sleep time, preferably in the day, and had so much energy to spare that with his current lifestyle he would have to run for miles to feel somewhat normal.

Many other things that changed within his life, like how he suddenly craved stronger smelling foods, like fruits and meats. The dried meats that he was accustomed to eating, usually lacking in flavour other than their strong saltiness, now barely tasted off a thing, or when simply doing his chores Fenrir felt his movements where filled with grace and strength, 'the movements off a predator' as Norn put it.

Even when the ground was covered in solid ice Fenrir did not feel his feet slip up once, he found this out when, thanks too his new temperate body, he went outside, forgetting to put his shoes on, whether this was thanks too his unnatural grace or some other wolf-ish trait he did not know, but he could move as fast as he wanted without losing his footing, and he could move fast.

"[alright, stop here, it should be good enough]"

Another part of Fenrir's daily, or more accurately, nightly routine, he would run a good distance away from his home, and sit cross legged on the not so freezing ground, breathing in time with Norns command, focusing on a single sense and Norns directions. Sight, smell, hearing, even touch, he would block out all outward interference, with only one to guide him, today was no different.

Once Fenrir had asked why they do not do the same for the sense of taste, Norn had told him that the sense was only useful in detecting poisons, which would no longer effect him anyway thanks to his unique physique, otherwise it just brought about disgust toward valid food source's. It was a 'useless sense' as he put it.

"[focus only on touch]" Norn instructed, after he was comfortably seated.

"[Ignore all sounds that may disturb you and close your eyes to the world, breathe in- feel the movements of your chest expanding, the cold of the ice, the wind, and feeling of your cloths touching your body, breathe out…]" and it continued, time passed timelessly, Fenrir did not know if seconds had passed or hours, but he opened his eyes when he felt the warming burn of the morning sun on the side of his face and neck.

A delightful sunrise lit up the winter wonderland that he called home, the trees glistened like roughly carved gemstones as the sun bit into their hanging icicles, the white, cloudy sky lit up under the suns welcoming smile, Fenrir's winding trail of footprints where the only imperfections blemishing the painting like image, apart from several other smaller prints.

"[Fenrir, we've got company]", he rose his gaze to met the steady, cool eyes of a giant, terrifying wolf, too Fenrir, the wolf towered over him, not in height, though it was taller than any wolf he had seen before, but his instincts told him that it was out of his reach, the most that he could do was run if it saw him as prey, though he doubted he would get far.

"What's going on?", subconsciously lowering his head and bowing down slightly, making himself seem like less of a threat, "wolves don't usually travel so far up the mountains, especially not alone, why is it here?".

"[It is likely here for you, look behind its leg]", Fenrir's eyes, before now, where glued to the wolves own, but now it broke contact too get a glimpse of a limping pup hidden beneath its thick, fur coat and bony ribs, "[it probably lost its pack and came to you because of your wolf like scent, the pup seems injured, i doubt they will last long on their own]"

The large wolf, he now determined to be a female, and likely the mother of the pup, picked it up by the scruff of its neck and trotted towards him, even acting timidly. She gently rested the pup by his feet and disappeared into the frosty woodland. He looked down at the pup, watched it, noticing how severe its injuries actually where, as it looked confusedly after its mother as she fled, then it began to cry, a whimpering, grief filled cry, "Norn…why?", Those where the only words he could say, after all of his time listening to Norn sing praise about how intelligent, loyal and powerful the wolves where, he could not imagine this situation.

"[it is likely because she took you as an ally, even with your human appearance, in fact she probably left the pup in your care because of it, too wolves, humans have always achieved the impossible, broken the mould, and a wolf in the skin of the man? I imagine she hopes you would take him under your wing, or at least take pity on him, and get help from the humans. She probably new that it was unlikely too survive, even if it had an entire pack looking after it, this was her only option]" Fenrir watched as the pup stumbled blindly after its mother, leaving a bloody trail in the pristine snow, even without its injuries, it looked too frail and weak to walk, paring this with the she-wolves bony body, he could imagine what happened to their pack.

He picked up the wolf-pup before it inched out of range, not minding as it dug its small yet sharp claws into his hands, scratching and clawing to find its mother, he hugged it close, he watched it struggle to bite into any part of flesh it could find, until its head drooped and tear filled eyes close in sleep.

Fenrir continued to hug the wolf-pup close, and made his way towards his house, not saying a word.