Chance

The bear quickly sped up from its saunter to a full charge, closing the distance, but long before the bear could reach, Eric felt part of the previously blocked off energy move.

It quickly flowed from the center of his chest to hit his neck, then finally into his eyes.

Everything quickly slowed to a crawl and showed signs of stopping, but he couldn't move. Looking back at the bear, it seemed to show multiple overlapping images of it.

Focusing harder, countless sequences flooded Eric's mind.

He saw every single one with each one slightly different from the last, having all of them show the same scene of the bear ending his life, but everyone has a small but nearly unnoticeable difference.

After countless deaths, Eric lost hope and wondered if he had a chance.

Odin said he need luck but was this something that could be conquered with luck, or was this purely a sick show of his death?

In a single impossible chain, a single small path leads him to survive.

After replaying it in his head until he could perfectly remember it and the exact movements of that chain.

Eric felt the need to blink. His eyes felt so dry that it was burning him, slowly moving toward his brain.

Then something in his head screamed danger.

Finally caving to the urge, he blinked and instantly opened his eyes.

Everything was back to moving at its normal pace with no overlapping images, as the last time had stood still just for him alone.

Enacting the same movement he had engrained into his memory, he catapulted himself forward towards his foe.

At this moment, Eric matched the bear's charge.

Only to be greeted by the beast's maw shaping shut a hair's width away from him.

Capitalizing on this, he nimbly threw himself onto the bear's back and stabbed.

Eric didn't let up after the first stab, then came another and another.

He continued to drive his knife into the beast's flesh in an unrelenting shower of blows.

Even if he fails here, he was going to be sure that this bear would remember this.

The bear finally overcame the pain from being repeatably stabbed and struggled.

Prompted by this, Eric drove the knife down harder and faster than he had before.

This cycle continued until it had gotten too rough for Eric to hold on with nothing but his free hand.

So he held the knife in both hands and drove it down as hard as he could, landing a blow in the center of the bear's back and holding on for dear life.

The more the beast struggled, the deeper and more the knife would tear up its flesh until suddenly, the beast just stopped.

Crashing to the ground, the bear let out a debilitated groan.

Eric dared not move, as if even the smallest disturbance would reignite the fight.

Several minutes later, both birds flew down and landed on the beast.

"You know it's dead, right?" Questioned Odin.

When Eric heard that finally let go of the knife and relaxed, losing all tension that had built up.

HE had survived, but not only that he had won beating all odds.

"Good job, my servant. You have proven my choice correct. You may shower me with gratitude now." Remarked Zeus, somehow inflating his ego even further.

Eric tried to open his mouth to speak but before he could even move his jaw, intense agony hit him as if an entire building dropped on him.

Everything hurt, including his eyes and brain.

Both felt like they were being dipped in lava.

Before he could continue, he heard a calming voice.

"Sleep now, we'll talk after you wake up." said the voice, but Eric was already past the point of thought and passed out.

After Eric had passed out, a figure walked out of the shadows and looked at the two corvids

"Are you sure? He is what you guys have been looking for." He said, looking down at Eric.

"He withstood using my sight just after completing the contract. I don't think I could find a better person if we tried." Stated Odin.

"Although rude and unpolished, he has potential. Why else do you think I would pick him?" Said, Zeus.

"Well, if that's what you two think, we should have no problems. You two know how to contact or find me if the need arises, so I'll leave before he wakes up." Stated the figure, that disappeared after a step.

"So what should we do until he wakes up?" Asked Zeus.

"Let me think." said Odin.

Waking up to an unfamiliar ceiling, Eric wondered what he had done to end up doing to deserve to pass out so much lately.

He had a hunch it could be traced back to the two birds that he contracted.

Sitting up, he looked around.

He was in a small white room with a window and various small displays. It could only mean one place, a place he hoped he wouldn't be.

Closing his eyes and laying back down, he had decided it was nothing but a dream.

Before he could, he could retrace his steps and figure up how the hell he ended up in that place.

If he really was in that place, he was interrupted.

"So you're finally awake." Said the crow.

In full sinking horror, his suspension was confirmed and he could kiss his savings for the month goodbye.

Looking over at the open window, both corvids were perched on it.

"So how the hell did I wind up here? " Eric asked with a hint of hostility.

"We got you help. Are you gonna thank us? " questioned the crow, ignorant of what he did.

The last thing Eric remembers is the birds confirming the bear's death, and a voice telling him to sleep.

Quickly moving past that, he panicked.

Where is the bear's body? With its grade and strength, he could have something great made from its parts.

"Where is the bear?" asked Eric

"Its safe back at your place." replied Odin

"Then Odin, what the hell was that?" Chance" you gave me?" asked Eric.

"That is something I would like to talk about in a place like this." stated the bird.

"Well then, guess it's time to go." said Eric.

Eric disliked very few things in life, but hospitals had both of them. To leave a hospital, you had to do two things: pay a bill and sign paperwork.

Getting through both hassles, he and the birds started on their way home.

Finally arriving back home, Eric got down to work butchering the bear and asked Odin to start his explanation.