Young Writers Society

The night was dark and cloudy, and the icy wind wasn't helping. Of course, cold hadn't really been a danger to Einar ever since his fight with the dragon, but he still disliked the wind whipping past him, slightly stinging his exposed skin. He stood on top of a hill looking down at the fishing town below, hopefully the last hill he'd have to climb in a while. He hadn't eaten in two weeks, and even though he had a lot more energy now due to the dragon soul inside of him he could feel the dull, empty ache of his stomach. He was hoping for food, and a place to sleep, or even a place to sit. He'd been walking through the snow and tundra almost non-stop, pausing only to sleep and eat snow to keep hydrated. His body heat was not in danger, as the beast's consciousness kept him warm from the inside to combat the cold. All of that was over now. He could find some part-time work, buy a horse and find out more about whoever was causing this mayhem.

As he started to walk towards the town, he heard the voice again, the same voice that had tormented him day and night and kept him from sleeping. It started asking him about his plans and appearance, and whether or not the villagers would help him. He ignored it, pushing onwards with the hopes of rest and food. As he entered the outskirts of town, he headed towards what he assumed must be a tavern or town hall of sorts. It was larger than the surrounding houses, and light flickered out from its windows and out from under its door. He stopped in front of it, took a deep breath and walked in. There was a large fire roaring in the center of the room, and all around the room were table and chairs, most of them occupied by what appeared to be fishermen and local herders. There was a large bar in one corner, with a few kegs behind it, and a door next to it that had the delicious smell of cooked meat and fish wafting from it. As Einar walked to the bar, he noticed everyone's voices lower and felt even more eyes on him than usual. He was too hungry to care, and approached what seemed to be the place's owner, A tall, well- built man in simple clothing standing behind the bar with his back turned to Einar.

“Please, I need some food”, Einar said to him. As the man began to turn around, a look of shock and disgust crossed his face.

“We do not serve demons and heretics here” said the man, regaining his composure and crossing his arms. “You must have done something blasphemous in order for Havi to curse you like this, and we do not wish to anger him.”

“Oh, the eye? That's a long story. You see, I...”

“I do not want to listen to your deceit”, the barkeeper interrupted. “Your words will bring misfortune on us all. Leave now.”

Einar noticed everyone else in the bar were watching him, their eyes filled with revulsion. He tried to reach out for the barkeeper's shoulder in a final attempt to explain, but the man jumped back and pushed him flat on the floor.

“What are you trying to do to me? Do you want me to become cursed as well? Leave now.” Einar felt exhausted and annoyed, but he felt something else inside him as well. A distant anger pulsed through him as well, and he heard the voice again.

“Who the hell does this guy think he is? He doesn't listen to us and tries to starve us? Kill him.” Einar stood up, anger flashing through his eyes. He felt ready to tear this man apart, to beat his senseless, but he heard the slight movement of many chairs behind him. He knew that if he took another step towards the barkeep, every other man in the room would come to stop him. He turned, and resisting every urge in his body, he walked out. He ignored the other entity sharing his body, who was doing everything it could to turn back around and beat everyone in there.

As he walked back outside, the cold hit him once again. Sure, he had been stuck in it for weeks on end, but after going into a nice, warm place like that the wind felt twice as icy. He walked a little ways until he came upon an animal shelter, and sat down under the roof.

“We could've taken them all”, the voice said angrily.

“And then what? Steal all of their food and move on to the next town?” Einar mumbled in response.

“Well of course it sounds bad when you put it like that”, the dragon said in defense. “However, your morals won't keep you from starving. Sure, having my soul trapped inside that pathetic suffer puppet you call a body gives you energy, but it can't give you the nutrients you need to survive.”

“I know.”

“And what are you going to do about it? Try to find a blind old man and beg them for food? Steal a helmet and join some form of military?”

“I don't know.”

“Oh wow, you humans must be great at surviving, what with all of your resourcefulness and quick thinking. Is your entire race crippled by religion and morals, or are you the only goody- two-shoes freak?”

“Would you just shut up for once?” Einar screamed into the night. He heard rustling nearby, and turned to see he had woken the chickens that were resting in a cage near him. He felt his stomach make a low groan, the emptiness becoming almost too much to bear. The dragon had quieted down now, its voice becoming a single word repeated over and over in the back of his mind: FOOD. FOOD. FOOD. He knew chickens were edible, but did he really want to steal one? The chant grew louder in his head, and after sitting and considering his stomach's empty throb for a few moments, he decided that stealing a chicken is a much better choice than killing several men for food.

Unlocking the cage and sticking one hand in, he managed to grab a chicken. He pulled it out by the neck and held it in front of him for a moment, looking for a good way to kill it. After a few seconds, he grabbed its legs with one hand, pulling them up as his other tugged down at the neck,, He heard a snap and held the chicken at arms length as it flapped around for a few seconds, then lay still, it head wobbling in a weird way. Pulling it closer to him again, he began to impatiently pull its feathers off as best as he could, tossing them to the ground as he frantically tried to get closer to the fresh meat. After a few minutes of frenzied pulling, he was left with a mostly clean carcass. Ignoring his thoughts of cleaning and cooking it, he sank his teeth into the warm flesh. He ignored the flavor of uncooked meat and blood, overcome with the bliss of having something solid in his mouth and throat again. He continued this frenzy for a while, until only the bones were left. He had even drank the blood, thankful for anything warm inside him.

He sat back down under the roof and closed his eyes, not wishing to think of anything or feel his aching limbs. After a few hours, he opened his eyes and looked around him once more. His gaze fell down on the bloody scene he had made, on the red-tinted snow peeking out from underneath a pile of bones and scattered feathers. He was struck with an overwhelming feeling of shame for his actions, and felt a need to leave this place as soon as he could. The other voice protested as he got to his feet again and felt the pain in them once more, but he did not care. He stumbled out of the shelter, and made his way out of the town as fast as he could. As he cleared a hill and the town fell out of view it began to snow. He felt ashamed for his actions, but not remorseful. He felt as though it was not a good deed, but a necessary one to live. After all, if he died who would find the thing responsible for destroying his home? As the wind picked up and the snow began to fall harder, the now familiar voice spoke again. “So, what's the plan now? Find another town and live off of stolen livestock for the rest of your life?”

“We find more people and try to get information”, Einar said “, and then we exact revenge on whatever evil created these portals and destroyed my life.”

“Now that's a plan I can get behind. I have a bone to pick with that asshole for tearing me away from my home. Twice.”

The night had drawn to a close now, but the snow had turned into a full-blown blizzard now. Einar continued walking forwards, his arms shielding his face from the stinging wind as it whipped around him. He continued like this for several hours, trying to reach a distant wall of glaciers just south of the village. As he finally reached it, he noticed a small outcrop in the wall of ice, and huddled under it, trying to outlast the frigid winds. Suddenly, he heard a noise above the howling wind, like a piece of cloth being torn, and then something fell into the snow a few yards away from him.