Fate - First Reply Somewhere In The Tundra

[Malachi]

​

Before, there was no time, no earth, no dust, nothing. All was forgotten.
And what was falsity became a verity...

A long time ago, in the ages of Monsters and Men, our lands were set upon a curse. People knew no happiness. They had tears where their eyes should have been. They had fear where their hearts should have been. They had death where the sky should have been -- and they gave to the sky what was most precious to them.

At least, that's one of the earliest memories Lohik gave to me.

The crunch of snow drove dull, aching shards of ice under the weathered soles of the boy's feet. His knees felt wobbly, his stomach a dark, cesspool of acid. It had been days since he last ate, and the hunger gnawed at his insides as if eating him alive from the inside out. A thick mist hung heavy in the air, coating Malachi in a thin layer of dew. Dusk was fast approaching and if he didn't find some creature to death, he would starve another night. Wrapping himself in a cloak of rags, Malachi let out a sharp whoosh of air, sending spirals of condensation out into the frigid environment.

At that moment, is when he saw movement. Abounding along the treeline. Wide, hazel eyes deep-set against dark hollowed followed the motion. With growing anticipation, the boy shot forward to follow it.

​

 

[The Thousand Eyed Angel]

"A farce... No progress... I suffer... Before... I sleep..."
Its terror was nil this day. Besides The Angel's appearance, that is. Something remarkable had happened. A happenstance meeting led The Angel to believe that Yalgori made his way to the tundra. A place of ice and the Nordenfiir. It had no leads prior and made its decision without thought. Though it knew the danger of finding its way into territory such as this.

A trail, red as the blood moon, followed close behind this abomination. Deer, wolves, rabbits. All creatures it had seen now lay with their entrails bear. Some of them were only entrails at the time of their encounter. Its enormous blade began to frost as The Angel could barely continue to drag it. Curse the one who had made them come here. They must have known of its weaknesses. They sent it to die, they did.

Maybe they would know the same disappointment of being unable to achieve The Thousand Eyed Angels death; as so many have before.

The tyrant collapsed into deep snow. Most of its body was still jutting from the blanket of white. It heard footsteps approaching.

"Sun...shine...sun...shine..."

 

[Malachi]

The Thousand Eyed Angel

It was a hare. As fat as any that the boy had seen. Well, anything would look fat to him right now with as much hunger that gnawed in his belly. He had no weapons on him, nothing but his hands and legs to propel him forward, trying his best to catch the fleeing prey.

He wove in and out of the trees, doing his best. If he didn't get this, then he had no idea when was the next time he'd find a meal.

Yet as the flash of a white tail darted from his grasp into a thicket, something else caught the boy's attention. Snow was sent in a shower of white puffs as the rabbit fled, and when the boy went after it through the thicket into a sea of white, he heard a stammering cry.

It was enough to distract him from the fleeing hare, what with whatever it was a stark black contrast against that blanket of snow. He stumbled to a stop, wary, and alert, almost feral in his crouched stance.

He immediately darted back into the thicket, as if its quivering leaves and branches would afford him some measure of protection.

 

[The Thousand Eyed Angel]

The snow fell upon its shoulders. Each flake the feeling of a gargantuan hand pushing down on it. Its breaths deep and short and exhaling ice. It knew it would not see death. It would beg for it, as it always had. Yet its embrace would always fall just out of reach. So, it's suffering would sustain it. After countless millennia it was reasonable to think they would fall numb to it, and yet...

The Thousand Eyed Angel did not see the boy. Not that it could have done anything about it. It heard his breath, smelled his hunger. It knew what he likely thought of it. All were the same.

"Carrion..." It bellowed in a low tone. "I know... You see... The trail..." It rose a finger to point to the shred carcasses of the animals behind it, its arm making a sound akin to metal scraping.

"Eat... Before... You die..."

 

[Malachi]

The Thousand Eyed Angel

Malachi wasn’t sure what to do. Did it speak? Was it alive? The boy peered with wide amber eyes through the thicket at the creature laying on the snow. Or was it a human? A wight?

Lohick has spoken much about them.

His angular, dirty face turned towards the direction a hand pointed to. There, behind the creature, lay dead animals near it, blood seeping into the white snow. He was able to smell the blood then, the wind bringing it along with a chill.

Eyes wide, the boys stomach gave an agonizing rumble, as if grinding his very innards together. The desire to eat battled with his desire to stay hidden. Desperation led to his decision to ever so slowly ease out of the thicket. He gave the creature on the snow a wide berth, eyeing him as his nostrils flared at the increasing scent of blood. His scrawny body hunched over, making himself as small as possible, posed as if ready to dart away should the man or creature laying prone on the floor would make a sudden move.

 

[The Thousand Eyed Angel]

It was the same. Ever the same. Despite its attempts to communicate there was always a lingering fear. Its appearance, its horrid voice, it always pushed away anyone. They needed to pay for it. It suffered so long. It should just kill the boy. Be done with it. But it couldn't. Not in this tragic weather. It could barely move. It would try.

The Angel attempted to rise. Its knees making that same awful grinding sound. It almost stood completely up, its movements terrifyingly slow. It could not make it. It collapsed to the ground again and with such a weight and sound the birds still remaining scattered in fear.

"Why do... You fear... That which... Cannot... Move..? I am... Of no... Threat to... You, boy..."

 

[Malachi]

The Thousand Eyed Angel

The boy slid to a scurrying stop on top of the carrion, no hesitation on grabbing the dead bird, not bothering to pluck away feathers before taking a big bite on the open seeping wound. Blood glooped along his lips, clung to his pointy chin, and did a slow dribble onto the snow. All the while, the boy stared at the prone creature as if fearful it would attack at any instant.

The words that went choking through the din barely registered in Malachi's ears, so much was his hunger that it took a bit to register. It was really its attempt at rising only to flop over that startled him, pausing mid chewing the raw meat, nostril flaring and eyes mirroring twin sunsets in alarm.

"Yet." came the defensive reply, his face half hidden behind the mangled remains of the bird.

"You took all of these... " he gestured to the fallen critters around him, "You might take me."

 

[The Thousand Eyed Angel]

It cocked its frightening head to the sky. Blood leaked from the holes on the back of its helmet as it looked for any glimmer of sun. The snow had all but erased it. The boy was right. It had killed dozens of creatures upon its arrival here. Its strength was now sapped, however. It would not be able to kill him. Not until the warmth returned. Which it feared gravely it would not in this place.

"You think... Well..." It attempted to turn its head to face Malachi, but made its neck crack and could not look entirely backwards. "I am... Tired now... If the... Sun comes... Then you... Die..." A pool of crimson formed around the abomination. It wanted to feel strength again. It didn't want to kill the boy. But it would. It always would.

"It's far... Too cold... I was... Tricked..."

 

[Malachi]

The Thousand Eyed Angel

So, it does want to kill me, Malachi thought to himself, his hazel eyes flashing a bright yellow hue as they narrowed down upon the struggling form. It was caught in the snow, sluggish, and struggling to talk. Malachi's eyes went darting to the sky when it mentioned that the sun would be the harbinger of his death.

Mouth full of flesh, the boy continued to eat. His eyes gave a twitch upon hearing it mentioned being tricked.

The stories from Lohik about the time of men and when they betrayed their oat came to mind. Was he betrayed by them?

"Tricked by who?" a pause, mid-chew, "Men?"

 

[The Thousand Eyed Angel]

Men. Conniving, sickly creatures. Full of hate and ire and one had given such emotions to The Angel. Yes, it was men who brought it here. And they were already aware of who that man was. Yalgori, he who had followed it from the island to here. Now he planned to make every moment of their life worse than the next.
This, however, did not matter in its predicament involving Malachi.

It was unable to move in this cold. It needed assistance. It would happily grant this boy a promise of good health and all the food he needed if it could leave this awful tundra.

"Boy..." It sighed with heavy breath. "Men are... Vile... Awful things... They all... Treat me... The same... A pox... Monster... They all... Make my... Suffering... Worse..."

It twisted its neck, making a horrible snap and grinding sound.

"How does... One find... Warmth here..?"

 

[Malachi]

The Thousand Eyed Angel

Men were vile, awful things... These words would echo within the boy’s mind. Not much different from what Lohik told him.

“Did they betray you too?” He asked, the query bubbling from his mouth as a small hand swept over his lips, leaving a smear of red blood across his jaw and cheek. Such a feral air about him that would make anyone wonder why he spoke and acted so.

At the mention of seeking warmth, the boy gave a glance around. Nothing but tundra, snow and evergreen trees. It was familiar territory as. Equally as it was not.

“The sun...” he began, halfway mulling what else to admit. Turning back at the man, that dark mop of his head gave a cock to the right, observing the creature.

“Or the Landvættir .” Malachi added, his nostrils giving a twitch.

 

[The Thousand Eyed Angel]

The betrayal of man was so commonplace that this boy had known what it meant without question. How tragic it was to walk alongside he who believed the world was in his palm. Yalgori brought the fear of man to the creature. It would ever walk with such a heaviness on its heart. Feeling no guilt for the amount of men it killed.

The mention of the sun almost felt like a mockery when Malachi spoke on it. The Angel felt anger boiling that would turn into a horrible roar until the boy spoke of this Landvættir. This was not something it had ever heard of. But it could provide it warmth?

"Tell me... Boy... What is... This... Landvæ... Ttir..?"

 

[Malachi]

The Thousand Eyed Angel

The boy took another ragged bite off the carcass, ripping into the flesh much like an animal would. No thoughts on cooking or waiting. Just mere hunger. His lower face and jaw were now coated in clotted blood, red stain smeared like petals on the snow.

With a pair of twin golden eyes, the Boy replied in a muffled voice, “The Ones that came before Men.”

His expression had no sign of mockery or trickery. The boy meant what he said much as when he answered honestly that the sun brought warmth this far north.

“Pay tribute and they will grant blessings.”

Much like they did in the time of Men— before their betrayal.