Four years passed, four long years and one thing the earth never stopped observing was the continuous evolution of man.
The winter was harsh, snow poured down from the sky and froze anything unfortunate enough to bear its wrath.
The freezing fog masked the environment and made it near impossible to make use of one's vision, this was the worst time of the year to venture out but there was one man that dared defy nature itself.
He walked the terrain, leaving his courageous footprints within the snow that made up his path, he was covered in animal skin, with the head of a bear placed firmly on his head.
This man had conquered the wild, he had gone against nature and even nature could not bring him to his knees.
He was reborn multiple times on his journey, and each time he 'died', he returned even stronger than he last was, his weapons consisted of two axes that had lost their sharpness and were barely usable at this point.
Three heads of strange-looking men were strapped around his waist as trophies.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThese tribes were often known simply as Savages and even the strongest of Vikings feared them yet these Savages now feared this man. He was a stranger in their world and made it his own, the threats that came his way were dealt with. Tyr not only had to survive the weather but the savages, and the foggy weather heightened his natural perception of things, this included his eyes.
Beneath the clothing, was a man with his dreads swaying to the skin stinging blizzard.
He walked into a nearby village, standing at an intimidating 5 '11, everyone looked at him with both fear and suspicion, one could not blame them.
"W-Who are you?" A man worked up the courage and confronted the stranger but he noticed from his appearance that he was not one of the savages that raided their villages.
"Are you the leader here?" His voice was deep, showing that this was an adult beneath.
"N-No, the leader was killed in a raid sometime ago, it is a game the savages play. They come here, ask for the leader and kill him before abducting a bunch of our girls, Now everyone is scared to take up the role of leader because they know they will be killed." The man spoke with tears in his eyes.
Turning, the stranger showed him the heads around his waists, and just as he expected, these were the men that had raided this village.
"THAT IS THEM!" The man exclaimed frantically, and he noticed the masked man had a bag he was dragging behind him.
"You do not need to worry about them anymore, I have slaughtered them all," The stranger said, before dropping the bag on the floor and turning around.
"You are the leader now, distribute as you see fit, this winter will be long," The stranger said as he began walking away, the man rushed to the bag and it was a lot heavier than it looked.
Opening it, he saw three dead polar bears, and the man could not believe his eyes.
"THANK YOU!" He screamed, crying profusely as the others around him circled quickly like hyenas but the man had one more question.
"What is your name?" The man asked with the stranger looking over his shoulder and saying.
"I am…" The stranger hesitated because he had not used his name for so long that he had almost forgotten what it sounded like before he could complete his sentence.
A woman fell to his feet and he already knew what she wanted to ask after hearing about the missing girls.
The moment her eyes met his, he shook his head and she began sobbing profusely.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"I have taken the pain from them and given them a proper burial," The stranger said but this was a comforting lie because Tyr did not see the girls they spoke of but he did see bones and skulls shaped into various accessories. These men had no sexual interest in the girls, they took them to feed on them, they were cannibals and these villagers were livestock.
They thanked him and the man revealed to be the stranger was no other than Tyr Ragnarsson.
He did not know people lived this far out, but he had explored the darker regions that had restrictions to stay away from and this was one.
It was cruel that these people were left to fend for themselves but Tyr knew he had only taken out a small fragment of them, the man he saw three years ago was the man he needed to kill.
He is their leader, and he hoped this was enough to dismantle them.
Tyr once again journeyed through the snow, he had one more job because he had tested his strength by facing off against this man three years ago but not only were his movements unpredictable, he fought like some sort of man-beast. Tyr could not predict or read his movements and it almost cost him his life.
But he did not have to go far, the savages spotted him and quickly surrounded him. Tyr knew they had been observing that village for a while and him going there was to alert them of his presence, and the heads of their friends were a marker.
They would deem him a threat naturally whenever they encountered him and it worked but they did not attack him. This was a smart move as they grunted at him, and one nudged him lightly.
Tyr knew they wanted him to follow them and he did just that, this was the first time that they had attempted such with him and he assumed it was for dialogue, and if it was not, he could easily slaughter them all, killing two birds with one stone He, however, hoped that man was there, the man he fought three years ago, this would allow him to gauge how far he has gone.
"It is almost time," Tyr thought to himself as he was carted away.