Denying Fate

    Viktor had not spent the day helping Freyja prepare for spring. In fact, he had spent the entirety of the day avoiding her and her other helpers. Whenever someone approached the older Felvarg with a task Viktor would spit venom back in return and refuse. Sometimes, when he caught sight of someone approaching, he would simply get up and walk away. In the distance his adopted daughter, Milani, was busy cleaning up one of the statues of Ragnarok, chattering away with a few other young Felvargs. Her presence was the only reason Viktor was here.

    He most certainly didn’t have to like being here though.

    By mid-day Viktor was already exhausted from his efforts at avoidance. He had begun to wonder if it would have been easier to simply help with spring’s preparations. Viktor was a stubborn old man though and stuck to his guns for the shear sake of consistency. Eventually, the dark Varg managed to find himself a small hollow, tucked away at the base of an already cleaned statue.

    Relief flooded the old man, and with a grunt he wriggled backwards into the small gap between statue and bush. Perhaps here no one would find him and bother him for some trivial task. He was positive the same individuals had requested his assistance more than once, so Viktor was hoping the assembled group had begun to take a hint.

    Yet just as Viktor had settled his chin atop his paws a shadow fell across his face.

    With a sneer upon his lips Viktor growled, opening one eye to stare up at the intruder with barely concealed contempt. He rumbled in surprise at who he saw. “Freyja?”

    The pale goddess smiled down at the tired old man, speaking before he could complain about any given task. Her lips murmured something about whispers in the land, and some mystical theory about them leading Viktor to his destiny.

    Freyja turned to leave without waiting for a response, leaving Viktor to wallow in his confusion. Just when she was out of earshot Viktor muttered sourly to himself, “Bullshit.”

    Freyja had a way of speaking that frustrated Viktor to no end. He turned around in his hollow, and briefly wondered if he should paint a “do not disturb” sign on his butt. Soothed by that amusing thought Viktor settled down to sleep.

    What a pitiful sleep it was though. Viktor had barely closed his eyes when he felt like they were opening again. Open air greeted his nose, and the overhanging boughs of the bush were no where to be seen. He was lying in the middle of a frosty blue clearing, the air curling away from his nose like frost, and the Shrine of Ragnarok was missing.

    Viktor’s heart sprang into his throat as the old Felvarg gurgled in confusion. Had someone moved him in his sleep?

    The cold stillness of the air hung silently between each breath, punctured only by Viktor’s joints creaking as he rose to his feet. An uneasy growl rumbled in Viktor’s throat as he looked around, coming to an abrupt halt when a soft blue mist began to pour from the surrounding forest.

    Nervous anxiety gnawed at his guts, and Viktor began to back away into the dark, putting as much distance between himself and the swirling mist as he could.

    He didn’t have to wait long to discover the mist’s source. A glowing blue orb swirled out from among the trees, leaving spidering frost in its wake that evaporated into the pale cloud that covered the ground. It approached Viktor, moving closer for every step back that he took.

    “Aw Hel no,” Viktor snapped his teeth in the air and the fur along his back bristled, “Freyja, if you’re behind this, then no. I’ve had enough of you playing with my strings and dragging me around. I’m done.”

    Viktor turned away from the orb and began to walk. He wasn’t going to let the gods play with his life anymore. He’d be damned before he willingly fell for one of their games.

    At first it seemed that his point had been made. The forest remained silent, and dark. Yet, just as Viktor began to relax, the orb and its mist slithered into view once again.

    With a flinch of surprise Viktor stopped dead in his tracks. He stared at the orb as it seemed to whisper something just out of hearing, but before it could grow clearer Viktor turned away once more. “I said no. Take a hint.”

    Onwards Viktor walked, picking up his speed until he was moving at a brisk trot. He needed to get out of these woods, to find a way home and get back to Milani.

    All was silent for many heartbeats, but the dark forest stretched on endlessly. At times it seemed that Viktor was getting close to an end, but then the woods would thicken again, and he’d be thrown into darkness once more.

    A gnawing feeling of wrongness settled in the pit of Viktor’s gut the farther he pressed into the darkness. The trees seemed to grow thicker, the forest denser, and the air colder. Still Viktor pressed on, refusing to play the gods’ game.

    It seemed, however, that he had no choice. Just when he thought the darkness could get no blacker Viktor felt his nose thump against the solid wood of a tree. With a startled whuff he tilted his head back, staring up into the fading canopy. The trees here were so thick they created a wall, impenetrable to all but the smallest of creatures.

    When Viktor looked back he could not help but yip in surprise. What seemed barely a few bounds away was the clearing he had started in. Soft, blue, and covered in mist. “But… that’s not possible.” Viktor lowered his ears and turned back to the wall, only to find it had dissolved into the same thick woods that bordered the clearing.

    “Why are you doing this?” Viktor turned to face the clearing. “What do you not understand about ‘no’? I have already told you, I am done playing your games!”

    The orb shimmered into view within the clearing, hovering just out of reach.

    “Leave me alone!”

    With a snarl Viktor launched himself into the dark, springing past trees and tearing through brambles that snagged at his fur. The air itself seemed to absorb the sound of his paws, and the cold threatened to suck the breath from his lungs.

    Still he ran.

    He ran until the forest closed in around him, ran until, with a final leap, Viktor was once again nose-to-nose with the wall of trees.

    Overwhelmed, Viktor let out a gasping whine before butting his head against the trunk of the nearest tree. The dull thud’s echo faded quickly, leaving Viktor with nothing but the sound of his breathing and the whoosh of blood in his ears. “Please…”

    Viktor- the name came as soft as a butterfly’s wing against his ears.

    With a start Viktor raised his head, ears swiveling every direction.

    Again, the call came, barely a whisper’s breath on the wind.

    Viktor’s very breath shook when he inhaled. “Who are you?”

    There was no response, just the incomprehensible whispers that told Viktor of the blue orb’s presence.

    Viktor blinked slowly before turning to look behind himself, once again greeted with the visage of the frosty blue clearing, and the floating blue orb.

    With a heavy sigh Viktor looked away, staring into the forest that stretched once more before him. He could run again, try to find a way, but he knew that he would only find the wall.

    Viktor’s claws dug into the ground and he stiffened. He was trapped, helpless to be privy to the amusement of the gods. He could run endlessly, and they would find humor in his pitiful attempts to escape, or he could turn and face their true game, admitting defeat and sinking to his knees in shame…

    Or…

    Viktor sprang.

    He gave no warning of his decision, or his choice of thoughts. Like a bullet he soared through the air, tearing into and through the blue orb before it could run away.

    The light scattered, bouncing back and forth like a moth caught in a jar.

    Viktor landed upon the frosted ground with a savage glint to his eye. The land, and the gods, did not hold him in their sway. His destiny was not for them to decide, and he would make his own fate.

    “Be gone!”

    Viktor howled, a sound so chilling and cold it made his own skin shiver. He had no interest in their games, he was not going to play.