Eote - Chapter 11

As Loki ran through the entrance of the tree house expecting Rykar to have made his way into the distance, he looked around quickly to determine the direction but failed to catch sight of him.

“Ahem.” An exaggerated cough came from behind him, causing Loki to jump before spinning around wildly before attempting to steady himself and maintain whatever composure he had left. Finishing his turn, he was confronted with Rykar’s smug face as he had his back leaning against the tree.

Loki’s face flared as he realised that Rykar had deliberately rushed out of the door before concealing himself next to the entrance which would be Loki’s blind spot when he rushed out in chase.

“Don’t look so happy with yourself, it’s not like you even scared me. I only turned around because I thought I dropped an arrow.” Loki spat the words out before directly turning away and marching away with heavy feet.

“Mmmmhmmmm yeaaahhhh… You might want to check again, I think you dropped your balls back there with your arrow hahahah” Sticking close, Rykar followed behind while jeering towards his brother but no reply came as Loki refused to admit to anything.

Walking through the forest one after the other, Rykar had still been teasing loki despite it having been over half an hour after taking his brother by surprise. There was no way he would pass up the chance to milk this.

After having bathed and maintaining their clothing, the boys had a completely different look about them than they had when they were last in the village. Flawlessly smooth grey skin covered their bodies without a trace of the blemishes and sores that covered them in the past.

Upper bodies now exposed, they disassembled the fragmented skins and cloth that used to cover them in order to create pants that, while being patchwork designs, offered much more coverage and security while being more intact. Some of the remining cloths from their previous garments had also been used to wrap their feet, functioning as makeshift shoes that made their steps more comfortable and muffled.

Now free from the grime that once plagued their skin, striking black tattoos could be found crawling along their right arms, forming complete sleeves. The darkness of the tattoos showed a depth to them that only seemed comparable to their waist length hair. The darkness seemed so thick that it gave the impression that they were formed from three dimensional black holes, allowing you to stick your finger through the surface and into an endless space.

Rykar’s tattoo depicted a winding dragon, twisting in and out of space while devouring entire worlds as though swallowing marbles. The Stars themselves were dwarfed by its gargantuan size, only serving as sustenance to its majesty as it tore chunks out of the void for its sustenance. Wings enveloped the cosmos as the image came to life, it felt as though by inspecting it for long enough, one would feel drawn into the image while being suffocated by its might.

On the other side, Loki’s featured a myriad of creatures and people, there were hundreds of forms of all different shapes and sizes which were all presented in the same black texture, as though three-dimensional silhouettes. Sprawled across his arm, they all bore a feeling of servitude as they were bound together by complex chains which wove through and around them tightly, constricting their wills.

Despite being different in essence and design, dominance and oppression radiated from both their right arms indiscriminately.

Combined, their skin, primal clothing, equipment, tattoos and eyes truly caused them to look more like beasts than humans. While running through the woods freely, they could easily be mistaken as phantoms or spirits, scaring people witless.

. . .

Hearing low rustling noises within a brush ahead of them, the twins pause before crouching low the ground. Slowing their movements, they began to crawl across the ground while holding their breaths, afraid that even breathing may scare off their dinner and ruin their first hunt.

While Rykar unfurled his net, readying himself to toss it at any moment, Loki removed his bow from his back and swiftly knocked an arrow as he had done many a time within the tree house. His movements were steady and silent, completely the opposite to the traces of sweat that were beginning to reveal themselves on his forehead.

This wasn’t simply the pressure of a first hunt for either of them, it was a precious chance to upstage the other. If one jumped the gun and scared the creature away, the other would take the piss for god knows how long while the former could only suck up the shame. If one of them waited too long, the creature could be snatched away and once again, bragging rights would be gone.

Extra pressure was mounted atop Loki’s head as he had already taken a loss from Rykar before the hunt had even started and he was still bitter inside, swearing to himself is arrow would hit its mark.

*SNAP”

Despite moving slowly, Rykar carelessly stepped forward onto a twig which caused a crisp snap to cut through the air. All sounds stopped as the boys stopped moving and the rustling within the brush completely disappeared.

“F*ck” Rykar swore internally while Loki felt as though a weight had left his shoulders. With Rykar already having ruined the perfect opportunity, there was no need to hesitate. He released his arrow into the bushes without having gained sight of whatever was within, not caring whether he was met with success or failure.

After all, if he missed then it was now completely fine. He could just push the blame onto Rykar, saying he’d startled the animal and causing it to run away. If he hit it, then that would be even better seeing as he would have saved the day after a stupid mistake had been made on his brother’s part.

Loki was beaming with anticipation as he watched the arrow leave the bowstring, whizzing directly into the bush with a whistle.

What came after was a dull thud which was then followed by a high pitched whine. Loki was ecstatic as he laughed towards his brother “May as well have left your net at home”. He Jeered while praising himself to the high heavens in his head.

However the whining was quickly replaced with a low growl as a muzzle protruded from the leaves, followed by bloodshot eyes. Frozen, the twins looked on petrified as their next encounter with a wolf came to be much sooner than they had thought possible. Teeth bared, the fury on its face was blatant alongside the arrow which was protruding from its rear end.

Without giving them time to retreat, the wolf dashed forward and leapt through the air, its fangs parted and claws extended with the full intention of ripping straight through Loki.

Instinct kicked in without warning. Seeing the wolf was initiating its jump, Rykar had already began to spin on the spot, gathering momentum while swinging the net in his arms. After twisting in a full circle, he raised his arms and flung the net towards the wolf which was still hanging mid-air. The net landed dead centre while entangling the wolf’s fore legs and muzzle leaving it helpless.

The glory of the leap had turned into a mess of fur and rope as both the wolf and the net fell from the sky while smacking Loki dead in the chest, knocking the air out of him as he was buried.

Still running on adrenaline, Rykar rushed to his brother’s aid, raining kicks and punches onto the wolf’s side and head. Attacking anywhere he could in a brutal manner which resulted in dull thuds and whimpers as the beast struggled helplessly within the net. Much less moving its limbs, it wasn’t even able to open its mouth much due to the restraints as it lay helplessly on top of Loki.

Unknown as to when, Loki then managed to worm his way out from under the wolf’s body while it was under the barrage of attack before adding to the assault with his own fists.

The whimpers were getting more and more high pitched as the wolf came to the understanding of what fate had in store for it. It had all but given up as Rykar stopped attacking it only to take a step back as he drew his daggers from his waist.

Loki then followed suit, taking just a step back while hesitating, unsure of whether to continue attacking or whether it was safe to evaluate the situation at hand.

Looking at the wolf beneath him, wounded and clearly crying out, he hesitated. He couldn’t let it go, could he? He began thinking of ways that they could take the net back and possibly all walk away from this alive It was them that attacked first after all right?

The fact of the matter was, they knew they didn’t want to take its life. Maybe before, but how could he kill something that was clearly begging for its life? It wasn’t so long ago that he had been in the reverse of this, that feeling of hopelessness and heart stopping fear that came with not knowing whether this was the end.

“Don’t.” Loki uttered with a weird tone. He had now retraced his steps and was once again standing directly over it, dangerously closely as though he was listening to its breaths. “I mean doesn’t it sound like its begging?”

“I don’t know, I think its just hurt. Can we really jut let it go? No way I’m letting it out of the net and that’s the last of the rope?” In between ragged breaths, Rykar began to voice his doubts but he soon noticed that Loki wasn’t even paying much attention to him. More like he was talking to himself.

Loki’s eyes were staring at the wolf still but now then were vacant. It was as though he was staring past the wolf and into nothingness. To Ryar, it looked as though he had started day dreaming in this critical situation but to Loki, he had felt something stirring within him which he was trying with all of his focus to grab onto. As though a part of him had revealed itself for a brief second before trying to submerge itself one again.

“Lets make a deal.” In his dream like state, Loki continued with a firm but mysterious voice. It sounded almost playful even.

“Are you taking the piss, I just saved your ass and you’re still on about this b*llshit? Theres no-” Once again, Rykars voice trailed off as he received no response from his brother. Not even a glance. His brother had a habit of taking to himself but this wasn’t a monolog unless, he was talking to the wolf?

His brother going loopy and talking to the wolf which had tried to kill him was the last of Rykar’s worries. He rubbed his as he thought he saw Loki’s tattoo begin to twist..?

It wasn’t as though his arm was twisting or that this was a trick of the light. The chains within his tattoo literally began to squirm on his arm as they came to life. As they danced across his arm, wrapping and interlocking each other, a black mist was being emitted, slowly taking form before trailing down to his palm and condensing into the shape of a book.

After materialising, the book was only large enough to fill his hand. It was incredibly light, all but weightless as though it wasn’t even there, yet Loki was able to feel every detail down to the rough leather texture of the grey cover. The page within were black and as the book spread open across his palm, they were revealed to be empty without a word or image in sight.

From there onward everything ran as though by instinct.

There was no surprise or confusion from Loki as he began to feel a connection between himself and the wolf. He had no idea when this was established yet It was there. Something he could sense, yet something that he could find no traces of whatsoever. Nothing but a feeling.

“You’ll belong to me. You’ll do as I wish. You’ll become my possession, and in exchange, your life will be spared” The words flew from his mouth almost by themselves, each word was spoken clearly. Despite his tone not being loud, the words seemed to vibrate as they hit the ears, carrying a compulsive charm to them as the wolf looked on with clear eyes showing glimmers of understanding flickering within.

“Do we have a deal?”