"Aarrghh"
A dreadful scream tore through the camp ripping people out of their tents.
The next few moments after the scream was utter chaos.
Nobody knew who screamed or why.
All they knew was 'I have to get out of here'
Nobody even looked towards the direction of the scream and they all ran the opposite direction.
Naked couples abandoning their partner even after the abrupt separation from a heated intercourse, they didn't care.
At that moment , even though they had lost the gift of death, the fear of it still lingered and their survival instincts propelled them towards the opposite of danger.
Of course there were exceptions, some too weak to run, some too under developed to run while some totally uncaring about their lives...one of such example being the elder who taught the children the chant.
He stood in the middle of the pathway with an ugly expression on his face.
Ragnar was on his way running out of the camp when he saw the elder.
'what is he doing?'
He was about to curse the elder's 'stupidity' in standing still but then it hit him and he also stood still.
"Why didn't I think of that...ha..."
He palmed his face in exasperation and started walking towards the elder with his face burning from embarrassment.
"There's no need to be embarrassed"
The elder stated with a calm but deep voice.
Too calm
Ragnar stopped beside him staring at his face but couldn't tell what he felt wrong, so he turned to stare in the direction the elder had been looking at.
"What is going on elder?"
He asked quietly as he couldn't see anything but fog.
"...the fog"
The elder replied shortly.
Ragnar was puzzled 'its just a fog, what's with the hard expression and the overreaction, it's not like we can die from some cold '
Indeed it was fog, but slightly colder than a normal one.
The elder could tell what Ragnar was thinking from the stupid expression on his face and the constant twitching eyebrow.
The elder turned away from the fog and stared down at Ragnar as he asked
"Have you heard of "The winter" ?"
"Of course, it was my favourite season, the snow, the cold morning f..." Ragnar's voice trailed off as his face turned deathly pale and he immediately turned to run when a hand stopped him.
The elder nodded at his reaction.
"It seems you figured something your reaction is a perfect one, next time you see such a reaction from people you're staying with, follow the majority and don't stop for any reason"
He paused to be sure Ragnar was listening but Ragnar seemed to be disoriented .
His face was in a constant switch between despair and desperation. He wanted to be as far away from the apparition as possible.
It was totally understandable.
"The fog you see is just a sentry of the winter, something like a forerunner." He paused slightly then with a much lower voice "if the winter itself descends then we would have all been erased" The elder stated while Ragnar shuddered more heavily.
'Erased?...erased??.. I would be erased from just the stroll of an apparition?'
Since 'that day' , these could be said to be the first time Ragnar was in such a dangerous situation or close to a dangerous situation.
It was like a harsh wake up call, his beloved season, the beautiful winter, the enchanting snowy plains was now nothing but a harbinger of death...'erasure'.
"Wh..why are we still standing here then, what was that scream?". He was shaken.
His eyes were red , bulging from fear as he clung to the elder's cloak tightly.
The elder stared at him for sometime.
"Ragnar right? You see that? " He pointed at the fog that was just rolling in the distance just a few metres away from them.
"There are more of those, but do you know what's more? " He paused "There are different varieties of those, why? "
This time his eyes squinted to show how serious the matter was.
"There wasn't just one season, and around the world, there were more that fell even outside the categories of the four you know."
He straightened his back letting go of Ragnar's arm that he had held down for a while now.
This time in a more scholarly voice he continued...
" The horrors, the apparitions, the dread plagues, these are dangers you must avoid or overcome, so tell me Ragnar , what are the dangers you can't avoid?"
Ragnar was now sure something was definitely wrong with the whole situation.
He had asked a simple question and now he was receiving a full time crash course...'what the hell is this?? Let's just get out of here!!'
He was screaming in his mind while his eyes were fixed on the fog ahead of him, suddenly he felt a grip to his chin and face was forcefully turned to face the elder .
The elder pointed at himself.
"Me"
Then he pointed to the side towards the fleeing crowd .
"Them"
Then his finger poked Ragnar in the chest .
" you "
His back leaned forward bringing his face just inches away from Ragnar's who was just helplessly staring because his chin was still grasped tightly.
"we are the real dangers"
The elder stood straight once again making Ragnar exhale to release a little bit of tension from his shoulders.
" why are you here Ragnar?? "
The question came out of nowhere, making Ragnar stiffen once again.
"If I'm correct you're just an early teenager, so why are you here?". Ragnar's eyes contracted into thin needles , because he had been having this feeling that something was wrong and seeing the elder's constant change in expression made him realise that he might be in more danger than he originally thought.
" You didn't ascend, you survived the tribulations, you survived the torment and ...."
The elder scanned his body from head to toe with a slight smirk on his lips.
".....here you are with all limbs working properly, a good head on your shoulder, there are others who lost a limb or two, but you're not , so Ragnar tell me....should I trust you? Or....."
He paused bringing his lips closer to Ragnar's ear and with a whisper ".... Should you trust me?"
Ragnar's mind was screaming at him to run away but his body was locked firm from the grip of the elder and the fog kept creeping closer and closer.
The elder stood again and stared at him then continued.
"you know who I am.... I was sent from the north....."
"What???"*
Ragnar was stunned again, he didn't say 'survive' he said 'sent'
'what does that mean?..'
With that thought he started struggling to break free from the grip on his chin but the elder switch it to a firm lock on his neck.
The elder was gritting his teeth in rage .
His once calm gaze that held nothing but defiance and unsatisfaction was now replaced by pure madness.
He went from a solemn scholar to maniacal psychopath in just a split moment.
"You see Ragnar, I appreciate your thinking, you are smart, too smart for your age, with just a few words and you connect the dots of the situation it's really intriguing"
With that he turned and faced the North.
"YOU SEE ME!!?? " He yelled
"I KNOW YOU HEAR ME TOO!!".
His cracked and maddened voice echoed and rolled into the distance.
"I CALLED AND HE CAME, HE WILL TAKE ME AND BEFORE HE DOES, I'LL MAKE HIM TAKE EVERYONE HERE TOO,YOU DON'T WANT ME TO LEAVE, I'LL CHOOSE WHETHER TO LIVE OR DIE, YOU CAN'T HAVE ME DOING YOUR BIDDING ANYMORE !!!!HAHAHAHA!!"
'what is he talking about? Everyone else left, I'm the only stupid one ' Ragnar lamented within himself but then he couldn't help but shiver as his ears picked some noise from the direction the others ran towards.
It was then it occurred to him that the fog wasn't getting closer to them, it was spreading all around them and right now..... they've been surrounded.
"W..wh..why?..wa....are y... you...doi...this..nngh??