Chapter 2 – Cold Wind of Death

Cold. That was the sensation he first felt. Though not like the cold of ice. It was the cold of nothingness.

"So… I died then?" he thought.

Then came a burning sensation on his chest.

He wanted to scream but he couldn't. He opened his eyes but there was nothing. Then it came. A sudden burst of light then howling white wind.

Snow.

The cold came back but this time it was the familiar type he knew. He was surrounded, or rather, buried, in snow. He sat up and looked around him. He was in the middle of a snow storm god-knows-where.

"I'm supposed to be dead…"

For a while, he could only be confused. But as he grew colder, he immediately realized his predicament. If he's not dead, the storm would make sure of that. He couldn't see anything through the thick cover of white but he had to move and find shelter. He took out his phone to see if he had any signal, but there was none. He was on his own.

Seconds, minutes, maybe hours passed and the landscape was yet to change.

"Hell must have frozen over because this is damn sure proving itself as such."

He kept walking for long while then felt dumb for not noticing earlier. He wasn't freezing.

Sure, he felt the cold but he should be dead staying that long out in negative temperature, even while wearing a thick denim jacket and the laptop bag on his back. He could move his fingers perfectly and he didn't feel stiff anywhere.

"What the fuck?" That was it. By then, he was convinced he was either dead stuck in hell or a zombie. He was inches deep in snow and was covered by it. If any living being were to see him, he'd be mistaken as a snow monster or an upright walking polar bear.

He felt the burning sensation in his chest once more, but milder. "What...?" He opened his shirt and touched what felt like a solid engraving on his chest. He couldn't see what it clearly is but he can only assume that it had something to do with his current situation.

Alien abduction, government experiment, or perhaps sent to another world by God. As he continued on, his mind filled with the possible reasons for his situation. There was also the voice he heard before he lost consciousness. What happened to Angela? Was she safe? Did the police arrive? He might not ever know.

After a while longer, the storm had weakened and he could see a set of lights moving in the distance. He walked faster to find a group of people moving in the snow. They wore poorly woven leather and fur clothing with some kind of wooly horse dragging a lot of cargo between them. One of which had the carcass of 2 deer and a bear, creatures he knew belonged on Earth. Being closer also showed that they seemed to be European but slightly different from the Europeans he knew. Upon seeing that the group were in fact human, he breathed a sigh of relief. He can find civilization now. However, his relief quickly became worry as he was noticed by one of the group's lookouts.

"Vad ar det dar?!"

"Vodedar?" he asked himself wondering what language it was. At the same time, he felt the burning sensation once more.

"Odjur! Odjur! Od-ster!" the lookout continued to shout. "Redo for str-ttle!"

Slowly, the unknown language started becoming understandable. "Fighters to the front! Women and cargo men, stand back!"

It was a dicey situation. One wrong move and he might end up chopped to pieces. They were coming closer and he could only gamble on a possibility. "WAIT!" he shouted as he put his hands up. His gamble was right. The word was clearly not English, he spoke whatever language the group had used.

"I'm not a odjur(monster)!" Whatever he said, the group had halted in their approach and replied, "Who are you? There's not supposed to be any settlement nearby."

Settlement? Is this place so far up the wilderness that there isn't a city or town nearby? He thought of what would be a good answer to give.

"I'm a traveler from farther down. I lost my group to an attack of wild animals while we were camped. I'm the only survivor." He said it loud enough for everyone in the vicinity to hear.

"From what settlement?" This time he knew that he could not mess up the answer. They were ready to pounce on him the moment he gave a wrong answer. The engraving warmed up once more and he was hoping it would give him his answer but no. Instead, he started hearing distant footsteps on the snow. It was quick but strong and definitely headed towards their direction.

"Hurry up and answer," said the man now readying his weapon. It seemed inevitable for him to flee. He only had to wait. "IT'S THE DEMONS!" the lookout back at the main group suddenly shouted. He could see it now. There were humanoid beings sprinting towards the group despite the thick snow.

Noticing their sudden panic, he bolted towards the opposite side; down the now visible slope towards a clearing between trees.

"Damn. Protect the cargo! Don't let those monsters take them!" the leader shouted.

Upon reaching the clearing he looked back to see a one-sided fight as the group were quickly defeated despite their superior numbers. The demons as the lookout had called them, looked human but their strength and movements were definitely not human.

Sensing danger if he remained, he started running faster towards a cluster of trees and hopefully make it into the forest. There, he might have a chance to outrun any pursuer.

There were five of them in total and he heard two sets of footsteps running towards him as he rushed inside the foliage.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit." He exclaimed repeatedly as he sprinted and vaulted over fallen trees and foliage.

The engraving burned once more; this time more intense. In a split second, he saw that he was hit by a blade from behind. Trusting his vision and instincts, he moved a little towards the side and what looked like a small throwable sickle had hit a log he would have been in front of if he didn't move.

"WHUTZEFUCK!!!!" He kept running and kept having similar visions. He would keep moving as needed to avoid what was thrown at him. "Give me a fucking break!!!"

After a few seconds, the footsteps disappeared. He stopped momentarily to take a breath and take a look behind. There was no sign of any pursuer. No footsteps of any kind, only the rustling of leaves and trees.

"Wait… rustling?" he murmured to himself. Despite the lack of strong wind, leaves continued to rustle. He then heard the branches of the trees around creak slowly and he saw a vision of the two pursuers striking from both sides above him. He jumped forward as strong as he could, bolting ahead once more. But something was wrong. The moment he jumped forward he saw another vision conflicting with the other. Instead of an attack from above, he was hit by a dart on his shoulder. He was in the middle of the jump and his attempt of dodging the dart proved to be difficult, hitting his shoulder.

He immediately felt limp at his side so it most likely contained poison and he would probably collapse soon. "Come on vision, give me a saving grace." Following his request, he then saw a vision of jumping off the nearby cliff. It wasn't like the others, which were warnings of impending danger. He could only assume that it's something he should do. "Well, I'll be damned. I trusted you so far and if that's not the case, I won't give these guys the satisfaction of the kill." The pursuers had jumped off their perch and were approaching.

With his remaining strength, he stood up and smirked towards the two. "Heh. Adios, assholes."

He sprinted with all his might then jumped. What awaited him was the freezing embrace of death.