A Mountain of Fire

by Marius Thue

  “Who calls you that, may I ask?” The disdain in Helok’s voice is clear.

  “Mostly himself, I guess!” Thorkar exclaims. The men all chuckle as silently as possible. No one dares to poke fun at Grym, except for Thorkar and Helok.

  The story does not take away their focus, but animal tracks are more difficult to find this time around. Close to the day’s end, they find what they have been searching for.

  “Deep, wide tracks. Buck, without a doubt.” Thoke bends down and drags his hand over the snowy imprint. This makes for an easy decision, so they simply begin to follow the tracks.

  The sun has fallen low and it will not be long until it sets. Thoke holds a hand up against the horizon. About six fingers until sunset, he thinks. They have to speed up, but a short break has become necessary. Everyone is in peak physical form, but even these guys get tired after a while.

  “A short break now, men. We'll push onwards soon enough,” Thoke commands.

  “The old must rest their legs, I guess. We can get this buck ourselves easy, Thoke. Leave the old ones behind,” Dorkas jests.

  “Sit down, now,” Thorkar growls. This late in the day, they must stay together at all times. If they lose each other when the darkness comes, it could be really bad indeed.

  The hunters are soon back on their feet. The tracks lead them to a large frozen lake. As the deer moves slowly across the ice, it seems like a mere pebble from where they stand. The high antlers can still be seen, however. This is clearly a large animal.

  Thoke knows it will be difficult to bring the deer down out here; there is simply nowhere to hide. In an open area like this, the deer is just too fast for them. Thoke decides they will stalk the animal from a distance so it won’t spook but close enough not to lose it from sight.

  They keep three arm’s-length of distance between each other. At this time of year, the lake could be frozen solid, but at the same time one can never be sure. To be safe, it is wisest to spread their weight out.

  Thoke looks over at Skarn as a cold breeze flows across the lake. His long blond hair sways in the wind. He ties it up in a ponytail, like their father has done. They often keep some strips of hide handy in case they need it, as they often seem to do.

  The wind picks up speed and begins to blow snow up in the air. Before they know it, the deer is out of sight. The snow whisking around them, and they suddenly find themselves in the middle of an intense blizzard.

  It doesn't take long until the storm surrounds them entirely. The snow is now so thick in the air they can no longer see each other. Thoke spots a blurry shadow in the distance. He cries out, but no sound seems to pass his lips. This storm is unusually loud. That is not the only strange thing, though; the wind doesn't seem to blow in any particular direction, but instead whirls around in circles. Thoke realizes they have to get off this lake and find shelter fast, but he can't figure out which way to run. Desperately, he tries to call his fellow hunters.

  “Father! Skarn! Dorkas! Where are you?”

  He still can't hear himself yelling. The wind now blows with a high-pitched whistle. Snow and ice pelts his face hard. It burns against his skin. With his left hand, he covers his face, and with the right, he searches blindly for one of his companions.

  The wind rushes so forcefully that Thoke can't even remain standing. Abruptly, he gets pushed to the icy ground. Lying on his back, he’s blinded by a bright light from above. It is as if the sun has fallen down into the storm, shining without heat. Quickly he averts his eyes from the painful light. To his side he sees a dark figure walking toward him.

  It gets closer and closer. Thoke feels like he must hold on to the ground to prevent from being flung into the air. Right before it reaches him, his eyes turn heavy. The white snow and burning light fades away as everything gets darker. The figure reaches for him, and then everything goes pitch black.

  CHAPTER 3

  Thoke opens his eyes. Everything remains dark. His entire body aches. He tries to move, but he's stuck. Panic spreads across his chest and into his throat. He can barely draw in his breath. With a howl, he tears himself free from the snow that covers him completely. Snow flies everywhere, and Thoke gasps for air. Something isn't right. He's absolutely freezing. He looks down and realizes his pelts are gone. He's completely naked!

  Thoke rubs his chest to get some heat back into it. His legs remain deep in the snow. He looks around and discovers he's no longer on the frozen lake; it's not even within sight. Everything he sees around him is either snow or rock. How on earth did he end up out here, buried in snow? He can't possibly have blown all the way here from the lake. Thoke struggles to come to grips with this.

  The weather has turned for the better again. It's warm and the sun remains high in the sky. Thoke's body aches something fierce, all the way to his bones. He cringes for a bit and tries to stretch out his arms and legs.

  Thoke calls out the names of the other hunters several times but receives no reply. It's completely silent out here. The storm must have buried them all, he thinks. A calm wind whisks up some snow over the top of a hill that’s next to him. He drags his legs out of the snow and runs up to have a look.

  It hurts just to move. Something really wrong must have happened here. The frozen lake is nowhere to be seen, but he glimpses a campsite in the distance. It could be their own camp. The others must have gone back there, or will do so soon. Cold and confused, Thoke begins wandering home.

  Quite a while later, he finally gets there. He can still see the tracks they left when they went out for the hunt. The storm could not have blown all the way here. As he approaches the camp, naked and cold, he realizes something is wrong here too.

  No one is there. No sounds or movement. “Mother! Tseena! Where are you?” He runs around the camp in despair, opening all the huts and peering inside while calling out all the names he knows. The huts as well as the snow caves are completely abandoned. Meat still hangs on small sticks over a snuffed-out campfire. They all just left in the middle of preparing it. Something must have scared them off. Another tribe perhaps? Thoke ponders the idea for a bit.

  As he slowly steps around the campsite, he can see that they must have left in a hurry because all their gear still remains. Spears are scattered around, and someone seems to have been cleaning a fresh pelt.

  Thoke can't make sense of this. Shouldn’t there be blood or signs of a struggle? And if another tribe drove them off, why did they not loot the camp? His despair spreads and grows, but then he realizes they must have left clear tracks for him to follow. Vigorously, he runs around the edge of the camp looking for footprints.

  After a couple of laps, the only tracks leaving the camp are those of his hunting party. How could they abandon the camp without leaving any footprints? Sad, tired, and confused, he collapses inside his parents hut. He finds some of his father’s old pelts and puts them on before drifting off to sleep.

  Thoke is still fast asleep at sunrise. He's woken by noises outside. Or was that part of his dream? His body no longer aches and he’s warm. Not what he would expect this early in the morning. Excited for what might be, he skips out of the hut, only to see a couple of crows nibbling at the meat sitting over the nonexistent fire.

  The disappointment is indescribable. Where does he go from here? Everything and everyone he's ever known was right here when he left. Out by the edge of his own hut, he spots something familiar in the snow. It's his deer-rib necklace. Tseena must have dropped it out here.

  He picks it up and stands there, looking at it for a while before carefully tying it around his neck. He must find them. There are only two options: wait here for anyone to come back or follow the hunting party’s tracks back to the frozen lake. He decides for the latter. Maybe he can find some clues there.

  He can walk with a faster pace now that he's not hunting. Around midday he gets to the edge of the lake. The footprints end a ways into it. There's no sign of the other hunters, though. The disappointment stings in his chest. Could they all really just
have disappeared?

  None of this makes sense. Maybe the gods came down and devoured them overnight? Disappointment and despair begins to turn into grief. With heavy legs, he decides to find a high point nearby. He might just sit there until he spots someone.

  After walking for a while, he loses sight of the lake, but without knowing, he stumbles upon some footprints in the snow. These are definitely human, and it appears they walked barefoot. A fresh optimism spreads within him, and he runs like a child along the trail.

  The glimmer of hope only begins to spark before being crushed once more. He realizes who these footprints belong to-himself, from yesterday. These will lead him back to the campsite. All he can do now is walk around until he spots something else. Giving up will do him no good. Thoke turns around and follows the tracks backwards toward where he woke in the snow. His answers might be buried out there, just like he was.

  Back where he began a day ago, Thoke climbs a steep cliff nearby, where he might see if any of the other hunters have popped up around here too. Thick clouds gather above, so he must hurry before the snow begins to fall.

  After making a long climb, he finally gets to a flat plateau far up into the mountain. The sight that meets him is one he probably will never forget. It's some kind of strange shiny rock. He holds up a hand so as not to be blinded by the bright light emanating from it. Somehow, he can't quite take his eyes off it, though.

  He stands there glaring at it. What could it be? Some kind of giant misshaped boulder? It's at least two men in height and over double in width and length. The longer he looks at it, the more certain he becomes that this cannot be a boulder. Maybe a star fell down and landed here. He has never seen a fallen star before, so maybe this is how they look.

  As he carefully steps closer, the lights begin to flicker and dim. He drops his hand down and sees that it has the coloring of some type of dark rock. It might be made of flint, with the way it appears to be smooth and shiny in some places yet pointy in others.

  Most of it is smooth, however, and it has a long stripe around the middle, moving across its side. It's out of this stripe the light flickers then dies off. It appears to be cracked at the middle and rests at the edge of the plateau with one part hanging slightly off the edge.

  Thoke leans over and places his hand on its smooth surface. Gently, he glides his hand along its side as he makes his way to the cracked part. It does kind of feel like flint, he thinks, but perhaps even smoother. It feels good, like some rocks one would find in the river or in the ocean perhaps. His best guess remains on the flint, however.

  He walks along, dragging his hand behind him. When he reaches the crack, he notices that it's hollow inside. There seems to be something in there, blinking fiercely, as if hundreds of stars are stuck in the center of it.

  Suddenly, he recalls having seen something like this before, right after the blizzard. But what was it? He can only remember a short glimpse; it slips away as he tries to hold on to the memory. His head hurts from those thoughts. He rubs his eyes with his fingers to keep the headache away, like maybe his eyes are broken and he can rub away the strange vision. He decides to step inside and check. He might remember more once in there.

  As he puts his foot over a sharp ledge, a high-pitched noise comes from further in the rock. It resembles the terrifying sound of an avalanche, only he's inside it. Abruptly the crack breaks wider, and Thoke has to throw himself back out.

  The part of the rock that hung across the ledge of the mountain drags the rest with it as it tumbles down the cliff. Thoke flings himself to safety, lying down on his stomach. Peering over, he sees the lights flicker below as the flint-like rock crashes into the ice. It lands in a partially frozen pond. Slowly, it glides under the surface, and the lights disappear into the dark water.

  Thoke remains there, shaken and confused. His mind can't even begin to wrap itself around this. Was that truly a star? He has heard stories about stars falling from the sky. Maybe the storm tore it down or perhaps it made the storm as it fell.

  Thoke sits up and tries to remember what happened in the blizzard, but all he can recall are those blinking lights. His mother had told him the gods themselves sail across the stars in their boats. Could this rock be theirs? Maybe they, too, were victims of the blizzard and crashed here, where there is nothing to float in. The gods are the most powerful of all, that he knows, but even they cannot fight the wind. He sits there until the black of night covers him, pondering about stars and gods. Snow starts to trickle down from above.

  Later in the night, he jolts awake. He cannot even remember having fallen asleep. Exhaustion must have made him drift off, but now he feels sharp and full of energy. With all he's been through these last few days, he feels surprisingly well. Come to think of it, he hasn't even eaten since they went out for the hunt. He's wandered great distances, waded in snow, and even climbed a mountain without even eating a single mouthful. No water has passed his lips either.

  While he sits on top of the plateau, still pondering, his glance catches a star shining exceptionally bright. It moves around up there from left to right, getting even brighter. The clouds are gone, and the moon is half full. The light sometimes flickers and go up and down. Thoke sits mesmerized, staring up. He cannot tear his eyes away from it.

  After moving around for some time, the light turns and shoots toward the horizon. This must be the gods floating in one of their boats. “The gods move across the stars in their boats. Their torches appear in flashes of light as they go,” he can hear his mother say in the back of his mind. “Sometimes, they come down to Earth to be with us humans,” she continues as if she was there with him.

  Perhaps it's true, he thinks. Maybe the gods float between the stars in shining rocks, like the one that fell. Just like a fisherman that glides across the water in his sealskin boat. Maybe they don't really need torches when they have shining rocks.

  They could have taken his tribe with them. His mother also said they bring humans up there sometimes. She would know; they gave her blond hair and icy-blue eyes, after all.

  The light slows down, still moving toward the horizon. After some time it must land. If only Thoke could just keep it within sight. He pounces up and runs full speed after it. He strains every muscle in his body, as if he can feel the blood pumping through his limbs. If the gods land, he must be close to them.

  He moves faster and faster as he pushes himself as hard as he can. He's running so fast down the steep hillside, he can barely keep his balance. As he reaches a stony, ice-covered, somewhat flat area, the speed at which he travels makes him shake. This is simply too fast. How is he even doing this?

  Even now, on a flat terrain, it feels as if he's running full speed downhill. He tries to slow himself down, but it almost makes him stumble. He's going way too fast. A deep canyon approaches, and there is no way he can stop in time. The only thing to do is jump to the other side. It's too far across, though. He will never make it, but he has to try. He pushes himself even harder and still gains speed. With a jump, he flings himself into the air.

  For a heartbeat, it feels as if he can fly. With his long black hair flowing in the wind, he screams joyfully. If he keeps this up, he will catch the light in no time at all.

  The joyful feeling ends abruptly as he realizes the truth of it. His scream turns into one of terror. The ground approaches fast. Thoke avoids the ground, but slams right into a cliff on the other side. His screams now turn into those of pain and agony.

  He sits up and brushes off snow and dirt. At least he made it over to the other side. He's a little tender here and there, but otherwise his body seems fine. A feeling of wonder flows through him.

  “What's happened to me?” he whispers, looking down at his legs. “I should be dead.” He looks up at the wall of rock he just smashed into.

  He must test this further, check these new limits. He runs over a rocky plain, passing each boulder with ease. He jumps up on one, clearing twice his own height with ease. Then he skips over to the
next boulder and another after that. He screams with joy again. This feels amazing.

  He's not quite steady, however, and he struggles to measure distances and figuring out how far he's actually capable of jumping. Some falls and missteps follow, but nothing can keep him still for long.

  The rocks become smaller, and then only the flat plain of tundra lies before him. He feels as light as air when he nearly flies past snow and heather. A plume of white follows him closely. For a long time, he runs without stopping, but eventually he does to catch his breath. He sits down to rest his legs. The caribou skins under his feet are torn and ragged. He looks up and spots the moving light again. In all the excitement, he seems to have forgotten his purpose. Thoke draws in a deep breath and resumes his chase.

  After having been running on and off for days, he has to concede defeat. In a flash, the light shoots off and disappears in the distance. Sometimes it felt like he almost caught up to it, but it was probably wishful thinking. For the first time in days, Thoke doesn't know what to do. A wave of thoughts wash over him, ones he wishes to be without.

  He finds a small cave close by. Surrounded by the cold black rock, Thoke feels safe. The cave is not high enough to stand in, but he can sit upright. It's about a man’s height deep as well as a man’s width. He lies down and can barely stretch out his feet.

  For the first time in his life, Thoke is all alone. He was alone for almost a whole day once, when he had gone out to hunt on his own. Now it's been more days than he has been able to keep track of. Even the light in the sky is now lost to him.

  He sits up and looks out at the clear winter night. Countless stars speckle the sky. Deep into the night, he remains seated, gazing up at the sky, wondering about what might be out there. Somewhere out there something exists, something that changes some people and makes others disappear. It must be the gods, whoever they are, Thoke thinks. He vows that one day he will find this light and make them give him back his family.