The year is 943 after the first ascension, the fifth month. The ice that cowered the bay had all but thawed away and the snow still lingered where the shadows kept the sun at bay, the trees were thick and tall yet still swaying in the wind as though they were dancing with the spirits of spring. It was midday and the sun stood at its peak illuminating the world. This was the great village of Springbay named after days such as this one. Springbay had experienced a great deal of growth during the last decade and was on this day close to becoming a full-fledged city. the village´s most common source of income was its lucrative fishing but Springbay had also served as a navy base during the last holy war. Without ever letting a enemy ship enter the bay Springbay earned itself a reputation as a unconquerable marine bastion.

In this very bey the waves softly rock a small boat with two boys laughing as they talk and crack jokes. The first child is a strong looking child with blond hair and a healthy skin with freckles that seem to spread from his nose like the wings a bird. The freckles themselves would have looked odd but when looking into the eyes that they surround, eyes the truest of blue, it is instead a charming feature. The blond child wearing a jacket made of wool and processed fur, marking him of having some amount of standing in the village. His friend on the other hand is wearing a shirt made from bits and pieces from old furs, with multiple small holes that lets the wind chill his thin body. This child has dark hair filled with soot and filth, the boy was in fact cowered in filth as though he had been rolling in mud and manure for weeks. The one feature that made the boy seem like more than a rag on the ground was his eyes, for he had green eyes dark as the deepest of woods with a tinge of the lightest blue sprinkled like frozen stars.

Thus, the two boys with no clear similarities except for them both being 10 winters old were laughing to the point of tears until they heard a roar from the docks that made them sit strait and with terror plastered on their faces, slowly turning their gazes to the dock they saw a woman in her early forties fuming in anger while holding the hand of a young blond girl with snot running down her face. The woman fumed as she roared "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING! COME HERE AT ONCE!". In great haste the blond child took hold of the oars and started to travel back to the docks. On their way the dirty child snickered and said, "you are really in for it now Marcus." Marcus glared back at his friend and said "Oh, so you think Beorn isn't going to hear of this?" The child froze clearly not looking forward to the moment when Beorn found out. This child was Erik and Beorn was his guardian as well as his teacher, a strict one at that, or at least he used to be, and the very memory still instilled a great fear in the boy. Having arrived at the docks Marcus was sweating all over but Erik could not tell if it was due to rowing or due to his mother. Marcus´ mother was the wife of the chieftain and before that a famous and powerful shieldmaiden that served during the last holy war. Her name was Isolde, but everyone called her the blood-soaked fairy of the mist after she singlehandedly took down an entire squad of inquisitors from the south after they had burnt a village to the ground. The story went that she had been perched on a tree waiting to strike as her spiritual companion spread a thick mist around the camp of the holy men.

Isolde strode forward with powerful steps and used her free hand to lift Marcus by his ear and with a volume that bordered to screaming growled "Idiot! Fool! Why is it that when I ask you to care for your sister, I find her locked in a damned CHEST!!" Marcus didn't utter a word for he knew he really couldn't salvage this, they had been playing hide and seek but never found Mary, Marcus´ little sister, so when they grew tired of searching, they rowed out to fish instead. In the end it was Erik that spoke up "We are terribly sorry mam, we couldn't find her and though se had gone to sleep." Isolde´s attention now directed at Erik she simply scowled, not wanting to speak with the child until finally she turned to her son and asked, "Was he in my house?" her voice had steadily been going from a roar into a growl but this time it was crystal clear and cut like a blade. Her son again said not a word and Erik was the one who straightened his back and answered her question. "Yes, I have been in your house as I have been in the house of all my friends." Not saying a word Isolde let go of Marcus and grabbed Erik by his hair, lifting him to look in her eyes, articulating word for word, "I don't want filth in my home, especially not some filth that Beorn picked up in a storm." After saying her piece she threw Erik back in the small boat and left without looking back, dragging both her children behind her.

Falling into the boat would have been bad enough but instead Erik hit his back against the oars and tumbled over the side into the freezing water, sinking. Erik laid on the gravel filled sand and gazed up at the sun that constantly changed shape under the movement of the surface. The boy found a semblance of peace under the freezing water thinking that he should probably stay here forever. He closed his eyes after watching the air escape his lungs.

Feeling something wet against his face he started to move once more, slowly opening his eyes he saw a brown blur bouncing around him in glee. This brown blur was a young bear cub that had been with Erik for as long as he could remember. Beorn had taken care of them both for, well to Erik, always. Hearing the gleeful humming unique to a bear cub warmed Erik´s heart and he reached out to pet the cub, that instead buried itself under the furs covering the boy and rolling against his small body. Erik smiled and lovingly started to give the cub a belly rub with both hands due to the size of the cub. A curtain made from fur strings and feathers was opened to let the light in to the room. In the opening was a grizzled man in his sixties with a slouched back and a unkept appearance, this man was Beorn. Beorn was no longer the strong warrior of a decade before and had degraded into an old drunk spending his days in the tavern instead of in the battlefield. Beorn had once been a commander in the greatest shield wall ever formed, a man that demanded respect as well as fear from all. He had been a man of charisma, valour and most importantly strength, being a warrior in absolute peak of the mortal realm. Beorn opened his mouth and spoke with a voice that showed signs of once being deep and strong but now only rasped from have spent too much of his time getting drunk. "I heard that you drowned, guess Harold owes me a drink now." He looked at the young boy and cub making sure that they were alright before leaving. Alone with the bear cub that was bigger than him Erik sighed and tried to remember Beorn before he started drinking, feeling alone and abandoned the boy hugged his brown furred friend and started to sob.

After only minutes of sobbing he heard a distant crash, not sure what it was he started to search the room with his gaze. It was dark and humid with bottles strewn on the floor, the only thing that might once have held value was a rusted axe standing in the darkest corner. Confused Erik ran out with the cub following he started to look around the village, his curious gaze starting at the docks and slowly making its way up, up to the houses of the fisher men but seeing nothing out of the ordinary, only some old men cleaning the catch of the day and hanging the catch on hooks to dry. The cub behind his starting to salivate at the sight. The boy then started running up the hill instead and arrived at the smith, again there was nothing out of the ordinary only the sound of hammer beating steel and prized weapons hanging on display. Again, the child went further up the hill arriving at the market place, again nothing out of the ordinary. Starting to wonder if he had been mistaken, he looked around only to hear the crashing sound of thunder followed by the sound of screaming. This time people reacted, they turned their heads stopping what they had been doing and an eerie silence started to spread throughout the entire hill from the fort at the top all the way down to the fishermen at the sea. Then there was a third crash and this time the people at the marketplace saw something flying towards them quickly scattering as not to get hit. It landed with a thud breaking multiple stalls before finally stopping, Erik as well as everyone that could see shrieked at the sight of who it was. This was someone that they all knew and that most feared the one lying on the ground cowered in blood and dust was the one feared as the blood-soaked fairy of the mist.