The battle against Hati and Skoll

Below is the continuation of my last blog entry where I describe how the two lineages of werewolves, the Hatians and the Skollians, started. Read the fight between Hati and Hundulf, Skoll and Ghodulf.

Days passed without the two warrior brothers being able to find any trace of Hati or Skoll. Not even in the villages they walked through did anyone know any information. Apparently, the attacks had stopped.

“Maybe they left the region.” suggested Ghodulf, as they went down another slope. This time they had to be careful with the strength of each of their steps, as their weight could make them slide down.

“I can't explain why, but I can't convince myself of that, brother. Do you know what I think? They are waiting for the Full Moon to attack again.”

Ghodulf sighed. He was starting to feel impatient for walking for days without finding any evidence of the presence of the two wolves. But it was very possible that his brother was right. And that wasn’t a comforting thought as he realized that the Full Moon was already the following day.

**

It was only a dark shadow at dusk, which disappeared through the bushes as quickly as it had appeared, but Hundulf and Ghodulf were sure that they were before the fearsome Hati and Skoll. Instinctively, they untangled themselves from their bags and furs to grab their arms. Hundulf was carrying the silver sword that shone with the light of the Full Moon. He had not been mistaken. He had never been able to detect the two lupines because, in fact, they did not release any scent. Even being just a few meters away from them, the two berserkers could not feel the faintest fragrance. Suddenly it crossed Hundulf’s mind that the two wolves could have been chasing them for days now, patiently waiting for the moon to round her shape in the sky and give them the strength they needed to become invincible. It was very possible that they wanted to catch them off guard, but Hundulf and Ghodulf had been suspicious of their intentions.

“Lean against me”. Hundulf asked his brother, who quickly took two steps back and glued his back against the other berserker's. Hati and Skoll, if they were still around, showed no sign of their presence.

“These are not normal wolves. They are devilsent.” snapped Hundulf, holding the silver sword firmly in his hands. “I'm sure they are watching us but not showing themselves. Show yourselves, cowards!”

A strange and disturbing calm enveloped the area. The two warriors didn't even dare breathe because the faintest noise could betray them. Suddenly, one of the two wolves walked forward slowly and menacingly towards Hundulf. He was huge, with dark gray fur, his amber eyes shining so brightly that it could be said the moon might be shining behind them. It was Hati. Hundulf pointed his sword at him.

“Come closer if you dare, monster!”

He hoped that the wolf would jump so he could hit him with the sword. However, Hati was smarter than that. He started walking around the two brothers, snarling and grunting frighteningly. Then Skoll emerged from Ghodulf's left side, taking a huge jump and knocking him down. Hundulf let out a roar as his brother screamed, lying on the floor. Skoll bit him and, despite being in the boot, his huge and sharp canines were able to pierce the berserker's skin. He took his sword and wieled it against Skoll, but the wolf escaped from the blow. Hundulf tried to help his brother, but Hati approached him so menacingly that he had no choice but to let Ghodulf at the mercy of his own luck. He had to face the other canid. However, Hati was clever enough to take advantage of Hundulf's second of distraction to jump on him. He failed to knock him down, but he sank his teeth on his right forearm, forcing him to drop the silver sword. Hundulf growled in pain and anger.

“Damn you, creature from hell!”

Blood gushed and stained the snow. Hundulf managed to grab Hati by the neck and squeezed him with all the strength he had, forcing him to let go of his arm. Then he witnessed Hati being hit by Ghodulf's axe. The berserker was attempting to break the wolf’s skull, but because the axe was not a silver one, it did nothing more than stun the beast for a moment.

“Watch out your enemy.” Hundulf roared.

He was right to warn his brother because Skoll jumped on Ghodulf's back and sank his jaws into his neck. Hundulf hit him, but soon Hati again took advantage of the distraction to launch himself against him, knocking him down as well. The berserker, however, managed to turn around in time to hold his jaws and thus prevent him from biting his neck as well. Besides him, Ghodulf moaned. From the corner of his eye, Hundulf could see that the blood was pouring out of him; Ghodulf was badly injured and if the battle did not end quickly and he did not receive help, he would lose his life.

“No!” the irascible Hundulf roared at the terrible thought of losing his brother. Fury welled up in his chest and he opened Hati's jaws further. The creature seemed to choke. It tried to breathe but couldn't. Finally, a crack sound echoed around the whole area and the whine of pain was such and so loud that it would stay forever with anyone who had listened to it. Hundulf had just broken Hati's jaw. He let go and Hati walked away whining and snarling. Hundulf took the silver sword. He had to make use of that moment to kill Hati, before the wolf recovered. However, Skoll had dropped Ghodulf and launched himself against Hundulf without, however, biting him. Hundulf, although injured, managed to grab him and push him to the ground. He couldn't waste another second. He grabbed the silver sword before Hati's terrified and hateful look, and as he was preparing to sink it into the wolf's heart, he heard his brother's weak voice:

“Stop it, Hundulf. He's hurt, he can't do us any more harm. Spare him, he is helpless.”

But such a plea only increased Hundulf’s anger. He had never spared a ferocious enemy and those damned wolves would be no exception. He raised his sword again and before Hati's look of hatred and fear, he sank it over the heart of the wolf. Hundulf would never forget his roar of pain and the way Hati looked him in the eye when he died. Hatred, resentment, anguish and fear all came together in the beast’s eyes. Hundulf removed the bloody sword from Hati's limp body. He still had to kill Skoll. However, when he looked at the wolf, he realized that something had happened while he was distracted by Hati. Ghodulf was laying on the floor, his eyes lifeless. He was dead. Skoll, by his side, had undergone an enormous transformation. He no longer looked like the vicious wolf that had been fighting the berserkers all that time. He looked at Hundulf in the eyes and the warrior felt a strange feeling inside him. He looked into the wolf's eyes too.

“By Odin!” he growled, falling on his knees. “You have my brother's eyes. What did you do to him, monster?”

Skoll looked at him with a mixture of suspicion and friendship. Hundulf was unaware that such magic could exist, but he had no doubt that Ghodulf's spirit was now inside that wolf’s body. The gods had reasons that humans could not understand yet. Hundulf took the silver sword. Whether his brother's spirit was inside the beast or not, Hundulf had to finish his mission and kill Skoll. The wolf, however, looked at him pitifully and fled, disappearing through the bushes.

“Damn all wolves!” Hundulf growled in agony and pain.

He was possessed by rage and revolt. After all they had done, after all the effort, how could it be that his brother’s spirit had joined the enemy’s to become one? He looked at Hati's motionless body. There was still something left to be done. Hundulf would unleash all his anger on skinning the dead wolf. Since he had failed to kill Skoll, he had to put on Hati's skin and prove that he had been capable of killing the terrible enemy. He took his bronze knife and began to separate the pelt from Hati's skull. He had already lost count of the number of animals he had skinned, so that wolf wasn’t particularly difficult. He separated the pelt from the neck, legs and trunk and finally the tail until Hati was just a pile of bloody mass. Hundulf himself had not bothered to wipe the slimy, shiny blood that stained his hands, arms and even his face. He put the freshly skinned pelt on him and smiled in triumph. He roared in victory and raised his sword in the air, towards the sky. But the wolf's pelt suddenly seemed to take on a life of its own. Much to the berserker’s horror, the pelt started to stick to his own skin. Hundulf grunted in surprise and despair. What was happening to him? It was as if he was turning into the wolf he had just killed and skinned. He pulled out his knife to try to separate Hati's skin from his, but all he managed was to wound himself. The furry, gray pelt of Fenrir's odious son stuck to him in such a way that Hundulf realized that he could never remove it without putting an end to his own life.