At the Break of Dawn

He who is the sleeping god.

I dwell in the Eternal Frost Cave. I am the one they call the sleeping god. They do not know of my name. Long ago this land was mine, no other living soul would come to the frozen land. But this small tribe of humans! These disgusting ungrateful humans, they are like cockroaches that crawl in every free space. They took a part of my land so I went to sleep. I went to sleep in the cave for a thousand years in hopes that these pests freeze to death.

Before I did so, I asked my old friend Ijna to spread the story of the sleeping god who is not to be woken because his slumber keeps the dead warrior demons in his Eternal Frost Cave. That seemed to scare the fools for 700 years. Until this child came here.

I was angered that day, two fools and a child! In my cave?! My slumber was interrupted because of these?! And here I thought they would at least bring an army with them. But no! two fools and a child! I attacked the male and killed him almost immediately. Oddly enough, he was not fighting back, it was more like he was stalling so the female and the child could run away. I released him and went for the female. The child was to be my next target, but the female pushed him out of my cave and he ran away with just a scar that my paw had left on him.

The female who I had just attacked to could barely speak, but she did ‘Sleeping god, we apologise for interrupting your slumber, I and my husband wished to stop the son of our leader from tossing his life away.’ I was surprised and asked ‘Why not let him toss away his life as he wishes. That would have saved both of your lives.’ She smiled vaguely and said ‘He is nothing but a child. A child who was taught no fear from the day he was born, but today, he found out what fear is.’ The woman died and left me sitting alone once again in my cave. So there seems to be a decent human among all of the pests.

‘You who now carries the mark of my claw. Face the curse of a god. The hatred that you have caused in your life to the person dearest to you will be born into your firstborn child! That child will be the death of you!’ I shouted and howled towards the moon, making my curse complete.

More than a decade later I noticed a female come to my territory. I had learned my lesson not to mindlessly attack the people until knowing their true intentions. I waited to see what would happen with this one. I felt the girl was distraught and stressed as if she was running from someone so I let her wander into my territory. I observed how she built herself shelter, I observed how she would wander back to her village and return to my territory. However, whenever she returned, she had weaved a fir-tree crown and left it by the entrance of the cave. I heard her once call it ‘payment’ for me letting her stay in my territory. I found this small ‘payment’ amusing and always took it away with me. She was a smart girl, she had learned from Ijna that fir-tree repels the frozen souls and the circle symbolises life. Her crown meant that she wanted to repel the frozen souls whilst telling them to travel to the Valley of the Dead as it is the right place for frozen souls so they can come back.

Over the short time that she came to see me, I learnt her name was Helde. I learnt how she had run from the village because she was claimed as someone’s woman without her consent. I saw her cry countless times.

Once when she fell asleep, I went to see her and felt that Helde was pregnant. I felt pity for this child to keep a balance in the world, I blessed her, just like I had once cursed a boy. ‘The child you carry will be extraordinary, she will be wise like her mother and will not long for her father. She will become the protector of the North a great magician. At the break of dawn on my thousandth year of slumber, I will come to your daughter and request her to wed me. For being the mother of my future wife, Helde the Truthful, you will be able to choose whether you wish to be reborn in the Valley of the Living.’ If only I had known that Helde was the person whose hatred would be born in the cursed one's child.

Everything has a balance in this world. Helde’s child, Heldebjorge, had to carry both my curse and my blessing. The day I found out about this was when Ijna came to me and told me that Helde would let her child into the world soon, however she would not be safe while doing it because of the man who claimed her and the woman who betrayed her. I decided to once again interfere with this matter and asked Ijna to ruin the plan the other woman had made, by acting as the substitute midwife. I was too weak to do anything myself due to the state of slumber that my body was in. I was relieved when Ijna agreed to help and did it successfully.

When Helde had run to her hut, I found out that the man who had claimed her was none other than the boy who I had cursed 13 years ago! I was angry and sad. My future wife would have to bear a horrible buren because of my acts. I wished I was the god of time, I wish I could correct this, but alas, what has been done, has been done.

During the last six years, Helde has been living on my land and I have been protecting them from being seen by the outside world. A few days later after she ran here, I went to say hello to Helde and to see how my bride looks. Helde was stunned to see a talking wolf, she thought I was a demon. I did not want to give away my identity to her as the sleeping god so I spoke as his servant. This was the first time I laid my eyes upon Heldebjorge. She was tiny, a small human baby, but her eyes were cold as ice. I could see Helde’s hatred had run deep for Bjorgon, but I did not blame her. I was the one to blame.