Once Brothers (Songs of War Fanfiction)

Chapter 1: Death's Road

"One does not think of death often. It's a personal question, really. Many feel uneasy when it is mentioned; others try to turn a blind eye and decide that it just doesn't exist, to pretend that life is without its temptations. To keep the topic at a safe distance from conversation until they believe the time is right for it to make its appearance. But the truth is, they fail to realize that they don't have a choice in the matter of when death comes and goes. It is something far beyond anyone's control.

After all, what is the point of trying to run and hide when it always lurks so near? Running from it would only delay it for a short time before it would be upon you anyway. So far and never given a second thought, and yet, so close to the tender nerve of fear when tensions arise. But, there are few who will choose to accept death and face it head-on—a fine line between the distinction of courage and bravery. A lesson each of us must learn and embrace in this life."

- Blazien Voltaris

Dark gray clouds were heavy with frozen ice, raining snowflakes down upon the forest that grew in abundance over the mountains. Thick piles of snow fell from the tree branches, covering the ground and burying the grass that had died ages ago. But the snow never stopped coming. In the summer, spring, or winter, it was always constant in its fall. The Barrier Mountains were well known for their ever-occurring blizzards, with winds so cruel one would be frozen to death within a night if they were inexperienced and unlucky to become trapped or lost among the frigid taiga. The many bodies that would always be buried among the innocent-looking fields that would never see the light of day.

But, beyond retrospect, some had come willingly into the Barrier Mountains' grasp. The Voltaris Clan had faced death when they thought they had been safe in their lands. But they had been forced to run and flee for their very lives when troubled times befell them. When lush fields of their homeland were set ablaze, and blood descended on the grass after each murder. It had been a very desperate time for the Ardoni of the Voltaris Clan, and when no arms offered any sort of help to their pleading cries, they realized they were on their own in the ambush. And once the smoke and dust settled, they had gone to the only place where they knew it would be difficult for the other four traitorous Ardoni Clans to find them, so soon after their malicious attack on their brethren.

Many years had passed since that day. And even now the Barrier Mountains were the Voltaris' saving hope and their biggest enemy. Each day was a mystery to them, a never-ending cycle of restlessness and perpetual unbalance. The mountains would leave them starved to near skin and bones each and every season, offering little sustaining resources to gather and bringing continuous plagues that threatened all their lives. But there were other times when The Thaws would come and lessen the tension. When the ice and snow melted away and the grass and the soil were finally exposed under the welcome sunlight that was rarely seen. But each time it was brief.

Now if only The Thaws would come sooner, the Voltaris hunter thought, trudging deeper into the boughs of snow. He was armed with nothing more than a bow, a quiver of arrows, a blunted knife he struggled to keep sharp after his many uses of the weapon, and his survivor's wits from years living in these treacherous mountains to keep him alive. He turned his head upward, watching large snowflakes drift down with the powerful chilling force that had risen during the night.