Legend of the North

Chapter 3: Second Chance

Cristian stared blankly at Fenrir, unable to comprehend what he was hearing. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words escaped his cold lips.

“I will send you back to before the apocalypse began. It is up to you to make do with this second chance,” the wolf said as an unnatural golden glow enveloped it.

He wanted to demand answers; however, darkness crept into the corner of his eyes, and he could no longer feel anything. The last thing he saw before the darkness consumed him was a flash of blinding bright light where Fenrir stood.

“Cristian Snow,” a voice boomed.

His eyes abruptly snapped open, and he was hit by flashing lights. Completely disoriented, he looked around, not quite processing what he was seeing. Where was he? Didn’t he just die? What happened to Fenrir? Why was it warm?

“Cristian Snow,” the voice repeated with a harsher tone.

That’s when it finally hit him exactly where and when he was. This was the day that ruined his life. It was the Day of Summoning.

Cristian could hear the murmurs of the other students as he still didn’t step forward, and the principal finally snapped, “Cristian Snow, step forward now.”

This time he scrambled forward as his mind whirled with questions. Hurrying up the steps onto the stage, he scanned his surroundings. Hundreds of students and families stared back at him along with several important figures of the empire. Their sharp gazes stabbed into him like knives.

Once on stage, the principal stared at him with disapproval as he said, “Summon your beast.”

Then the man backed away so it was only Cristian standing in the center of the magic circle to shoulder the burden of everyone’s eyes on him. Staring back at the sea of eyes, he felt on the verge of fainting.

Was he really back to the worst day of his life? If this really wasn’t a dream or a last-minute hallucination before death, then Fenrir chose the worst time to send him back to. Couldn’t the wolf have sent him back earlier or at least to a different time? That way he would be able to avoid this traumatizing event.

The longer he took to summon, the more restless the audience got. Several people whispered and pointed in his direction. He didn’t need to listen to know what they were saying, and his hands curled into fists. Just remembering the last time he lived through this made his stomach churn, and he nearly puked right then and there. Fortunately, he managed to swallow it down and closed his eyes to go through the summoning ritual.

There was no escaping this. No matter what he did, he was going to be humiliated, so he had to suck it up and summon Fenrir again. Then he would demand answers from the wolf. How could a summon be able to send him back in time? That kind of power would belong to a god, and Fenrir never showed signs of being anything other than a big wolf.

He felt it before he heard the gasps of the crowd. Opening his eyes, he expected to see Fenrir in all his glory. Instead, a small white wolf stood at his feet, staring up at him with large eyes. Cristian stared right back, wondering if he had somehow made a mistake during the summoning.

This wolf was even smaller than a regular wolf. It could even be a baby wolf for all he knew, but the point was that it wasn’t Fenrir. They looked alike; however, Fenrir was large and imposing. This wolf could easily be mistaken for a puppy. It was like comparing a lion with a house cat. There was no comparison.

Suddenly, noise erupted in the auditorium as everyone couldn’t hide their shock or disbelief at the sight. He grimaced as lights flashed all around him.

Despite the summon being different, everything else was playing almost exactly as before. At the time, people had been willing to give him a benefit of doubt since Fenrir was a giant wolf and wanted Cristian to test what it could do. Unfortunately, it became apparent that Fenrir was basically an ordinary wolf, which was the start of his nightmare.

The principal rushed up to him with a pale expression and said, “Get off the stage. Now.”

Cristian didn’t need to be told twice and bent down to grab his new summon. The wolf didn’t struggle and allowed Cristian to carry it off stage with it cradled in his arms. Everyone kept their distance as he headed towards his designated seat. Those that were supposed to sit next to him immediately cleared out, leaving him to sit alone. Ignoring everything else, he stared down at the wolf in his arms. It poofed at him and wagged its tail. With a sigh, he petted it.

He couldn’t get angry at it. It wasn’t the wolf’s fault that it had been summoned. Since the summoning ritual first started long ago, it had been made clear that the beasts didn’t get a choice. The ritual automatically summoned one without consent from the beast being summoned. That’s why there had been a lot of deaths at the start. So many people died trying to control the powerful beasts that were summoned. People eventually came up with protections to prevent the beasts from killing the summoner the moment they arrived. In his case, it wasn’t really necessary.

With a sigh, he stopped petting the wolf, which earned a poof. Cristian went back to petting the wolf as he returned his attention back to the next person summoning their beast, but his mind kept wandering.

Rather than concern himself with what was happening now, he should focus on how to handle the fallout that was to come. Not to mention, he also had to worry about the upcoming apocalypse. This was his second chance at life. Like Fernri said, he couldn’t afford to waste it.