Dracula: Patient zero

Chapter: 0

Stone age childhood

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In a snowy valley surrounded by dense winter forests, a group of 15 men wearing animal hides simply wrapped around their body to keep them warm are stalking their preys. These men are the best hunters in the tribe and are now desperate to bring meat home since two women gave birth not long ago and need sustenance in order to produce milk.

They have had a harsh winter this year and had to go further and further away to find preys for them to hunt. They had finally spotted a group of elk heading south and tracked them for many days before catching up.

The elks were grazing in a valley surrounded by forest, so the men divided themselves in two groups. One on the left, the other on the right. The plan was simple, one of the group scare away the elks toward the second group laying in ambush in the forest on the opposite side.

The men were wielding highly advanced stone spears, so advanced that only their best flintknappers could reproduce more than one of them. Those spearheads were so sharp that spears often went right through the prey's body if they didn't hit bones.

They also used fire to make their wooden shafts harder, straighter. They truly were the more advanced tribe when it came to weaponry and it had always brought jealousy from the other tribes. But now, like them they were having a hard time surviving these especially harsh winters and had better things to do other than tribal warfare.

With everyone in position, one of the two groups slowly started crawling toward the small herd of elks. When they were around 60 meters away, the leader gave the signal.

«Leader» NOW! YAHAAAAAAAaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!

The group suddenly got up and rushed toward the surprised animals while yelling as loud as they can to scare them in the direction the second group is waiting at. Usually elks will avoids forests when they wish to run away but they had made sure to block all the alternative paths, forcing them where they wanted them to be.

As the group of around 10 elks started fleeing away from them, the loud thundering sound of their hoofs made the ground shake under their weight, they were slowed down by the snow but not as much as the group of hunters. There was no way for them to keep up with the beasts so they simply stayed there, making as much noises as possible.

As soon as the animals disappeared in the forest sound of them meeting with the second group could be heard. The sound of men putting all their strength into their arm to throw spears at the creatures. Sounds of elk screaming in pain after being impaled by one or more spears. By the sounds of things, the hunt seemed successful.

After a while, both groups finally reunited to assess the situation. Some men were still finishing up some of the elk while others were already gutting and skinning the dead ones. This hunt was a successful one, 4 elk had been killed, securing enough meat to last their tribe 2 weeks.

«Leader» Good job everyone! With this we can head back home and feed our families.

Under the hunter's celebratory shouts the chief turned his attention toward the young hunter by his side.

«Leader» You see Valdrislav, this is how we hunt! I will be counting on you in the future to become a worthy hunter like us. A hunter blessed by the Goddess Jötunn.

«Valdr» Yes father!

Valdrislav is the chief's first son. At 15 years old he was now expected to take part in the hunts, and any other 'adults' occupations. With most of the men in the tribe dying before reaching their forties, childhood was a luxury they could now afford.

Valdr has blue eyes, dark brown hair, almost black. At 172 cm (5'8), Valdr is already quite tall compared to the other tribe members. Muscular, athletic and quite handsome, Valdr was a promising looking young man in the eyes of the other tribe members.

Valdr's father, Fálki the chief, was a ruthless man who had reached his current position by killing the previous chief during a bloody duel. Fálki was ruthless, but not a cruel man. He had not challenged the previous chief out of a thirst for power but because of his mother, Halldóra.

A prisoner of war captured from a neighboring tribe, she was the most beautiful woman in the tribe. Fálki immediately fell for her but the most beautiful woman is always destined to be the chief's wife. So Fálki challenged the previous chief with Halldóra as the victor price. Eleven months later, Valdr was born.

Everybody in their tribe has blue eyes but the color of their hair vary between blond and brown, some having straight, other curvy hair... By looking at them it was obvious that they were related in some way or another.

To prevent their blood from becoming too incestuous, upon reaching their 16th birthday, the men from the tribe would go out and capture rival tribe's women. In a year, Valdr also would have to venture out into enemies territory and capture himself a wife to bear his children.

This theoretically was his last year as a boy before finally becoming a man. As the chief heir, Valdr was expected to get as many wives as possible since infantile mortality was at least 80%. Out of 10 babies, 8 were expected to die... This is just how harsh their living conditions were.

Valdr then quickly walked up to the men who were hard working on skinning the animals and started helping in preparing the meat to be transported back to the cave. They didn't have to waste days smoking the meat during winters.

Temperatures being colder than inside a modern day freezer, they just needed to gut and skin them then transport the carcasses as a group using long wooden poles that the men carried on their shoulders. They still had 5 days of walking before reaching back the 'village' so they sat up camp for the night a few hundred meters away from today's 'kill zone'.

The livers, kidneys, hearts and other organs were eaten on the spot, the best pieces given to the hunters who made the kills and the chief. Fálki then took the big liver from one of the prey and gave a piece to Valdr who wolfed it all down under the displeased eyes of his fellow hunters.

«Guðmundr» Tsss this young frostrar's* getting the best parts even though he didn't do anything during the hunt?

*Frostrar Any child from their 13th birthday up to their 16th birthday. They can now begin serious training as warriors and may go to battle with the warriors to fetch and carry, take water to the thirsty and tend the wounded.

Some of the men showed faces that supported what Guðmundr, the strongest warrior after the chief had just said.

«Fálki» Are you defying me as your leader, Guðmundr? Said Fálki, glaring at the big warrior while placing a hand on his stone axe.

«Guðmundr» Tssss.. No objections as long as the young frostrar prove himself in the next hunts... Said Guðmundr while spitting on the floor with a furious look before stomping his way toward the forest to go take a piss.

«Valdr» You will see! I will become the fiercest warrior the world ever known! I will work hard to bring pride to our tribe! Said Valdr showing a resolute look that calmed down the others.

«Fálki» I know you will! You're my blood after all Valdrislav! PWAHAHAHA! Said Fálki, still glaring at the others while patting Valdr's head.

It was surprising that Guðmundr had never challenged Fálki for the title of chief since he physically was a titan. Shaped like a tank, a long braided beard, long blond hair reaching the middle of his back, blue eyes and a ferocious temper, he was feared by all the neighboring tribes as the fiercest of all Hersir*.

*Hersir The rank of Hersir is held by those that have proven themselves capable of leading warriors in battle.

The group then hastily put together four 'tee-pee' type of shelter. Made by placing a bunch of tall branches in a cone shape, then covering that frame with evergreens and fir trees branches for isolation with a fire-pit in the middle.

Life was really harsh and there was always hard work to be done. Valdr spend the rest of the day gathering firewood for the night. Even with a fire nearby, the nights in these parts were frigid cold, frost bite was frequent so most of the men were missing a toe or more...

[Few days later]

After walking for 5 days on rugged forest trails, the group finally arrived to the river bordering the village. After crossing it they only had 15 more minutes of walk before reaching the warmth of their families. The men took the opportunity to wash themselves in the river, getting their monthly bath out of the way.

One bath a month is necessary to get rid of the cheese! As they say. It was obviously in preparation to their lustful reunions with their loved one. Upon arrival, the rest of the small hundred people tribe greeted us with smiles and joy seeing that the hunt had been successful.

«Halldóra» Valdrislav!!! My baby boy!!! Said the small, young, brown haired, blue-eyed woman seizing Valdr in her arms.

«Valdr» Mommm.... I'm not a kid anymore! You are putting me to shame in front of the other warriors. Said Valdr embarrassingly trying to free himself from her grasp.

«Fálki» Pwahahaha! What Valdr say is true, you should avoid those displays of affection in front of the other men, my wife. Said Fálki, giving a gentle smile to his beloved.

«Guðmundr» Bwahahaha happy? Finally getting back to your mommy... bawahahaha Said Guðmundr in a mocking tone.

Slap!*

«Halldóra» How dare you mock my boy, you big brute! Said Halldóra who needed to jump in the air to slap the giant's cheek.

«Guðmundr» A..a..Apologies milady. Said Guðmundr while showing a complicated expression. He then glared at Valdr before leaving to his wife.

«Valdr» Why does he hate me so much?

«Fálki» That's not hatred my son, but high expectations. Said Fálki, while patting a pouting Valdr's head.

The village is made of 26 wooden huts huddled together and surrounded by a palisade made by sticking tree trunks vertically in the ground next to each other all around the village. The palisade is made out of hundreds of trees and is 10 meters high.

The entire village doesn't cover more than 250 square meters but is still the biggest one in the region. Not only is Fálki's tribe well known for their revolutionary spearheads but also for being the biggest tribe around. A hundred-person tribe is rarely seen since it takes so much food to feed everyone, that the surrounding lands would eventually get depleted of resources.

Fálki's tribe though had found a solution to this problem by gathering knowledge from the other tribes about fishing, primitive agriculture, and trapping so the village resources were highly diversified giving them options on which to prioritize.

Guðmundr words still fresh in his mind, Valdr spent the next day making arrows with the idea of going hunting for small preys like rabbits, birds, squirrels, even bats are on the menu. If he kept bringing enough to make a meal everyday, surely Guðmundr and the others couldn't ridicule him anymore.

His arrows weren't the straightest... Nor were they the prettiest, but at close enough range they would surely be lethal. What was most important was the bow, and Valdr's father had given him a very good one for his 13th birthday.

Now fully armed, Valdrislav left the village after promising his mother not to get to far away on his own. He knew very well that some part of the forest were to be avoided if he didn't want to get killed by rival tribes members.

As long as he remained in their territories, Valdr was now judged old enough to go out and hunt on his own. After walking for a few hours he finally reached a denser part of the forest where he could see rabbit tracks here and there.

He climbed a tree next to an area where three of these trails crossed each other. That way he was maximizing his chances of coming across a prey sooner. He positioned himself comfortably, bow and arrow in hands ready to shoot at any passing creatures.

Around half an hour later, a brown creature hopping around approached and suddenly stopped at the intersection, sniffing with his nose high in the air analyzing any unknown smell. Then out of nowhere, struck!* an arrow pierced right through his body killing it on the spot.

«Valdr» YAYyyyyyyyyyy!!!! WoooHoooo!!! Who's the best hunter in the world ?! MEEE!!! Yayyyy!

Valdr was jumping and singing around while holding the dead creature by the ears. He then ran toward the village at high speed to boast of his success. At his arrival he got unimpressed looks from the other hunters, Guðmundr even told him that he himself could eat 3 of these a day and that boasting about such a small creature was laughable. A bit demoralized he brought his catch to his parents for them to eat.

«Halldóra» Look Fálki! Our son is already an accomplished hunter even being so young! She said while hugging Valdr out of pride.

«Fálki» Pwahahaha nothing less expected from my son ! Said Fálki, while pumping his chest as a proud father.

«Valdr» The others said it was not something to be proud of... That is was just a small rabbit not worth being mentioned...

To that Halldóra showed a displeased expression, as for Fálki, it was a bit more like compassion for what his son must be feeling.

«Fálki» The solution is simple isn't it? He said while giving a serious look to Valdr.

After thinking for a few minutes Valdr then answered:

«Valdr» I just need to bring something bigger, or more of them. He said with a determined look in his eyes.

«Fálki» Pwahahahaha that's my son! Just keep getting better at it, i already taught you all i know, now there's only practice. He said while giving a paternal look to Valdr.

«Valdr» Yes!

«Halldóra» Don't go and hunt dangerous animals! You don't need to stupidly get yourself killed just because these brutes are jealous of you. She said with a worried and angered expression.

«Fálki» Wife, our son is old enough to take his decision. I believe him smart enough not to go after things he can't kill. He told her in a reassuring tone.

«Halldóra» Sighhhh My babies grow so fast... She said while caressing the hairs of Valdr younger brother, Frode.

His younger brother, 'Frode' almost one year old was his only sibling. Halldóra had many more, but many died as babies or infants never reaching over 5 years old. She also had many miscarriage probably caused by the harsh environment or even malnutrition.

Any other tribe’s chief would have taken in more wives to multiply their chances of having an heir but Valdr's father love for his mother was uncommon for this time period. He had refused any other women all his life only reserving himself to her.

The next day, Valdr left in the same direction. This time going deeper, laying in ambush near larger game trails. After an entire day without any movement, Valdr finally spotted movements up in the trees. First he thought it was some kind of birds...

But after taking a closer look to it he realized this was no bird, but instead it was a bat. A very weird white bat. As for Valdr, he had never heard of bat growing this big, and also never heard about bats being white. As the sun was slowly going down, the creature was slowly starting to wake up from a long day of sleep, hanging under a large branch high in the air.

Valdr took aim, and then launched an arrow hitting the bat through a wing. The creature fell to the ground still struggling to fly away. Valdr jumped from the tree he was on to the ground and grabbed the creature.

«Valdr» Ouch!

The bat bit his hand as he was holding it. Valdr then flung it onto a tree killing the creature painlessly. He looked at the bat still twitching in his hand, it was big for a bat but no bigger than a rabbit... He was sure to be teased again if he brought it with him.

As he had spent an entire day up in a tree he was also very hungry so he simply gutted it and ate it raw on his way back home as the sun was slowly setting down. At the river, he took time to wash the blood off of his body and went home while trying to avoid talking about his unsuccessful day.

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Many thanks to gcman01 for proofreading this chapter!

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