Harbour

"Forgive me, Jake, but all of this has to happen. There are no truly right choices; everything has consequences," Thorn said while clutching a necklace in his hand.

This occurred exactly one month after Thorn and Jake had searched for the most precious treasure in the Svalbard Archipelago, in northern Norway. In their youth, brothers Jake and Thorn had longed for a life of sailing, especially after their uncle became the first person in their village to open a sailing route and bring back wealth from foreign lands. It was a past too perfect to be forgotten, with his brother and uncle sailing the winter seas. However, their uncle had sailed off to another region, and no one knew what happened to him. Jake, now twenty-one years old, had chosen to become a baker at his family's bakery. For Jake, sailing was not that enjoyable if it was not with the right people. This was in stark contrast to Thorn, who still possessed the determination to sail on his own and build his own crew.

"You still have some warm bread, right? Give me one, and let's go behind the shop to enjoy some fresh milk, just like the old days," Thorn asked Jake earnestly.

"I thought you had already formed your crew. It turns out you still remember this village. I will bring the bread later; I am still getting ready to close the shop," Jake replied.

Amidst the autumn atmosphere, the sound of splashing waves from the edge of the pier, and the setting sun slipping away to welcome the most beautiful star constellations over the village of Norrhavn, the two of them sat together. A moment like this had not happened in a year, or perhaps even longer, but now it was repeating itself. Thorn, who used to have rough habits, had returned with a vastly different and much calmer personality.

"If you want to ask me to sail like we used to, I would rather stay here and serve bread to the villagers." Jake smiled faintly.

"Hahaha, I am not the Thorn from five years ago who was so passionate about building a ship and sailing for treasure or whatever else. I have a wife and a child now. My life has changed ever since Uncle took me sailing along the Fjords."

"Well, one of the villagers once mentioned that Uncle Harald had settled there with you and the rest of the crew. It is not surprising, considering the rich history there and the fact that you all are sailing maniacs," Jake said in a joking tone.

"I wish things had gone the way they were supposed to, but the waves in the ocean are unpredictable." Thorn paused and went on to tell the truth.

What was supposed to happen was that Thorn, Uncle Harald, and the crew would pass through the fjord and join various other ships. They were supposed to pass by villages and build a new settlement instead of merely collecting food supplies and treasures from different towns. But what actually happened was that Harald sold all of the crew members to the Winter Wizard, Bjorn, in exchange for a treasure from the ancient Viking era. All the crew members became hostages, and Thorn was no exception.

"I have handed over all the crew members; this is all I have. Now hand over the Dooms of Ocean diamond," Harald said while standing on the ship.

"I have prepared the chest. The diamond is there. The chest contains a map to Svalbard, where the Dooms of Ocean is located. There does not need to be a fight here. I am stronger, and I could sink your ship with a single snap of my fingers," Bjorn stared at him.

"You promised the Dooms of Ocean to me. You can only break this promise if you release some of the crew members I gave you."

Harald held back his emotions because he knew he would not win a fight that had not even started yet. The teenage Thorn understood the true situation at that moment. The entire crew and this journey were merely an exchange for an object with unknown origins. The beloved nephew also became part of the winter's selfishness in the fjord river.

"Why are you here now? Where is Uncle Harald, and what happened after that in the Fjord and Svalbard? Five years have passed, and I never expected things to turn out like that. That bastard Harald. Let's go to Svalbard; the villagers need to hear all of this," Jake said angrily.

This entire conversation took place in the midst of autumn on the Norwegian coast. Jake's angry tone acted as a trigger in the chilly situation, breaking the calm and emotional atmosphere that had welcomed Thorn back to the village of Norrhavn.

Thorn lowered his head and cried, showing a demeanor that was completely different from what Jake knew. Jake stood up, dropping the very last piece of bread he had made at the shop. Thorn made a strange movement, raising his clenched right fist with the snow-patterned necklace in his hand. Thorn continued to cry, and Jake began to feel confused. It made sense; bizarre things were happening in less than an hour at the pier.

"Thorn, did you hear a strange sound at the end of the pier? It sounded like blocks of ice hitting a ship or hard rocks." Jake squinted his eyes, placing all his suspicions on Thorn, his own brother.

"Forgive me, Jake, but all of this has to happen. There are no truly right choices; everything has consequences," Thorn said while crying, clutching the necklace in his hand.

A loud noise echoed throughout the entire village. The sound of ice blocks coming from the pier terrified the whole village. They assumed this strange event was a sign of winter, but it was not like the usual ones. A child standing close to the pier saw a white light coming directly from Thorn's ship.

Frysta bygð med kaldr andi,

Vindr norðr skal blása yfir hús og hjarta,

Ís skal grípa jörðina og kyrr allt sem lifir,

Tími sjálfr skal frjósa,

Sólin skal deyja undir minn vilji,

Til ævi endar, máttur vetrar skal ríkja!

A strange incantation echoed loudly, followed immediately by a bizarre atmosphere. The wind grew heavy, a gripping cold spread rapidly, and the seawater froze from the end of the pier all the way to the coast. The Winter Wizard appeared from the deck of Thorn's ship. His skin was pale blue, like a corpse from a hundred years ago. His hair and lips were frozen like snow that never thaws.

Allar sálir frjósa við rödd sálar minnar,

Snær fellr eigi,

Einungis tómr og harmr í eilífum ísaldr.

The village of Norrhavn began to freeze, accompanied by the sound of ice blocks that seemed to crash against the ship. Every living creature became frozen without exception. The child at the pier who had tried to escape, the villagers who were pulling their ships, the deer, and the sheep all turned into statues, as if there had never been any life before. The terrifying winter wind blew fiercely from the direction of the pier, reaching the place where Jake and Thorn stood.

"Aghhhhhkkk, what did you do, Thorn? Bjorn is the Winter Wizard you told me about, right? Why is he on your ship, trapping the entire village and leaving only the two of us? You are the wizard! Mother, Father, and the villagers raised you here. Your uncle took you traveling to make you a crew member who would one day replace him," Jake said, utterly confused by what was happening.

"That is Uncle Harald. Bjorn, the wizard we met at the fjord, was the Dooms of Ocean himself. The crew members that Uncle brought were a decoy so that Uncle Harald would quickly leave the wizard's residence. Uncle Harald did not want the Dooms of Ocean; instead, he wanted to become the wizard himself by killing the wizard Bjorn. What happened was that the crew and Uncle attacked the wizard, and unfortunately, Bjorn's plan to protect the Dooms of Ocean failed. It ended with Uncle Harald becoming the Winter Wizard." Thorn looked down.

"The Dooms of Ocean absorbs souls to stay warm. I escaped to the village of Kyiv and lived a new life, far from the Fjord. But Uncle Harald suddenly found me and threatened to freeze my family and the entire village of Kyiv."

"And you offered this village as a substitute for your new life!" Jake grabbed Thorn's shirt and yelled loudly.

Harald had now reached his limit in unleashing the power of the Winter Wizard. Thorn only wanted his brother to live and did not care about what happened to the villagers.