CHAPTER ONE-THE BEGINNING(PROLOGUE)

"So, tell me how it happened. You've never told me how it all started. When did you know that you were an immortal?" The fisherman sat down across the ancient Viking of island legend and pushed himself back against the green leather seat of the booth.

The handsome blonde man with steely blue eyes peeredout the window at the frozen ground as his hot breath fogged the glass then he wiped it away. "It's kind of a long story."

Bose shrugged his shoulders as he waited for his coffee to cool. "It's not like I don't have the time. Entertain me, old man."

Haldir glanced back to Bose then sighed through his nose. "Alright then. Believe it or not, I was fishing one day..."

Arctic Region of Norway 1001 A.D.

Sitting between the two ice covered cliffs, Haldir looked over the side of the boat into the unnervingly still and dusky waters that bordered his village. Scratching his cheek through his bushy reddish-blonde beard, he glared up into the sky and cursed the bright cruel sun beating down on him. In all his 35 years living in that arctic settlement, he's never seen a day so warm as this.

As the sweat beaded on his forehead, Haldir pulled his shirt over his head then wiped it off before throwing the tattered cloth to the other side of the tiny fishing boat. His long, strong arms and chest looked as if they had picked up a heavy object or two and then picked them up a few thousand more times the way the rippled and bulged in the hot sun.

When he was finished tying the knot in the rope, Haldir tossed the net into the frigid glacial waters and said his prayers to the gods for a plentiful catch.

Looking out over the fjord, Haldir took a deep breath of the abnormally warm air as an eerie gnawing feeling filled his chest. It had been days since he'd caught a single fish and his empty belly was making him anxious.

If his fortune didn't change, he may to move on to another village. Not that it would matter much at all, after the last skirmish they had with the neighboring town, there was barely anyone left in his. Not even a single woman to keep him company at night.

As the curiously warm air swept through the surrounding gap, Haldir heard the haunting sounds of cracking coming from the ice capped cliffs above him. While he watched in dread, the mammoth chunks of melting ice came crashing down into the waters around him. Reaching for the rope net, Haldir leaned over the side and pulled it hand over hand to his small boat until it caught on something below.

Gritting his teeth and grunting like an animal, Haldir pulled with all his might to free his net. With a blood-curdling snap from above his head, a chunk of ice crashed into the water. Like the hand of Njord himself, a sudden wave swept through the still waters.

Haldir's pupils dilated as he faced down the enormous surge rushing towards him. As it slapped the tiny boat onto it's side, Haldir was plunged into the icy glacial waters. Frantically trying to turn his boat right side up again, the freezing cold abyss slowly began to claim Haldir inch by inch.

While Haldir's blood pressure dropped in response to the sudden blast of icy cold, his heart desperately struggled to continue its pace. As the last final beats of life sparked across his chest, Haldir's fingers gave up and lost their grip then he splashed backwards into the dark wet abyss.

Before his human eyes saw for the last time, a burst of golden and white light came from above.

Floating lifeless face down in the frigid waters, Haldir's body bobbed back and forth on the settling ripples as they smacked against the rocky shore. While the bright ethereal light of the princely seraph warmed Haldir's back, Michael lifted him from the water and slung him over his shoulder.

As the towering Archangel walked upon the water to shore, he said in the language of the ancients, "Your struggles are only beginning now, my friend."

When he got to the humble thatched roofed shack, Michael dropped Haldir's body on the ground then knelt beside him and pushed his frozen hair from his face. Michael bent down then placed his open mouth on Haldir's and blew the breath of life back into Haldir's lungs.

Haldir's eyes gradually fluttered open as the light of a brand-new world burned his eyes. Seeing the bronzed man bathed in gold light kneeling by the fireside breaking branches over his knee, Haldir pushed himself up to his elbows to get a better look. In his native tongue, Haldir asked, "Who are you?"

Michael smiled a kind and sympathetic grin then answered back to him in words he could understand, "I am Michael, the gatekeeper of the human world."

Haldir ran his numb fingers through his hair as he struggled to remember what happened. "I thought I was dead."

Michael threw another pile of sticks into the fire. "You were. That part of you is gone now."

Haldir's heart pounded in his chest as the stranger's word reached his mind. "But I'm sitting here talking to you now."

Michael sighed then sat on his bottom on the dirt floor of the shack Haldir lived in. "The human you is gone, Haldir. You are something else."

Swallowing hard, Haldir tried to make sense of Michael's words. "I'm a spirit? A sorcerer? A god?"

Michael shook his head. "A bit of all of those things, maybe. I can't give you many answers, I'm afraid. I only follow orders. Your gods and my god made an arrangement. You ,my friend, are the recipient of their deal. A gift, if you will."

"What gift?" Haldir asked as his eyes darted around his rickety hovel.

Michael gave Haldir an apologetic look of understanding because he'd had a similar gift bestowed on him many, many millennium ago. "You will live among the Others in their world. Since you can never really be like them because you were born of human blood, the gods gifted you immortality. No weapon ever used against you will succeed, you will not age and you will never know illness."

Haldir laughed out in his raspy, throaty way. "That is quite a gift."

Michael sighed as he gazed into the flames. "Is it? I've lived since the very beginning of all things and, believe me when I tell you, it can be quite a long and lonely time. Someday, you will have to leave this little island and seek out people like yourself. I will be back to check on you from time to time until you get used to your new life."

Haldir pulled his hand down his still thawing beard as he thought. "So, there are others like me you say?"

Michael shook his head no. "There are supernaturals in the world, but there are none like you. Even they die eventually and return to their own world. But, the gods did not forsake you to be alone forever. You may travel to their world at will and seek out adventures amongst them once you've had your fill of this place, if you wish. It will be difficult for you to continue living among the humans, you'll find. Watching all those you care for grow old and die will be very difficult. I caution you to never become too close to them, it will only lead to pain."

Arctic Region of Norway Present Day

As Bose went back to the bar for another cup of coffee, he spoke over his shoulder. "That's kind of a let down, Haldir. I was expecting you to regale me with a tale of plundering and fighting. I'm up to my ears with my own bad fishing stories."

As he thought back to the day it all began, Haldir took a sip of his vodka then gazed out the foggy window of the pub and sighed.

It had been two years since he left the supernatural Realm in search of the woman the ancient psychic spoke of and Haldir was missing his family terribly. Every day that went by on the cold and unforgiving island reminded Haldir that he may be waiting forever for his mate.

He thought about leaving it up to the Fates and just going back to the Realm to be with his children.

Eventually, his mate would make her way there, and they'd find each other someday. Haldir's heart and body ached for her, wherever she was, but he had enough waiting. A man can only stand to be alone for so long.

Sitting in the last booth of the pub bathed in teak wood and brass fixtures, Haldir waited for the outsiders to arrive from the airport. Being the only Inn on the island, every traveler would come there first. All he had to do was wait...and that's what he did every day for the last two years.

As the American born fisherman wearing a cable knit sweater, Bose, sat down across from Haldir, he put his cup of coffee on the table. "So, did your psychic friend even give you a hint as to what she might look like?"

Haldir shook his head slowly as he looked at his glass and swirled the last of the liquid. "Nope."

Bose blew on his coffee then carefully sipped it. As he sucked back a cool breath to chase away the burn on his tongue, Bose furrowed his brows. "Well, it's not like we get many beautiful, young women here, do we? I guess that makes it a little easier to spot her at least."

Haldir huffed through his nose. "He never said she was young or beautiful. With my luck she looks just like you and smells worse than whatever Ingrid is making over there in the kitchen right now."

Bose laughed out loud and coughed as Haldir wrinkled his nose and drank the last of his vodka. Shaking out his shaggy salt and pepper hair, Bose nodded to Dr. Carter, as he quickly walked through the bitter wind outside.

As the door opened, the sharp crisp cold blasted through the bar while Dr. Carter came inside then shut the door. Shaking off the snow from his parka, he glanced over at the booth and smiled. "How are you folks doing this morning?"

Bose turned around to acknowledge him. "It's a little early for the town's only doctor to be hitting up the bar for a drink isn't it?"

Dr. Carter poured himself a cup of coffee then smirked at the accusation. "My new nurse is arriving from the States this morning. I wanted to show her around before I got too busy this afternoon."

Bose shot Haldir a toothy grin then said over his shoulder. "New nurse huh?"

Dr. Carter sucked back a hot sip then set down his cup. "That's right. Needed to bring in a ringer to whip these youngsters into shape. We need at least one nurse that knows what the hell they're doing. This bunch, I'll tell you what, I wouldn't trust them to take care of a cat."

His green fur lined parka squelched as Bose turned around in his seat to face Dr. Carter. "Now, James, where would this sweet little nurse be coming from?"

James reached over the counter and grabbed a magazine. "She's from my hometown up in the mountains, actually. Her last job was as a school nurse, but, uh," he flipped through the first few pages, "I guarantee she's highly qualified. She was a very decorated nurse in the military, spent a lot of time on the front lines in the desert. Tough as nails, as I understand it, and her references were impeccable. Her last commanding officer assured me I wouldn't find a better nurse on the planet."

Bose looked back to Haldir and chuckled to himself. "Tough as nails army combat nurse huh? Any chance she looks anything like me?"

James pushed his brown corduroy ushanka hat back on his head then looked at them both from the top of his wire rimmed glasses and furrowed his brows as he compared them. "Un-un, that would be a very big no. I’ve talked to that woman more than once on video chat and I don’t mind telling you that it was no hardship at all. She’s a beauty fellas.”

Haldir licked his parched lips as a new warmth spread through his chest. He peeked back outside and ran a hand through his messy blonde hair as he caught his reflection and wished he’d been a little more careful with his appearance this morning.. "What's her name, Doc?"

James threw the magazine back across the bar and picked up his cup. "Captain Morana Faye."