Power Play: Act 1 Svartalfheim (Ragnarok on Ice) (18 page)

“You old dog!”  Dad was smiling like an idiot when he found me.  “I can’t believe you pulled that one out of your hat!”  We were all outside enjoying the celebration that Hargna had put on in short notice. 

It didn’t take long for every elf in the area to find out about the ‘strange human bonding ritual’ and investigate for more information.  Rumil explained it to everyone she could find and quicker than I could’ve imagined, there was a celebration party in full swing.  Hargna closed up shop for the rest of the day and within an hour, we were all outside drinking, dancing, and getting ready to eat.

“Well I know her as well as I’ve known any woman in my life and it felt like the right thing to do.  Besides, it feels like it’s been years since I’ve got mixed up with all this craziness.”  It really wasn’t, but it sure did feel like a lifetime since I was just a regular guy playing hockey.

“Time in this realm does flow differently than in Midgard.  There everything seemed to happen so fast that it was hard to keep up with.  Here it just seems to slow down, like it wants you to savor every minute of life.”

“Whoa dad, that was pretty deep.”

“I think I’ve had too much booze.”  We both laughed at that and toasted our flasks together and drank some more.

Rumil had been walking around showing all the female elves the ring I’d made.  Quite a few male elves came over and gave me a hard time because their girls wanted one. 

Algrim, ever the business man, thought that this was fantastic.  “I already have received twelve orders tonight!  Cheers to the human who made me rich!”

The entire party was great, a nice way to unwind and relax.  I even let Rumil drag me out into the dancing area and we cut loose.  As the music stopped, Hargna gave a passionate speech about this being a momentous day and that this was a sign from The Norns that a more peaceful time was coming.  I sure hoped he was right.  When he finished, the kitchen staff unveiled the massive feast and we went to town.

After everyone ate dinner and got to enjoy some more dancing, the party died down.  I think it was because they ran out of wine, but my suspicions could not be confirmed.  As the guests of honor, Rumil and I stayed until the bitter end to say good bye and thanked everyone for their well wishes. 

Once everyone left, I was ready to get back to our room.  “Rumil, I’m pretty sure I’m drunk.  Carry me back to our bed please.” 

Oh yeah, I had way too much.  I blamed dad as he kept getting us more.  The tolerance of the wolf greatly outclassed the tolerance of the human.

“You felt the need to go down this road, you can walk yourself back.”  Even though she said that, she still put her arm around me and helped me.  I didn’t make things easy though as I started dancing again and singing.  The night staff in the stronghold was doing their best not to laugh at me, but I have a feeling Rumil was quite embarrassed.

When we made it to our room, Rumil immediately went into the bathroom and closed the door.  I thought maybe she was mad at my obnoxious behavior until I heard her call out my name.

“Jack, why do you not come in here?  I have a surprise for you this time.”

I did as I was told and well, later that evening right as I fell to sleep was I should’ve gotten her that ring sooner.  The little vixen really had a great way of showing her appreciation!

I woke up a few hours later having to use the bathroom due to excessive alcohol abuse.  After taking care of business, I went over to the window and looked out.  It was still dark but it was peaceful.  I could see the glow of the moon through the mouth of the cave entrance. 

Just as I was about to go lie back down, I saw an outline of someone moving in the shadows.  Whoever that was, he (or she) was moving fast and headed deeper into the cave.  There was only one thing down there – my dad.

“Rumil, get up!  We got trouble.”  It took a few moments but I finally managed to get her woken up and explained what I saw.

“We do not have time to get the guards rallied.  Get ready and grab your gauntlets, we do not know what we are about to go up against.”

Both of us got ready as quickly as we could and got our gear on.  Rumil grabbed her bow and quiver full of arrows and I already had my gauntlets on.  She grabbed a dagger and handed to me.  I knew she had one hidden in her boot, so I slipped mine into my belt sheath.  With that, we were off.

I guess my conditioning drills were paying off as I was able to keep up pretty well with her as we made our way down the path that led to dad’s alcove.  As we were getting closer, I could start to hear the signs of a struggle.  It sounded like metal hitting metal. 

We picked up the pace and after a few tense minutes, we finally made it.  I saw dad and he was fighting off someone.  Upon further inspection, it was the assassin that’d caused us trouble the first two times.

Dad was doing well using Hrotti to parry the attacks of the sword the assassin was using, but I could also tell he wasn’t quite up to his usual standards.  He was either still drunk or getting into the hangover stage.  Rumil was on it though and let an arrow loose at the assassin.  He jumped out of the way and we were able to go over to dad.

“What the hell are you two doing here?”

“Dad, this is no time for a lecture.  Besides, this is the guy that has been hounding us.”

The assassin came closer and addressed us.  “So Fenrir, the whelp is your spawn.  Odin will not be happy to hear about this.  I think you have broken one too many laws to be allowed to continue to walk.”

“Who the hell are you to decide who lives and dies?”  I punched my gauntlets together in frustration over this guy.  “In case you can’t count, you are currently outnumbered three to one big guy.”

Dad put a hand on my shoulder.  “Stop, don’t make him even angrier.”  He turned to the assassin, “Baldr, this is between you and me.  Let the elf and the human go.”

Rumil gasped in surprise and whispered to me, “This is not good, Baldr is one of the most dangerous beings in Asgard.”

“Fenrir, do not try to pretend that the human is not your spawn.  I can smell your tainted scent upon him.  As for the elf, Sif sends her regards.”

He moved so fast I barely had time to register it.  I brought my gauntlets up and protected myself against his punch.  I knew the spines had dug into his knuckles, but the force behind his fist sent me sprawling. 

Rumil grabbed the dagger from her boot and went on the offensive.  Dad, right behind her howling in rage, joined the attack with Hrotti.  Baldr seemed to have no problems avoiding their attacks and countering with his own.  I knew physically I couldn’t do a whole lot, but I counted on being a whole lot smarter than he was.

I jumped into the fight mainly to take some of the aggression off of Rumil and dad.  None of my punches were even close, but the fact that he had to account for them was enough to help.  Rumil sidestepped one of his attacks and was able to land an attack.  Her dagger slashed opened a long gash on Baldr’s thigh.  He whipped his sword around in fury and all three of us had to jump out of the way to avoid it.

“The two of you are becoming more of a nuisance than I need.  The time for games is over!”

Baldr rushed us again and this time he aimed his attack at Rumil.  She was able to roll out of the way for the most part, but he caught enough of her to knock her down.  She rolled to her feet but I could see her bow and quiver had been knocked off and they slid a bit farther away.

“Enough of this!”  That was dad and I turned around to see he was glowing.  Just like that, where he’d been standing, light erupted around him and when it flashed out all that was left was a very large and angry looking white wolf.  “Baldr, it’s time you remember why I was called the harbinger of Ragnarok!”

Baldr immediately had to go on the defensive.  In angry wolf mode, dad was easily much faster than him.  Between swipes with his massive paw or snaps with a mouth full of teeth that would make a great white shark jealous, Baldr it looked like he was finally outgunned.

While the two of them were going at it, I made my way over to Rumil.  “Are you okay?”

“Yes I am fine.  I need to get back in there to support your father.  Once Baldr understands his attack pattern, without armor to protect him, your father will be in danger.”  Just like that she was rushing back into the fray.  Seeing her bow and arrows lying on the cave floor I went over and grabbed them on my way to rejoin the fight.

Rumil was right; Baldr had come to understand a pattern in dad’s attack and was now fighting back hard.  She got herself back in the fray and he wasn’t able to seriously hurt anyone, but this was getting out of hand. 

I was about fifteen feet away when Baldr slammed the handle of his sword into dad’s head and knocked him down.  He followed up with a spin kick and took Rumil’s feet out from under her.  Without thinking, I grabbed the bow and notched an arrow.  I’d never shot one before and fear started to wash over me.  He was going to kill her.

“It is time for you to meet your maker elf!”

I aimed it as best I could and just as he was about to bring his sword down on her, I let the arrow fly.  Rumil had closed her eyes and was waiting for the deathblow that never came.  I stood there in amazement as I looked up and saw Baldr drop his sword with a shocked look on his face.  The arrow I’d shot was true and hit its mark.

“This is not possible.”

Those were the last words Baldr would ever say as the arrow that I had shot had gone straight through his heart.

“Are you sure?  Baldr is dead?”  I was stunned at the news Goma passed on.  I thought Baldr had his mother’s enchantment to protect him.

“Yes Lord Azmodeous.  Fenrir, his human spawn, and the Darklighter heir reported it to Hargna and our spies have relayed the story to me.”

Goma went over every detail from the encounter for me.  It appeared that the fates were not on Baldr’s side as the encounter was full of lucky breaks that went against him.  From what I gathered, the human had never once shot an arrow before.  These were most interesting developments.

“Is Hargna gaining any suspicions about recent events?”

“The spy mentioned that Hargna was suspicious that the archer that was with Baldr last time was not there at this encounter.  What should we do my lord?

There was an easy solution to all of this.  “Why Goma, we give him what he wants.  Make sure that we can give them the archer when he arrives later give me the account.  I want to make sure his suspicion is pointed in the right direction.”

“If I may make a suggestion Lord Azmodeous, let us wrap two gifts up in one and give everyone the killer of King Oor too.”

“Goma that is truly a most excellent idea.  I trust you can make the appropriate arrangements?”

“Of course my lord.”  He turned to leave, but then stopped.  “My lord, what about Odin?  I cannot imagine this will sit well with the Allfather.”

“No I do not imagine it will.  However, he still has Sif, Tyr, and Hod who are truly loyal to him.  With Heimdall never leaving his tower and Thor being away for so long, this was a blow to his crusade against the dark elves.” 

“Do you think he will send in another to replace Baldr?”

“No, with Hel arriving soon I cannot imagine him wanting to take an unnecessary risk now.”

Goma nodded and left to do the preparations as I asked.  Once he was gone, I went back to studying the dagger.  The unusual energy signature it produced still intrigued me.  I would have to do more research later, to see just how I could use this to my advantage.  For now, I placed it in the hidden alcove right behind the dark elf throne.  Soon, I would be able to start the end.

****

After giving Hargna the run down, I could tell we were up the creek pretty good.  Baldr was not only one of Odin’s sons but was his favorite.  That also meant I killed my friend’s brother.  Not good at all.

“What of the archer, was there no sign of him?”  Up until Hargna mentioned him, I’d forgotten about Baldr’s arrow slinging buddy.

“No, it was just Baldr from the time I saw him sneaking further down in the cave until his death.  Whoever was with him decided not to show up this time.”

“That seems most unusual to me.  It is a shame that capturing him alive was not an option.  But I must thank you again Jack for saving the life of a Darklighter clan member.  First you saved mine and now my daughter.  Our debt to you can never be repaid.”

I gave him a light punch in the shoulder.  Sometimes I forget how different elves are to humans are as he looked completely confused.  “You already have, if you guys didn’t take me in and basically adopt me into the family; I highly doubt I’d be in as good of health as I am now.”

Dad had been suspiciously quiet this entire time, but he did nod in agreement with my statement.  Rumil had been the one to tell the tale to her dad.  Since she finished she too just seemed really off in the distance. 

Hargna, in a very polite way, dismissed us so he could get ready for his briefing with Azmodeous over the events that happened.  He advised dad to go see the shamans to make sure there were no serious injuries.  I wanted to go with him, but Rumil grabbed my arm and gave me a look that said follow me.  When we finally made it back to her room I could see she had something very important to say.

“Jack, it is even more important to get you back to Midgard now.  The death of Baldr is not something that we can take lightly.”

“I’m sure Odin will be ticked off, but…”

“No please listen to me.  Baldr was supposed to be Odin’s ultimate warrior.  Once, I came across Sif’s cabin and Baldr was there.  I never saw him but I heard the conversation between the two of them.”

“What did they say?”

****

Sif was definitely here, as was someone else.  I would just have to be patient; time for her to face her crimes to my people was close.  I could feel it.  Just as I was about to leave my hidden spot in the tree over her cabin, I heard the other person speak.  It was a man’s voice.

“Thor has been gone for many ages Sif, you should indulge yourself.  I could help you with that.”

How pleasant, I had come just in time to hear the Aesir fornicate with each other.

“Baldr, you know Frigga made me promise to have no other but Thor.  I cannot help it if the Thunderer does not reciprocate those feelings.  Frigga is second to none in her magical abilities.”

Baldr laughed at this, “I know mother’s strengths.  She for instance was instructed by the Allfather to use her magic to make me invincible.”

It was now Sif’s turn to laugh, “Surely you jest Baldr.  Even the mighty queen cannot make such things happen.”

What was Baldr talking about?  I needed to stay to hear this.

“I do not lie or jest to you Sif.  The Allfather has a special request of me to do some of his more ‘covert’ work.  To do so, he made mother weave a spell that protects me from death in battle.”

“Impossible!  The laws of magic forbid such things!”

“Oh there is a cost and it is two-fold.  First, fatal wounds will not kill, but they will also never truly heal.  The scarring will act as a reminder of the enchantment.”

“You said the magic was two-fold.  What was the other cost?”

“I tell you out of trust.  To complete the magic, I had to choose something that would be able to kill me; a safeguard is what mother called it.  I was free to pick anything I liked.”

Baldr started laughing again like this was some great joke he was bursting to tell.

“What did you pick Baldr?  How rare or useless is this item?”

“My dear Sif, I picked mistletoe as my bane.”

They both erupted in laughter, not knowing that I was there.

****

“Did you tell anyone what you heard?”

“I did, but King Oor, Azmodeous, and father all thought I had either misunderstood what I heard or that the Aesir knew I was there and were misleading me.  But you heard Baldr when the arrow hit him; he said this was not possible.”

“If that was the case, how did an arrow kill him?  He’s right, that should’ve been impossible.”

“Not if the arrows had all been soaked in the juice from the berries mistletoe produces.”

I just looked at Rumil and gained a new appreciation for her attention to detail.  “Even though no one believed you, you still prepared for a day where you might come into battle with him.”

“I knew what I had heard and I was certain Odin was prepping him to go after high level targets.  I was not going to be underprepared for that when the day came.”

So now I knew why the death of Baldr was not an insignificant event.  Once Odin knew that his super soldier was dead, he would be outraged.  The Allfather would be out for blood.  We definitely needed a plan now to get out of here.  “So what is our next play?  I don’t think we can sit around and hope for the best anymore.”

“As always, I am one step ahead of you.  Thank The Norns you are a wonderfully handsome and amazing man.  They certainly left it up to me to be both the intelligence and strength of our pairing.”  She laughed and winked at me. 

I just sighed and waved my hand for her to continue.  “Hel will be expecting me when she comes so we will stay until her visit is complete.  If, as I expect, she cannot lend us immediate aid to get you back to Midgard, we will depart and go see someone who can.  Knowing what I know now, I think he will be most intrigued to have audience with us.”

Who the heck was she talking about?  There were only two individuals I remember her saying that could get me back.  One was Odin and I am pretty sure that ship had sailed.  I mean besides him, no one was crazy enough to go see – oh no.  “You don’t mean?”

“Oh I do.  I am sure Loki would be most excited to finally meet his grandson.”

“You’re just straight up nuts aren’t you?  Everything I’ve heard about him leads me to believe that he is even crazier than you!”

I guess this is the reaction she had expected and just laughed at my little rant.  I continued for a few more minutes making sure to use words like absurd and even incongruous.  When I ran out of things to say, it was Rumil’s turn to remind me why she was smart and I was dumb.

“I certainly understand your arguments, but think about these facts.  First, the Aesir have never cared for or trusted him.  Second, your father saved him from his eternal torture.  Finally, he went to Midgard and made sure Master Fenrir was back here to make sure you lived.  I truly think there is more to Loki than meets the eye.”

“What’s our plan going to be if he really is in Odin’s pocket and we walk right into a trap or something?”

“Don’t worry about that Jack.”  I turned around and saw dad in the doorway.  “I happen to agree with Rumil on this and will be going with you.”

Great, I was now outnumbered two to one in this situation.  As Coach Clayton would say ‘when your outnumbered, don’t be an idiot and just let the play happen.’ 

Well contrary to popular belief by certain elves in this room, I wasn’t an idiot.  It was time to let this play out.  “Alright then team, how are we going to do this?”

The three of us sat down and began our preparations.  Dad knew where Loki and Sigyn’s resided and could lead us there rather easily.  Just as dad was getting ready to give us more insight into Loki himself, there was a knock at the door.

“You may enter.”  Rumil was just so darn formal.

Izek walked into the room and his mood was somber.  “Your father has returned from his meeting with Lord Azmodeous and the clans.  He wishes you to come to the library.  We now know the identity of King Oor’s assassin.”